Kim Schultz
Principal
5 January 2017
Episerver Combines CMS, Commerce and Marketing in One Platform
Episerver is an ASP.NET MVC based CMS and commerce system that I have worked with daily for about 3 years now.
Episerver has a lot of features, but seen from a technical view, one of the cool things in Episerver is that it is code-first. That means that you almost never have to worry about database changes since the code handles the database. But doing database code-first also presents some problems. Renaming existing properties can be very tricky and removing properties in Episerver Commerce is almost impossible because of database dependencies.
Another cool thing is that Episerver combines CMS, commerce and marketing in one platform. This means, that the editors have everything in the same system. You do not need to use additional tools to create a campaign or update an image. This is the same for the developer - how they fetch a product is the same way that they would fetch a block or a page. That makes Episerver fast and easy to code in.
Episerver also uses the concept of blocks. Think of blocks as small pieces of your website, like a piece of text, an image or a video (or a combination of those).
You can use blocks everywhere on your website where you have a content area and even use the same block multiple places. By using data about visitors, you can combine your blocks with visitor groups and customise your web content. This enables you to target exactly what it is you want your visitors to see and bring a more personalised website experience to your users. Having a personalised website can be very advantageous, but it comes with one problem; you have to maintain an enormous amount of content.
The upside is, that Episerver is working on that. Through artificial intelligence and predictive machine-learning, Episerver is working towards automating the personalisation process. This means that each customer will be presented with products and information that is relevant for that specific user.
If a customer for instance logs into a telecommunication website, then specific information about this user might reveal that he or she has an old version of the iPhone. The advertisements presented on the website could then change to only show the newest iPhones on the market. Information could also reveal that he or she has been a customer for a very long time, and should therefore be presented with a special offer. Maybe even a special offer of the newest iPhone. Hence, it becomes easier for the company to sell their products, by using customer’s data wisely.
I find this very exciting and it is something, that I will keep an eye on.
Episerver has a lot of features, but seen from a technical view, one of the cool things in Episerver is that it is code-first. That means that you almost never have to worry about database changes since the code handles the database. But doing database code-first also presents some problems. Renaming existing properties can be very tricky and removing properties in Episerver Commerce is almost impossible because of database dependencies.
Another cool thing is that Episerver combines CMS, commerce and marketing in one platform. This means, that the editors have everything in the same system. You do not need to use additional tools to create a campaign or update an image. This is the same for the developer - how they fetch a product is the same way that they would fetch a block or a page. That makes Episerver fast and easy to code in.
Episerver also uses the concept of blocks. Think of blocks as small pieces of your website, like a piece of text, an image or a video (or a combination of those).
You can use blocks everywhere on your website where you have a content area and even use the same block multiple places. By using data about visitors, you can combine your blocks with visitor groups and customise your web content. This enables you to target exactly what it is you want your visitors to see and bring a more personalised website experience to your users. Having a personalised website can be very advantageous, but it comes with one problem; you have to maintain an enormous amount of content.
The upside is, that Episerver is working on that. Through artificial intelligence and predictive machine-learning, Episerver is working towards automating the personalisation process. This means that each customer will be presented with products and information that is relevant for that specific user.
If a customer for instance logs into a telecommunication website, then specific information about this user might reveal that he or she has an old version of the iPhone. The advertisements presented on the website could then change to only show the newest iPhones on the market. Information could also reveal that he or she has been a customer for a very long time, and should therefore be presented with a special offer. Maybe even a special offer of the newest iPhone. Hence, it becomes easier for the company to sell their products, by using customer’s data wisely.
I find this very exciting and it is something, that I will keep an eye on.
Episerver has a lot of features, but seen from a technical view, one of the cool things in Episerver is that it is code-first. That means that you almost never have to worry about database changes since the code handles the database. But doing database code-first also presents some problems. Renaming existing properties can be very tricky and removing properties in Episerver Commerce is almost impossible because of database dependencies.
Another cool thing is that Episerver combines CMS, commerce and marketing in one platform. This means, that the editors have everything in the same system. You do not need to use additional tools to create a campaign or update an image. This is the same for the developer - how they fetch a product is the same way that they would fetch a block or a page. That makes Episerver fast and easy to code in.
Episerver also uses the concept of blocks. Think of blocks as small pieces of your website, like a piece of text, an image or a video (or a combination of those).
You can use blocks everywhere on your website where you have a content area and even use the same block multiple places. By using data about visitors, you can combine your blocks with visitor groups and customise your web content. This enables you to target exactly what it is you want your visitors to see and bring a more personalised website experience to your users. Having a personalised website can be very advantageous, but it comes with one problem; you have to maintain an enormous amount of content.
The upside is, that Episerver is working on that. Through artificial intelligence and predictive machine-learning, Episerver is working towards automating the personalisation process. This means that each customer will be presented with products and information that is relevant for that specific user.
If a customer for instance logs into a telecommunication website, then specific information about this user might reveal that he or she has an old version of the iPhone. The advertisements presented on the website could then change to only show the newest iPhones on the market. Information could also reveal that he or she has been a customer for a very long time, and should therefore be presented with a special offer. Maybe even a special offer of the newest iPhone. Hence, it becomes easier for the company to sell their products, by using customer’s data wisely.
I find this very exciting and it is something, that I will keep an eye on.