Liferay Inc., which launched more than 10 years ago with open-source software for building internal corporate web portals or intranets, has built up its forte over the years in providing web content personalized to customers across websites, mobile sites and other devices.
Now, it’s pushing further into e-commerce, with a new Liferay Commerce software product and a complementary Liferay Analytics Cloud designed to support a business-to-consumer-like “customer experience” with consistently personalized content across online venues. Liferay Commerce launched last summer throughout the Americas and parts of Europe, and today became available globally.
“We see our core competency in blending commerce and content,” says Corbin Murakami, product manager for Liferay.
With its built-in analytics, Liferay says its new technology—available as part of the new Liferay Digital Experience Platform version 7.1, or Liferay DXP—is designed to continuously learn online customers’ interests to better serve up personalized content across multiple selling channels and devices.
Blending digital experience technology and commerce
Industry analysts say Liferay’s digital experience platform should provide a good base for a digital commerce application, even though it’s too soon to comment on how well Liferay Commerce itself compares with other commerce software.
“All full-stack commerce platforms manage digital experiences,” says Mike Lowndes, a senior director analyst covering digital commerce and customer relationship management technology at technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. “However, they are often not adequate to deal with the breadth of digital experience capability required across the customer lifecycle. By coming to digital commerce from DXP, Liferay will provide these wider capabilities out of the box.”
Gene Phifer, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner familiar with Liferay DXP, says it is used across many industries for business-to-employee as well as B2B and B2C operations and has historically offered integration to third-party digital commerce software products. He adds that Liferay’s DXP technology is known for featuring such value propositions as versatility and flexible architecture, security, an active open-source community and a “reasonable” cost model.
Other features of Liferay Commerce include:
- B2B accelerator for manufacturers designed to expedite the deployment of portals where manufacturers connect via e-commerce with dealers and end customers. The accelerator is designed to cut about 80% of the work of deployment, cutting the typical deployment time of from six months to a year, Murakami says;
- Support for subscription-based products and services, including digital products delivered online and physical products offered on an as-use basis;
- Liferay Analytics Cloud dashboard, which provides a view of data on customer activity recorded across multiple points including websites and mobile devices;
- Integration with Liferay DXP to leverage its suite of digital experience management tools, including web experience, digital asset management, file sharing, collaboration, social, mobile app development and web portal management capabilities. These capabilities include designing an online checkout process to handle automated personalized workflows for authorizing purchases, and reusing digital assets to build product pages.
Liferay’s customers include such companies as aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE, the U.S. Navy and Eatel, a provider of telecommunications technology and services to businesses and homeowners. Liferay doesn’t publicize the fees it charges for its software; it says Liferay Commerce is available for an additional subscription fee to customers who already subscribe to Liferay DXP.
Other technology platforms that focus on combining digital experience and e-commerce technology include Sitecore, Episerver Inc. and, with its acquisition last year of e-commerce software provider Magento, Adobe Systems Inc.
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