IBM announced today the latest version of its WebSphere Commerce platform, adding inventory and order management capabilities.
WebSphere Commerce 5.4, which is available in two versions, is targeted at both business-to-consumer and business-to-business commerce sites. The first two customers on this version of the platform are Staples, for its StaplesLink.com B2B site, and Panasonic, for its B2B and B2C sites.
Both B2B and B2C sites are expected to be able to take advantage of the new inventory and order management capabilities. Both types of sites can use the new real-time inventory capabilities to represent in-stock items visually so that customers of the sites can see online merchandise availability before ordering an item.
The new order management capabilities allow customers to track expected ship dates and automatically process back orders.
There are also new collaborative workspaces for B2B sites so that businesses can speed decision-making by sharing documents like requests for price quotes and requests for proposals.
WebSphere Commerce Professional Edition 5.4, for B2C sites, starts at $80,000 per processor. WebSphere Commerce Business Edition 5.4, for B2B sites, adds account and contract management and more security, and starts at $125,000 per processor. Both versions are available now.
