Adobe Commerce

Getting to grips with the latest Adobe Commerce updates

With its latest investment in composable development tools and AI-powered personalisation, Adobe Commerce has unleashed a new evolution of tools and efficiencies that team JH are excited to unbox and get working with. 

As we look ahead to the next round of eagerly anticipated updates at the Adobe Summit 2024, here’s our guide to the new features already announced and upcoming for Adobe Commerce.

Adobe Commerce’s Vision to Victory

If your ambition is to not just compete but dominate the market with 2-3x online growth, you need a foundation that matures with you. Adobe Commerce has positioned itself to be a strong contender for the sturdy base at the beginning of your success story.

Peek behind the curtain

How exactly is Adobe expanding the frontiers with Adobe Commerce’s latest round of updates?

Technical Advancements

• Adobe Developer App Builder revolutionises the implementation of Adobe Commerce by providing a suite of development tools, including headless commerce via API Mesh, event-based data routing with Events, extensions using Webhooks, and Admin UI customisation through the Admin UI SDK. This is facilitated within a serverless computing environment, significantly reducing the complexity of app and integration development.
• Webhooks Enhancements allow developers to configure webhooks directly through the UI, making integration with third-party services easier. This includes the ability to set headers and endpoints, as well as conditionally triggering webhooks, such as extending checkout processes for specific postcodes.
• Admin UI Control gives additional customisation options, enabling developers to add columns and adjust admin screens more flexibly.
• API Mesh Global Expansion is planned for over 200 locations worldwide, lessening network latency and improving overall shopper experience.
• Sale Incentives Scale to over 100k active promotions and 10 million coupon codes with performance boosts in our upcoming April core release.

AI-Powered Personalisation

• Live Search with Adobe Sensei personalises search and browsing results on Adobe Commerce storefronts, including features like “recommended for you,” “trending,” and “most purchased” to tailor search result order based on shopper behaviour. The new customisation options allow for a broader application of AI re-ranking rules and personalised merchandising.
• Intelligent Category Merchandising uses AI to automatically re-rank product sequences on category pages to enhance relevance and conversion rates for each shopper.
• Customisable AI Re-ranking Rules allow brands to set rules for AI to re-rank search queries, covering all queries or specific searches and simplifying personalised merchandising efforts.
• Data Connections to Adobe Experience Solutions integrate with Adobe Real-Time CDP, Adobe Journey Optimiser, and Adobe Analytics for personalised customer journeys, abandoned cart emails, and analytics, leveraging high-intent commerce data.

B2B Commerce

• Compatibility with Headless Commerce Deployments ensures that the new quoting and company management capabilities are compatible with Adobe Commerce’s native storefront architecture and headless commerce deployments via GraphQL APIs.
• Order Management sees fixes and improvements implemented, ensuring the correct store view is associated with the relevant website when creating a company in a multi-site deployment, addressing issues related to ordering products by SKU and the functionality of the Add to Cart button.
• Shipping Methods offered to each company can now be controlled by B2B merchants, enhancing the flexibility and customisation of shipping options.
• Shopping Cart Enhancements allow users to easily clear the contents of their shopping cart in a single action, and merchants can configure this ability independently on each website.
• Admin Action Log records amendments in the Company modules, increasing transparency and accountability for administrative actions within the B2B module.
• B2B2X commerce models are supported using Adobe’s upcoming company management features and close more deals using soon-to-be-released request-for-quote capabilities in B2B Commerce.

B2B experience-led growth innovations

• Customer data handling and storage are enhanced thanks to Adobe Real-Time CDP, allowing better segmentation and activation and improving marketing activation across channels.
• Self-Serve Experiences are optimised with new capabilities in Adobe Marketo Engage, including Dynamic Chat with generative AI features, Live Chat, Live Streams, and Advanced Lead Routing to automate conversations and facilitate live interactions across the buying journey.
• Intelligent Automation and Workflows integrate workflows between Adobe Marketo Engage and Adobe Workfront to streamline campaign planning and development, and Journeys in Marketo Engage visualise and improve the customer experience.
• Enhanced Quoting Tools for B2B Sellers, including new request for quote (RFQ) tools, including draft quotes, duplicate quotes, split quotes, quote templates, and multi-admin access to quotes, aiming to capture more revenue faster.

Payment Services

• Integrated Payment Solutions now support transactions on headless storefronts, including Adobe Experience Manager Sites.
• Google Pay is now supported, complementing existing support for Apple Pay and PayPal, offering a comprehensive digital wallet provision.

ERP Integrations

• Integration Starter Kits aim to reduce the effort and cost of blending ERP solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and SAP S/4HANA. The kit offers reference integrations for key commerce data (orders, stock, customers), potentially halving the developer dependency.

Page Efficiency Enhancements

• Edge Delivery Services leverages edge computing to enhance site performance and deliver 100-point Google Lighthouse scores, setting a new standard in e-commerce and encouraging a shift towards high-performance digital marketplaces that prioritise speed, user satisfaction, and operational efficiency.

Subscription Services

• Zuora Subscription Management introduces an extension built on the App Builder framework, enabling access to a £2.3 trillion subscription economy with subscription services over 50 pricing models. It integrates seamlessly with Adobe Commerce for managing products and offers a React-native frontend architecture for minimised core platform customisations.

Data-Driven Personalisation

• Adobe Commerce Data Connection enhances personalisation across the buying journey by sharing commerce data with Adobe Experience Cloud solutions, including customer profiles and behaviour. This facilitates targeted content and personalised encounters.
• Use Case Playbooks and Commerce-Specific Dashboards to accelerate the launch of marketing campaigns and analyse data for insights into tailored opportunities.
• Connect Generative AI via Adobe Commerce to GenStudio and Adobe Firefly with an upcoming Adobe Assets integration.

Healthcare eCommerce

• HIPAA-Ready Solution presents capabilities for our USA-serving clients to achieve full HIPAA compliance in its cloud offering, catering to the healthcare and life sciences industries by ensuring the protection of sensitive medical information.

JH’s Closing Keynote

Adobe understands that to hold your own at the top of the eCommerce landscape, companies need to smash new benchmarks and disrupt the market, and these updates underscore their commitment to providing a flexible, efficient platform that supports the latest in eCommerce innovation.

If you want a deeper dive into the updates, head over to Adobe for the full details.

If Adobe Commerce could be what your business is missing, talk to the JH sales team and let’s start your ascent to the top.

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