Nacelle vs. Commercetools

Where others complicate, we streamline for speed, efficiency, and a lower total cost of ownership. Experience the future of commerce with Nacelle’s cutting-edge data orchestration.

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There's a reason why the most innovative brands choose Nacelle. What's stopping you from choosing a modern platform?

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Embrace the new era of commerce technology.

Commercetools was built on technology in 2013 and now struggles to keep pace with the rapid evolution of e-commerce. Nacelle’s modern architecture provides a more agile and scalable solution, ensuring your business stays ahead of the curve.

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Beyond APIs: The power of data orchestration.

Unlike Commercetools' multi-API approach that can prolong project timelines, Nacelle's Data Orchestration ensures seamless data synchronization across systems, simplifying integrations and accelerating go-to-market. Do everything with a single, elegant API.

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Shift from a phase of average growth to a trajectory of rapid expansion.

22ms

API response time

Highest, fastest performing headless technology

37%

Superior conversion success

Higher overall conversion rate compared to other commerce platforms

99.9%

Reliable performance

Uptime you can depend on - even during BFCM

Optimize your investment.

With Nacelle, experience a significantly lower total cost of ownership compared to Commercetools' steep SaaS fees. Our competitive licensing model is designed for enterprise efficiency and is used as a lever to reduce costs.

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Empower your technology with flexibility.

Nacelle’s composable data layer offers unmatched flexibility, enabling easy vendor swaps without front-end overhauls—unlike Commercetools, where changes can be a complex, technical challenge associated with long time-to-market cycles.

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Aligning technology with your vision.

Nacelle connects technological innovation with crucial business outcomes and KPIs like conversion rate and average order value increases which leads to digital growth. This ensures your board of directors sees the value beyond the code.

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Frequently asked questions 

Platform

When was Nacelle built?

Nacelle was founded in 2019

Is Nacelle ideal for SMB merchants?

No. Nacelle is ideal for mid-market and enterprise merchants only.

Isn’t the workflow functionality in Nacelle difficult?

Not at all. In fact, many merchants find that pairing Nacelle with a CMS offers a far superior workflow compared to alternatives like Salesforce Business Manager. This combination enhances user experience significantly. Additionally, Genesis, our AI-powered personalization tool, further simplifies the management of the shopping experience for marketers. It's not just about ease of use; it's about smarter, more efficient workflows.

Can I go headless on Nacelle immediately?

Nacelle is built specifically for and only for headless shopping experiences. Unlike most commerce platforms designed nearly two decades ago, Nacelle only runs in a headless environment.

Does Nacelle have an app store?

Nacelle takes a different approach than the typical app store model, which is more suited for small-scale experimentation. Larger merchants, our primary clients, require stable, long-term solutions, not frequent vendor changes.

Is Nacelle compliant?

Yes, Nacelle is SOC 2 and GDPR compliant. Here you can access a full description of Nacelle’s platform security, GDPR data policy, privacy policy.

How configurable is Nacelle’s checkout?
At Nacelle, we empower merchants to fully command their customers' purchase journey, from the initial engagement on the landing page right through to the order confirmation. Our approach transcends basic layout adjustments or simple component integrations.
 
With Nacelle's Checkout solution, merchants can dismantle the constraints of typical monolithic e-commerce platforms, segmenting them into more agile, specialized services. Each service in our ecosystem not only handles a specific business function but also seamlessly integrates through the Nacelle Orchestration Layer. This approach enables merchants to not just keep pace, but to lead and shape new trends in the digital commerce space.

Results

What kind of conversion rate can I expect with Nacelle?

Merchants who move from other commerce platforms to Nacelle can expect an estimated 37% conversion rate boost. Merchants on other high-converting platforms like Shopify, can expect an estimated 28% increase in conversion rates when moving to Nacelle.

Reliability

Is Nacelle financially stable?

Yes, Nacelle is a venture-backed company with over $70 million raised from prominent institutional investors including Tiger Global, Index Ventures and iNovia.

What is Nacelle’s uptime?

Nacelle has an uptime of 99.99%

Does Nacelle offer SLA’s?

Yes, Nacelle offers Service Level Agreements (SLAs) tailored to meet various business needs, including a premium tier that guarantees 99.99% uptime. Our SLAs are designed to provide assurance and reliability, ensuring that your e-commerce operations run smoothly and efficiently with minimal downtime.

Is Nacelle as reliable as other platforms?

Absolutely. Nacelle not only matches but often exceeds the reliability of other platforms. Our superior uptime record is a testament to this. We are so confident in our platform's reliability that we offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) as a commitment to our performance standards.

Integration

Aren’t integrations with Nacelle difficult?

Not at all. Nacelle offers powerful GraphQL and REST APIs that support all modern commerce applications, making integrations straightforward. Our merchants enjoy dependable connections with a wide range of vendors, including ESPs, OMS, CMS, PIMs, and more, covering everything from search and personalization to customer support, reviews, subscriptions, POS, and social media integrations.

Do I need multiple vendor contracts to make Nacelle work?

Not at all. Opting for Nacelle doesn't mean you'll need more vendor contracts than you would with Shopify. In fact, Nacelle is designed to integrate efficiently with existing systems like your ERP, thereby streamlining your backend services. Our aim is to work effectively with your current systems, reducing the necessity for extra vendors and simplifying the overall management of your e-commerce operations.

Does Nacelle integrate with Commercetools?

Yes, Nacelle integrates with Commercetools. 

Implementation

Do I need a partner to implement Nacelle?

While we are always happy to work with the SI partner of your choice, we also provide a full implementation and launch team.

Isn’t everything custom in Nacelle?

Nacelle blends managed services with customization. We handle complex backend tasks, freeing you to customize where it benefits your brand most. This approach ensures efficient operation without imposing unnecessary custom work, allowing you to focus on what sets your brand apart.

Do I have to do a full migration?

No. Nacelle's ingestion engine is technology-agnostic, capable of extracting data from any system, including popular legacy solutions such as Commercetools, Adobe Magento, Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and others. Nacelle integrates with your existing technology, keeping business operations stable and avoiding the need for data migration to a new platform.

Does Nacelle include hosting?

Yes, Nacelle can include credits that can be used for world-class Cloudflare hosting.

How long does it take a merchant to get up and running with Nacelle?

Typical implementation time for a merchant is 3-4 months. 

Pricing

Isn’t Nacelle really expensive?

Nacelle offers a transparent pricing structure and does not require you to estimate forward sales to get competitive rates. This leads to a lower total cost of ownership. With Nacelle, you get higher conversion rates while saving on long-term costs.

Innovation

How does Nacelle innovate?

Nacelle's innovation is driven by a combination of factors. Our focus on larger merchants allows us to move swiftly and adaptively, tailoring our technology to sophisticated, evolving business needs. Being built in 2019 gives us a substantial technological advantage over platforms like Shopify, which originated in 2006. 
Moreover, our CEO's technical background as an engineer ensures that innovation is at the forefront of our strategy. A significant portion of our capital is invested in R&D and Customer Success, ensuring that we not only innovate but also effectively implement and support these advancements.

What other offering does Nacelle have to help me expand my business?

One of Nacelle's key offerings for business expansion is Genesis, our AI-powered personalization tool. Genesis enables marketing teams to build tailored content and shopping flows efficiently and quickly. It's designed to help you deeply engage customers and shoppers without hiring an enormous team.

Headless & Composable

Aren’t all headless commerce solutions the same? What’s the difference between Nacelle and Salesforce?

Headless commerce solutions vary significantly, and Nacelle stands out from Commercetools. Nacelle is a robust data orchestration platform optimized for headless commerce. Many Nacelle users prefer pairing it with extensive open-source front-ends like React Next or Vue Next.

Moreover, Nacelle offers a powerful GraphQL API that enables fetching both product and content data in a single query. This makes Nacelle more flexible and efficient, particularly for businesses seeking a comprehensive, adaptable headless commerce solution.

Why is a composable solution better than an all-in-one solution?

A composable solution, like Nacelle, offers flexibility and scalability that all-in-one solutions often lack. It provides the option to integrate best-of-breed services that specifically address your business's unique needs. This means you're not limited to the capabilities of a single provider. 
Instead, you can select the most effective tools for each function, ensuring optimal performance and adaptability. Composable solutions also facilitate easier updates and adaptations to emerging technologies, keeping your business agile and ahead in a rapidly evolving market.

I heard headless commerce was just a buzzword, why is headless important to my business?

Headless commerce is a strategic game-changer, not just a buzzword. It separates front-end and back-end operations, offering unparalleled flexibility. This leads to much faster page load speeds and significantly reduced bounce rates, enhancing user experience. 

The result? Substantially higher conversion rates. By adopting headless commerce, businesses can rapidly adapt to market trends and offer personalized, responsive shopping experiences, critical for driving growth in a competitive digital marketplace.