This document discusses whether Drupal is a viable platform for eCommerce. It begins by defining eCommerce and examining how Drupal Commerce compares to other solutions across areas like user experience, catalog management, checkout, and order management. It then explores the eCommerce landscape and positions Drupal Commerce within it. The document provides anecdotes on implementing Drupal Commerce and recommendations on when it may or may not be well suited for a given project. It concludes by soliciting feedback on the session.

1. Should You Follow The White
Rabbit?
<OR>
Is Drupal a REAL Commerce
Platform?

2. Should You Follow The White
Rabbit?
<OR>
Is Drupal a REAL Commerce
Platform?

3. Is Drupal a REAL Commerce Platform?
1. What IS eCommerce?
2. How Does Drupal Commerce Measure Up?
3. What Does The eCommerce Landscape Look Like?
4. Drupal Commerce Anecdotes and Tools
5. Recommendations
3 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

4. Digital Bridge Solutions Overview
• Full lifecycle Drupal development
agency founded in 2009
• Digital commerce and content
experiences for mid-sized enterprises
• Alumni from leading strategy, design,
and technology firms, averaging 8+
years of industry experience
Our History Our Friends
Some Drupal Clients
4 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

5. What IS eCommerce?

6. Online Checkout
3/21/20156 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

7. What IS eCommerce?
7 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

8. How Does Drupal Commerce
Measure Up?

9. Who Can Help Us Evaluate Drupal
Commerce At MADCamp?
9 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

10. Drupalice Scoring
10
- Off With Its Head!
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC
- We’re All Mad Here…
- Curiouser and Curiouser…
- Lovely, Care For Tea?
- Like a Beautiful Looking Glass!

11. Drupal Commerce - User Experience
11
Comments
• Infinite presentation layer flexibility
• Separation of content and markup
• Great for site users, good for
developers, content administrator
experience has room for improvement
Drupalice Score
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

12. Drupal Commerce – Product Catalog /
Product Information Management
12
Comments
• Dries thought of everything…
• content = node = product
• No “out of box” product templates
• Product management interfaces
don’t scale well
Drupalice Score
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

13. Drupal Commerce – Merchandising and
Promotions
13
Comments
• Flexibility to build highly customized
merchandising functionality
• Modules exist for discounts and promotion
• Personalization capabilities available
through Acquia Lift
Drupalice Score
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

14. Drupal Commerce – Checkout /
Transaction Processing
14
Comments
• Modules exist
• Easy hooks to payment gateways and
tax calculation systems
Drupalice Score
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

15. Drupal Commerce – Order Management
15
Comments
• Good luck customizing the shipping
module
• Infinite order statuses possible, not
much “out of the box” though
Drupalice Score
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

16. Drupal Commerce – Integration
16
Comments
• Commerce AND Content!
• Drupal API is about as capable and
flexible as they come
• Migrate module
Drupalice Score
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

17. What Does The eCommerce
Landscape Look Like?

18. eCommerce Landscape
18
Size (of company and target client)
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

19. 19 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

20. 3/21/201520
Wonderland eCommerce Quadrant
Power
Propensity For Evil
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

21. Drupal Commerce Anecdotes and
Tools

22. When Commerce = Content
22
 Drupal expertise needed & valuable
 Invest in planning your data model
 All you’ve learned about content best practices can be
applied to commerce
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

23. When Commerce != Content
23
 Complexity and effort required
 Performance really matters
 Security and compliance
 Uptime and site availability
 Commerce is more interesting (and more fun)
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

24. Learnings from Experience
24
Managing products
and displays
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC
Scale may surprise youWhat’s out of box?

25. Drupal Commerce Tools
25
 Checkout (commerce_checkout)
 Shipping (commerce_shipping)
 Address Book (commerce_addressbook)
 Migrate (migrate) w/ (commerce_migrate)
 Tax Calculation w/ (commerce_exactor_calc)
 Search API and SOLR for a powerful faceted search!
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

26. Recommendations

27. Recommendations
27
Do You Have:
 Non-standard order / checkout processes?
 Complex, configurable products?
 Multi-step buying process, or a need for guided
selling?
 Complex business rules around who can buy what,
and at what price?
 Something unique on the backend that needs to be
connected to in a unique way?
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

28. Questions?
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC28

29. Learn Through Contribution!
 Sprint Sunday 09:00-17:00
 UIC SCE Tower, Room 605 750 S. Halsted
 http://2015.midcamp.org/schedule
 Contributors of all skill sets and levels are welcome
and encouraged.
29 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

30. Session Feedback!
 https://joind.in/13800
 Speaker Name: @crooney, @mmajor
 #MidCamp
30 © 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC

31. Contact Information
Madison Major
Client Services Director
madison.major@dbridgesolutions.com
(773) 644-5362
31
Chris Rooney
President and Founder
chris.rooney@dbridgesolutions.com
(773) 644-5361
Content. Commerce. Desktop, mobile,
and everywhere in-between
© 2015 Digital Bridge Solutions, LLC