SuiteCommerce Ultimate Guide: Cost Factors of SCA Implementation

Our NetSuite Certified commerce agency implements and customizes SuiteCommerce websites every day. During the discovery phase, every SuiteCommerce customer asks, "How cheap can my SuiteCommerce implementation be?" That's why we created this guide to help you understand the factors that help keep the cost of SuiteCommerce implementation low.

Big Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make 

(Find the Right Partner)

First of all, let me help you understand the biggest risk you can take that will bite you in the butt and cause you to bang your head.

Finding the right partner...

There are four major types of partners that you will likely come across when working with NetSuite.

• Solution Providers
• Alliance Partners
• Commerce Agency Partners
• Non-NetSuite Partner

Choosing the right partner for implementations is crucial, and vetting your partner to understand their skill sets is vital. Here are some questions you can ask your partner.

Note: The reason why we mention finding the right partner to reduce implementation costs, is because efficiency and experience is your friend. 

• What types of individual certifications do your team members have?
• Do you have team members who are certified in SuiteCommerce?
• What type of partner are you?
• What niche inside of NetSuite do you primarily focus on?
• How many SuiteCommerce implementations have you done?
• Do you subcontract work, and to whom?
• How many NetSuite instances have you worked on?
• Do you have any references?
• What sets you apart from other partners? (cost, experience, communication, project management, fully US-based consultants, fully outsourced consultants)

You may also find a partner not officially tied to NetSuite but offering NetSuite services. You don't need to write them off right away. You will want to vet them with the same questions, especially to see what individual certifications their team members have. Knowing the actual team members working on the project and their skills is more important.

We mention finding the right partner to reduce implementation costs because efficiency and experience are your friends.

Subscription Cost of SuiteCommerce 

(NetSuite Ecommerce)

If you are beginning the discovery phase of an ecommerce platform, then I'm sure you are curious about the cost of SuiteCommerce. First, let me educate you on the two different types of SuiteCommerce.

• SuiteCommerce Standard
• SuiteCommerce Advanced

Here is an explanation of the differences between the two types of SuiteCommerce. You may also be interested in how SuiteCommerce compares to other ecommerce platforms:

• SuiteCommerce vs. OroCommerce
• SuiteCommerce vs. Shopify
• SuiteCommerce vs. Webflow
• SuiteCommerce vs. Wix
• SuiteCommerce vs. WooCommerce

If you need to know the exact subscription costs, contact our team for an estimate of SuiteCommerce. We will also give you a ballpark estimate on implementation within 10 minutes.

Based on the two names, you can probably understand that SuiteCommerce Standard (also called SuiteCommerce) is cheaper than SuiteCommerce Advanced. This may be one area where you can help reduce costs by evaluating if SuiteCommerce Standard will work well for your business. In most cases, SuiteCommerce Standard is all you need. If you are a company that plans to invest heavily in development, then I would suggest SuiteCommerce Advanced.

If SuiteCommerce (SC) causes you sticker shock, we understand. But I'm sure you have had plenty of other sticker shock moments while purchasing NetSuite and other software options. Remember that this is designed to outfit companies with a platform that cannot be outgrown.

SuiteCommerce is enterprise level ecommerce similar to Magento 2.0 or Shopify Plus. Both Magento and Shopify Plus cost around $60k in annual subscriptions.

Many companies offset software costs by optimizing internal automation to reduce their employees' tedious daily tasks. A few things can help automate more processes: third-party SuiteCommerce Apps, custom SuiteScripts, NetSuite workflows, NetSuite-native tools like the SuiteQL query tool, consulting on data architecture, and discussions on software pain points.

Ways to Reduce the Cost of Your SuiteCommerce Implementation

This will be one of the bigger lump investments you make in the purchase process. We want to be transparent and give you actual numbers from clients we have implemented.

In general, you can expect a SuiteCommerce Standard implementation to cost a minimum of $18,000 and SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA) to cost a minimum of $60,000 to implement. However, there are ways to reduce this cost.

SuiteCommerce Implementation Cost Factors:

These are the three primary factors that go into the cost of implementations:

1. Internal Resources of a Company that Can Help Reduce the Implementation Cost

• Graphic Designer
• NetSuite Administrator
• Marketing Professional

A Graphic designer can help produce any marketing material that may be used to swap out images, colors, and the general look and feel of the website. They can also look at some existing SuiteCommerce theme options that may be the base for the out-of-the-box implementation. If these are not good enough, they can be customized, and there are more options available if you contact a top Commerce Agency Partner that collects custom themes to use as a new base.

A NetSuite Administrator can update the item records to ensure they all have the content necessary for proper search engine optimization (get found on Google) and marketing content. They will ensure that each item selected to display on the website has a description, associated item images, proper MSRP and special pricing options, and image alt tags (get the Anchor Group automation; it will pay for itself in a day).

A Marketing professional will be able to make content decisions immediately to make sure all the items have the correct information, the homepage looks right, My Account looks right, and the checkout process is how you want

2. Customization 

SuiteCommerce theme changes, SuiteCommerce extensions for additional website functionality, or SuiteScripts to automate data entry (which helps maintain SEO), quality assurance, and testing are required for customization. SuiteCommerce developers are necessary to get quality customization support.

3. Hourly Rate of SuiteCommerce Developers and Consultants

SuiteCommerce requires a unique skill set that is in high demand. Since it is such a niche requiring knowledge of NetSuite and web development, it can be challenging to find more affordable resources.

How to Reduce the Cost Factors?

First, let's talk about internal resources...

Internal Resources:

The more people you have available, the less you have to pay hourly contractors. However, keep efficiency in mind because you are still paying for internal workers. Stick to their strong points!

I have heard of companies that try to self-implement and have not been successful after two years!!! They have literally paid thousands of dollars in subscription fees without any income produced!!! If you try to self-implement and 2-3 months have passed, it's time to pass the torch and accept that you need help. Take the opportunity to work with an expert to learn. The moral of the story: Know your skill set limits. There is no reason to suffer defeat when you don't have to.

The moral of the story...know your skill set limits.

In summary, use internal resources when they can add value with skills they already have established. It's important to implement the commerce website quickly to generate revenue.

It's important to get the commerce website implemented quickly so it can generate revenue.

Customization:

The second step to reduce the cost of implementation is to reduce the number of customizations needed. This applies to SuiteCommerce theme (look and feel) and extension (added functionality) customization. Don't be afraid to customize, but only customize what is necessary for your business. SuiteCommerce has the essential commerce solutions out of the box to get you selling products effectively. If you need to customize, then do it. If it is a wish list item, customize it after it goes live. Get revenue before you start adding too many investments.

There is one scenario where it makes sense to do just a handful more customizations: when you have a successful existing e-commerce website migrating to SuiteCommerce. Spending more time in development here makes sense because you already have revenue from ecommerce coming into your business. Otherwise...start small.

Your CAP partner will be able to identify what an out-of-the-box SuiteCommerce implementation will involve. Expect it to range between 150 - 250 hours. It is basically harnessing all the native features. You will want to take time during the preliminary requirements gathering of your project to understand what is truly native. Sometimes a sales person will tell you more things are native than they actually are, and that isn't to deceive you. It's probably because they haven't spent as much time in the platform during development or because the software is continuously improving. Talk to a certified SuiteCommerce developer; they will truly know if it is native. It's OK to get a broad idea from a sales team, but when trying to reduce the implementation price, it is important to have complete assurance in the estimate by the developer's input.

SuiteCommerce Developer Rates (Affordable):

It's a no-brainer that a lower hourly rate will likely result in a lower implementation cost. The main mistake that could be made is using a developer without experience in SuiteCommerce. Don't go down that road... you will get burned. It's a specialty field that requires NetSuite developer, admin, and SuiteCommerce developer expertise. NetSuite has a SuiteCommerce certification that you should ask your partner about. Or if they are a CAP-certified team, then you should also be covered because they are required to pass a lot of project-based tests first.

You can find a qualified team of SuiteCommerce developers in the United States for as low as $120/hr. It is unlikely that you will get that low of a rate for projects under $18,000 because lower rates are often reserved for large projects. If you end up paying lower than $120/hr, you are getting developers outside the United States or a non-experienced contractor.

Here are some quick tips for finding an affordable SuiteCommerce consultant/developer in the United States.

1. Skip the Recruiter (Every middleman takes a cut). They have a real value in the space, so don't disqualify them forever.

2. Vet CAP partners to see if they primarily use developers outside the United States. Even though a CAP partner is based in the U.S., it doesn't mean they use U.S. developers. It's not the end of the world if they do, but if it is an important factor to you, you should at least ask.

3. Find someone who will teach you along the way. Otherwise, you will be left out to dry if you no longer have the basic knowledge to be self-sufficient.

4. Find a partner with post-Go-Live support who has a record of customization. You will want to optimize your shopping experience to increase sales.

Reasonable SuiteCommerce Implementation Expectations

Here are some expectations you should consider as reasonable.

• An out-of-the-box SuiteCommerce Standard implementation could cost as low as $15,000, but you should expect that it will likely cost at least $25,000 because everyone wants at least a couple of customizations.
• A SuiteCommerce Advanced implementation could be as low as $15,000 because it has the same out-of-the-box features as standard. However, you purchased SCA for a reason, and one of those reasons is customization. You will likely be spending at least $60,000+ because SCA users tend to require more customization before going live. They often have an existing e-commerce platform from which they are migrating, which means they are still getting e-commerce revenue.
• Expect to spend extra money on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because it is a unique skill. Some basics should be followed during the implementation, but things can be automated to ensure that when a new item is added, all SEO fields get populated no matter what. This is a long-term project, but we need to keep some room in the budget.
• SuiteCommerce is great for B2B. You may have more challenging configuration requirements due to your specific B2B processes. Customization will probably be your friend for B2B ecommerce. One example is Anchor Group's My Account Custom Records, which allows NetSuite custom records to appear in the "My Account" portion of SuiteCommerce. It's a customization that many B2B companies require.
• You will probably spend money on a detailed estimate that breaks down each requirement. People sometimes think they can have a 30-minute conversation and get a detailed estimate for a SuiteCommerce implementation. That would be very wrong...you have a business with unique processes that need to be understood properly. You can get a detailed estimate of a standardized quote, but you won't have a detailed quote for all the customizations you may want. Take the time to walk through each one. Standard B2B companies tend to take longer (about 10-20 hours), while B2C companies tend to take less time in this phase (5-10 hours). You will start to understand what is native and what requirements are not native during this time.
• A fully integrated NetSuite ecommerce solution has a lot of pieces. It is powerful but can also be delicate if not managed properly. There are huge benefits to accessing all the NetSuite ERP data to apply to the ecommerce website, but having something fully integrated also means it interacts with NetSuite constantly. That can be good or bad since it means you must keep your NetSuite Data clean, or errors in the data could surface on your website. Ultimately, I believe it to be a fantastic solution for a company trying to automate all its processes while centralizing its data.
• Expect to have to schedule an implementation. Some companies may have availability right away, but SuiteCommerce is in very high demand, and there are limited companies with the expertise to implement it. I think you should expect to have to schedule it no later than 6 weeks. It is a good opportunity to identify initial SuiteCommerce requirements, educate your NetSuite admin, prepare items, provision your theme, and do other miscellaneous work.
• Expect post-go-live work. There is no reason to think that your investment ends at go-live. Find a partner with a managed service plan to support you in going live. Even if you have internal employees managing NetSuite, they will need expert support while they learn more about SuiteCommerce. I suggest you allow the expert to assign small tasks to your NetSuite admin or developer while a partner does most of the work. Take advantage of easier tasks your employees can tackle while having an expert available for training and review.
• Keep an eye out for Free NetSuite training options

Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner & Commerce Partner

Hopefully, this post gives you something to work with while trying to understand NetSuite and what it can do for your business. If you have general questions about SuiteCommerce or more specific questions about how our team can support your business as you implement NetSuite or SuiteCommerce, feel free to contact our team at any time. Anchor Group is a certified Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner and Commerce Partner and is equipped to handle all kinds of NetSuite and SuiteCommerce projects, large or small!

We are a premium SuiteCommerce agency that creates powerful customer portals. Unlike our competitors, we have already solved your problems.

FREE SuiteCommerce Book

Want to learn more about SuiteCommerce and how it can benefit your business?  We'd like to gift you a FREE NetSuite Ecommerce paperback book!  Here at Anchor Group, we pride ourselves on having the heart of a teacher... this is just one of the many ways that we follow through on that value. So, what are you waiting for?

Order the free SuiteCommerce book today, and we'll even pay for shipping!