Home B2B eCommerce OroCommerce Review 2024: Best Ecommerce Platform for B2B?

OroCommerce Review 2024: Best Ecommerce Platform for B2B?

OVERVIEW

Welcome to OroCommerce, the leading platform in the B2B eCommerce world. B2B (Business-to-Business) eCommerce is a form of eCommerce where transactions are done electronically, over the internet between two or more business entities. B2B eCommerce supports trading between corporations and individuals on a medium to large scale, due to the scope of its operations. Let’s start with OroCommerce Review 2020

Sales cycles are much longer and larger on B2B platforms than on B2C (Business-to-Customer) platforms. On B2C platforms, customers can easily pick a product they like and buy it, but on B2B platforms where order values are more significant, the process usually involves multiple approvals and stakeholders through emails, calls, or other communications before a purchase can be made.

OroCommerce is a top B2B open-source eCommerce platform designed with high flexibility and equipped with state-of-the-art features that can easily be customized to meet the requirements of transactions in sectors of B2B, B2C and even B2X (B2B2C, B2B2B, etc.). The platform also comes geared with an inbuilt CRM (Customer Relationship Management), OroCRM, giving users complete control and view of their dealings and relations with their clients.

With this range of services and features, the platform can work for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and even brands.

PRICING AND TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

OroCommerce has two pricing plans for its users:
⦁ Free OroCommerce Community Edition
⦁ OroCommerce Enterprise Edition
Each of these plans comes with different prices and different features attached.

The OroCommerce Community Edition is free also being designed to be open-source and equipped with all the standard features needed by small, upcoming businesses to start selling online and developers to assess its functionality and performance.

The OroCommerce Enterprise Edition is the only paid plan on the OroCommerce platform. It is known to be the most robust B2B eCommerce platform ever built with an unparalleled array of features, outstanding flexibility, incredible optimization and the ability to be scaled to any size.

It is suitable for medium to large-scale enterprises with a drive for extreme productivity and expansion online. The plan’s cost is derived by quote; the client would be charged based on his business and would have to contact the vendor for the custom price.

The platform’s license cost ranges between $45K – $250K, and its average implementation cost is about $250K.

MAIN FEATURES

Although the OroCommerce platform comes with a lot of outstanding features, there are few worth mentioning.

⦁ Multiple Price Lists Support:
The platform allows you to create, personalize and manage custom price
lists for different sets from corporations, to customer groups to even individual customers on pre-negotiated contracts, high order volumes, and other factors all in an orderly and easily navigable fashion.

⦁ Corporate Accounts Management
Comfortably control and manage all corporate accounts for all clients regardless of their companies’ internal structure, teams, offices, branches, or locations around the world. Comfortably accommodate all buyers from different companies and set up purchasing rules and custom workflows to support them.

⦁ Custom Catalogs Personalization
You can personalize your custom catalogs to filter and show different products relevant to various clients. This allows you to concentrate on particular business units and not get confused with data from other transactions.

⦁ Streamline Buyer-Seller Interaction
OroCommerce understands the importance of the relationship between the buyer and seller, which is why most of its features such as this are designed to make the interaction between these two parties smooth. This feature allows you to completely digitalize the processes involved in the buyer-seller-interaction such as quotes requests, price negotiations, creation, management and submission of order forms, order purchases, and other services.

⦁ Flexible Workflow Engine
The platform allows you to create custom workflows of your choice to help customize all the processes and make the transactions very flexible. This is needed most times due to the load and scale of processes involved in B2B eCommerce.

⦁ Custom Reports and Segmentation
The platform comes equipped with top segmentation capabilities, a reporting engine, and an easily accessible dashboard for clients to track their data at any time. It allows them to gain valuable insights into the workings of their business and helps them understand the market patterns better to make better decisions in the future.

EASE OF USE

Even with all its numerous features and services, using the OroCommerce platform does not require much technical know-how or developer skills. The interface was designed to be easy-to-use, and clients can easily access whatever feature they wish to use at any time. OroCommerce is part of Oro Inc. giving it access to its other platforms like OroCRM and OroPlatform and all their services.

OroCRM lets clients have an all-round view of their business and customers, allowing them to easily access their sales, marketing, products, campaigns, and customer data at all times.

OroPlatform is made for the rapid development of enterprise web applications. It allows clients to use the platform’s built-in features to carry out services reducing overall development costs, develop any business application and have access to a community of about 20,000 registered developers.

The app is connected to a large number of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon, which allows its users to reach customers by using them as sales channels easily.

PROS

⦁Fully developed B2B focused eCommerce platform.
⦁ Out-of-the-box integrations with OroCRM, OroPlatform, and other marketing tools.
⦁ Very flexible B2B workflow.
⦁ Has a Training feature.
⦁ Multiple Pricing and Shopping Lists.
⦁ Customer Satisfaction Algorithm, a feature which is behavior-based and is used to evaluate customers’ reactions and experiences from using OroCommerce.

CONS

⦁ Limited extension marketplace.
⦁ Development support and availability: In spite of all its impressive features and fantastic interface, it is still a comparatively new platform and therefore shows that there is much room for development, but with the growth of the B2B market, it will improve over time.
⦁ It is not suitable for small businesses.

WHO DOES IT FIT?

OroCommerce has been designed to fit medium and large-scale businesses with a need for high productivity and much scalability. It is open-source and its features are B2B-oriented, thereby targeting a select group of companies to be its users.

Although OroCommerce can be used for B2C and B2X eCommerce amongst others, users in these sectors would find it a little challenging to use the platform’s resources for their ventures. Some of its clients around the world include Advisors Excel, Animal Supply Co., Frankfurt Airport, Samuel Hubbard, BlackBox, Saltworks, Chanel, and Shell. These are some of OroCommerce’s clients that have been using the platform for quite some time and are good examples of the size of companies that are compatible with it.

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

OroCommerce is a web application that runs on a server and its users interact with it through a web browser connected to the internet or through the network where the server is hosted.

OroCommerce is a web application that runs on a server and its users interact with it through a web browser connected to the internet or through the network where the server is hosted.

The client needs to have a stable network connection and have his browser’s JavaScript and cookies turned on.

INTEGRATIONS

OroCommerce is a B2B eCommerce platform that is always connected to a large marketplace and as such, needs to be synced with so many platforms and applications to enable smooth operations. The application is integrated with complementary platforms like PIM, ERP, CRM, and also Order management to enable it to perform certain activities and provide some services.

OroCommerce is a B2B eCommerce platform that is always connected to a large marketplace and as such, needs to be synced with so many platforms and applications to enable smooth operations. The application is integrated with complementary platforms like PIM, ERP, CRM, and also Order management to enable it to perform certain activities and provide some services.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

OroCommerce prides itself on having a vast network of about 400,000+ active installs and about 40,000+ new installs per quarter in over 100 countries worldwide despite being a newcomer to the eCommerce world.

The platform values its customers, and most of its development was done with customer comfort and ease in mind.

There is an inbuilt CRM featuring multi-channels that allows clients to have a complete view of their customers and customer support interactions. The platform supports its users through Email, Phone, Live Support, Training, Tickets, and even FAQ. All these are used to ensure that its clients are readily attended to and their issues resolved quickly, allowing them to carry on with their activities.

There is also the Customer Satisfaction Algorithm™, which is a behavior-based service used to evaluate customers’ comments, reviews, and reactions towards the platform. The data gathered is presented in an accessible form for anyone to access so that people can have an idea about the experiences people have had so far using the platform. This helps new users make informed decisions on whether to subscribe to OroCommerce or not.

KEY DIFFERENCES FROM SHOPIFY

Shopify is markedly different from OroCommerce. Although both platforms provide a similar range of services, they do so using different strategies and cater to varying sets of clientele.

Some differences between them include:

⦁ Shopify is a more straightforward platform that supports only B2C eCommerce while OroCommerce is a platform designed for complexity, as is seen in its ability to handle the complex digital world of B2B eCommerce. OroCommerce can also work with B2C, B2B2B, B2B2C and even B2X.
⦁ Shopify was designed to accommodate businesses from small up to large scales but not freelancers, while OroCommerce is chiefly for medium, large, and freelancing businesses.
⦁ Shopify lacks a Training feature, a contact Email and is not available on the Linux platform while OroCommerce has a Training feature, a contact Email and is available for Linux devices.
⦁ Shopify has better security than OroCommerce because the latter uses a built-in native CRM to protect and manage its clients’ assets while the former’s security level is Level 1 PCI compliant, the same level of security that banks use.
⦁ Shopify has features like 2-Factor authentication, conversion tracking, forecasting, marketing automation, and keyword tracking, which OroCommerce lacks.
Also, OroCommerce has features like Third-Party Plugins/Add-Ons, Multi-Users, Calendar Management, and FAQs, which Shopify lacks.

KEY DIFFERENCES FROM MAGENTO

OroCommerce and Magento are two very different eCommerce platforms that operate differently but end up providing similar services and catering to the same clientele.

Some of the differences between these two platforms are:

  • Magento does not provide a Free Trial option, whereas OroCommerce offers a Free Trial option for its clients.
  • Magento supports only large companies and enterprises, while OroCommerce supports freelancers as well as medium and large enterprises.
  • Magento’s customer support is limited to Email, Phone, and Training while OroCommerce has these options as well as Live Support and Tickets.
  • Magento’s price plans are the Magento Commerce Starter which starts from $2000 and the Magento Commerce Pro which starts at $3,417 while OroCommerce’s price plans are Free Trial, OroCommerce Community Edition, and OroCommerce Enterprise Edition, with the first two plans being free while the last is paid for by quote.
  • Customization is one feature Magento has over most eCommerce platforms in the market. It gives its clients full control over the complete interface of the platform environment where they are allowed to redesign and customize their structure to whatever extent they wish.
  • OroCommerce is an open-source platform with little need for customization, quick market time, and all-covered solutions which do not let clients make deep changes to the interface of the system.
  • OroCommerce has better security, maintenance, and customer care than Magento. At Magento, the client is saddled with the responsibility of security, updates, backups, and compatibility. He has to always make sure his hosting fits his performance to enable the smooth running of operations.
    OroCommerce has an inbuilt CRM, OroPlatform and other compatible applications which attend to the development, security, and compatibility of the system, leaving the client free to handle his business transactions.