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Unwrapping Sitecore Commerce 7.2

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For this blog, we wanted to provide some pragmatic advice on how to get going with Sitecore Commerce 7.2 and make sure that customers and partners know where to go to get the various pieces of information required to properly setup the product.

At a glance, the process is comprised of:

  • Install Sitecore Experience Platform 7.2 itself
  • Install Sitecore Commerce Connect 7.2
  • Install Commerce Server 11.0
  • Install Sitecore Commerce 7.2 components
  • Configuring the Business User Experiences

Installing Sitecore Experience Platform 7.2

Installing Sitecore 7.2 is a relatively straightforward process. It is very well-documented and covered by the Sitecore CMS Installation Guide, which can be found on the Sitecore Developer Network (SDN) at https://sdn.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore%20V5/Sitecore%20CMS%207/Installation/Installation%20Guides%20CMS%207,-d-,0%20and%20later.aspx.

But, one is not done there. DMS is also required, which is documented in a separate DMS Installation Guide which can be found on SDN at https://sdn.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore%20V5/Sitecore%20CMS%207/Installation/Installation.aspx.

Installing Sitecore Commerce Connect 7.2

Sitecore Commerce Connect 7.2 provides the commerce-enablement of the Sitecore Experience Platform. It is a Sitecore module and hence it’s installation process is relatively straightforward. It has its own installation guide, which can be found at https://sdn.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore%20Commerce%20Connect/Sitecore%20Commerce%20Connect%207,-d-,2/Documentation.aspx.

Installing Commerce Server 11.0

Commerce Server 11.0 underpins much of the commerce functionality in Sitecore Commerce 7.2. Hence, it is the next step in the installation process. It’s installation guide can be found at https://commercesdn.sitecore.net/CS11/SitecoreCommerceInstallationGuide/en-us/.

Installing the Sitecore Commerce 7.2 Components

The next step in the installation process itself is to install the Sitecore Commerce 7.2 components. The overall process is described in the Getting Started guide, which is a must-read in its entirety and can be found at https://commercesdn.sitecore.net/CS11/SitecoreCommerceConnectGuide/en-us/.

However, for this specific step, one will want to look at the Deploying the Integration Packages topic, which can be found specifically at https://commercesdn.sitecore.net/CS11/SitecoreCommerceConnectGuide/en-us/#Task/t_DeployIntegrationPackages.html. This will get you up and running with the MVC sample site that ships with Sitecore Commerce 7.2.

Once that is complete, you will want to enable Analytics to ensure that everything functions properly. This can be found in the Enable Analytics topic in the Getting Started Guide at https://commercesdn.sitecore.net/CS11/SitecoreCommerceConnectGuide/en-us/#Task/t_EnableMVCandAnalytics.html.

Configuring the Business User Experiences

There is only one remaining step, which is installing the business user experiences required to administer the commerce experiences. In this version, there are four toolsets:

  • Merchandising Manager, which is a modern Web-based administration tool running in Sitecore. This is the toolset that all business users should utilize when managing a Sitecore Commerce 7.2 solution.
  • Catalog and Inventory Manager, which is a desktop-based application. It is the predecessor of Merchandising Manager and will likely only be used by customers upgrading from prior releases of Commerce Server while transitioning to Merchandising Manager.
  • Marketing Manager, which is a desktop-based application that will be utilized principally for managing discounts and coupons. Although it also offers List Management and Advertising (content targeting features) – they should not be used in lieu of Sitecore E-Mail Campaign Manager and content targeting in DMS.
  • Catalog and Inventory Schema Manager, which is a desktop based tool to configure catalog and inventory structure and metadata.
  • Customer and Order Manager, which is a desktop-based application that will be utilized for configuring the order capture system as well as perform basic order management tasks.

To install Merchandising Manager, please refer to the Deploy Merchandising Manager topic within the Getting Started Guide, which can be found at https://commercesdn.sitecore.net/CS11/SitecoreCommerceConnectGuide/en-us/#Task/t_DeployMerchandisingManager.html.

To install the other tools, please refer to the Desktop Business Tools Installation Guide at https://commercesdn.sitecore.net/CS11/SitecoreCommerceDesktopBusinessToolsInstallationGuide/en-us/.

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With these steps, one’s deployment is fully operational. Enjoy!

As an announcement, we have also launched the Sitecore Commerce Development Team blog, which is available at https://www.sitecore.net/Learn/Blogs/Technical-Blogs/Sitecore-Commerce-Development-Team.aspx. Content will be cross-posted in both places, but we wanted to ensure the Sitecore developer community had something that will get picked up by the RSS aggregation – just as this is picked up by the Microsoft developer community RSS aggregation.

And lastly, for further information, please join us in Las Vegas or Barcelona for Sitecore Symposium, where the product team will be offering commerce sessions for both business and technical audience.