Sitecore
sitecore-ordercloud
Commerce
Kautilya Prasad
VP, Sitecore Commerce and National Competency Lead
Franchise Expansion Through AI-Driven eCommerce
The franchisee marketplace model is a business framework where a central franchisor facilitates connections between franchisees (individual business owners) and customers through a centralized platform or marketplace. This model combines elements of franchising with the structure of an online marketplace, creating a network of interconnected businesses that share a common brand and standards while operating independently.
Sitecore OrderCloud is a leader in delivering operational efficiency to franchise businesses via custom, scalable online commerce solutions. It is the preferred technology vendor for eCommerce, order management, and B2B marketplace solutions for some of the nation's largest franchisors.
As a Franchisor, do you want the end customer to digitally shop from all locations, and complete a single transaction for products from many locations? Does your franchise need to operate as both seller of products, supplier of products to other locations, and buyers of products from other locations? Let’s dive into how Sitecore OrderCloud’s rich features set aligns with a franchise/marketplace model.
Simplifying the ordering process for franchisees
Orders can be placed containing products from multiple suppliers within one transaction. These orders can be further split internally into multiple Sales Order/Purchase Order based on rules (Integration Events). The end customer does not see any of this complexity.
Supporting international growth plans
Sitecore OrderCloud is a SaaS based marketplace development platform, it can deliver around the globe and scale globally. Its world class security, easy integration layer, and MACH alliance makes it ready to support international growth. OrderCloud is annually audited for SOC 2 Type 2 and is compliant with GDPR and CCPA
Enabling management of product information by Franchisee
Using Roles, Approvals and Assignments in Sitecore OrderCloud, the vendor management team can enable the suppliers to be self-sufficient and give autonomy to maintain their own product information, pricing, and promotion. This improves the efficiency of the overall business as the Franchisees do not need to wait for the Franchisor to enable them. If required, the franchisor will make an update to the franchisee’s account with admin access.
Optimizing shipping and freight options
OrderCloud offers an integration event specific to shipping logic. When an order goes through checkout, OrderCloud can call out to another HTTP service to securely handle generating shipping options relative to the products in the cart. You can also configure rules to optimize packaging solutions so that warehouse rules can be brought to checkout process for cost effectiveness. You can configure shipping options per Franchisor on the order.
Simplifying payments for franchisees
Multiple orders can be paid with one transaction using different payment options available in Sitecore OrderCloud. Consolidated invoices can be generated to simplify payments. Additionally, it offers a robust product and inventory management systems that would integrate with Point of Sales (POS) systems.
Creating visibility to analytics and reporting on franchise operations
Integration with Microsoft Fabric makes it easy to use insightful dashboards, predict inventory and AI-assisted store operations.
Supporting complex use cases for each location
Unique complexities are handled seamlessly thanks to the complex data model within the Sitecore OrderCloud platform. The functionality can be customized using a middleware layer and a complex location specific logic can be easily added.
If you offer unique branded experiences to different buyer organizations or franchises, you can set up an API Client per personalized site which gives you the freedom to configure individual extensions (webhooks and integration events) to manage the unique needs of multiple applications scenarios, while running one OrderCloud organization for your business.
Summary
Sitecore OrderCloud makes it easy to browse, shop, order, and re-order all the supplies a Franchisee needs to run their business. Location specific promotions can be administered easily. It enables new levels of operational efficiency for both franchisors and franchisees. If you are looking for a demo or just have a casual discussion about Sitecore OrderCloud, please feel free to reach out or message me on LinkedIn.