– Part 2

byte5 finds partnerships with other companies extremely rewarding. We value our selected partners very much and benefit mutually from the intensive cooperations. This is the only way we can achieve our goal of always offering our customers a made-to measure solution according to their needs.

When it comes to content commerce, byte5 does not only work with Ucommerce, but since recently also with commercetools, which offers system-independent tools for web shops. In the second part of our interview, byte5 COO Chris Köhler explains what makes the platform a particularly strong partner for byte5 and how it differs from Ucommerce.

byte5 has a partnership with both Ucommerce and commercetools. What are the advantages of each system and how do they differ from each other?

The new partnership with commercetools also resulted in an intensification of the cooperation with Ucommerce because we can approach the topic of content commerce in a completely new way. The collaboration with Ucommerce has been refreshed, so to speak. In fact, Ucommerce is very different from commercetools. Ucommerce is a standalone e-commerce solution that works within Umbraco.

In addition, it offers many other options for connecting third-party systems. commercetools, on the other hand, is a cloud solution that offers commerce functionality regardless of the system. This is one of the differences between the two: Ucommerce is much more compact. It can be operated on a cloud basis, but it can also be used in an environment where this is not desired. It integrates itself completely in Umbraco. commercetools can also be seamlessly integrated into Umbraco, but remains in the cloud as a cloud service. For comparison: Ucommerce is ideal for a classic web shop with a full content management system, commercetools, however, is more suitable as an e-commerce platform – with a wide range of options.

Which system is best for which user?

What Ucommerce and commercetools have in common is the basic idea of ​​merging content and commerce. Our objective is to offer content commerce products for all our clients, regardless of their differing needs. Connecting Umbraco with Ucommerce is what we have been successfully doing for years. This model is more suitable for small and medium-sized shops that do not want to miss out on the advantages of combining content and commerce. commercetools, on the other hand, is aimed at medium-sized and larger customers whose orientation is revenue-driven. commercetool’s price model of the revenue sharing shows that it is about actually being directly involved in business success. We provide clients with detailed advice regarding their project and showing them which of the two models is right for their needs.

Do the two systems also differ financially?

Yes, a fundamentally different pricing model is an essential difference. Ucommerce has a very compact pricing model. Once the annual fee has been paid, there are no further restrictions. Limitations can only be caused by the hosting, the infrastructure or Umbraco itself. With commercetools, there are no limits by third-party systems. The cost model works is an entirely different one. Depending on the customer’s business model, billing is either done based on revenue sharing or on transactions. It grows with its tasks, so to speak. It is therefore in a completely different price category than Ucommerce and consequently aims at larger customers. Ucommerce and commercetools are therefore not comparable in functionality, architecture or pricing. And that's the exciting thing for us: working with two equally fantastic, but fundamentally different systems.

What does the partnership with commercetools mean for byte5?

In concrete terms, the partnership means that we tackle sales and technological efforts together. commercetools is not an open-source project, but a toolset that is based on transactions. We also sell commercetools to customers, together with our solution. This part is the sales activity that is assigned to byte5, but of course is also used by commercetools. If commercetools receives an inquiry asking for Microsoft specialists, we are obviously the first ones to be contacted in Germany. Technologically, there is a great exchange between commercetools and byte5. In addition, three of our commercetools developers were trained and certified at the beginning of the partnership in late 2017.

So, we are looking forward to 2018, because we are certain that content commerce will play a major role in the technical implementation of e-commerce.

Those who missed the first part of the interview can go read it now. Chris discussed what makes Umbraco and commercetools such strong partners and how the toolset works.