What is our primary use case?
I primarily use the tool in Sobeys, which is a retail organization. Around five to six years ago, Sobeys came up with an e-commerce offering, which initially was pretty rudimentary because of this the organization needed a solution that would unify e-commerce elements so that it would be truly an omnichannel tool for the company. With the solution in place, there would be a common product catalog and inventory across the company, including in-store and e-commerce parts. Since Sobeys was primarily a retail company, the company has a lot of legacy ERP systems, because of which there was a need for a solution to be able to interact with a lot of the systems. Based on the aforementioned factors, I explored a few solutions, after which I zeroed in on Orckestra because it suited my company's budget and was composable while also being an API-based tool. The solution was also available on Azure platform on which the back-end systems at Sobeys are based, and it is a reason why I zeroed in on Orckestra.
What is most valuable?
Inventory, visibility, catalog management, and order orchestration are the most valuable features of the solution.
What needs improvement?
The issue with Orckestra stems from the fact that if I want some customization, then I need to work with Orckestra's team, which is a slow process. It is also pretty expensive to get minor tweaks done in the product, a major reason that slows down a lot of our company's projects. The aforementioned area is where I would like to see improvements in Orckestra. The solution should offer a better app store with a lot more plug-and-play services to its customers where there is not much requirement of a development effort from Orckestra's team.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Orckestra for four to five years. My company is a customer of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is pretty responsive. If I need to take action according to the responses provided by the technical support team of the product, then it is really a slow process. If I consider the need for the product's support team to meet my goals, I would rate the technical team a five out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with Shopify. Comparing Shopify and Orckestra, it's like comparing apples and oranges. Orckestra is for larger organizations or enterprises, where I wouldn't recommend Shopify. Shopify has a much more robust ecosystem for small to medium businesses, making it a much better choice than Orckestra. In scenarios where there is an overlap, I would say that Shopify is better than Orckestra. In general, Shopify is for smaller businesses, and Orckestra is for bigger businesses.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is deployed on a hybrid cloud model.
The solution can be installed with all the functionalities that our company requires in a year.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is likely on the pricier side, though it is considered a budget platform compared to Salesforce. With Orckestra, you don't get all the benefits that a larger platform offers, making it fall on the pricier side.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
An alternative to Orckestra would be Salesforce or Adobe Commerce, which was known as Magneto previously.
From the aforementioned products, Salesforce would be the best tool to select since it integrates with CRM and helps with the engagement part, making it much easier to personalize user experience.
What other advice do I have?
The features of the product that I found to be the most instrumental in providing customer experience stem from the unified inventory and catalog management.
The feature of the product that streamlined our company's order management and fulfillment processes is the order orchestration engine.
I would rate the tool's ability to handle peak traffic and scale during any high-demand periods an eight to eight and a half out of ten since I have not had any major problems with the product.
The measurable benefit my company has experienced from the use of the product stems from the fact that our organization's e-commerce orders have increased by five times compared to what it was earlier, especially if I consider the inclusion of campaigns.
I would ask those who plan to use the solution to map out all their internal workflows and processes and then evaluate what they need, after which they need to look at the solutions with which they can do away, or instead of Orckestra, they could probably go ahead with Shopify. I would say that make sure that you really understand all your architecture and your workflows before settling on a solution.
I rate the overall tool a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.