REPLATFORM TO COMPOSABLE ECOMMERCE WITHOUT RISK​ 

OLR has delivered and supported eCommerce solutions for over 25 years. Finding a better way to deliver fast benefits to our customers, OLR has developed Souk to de-risk your movement from monolith or proprietary applications to a composable micro-services solution.​

 
 
Composable Architecture OLR

Understanding Composable Architecture ​

Composable Architecture allows technology vendors to deliver API based microservices quickly and securely.​ The MACH Alliance provides a level of backend interoperability whilst other vendors provide microservice APIs. ​Microservices allow a decoupling of the backend from the frontend user experience (UX). ​With a discrete frontend, retailers can innovate their UX to provide personalised experiences using A/B testing to optimise results​. Speed to change is accelerated allowing retailers to respond to consumer trends.

What is SOUK?

Souk is a standalone headless application agnostic of the backend technology a client chooses​.
The Souk solution provides the following:

 

A rich mobile-first user experience, exposing all of the functionality for B2C and B2B.

IOS and Android mobile applications.

Secure data migration to ISO 27001 standards.

Fully integrated to an OMS system to orchestrate order efficiently.

A variable design to reflect the customer brand guidelines, consisting of a theme and CSS components.

Integrations to vendor supported backend services, should new integrations be required, OLR can develop them from available APIs.

Fully tested and complete with an automated regression test pack covering functionality, integrations, accessibility and Lighthouse audits.

A business model guaranteed to provide fast and ongoing optimal return on investment.

Graphic asset migration to a Content Management System (CMS).

Configured for subscriptions as required by the client.

Cloud hosted with active / active failover protection.

Application support that includes functional evolution.

Frontend Functionality


​OLR chose to develop and maintain Souk using a React frontend, this means that if internally a client has qualified developers or designers, we can accommodate their collaboration.

 
 

Header

  • B2C and B2B customers are served from the same site and functionality changes with their login​.

  • Logo – when visible, it will always bring you back to the homepage of the site. ​

  • Message banner – content managed in Builder.io. and all content is targetable. ​

  • Store Finder – Can list and find Client Stores, Client Outlet Stores, Stockist Stores, Click and Collect or drop off points. Store pages also provide local functionality.​

  • Help – Link to help pages.​

  • Site Flag - Rule - 1 site for each currency, no limit to languages per site, uses Locale e.g.: en_EU, fr_EU. ​

  • Search entry box - suggestion results for products, categories, content and events. ​

  • Marketing sign-up – preference saved to the customer’s profile.​

  • Register / Log in registration provides access to your account. ​

  • Wishlist – for logged-in users to create, share and realise their wishes.

  • Mini Cart - shows the number of items and value. ​

  • Catalogue taxonomy – Simple hierarchy direct from Kibo.

  • Rich Mega Menu is managed in Builder.IO – ‘Offers’ and ‘New’ are examples of dynamic categories.​

Home Page Content

  • Hero Section

  • Collections

  • Best Sellers​

  • All page space is targetable by rules or services, e.g. you can display different content to customer segments, anonymous, logged in, Loyal VIP, B2B roles​.

  • All content types are supported - text, static images, animated images and video.

  • Carousels derived from interactive data generated on the fly for all segments e.g. ‘top sellers’, ‘others also bought’, ‘recommendations’​.

  • Infinite Layout Variation

Product Listing Page

  • Product Listing Pages Support – Search Results, Category Landing Pages, Sub-category.

  • Breadcrumbs – Note if multiple parents default in Collections.​

  • Display Control – Customer selected presentation, number of Product Summary blocks across page​.

  • Consumer Sort Selections – Relevance, price Low to High, price High to Low, latest products, oldest products​.

  • Facets – Fully data driven from Catalog attributes.​

  • List View or Grid View – Particularly useful for B2B.​

  • Product Summary Block – Configurable with the key objective to initiate Add to Cart in minimum clicks​.

  • Wish List – Adds the product to the default wish list​.

  • Small Image served from CDN – alternative images can be displayed. ​

  • Short Description - Pulling from Catalog.

  • Pricing – Latest price updates always apply. ​

  • Badges – Can be automatically applied with the business rule, e.g. ‘New’ could be shown for the first active month. ​

  • Add to Basket – Adds the item to the basket and a mini cart pop-up appears to confirm. ​

  • Quick View – For product variants, the customer chooses values and adds to the cart.

Product Detail Page

  • Breadcrumbs​

  • Product Image - Also possible to upload videos.​

  • Alternative Images with animation.​

  • Product Image Carousel​

  • Product Description​

  • Product's Current Price

  • Fulfilment Options Radio Button - Multiple options can be enabled from the Admin console e.g. Pick up from a selected Store.​

  • Product Quantity - Increase or decrease the amount to be added to the cart.

  • Nearby Stores - Find stores near your location. ​

  • Add to Cart - Add the product to the cart while remaining on the same page.​

  • Add to Wishlist button. ​

  • One-Click Checkout Button - Registered users are taken straight to the Review section of the Checkout.​

  • Additional Information – Limit driven from Client data and available content.

Mini Cart - Pop Up

  • Confirmation Text – Item has been added to Cart.

  • Product Summary including prices. ​

  • Quantity​

  • Total Product Value ​

  • Tax and Shipping – Estimate or actual based on business rules (NB essential for US and Canada). ​

  • Go to full Cart Button​

  • Continue Shopping

  • Cross sell options can be added if needed.

Shopping Cart

  • Title and number of items in the current shopping Cart.

  • Product Summary

  • Edit Quantity ​

  • Shipping Options – These are configurable and can be product-dependent e.g. Digital Download, Pickup in Store, Ship to Home etc.​

  • Bin – deletes line item. ​

  • Edit button

  • Save for Later

  • Add to Favourites

  • Continue Shopping Button​

  • Cart Summary as Mini Cart.

  • Go to Checkout – Initiates Guest checkout, unless logged in. ​

  • Clear Cart – Deletes everything in the cart and returns a message ‘you have nothing in your cart’.​

  • Additional cross-sell or recommendations can be added as the client wishes.

Checkout

  • Concept is a single page checkout with section supporting Guest users and Registered customers.

  • Email Address – Encourage ‘Sign up now"‘ or order placement​.

  • Your Shopping cart – Summarises the contents of the Cart with ‘edit’ quantity and ‘delete item’ options​.

  • Proceed to Shipping or Continue Shopping.​

  • Shipping Address - You can select Shipping Address by clicking on the arrow to view other addresses or add a new address to your address book.​

  • Addresses verified by Google address validator​.

  • Shipping Method - Supports physical delivery, whether to home or store; as well as digital delivery for products e.g. event tickets. Tickets can also be added to you mobile phone wallet​.

  • “Go to Payment" or "Go Back" to navigate between sections​.

  • Billing Address - You can select Billing Address to be the same as Shipping Address or click on the arrow to view other addresses or add a new address.

  • Promo Code and Coupons - You can enter the Promo Code or Coupon and apply for the total discount. ​

  • Auto apply active system promotions​

  • Paid by Section allows multiple payment methods to be applied - Store Credits, Gift Cards, Debit/Credit Cards or any payment type for which you have an account.​

  • Review Order Option​

  • Place Order Option​

  • Order Acknowledgment includes a bar code (or QR Code) for easy checks in a physical store.

My Account

  • Breadcrumbs – Included on every page to facilitate navigation. Hello [First Name] - name associated with the account.

  • My Orders – See order history, view details, initiate return/refund, copy old orders to the Shopping Cart. ​

  • B2B Role access and initiate quotes​.

  • My Preferences - Edit personal details, receive emails with offers, verify identity for future purchases for age-restricted products. ​

  • My Payment Methods - Add payment methods to your account and billing addresses, set a default payment method (required for 1-click checkout).​

  • My Benefits - Where we store customers’ store credits, gift cards and loyalty points. ​

  • My Password - Modify your current password. ​

  • My Address Book - Add Shipping Addresses to your account and set a default address. ​

  • Log Out – Log out from your account.

Stores Pages

  • Serve Multiple Function, drive find a store with map and direction – integration with Google Maps.

  • Store Opening Hours​

  • Store Service, e.g. BOPIS​

  • Store Events and Ticketing​

  • Tickets added to iOS & Android phones

Footer

  • Newsletter Sign

  • Social Media Links​

  • Payment Type Accepted​

  • Multi Columns Options for content managed page links​.

  • Copyright Statement

 
SOUK frontend OLR

Backend Functionality

 

Order Creation & Management

  • Souk connects seamlessly to technology vendors.

  • API calls for catalogue, customer, prices, inventory, basket, checkout flow, emails, transactional emails, etc. calls for catalogue, customer, prices, inventory, basket, checkout flow, multi- language, multi-site and currency support, and all transactional emails, etc. ​

  • B2B and B2C compatible.

  • Multiple roles and privileges management.

  • Quote price list generation​

  • Subscription management​

  • Souk supports multiple Order Management systems to provide a single view of the customer.​

  • Integrations with third-party applications either using existing technology vendor integrations or vendor APIs​.

  • Payment services are to Client requirements.​

  • Stores Customers in a secure manner​.

Personalisation

  • All content is targetable​

  • All content can be A/B tested to optimise experiences.​

  • Integrations with third-party applications either uses existing technology vendor integrations or vendor APIs​.

  • Multi-site and multi-language is managed by an OLR’s custom integration.​

  • Using the OLR integration, specific content can be linked to the site catalogues and vice versa​.

  • Migrate content-managed pages to Builder.io repositories and CDN.​​

Additional Built-in Services

  • Maintains the value and hence liability of client gift cards​.

  • Maintain a loyalty scheme for the client​.

  • Provide Age Verification for product sales restricted by age.​

  • Verify ID for fraud prevention.​

BENEFITS

 

Headless Without the Headache

  • The architecture is defined.​

  • Backend unit tests are in place.​

  • See an example of your catalogue in the demo.


Enhanced Omnichannel Experiences​​

  • Consistency across channels - a single back-end can power multiple front-ends, such as mobile apps, in-store kiosks, or marketplaces.​


Efficient Integration

  • All integrations are included in the test and monitoring pack to ensure the solution is robust.

 



Flexibility & Customisation

  • Regular customer UX refresh. ​

  • Full A/B testing to optimise the client presence and customer experience​.

  • Customisable frontend - retailers can create unique, highly tailored customer experiences without being restricted by back-end templates.

Reduced Risk

  • OLR have been supporting enterprise omni channel for over 20 years with no customer outages.​

  • The business model differentiates OLR from all other System Integrators.​

  • The solution is wrapped in regression tests with test status reporting visible from the first customer build.

Secure Migration

  • Customer data is migrated to ensure there is no chance of copy or security leaks using OLR’s ISO 27001-compliant process.​

  • Catalog data and optimised images are migrated to a secure CDN repository​.

 

Cost-Effective Implementation

  • Custom integrations included following Scope Discovery workshops​.

  • Fully tested, fixed timescale delivery.​

  • Flexibility & Customisations – Regular customer UX refresh.



Enhanced Customer Experiences​​

  • Faster page loads - modern front-end frameworks often deliver better performance, improving SEO and user satisfaction.​​

  • Dynamic personalisation - APIs enable more real-time, dynamic content and personalised shopping experiences.

 
 



Our Partners

 

Get your eCommerce up and running quickly, with OLR’s Souk Implementation Accelerator

 
 

Any questions for the Oracle Retail experts?

Is your company in need of a retail transformation? What Oracle Retail Systems are you reviewing or planning to use? Are you moving from on-prem to the cloud?


Let’s not wonder, let’s talk!
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