Microsoft, Cactus announce Commerce Server 2009

"In today's retail environment, where consumers have more choice and control over how they interact with a brand, organizations must include social, mobile and other cross-channel shopping options. Commerce Server 2009 offers organizations the ability to increase loyalty, brand awareness, and extend audience reach by delivering a more consistent and connected shopping experience to consumers — whether that experience is in-store, via the Web or on a mobile device," said Steven Goulet, product unit manager for Microsoft Commerce Server at Microsoft.

Commerce Server 2009 features a new Multi-channel Commerce Foundation, SharePoint Commerce Services, and interoperability with the Microsoft ecosystem including Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Expression, Microsoft Virtual Earth and Windows Live ID. "Commerce Server 2009 enables organizations to focus on what's important — the customer shopping experience. This focus is further supported by the ability to work with social and Web 2.0 community features and capabilities to engage and interact with consumers," said Jean-Yves Martineau, chief technology officer and founder of Cactus Commerce.

Under Microsoft's direction and stringent product quality controls, Cactus Commerce built the Multi-channel Commerce Foundation which offers a new unified programming model to enable true cross channel development. Using a single API, developers can rapidly create shopping experiences for multiple channels — like mobile, kiosks and the Web. This offers increased agility and compressed time to market, helping organizations save money on site development while focusing on the customer experience.

As part of Commerce Server 2009, SharePoint Commerce Services ships with more than 30 different Web parts and controls. These Web parts offer a building-block approach within SharePoint Products and Technologies to deliver contemporary e-commerce Web site functionality. The integration with SharePoint Products and Technologies also offers an out-of-the-box site and templating features for rapid site creation.Formerchandisers and marketers, seamless content management controls make it easy to update Web site content, catalogs and marketing campaigns.

"Consumers today expect a seamless experience regardless of where they buy. At the same time, retailers realize that superior experiences drive loyalty and sales — of critical importance in the current economic climate," said David Gruehn, U.S. retail industry solutions director, Microsoft Corp. "With powerful out-of-the-box capabilities and built-in Web 2.0 features,Commerce Server 2009 helps retailers address these issues head-on, creating true multi-channel experiences for their customers."

Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 will appear on the Microsoft price list effective April 1, 2009.