OroCommerce is a modular B2B-first eCommerce platform that delivers unparalleled breadth of functionality in a single license. We’re going to pop the hood on the new OroCommerce and go into the technical details of how and why it’s built the way it is.
OroCommerce can be composed with three main components: Marketplace, CRM, and Commerce – that all sit atop a shared architecture and technology stack called the OroPlatform.
Here’s the beauty of OroCommerce: you can pick and choose the components you need. Want just the online store? No problem. Need the CRM too? Easy to add. The OroPlatform itself can even be used without any of the other modules.
Plus, everything in OroCommerce is designed to handle multiple businesses and websites (multi-tenancy). This means you can run hundreds of regions, brands, and languages – all from a single back-end system.OroCommerce has three methods of deployment:
- Self-hosted (private): You take the product and host it in your own data center.
- Managed hosting: You take the product and host on a public or private cloud, and we will help manage it.
- Single-tenant SaaS: We host the product and do all of the maintenance.
Single tenant SaaS is by and far away the most popular option among customers, as most companies prefer to consume OroCommerce as a service, leveraging our proprietary cloud with Oro’s security attestations (PCI-DSS & SOC 2).
Modular, not MACH
Each of the components (commerce, CRM, marketplace) are modular, and enable multiple services like pricing, inventory, products, workflows, and many others for their corresponding business domain.
OroCommerce takes an API-first approach, meaning the core functionality of each component is exposed through well-defined APIs. This makes it easy for other systems, whether custom-built or third-party, to integrate with OroCommerce.
Furthermore, custom modules you develop will automatically have built-in REST API endpoints. This powerful combination of pre-built APIs and easy custom integration gives you unmatched flexibility in tailoring OroCommerce to your specific business needs.
The best part? Because everything is built on a single platform, everything works seamlessly together from Day 1.
OroCommerce can also be deployed headlessly, with a custom front-end, content management system, or digital experience platform.
Later this year we’ll be releasing a Sales PWA (Progressive Web App) that opens up a superior mobile and offline ordering experience for tradeshows and field sales.
At OroCommerce, we believe in giving our customers choices, not restrictions – so you can use our included Javascript-based front-end and native theme, or use your own “head” or do both, as our client PartsBase has done with some microsites built headlessly and the transactional site on OroCommerce’s front-end. The possibilities are limitless.
Configuration over Customization
OroCommerce is built on a foundation of programming tools, with Symfony being the most important one. Symfony is a popular framework used by hundreds of thousands of developers worldwide to build complex business applications written in PHP.
Because OroCommerce uses Symfony in a flexible, modular way, you have a lot of control over your setup. You can choose which components and modules you want (like CRM, commerce, marketplace) and even customize them without needing to write custom code. This means you can run your business without a large development team for everyday tasks, and avoid the security risks inherent in hosting your own middleware.
Since all of OroCommerce’s modules are hosted by default within the OroCommerce application, the result is a highly configurable application where business users can:
- Customize the checkout experience for a specific group of users
- Build multiple automated workflows for onboarding new buyers
- Create different CPQ workflows by region, country, or business unit
- Create targeted promotions, landing pages, and banners
- Manage complex account hierarchies both for sellers and buying groups.
These are the real-world business use cases that our customers tackle every day with OroCommerce – functionalities that go beyond the basic capabilities of out-of-the-box MACH platform.
A Unified Approach to B2B eCommerce
OroCommerce is unique in the market in that we offer two sides of the coin: a powerful platform for B2B companies to build secure, cutting-edge commerce experiences using trusted frameworks; and we also deliver a complete, modular platform that can be consumed as a SaaS application and operated by non-developers to drive business, retention, and growth.
