SAP adds e-commerce front end to Business All-in-One

SAP has announced an optional e-commerce front end to its SAP Business All-in-One package aimed at small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs).

The company has certified the integration of ePages' online package with SAP's cloud-based SMB business management suite, while another partner, HONICO eBusiness, has enabled integration of the two.

SAP partnered with ePages last year to bring e-commerce functionality to its cloud-based SMB suites, integrating web shop functionality with SAP's Business One package for SMBs.

The SMB ePages offering is designed to provide SAP Business All-in-One users with an e-commerce presence hosted in the cloud, where the web site and its orders can still be managed and processed alongside traditional sales channels covered by the SAP back-end.

The 'base' version will support up to 10,000 products in a maximum of 1,000 categories, rising to the 'flex' version which can sell up to 200,000 products in up to 2,000 categories.

Both are available immediately in western Europe and the US costing $539 (£332) a month for the base version and $949 (£584) a month for the flex version. UK-specific prices were not available at the time of writing.

The standard shop system supports up to 13 languages and integrates with major online marketplaces including Amazon and eBay.

SAP added that the ePages for SAP package offers compatibility with common payment methods and marketing tools.

Business All-in-One users can install ePages themselves or work with ePages or another suitable SAP partner to set up and configure the software to integrate with existing business processes.

"With the integration of our on-demand shops, we are making the entrance into professional e-commerce much easier for SAP Business All-in-One users with straightforward monthly costs and little technical effort," said Wilfried Beeck, ePages chief executive.

Ivano Ortis, international research director for IDC Retail Insights argued that e-commerce is one of the application areas in retail most suited for a cloud-based delivery model.

"This is due to the necessity of safeguarding e-commerce web site performance and availability dynamically while controlling the TCO, even whenever spikes in visitor traffic or orders would manifest for a short period of time, for example in response to a new promotion," he said.

"Differentiating factors for SAP and other vendors competing in this space like IBM, Verizon, Akamai Technologies and Oracle just to mention a few, will be the ability to offer scalable service level agreements based on customer service metrics."