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In the battle for digital domination, search reigns supreme – and brands are stepping up their search game.According to a survey by SearchNode, 68% of eCommerce industry leaders are improving their search functionality in 2021 and expanding the lens of their magnifying glasses. That plays directly into today's news that digital experience platform provider <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore</a> is acquiring San Mateo-based <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/">Reflektion,</a> an AI-powered digital search solution that understands and predicts patterns, context, and needs – so brands can convert more shoppers into buyers.The addition of Reflektion's technology will enable Sitecore to better engage, educate, and empower shoppers to make purchase decisions faster – increasing buyer confidence, long-term revenue, and overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.The acquisition – a continuation of Sitecore’s epic <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/">$1.2 billion growth plan</a> – will help marketers solve the information overload that is characteristic of traditional search solutions, which can impede a customer's ability to find and select the products they're looking for.When <a target="_blank" href="https://www.webfx.com/seo/statistics/#:~:text=When%20people%20go%20online%20to,search%20engine%20to%20guide%20them.">93% of all online experiences start with search</a>, it's fair to say that it's essential to the customer buying journey. Reflektion elevates the value of search by transforming it into a conversational, guided experience that provides more personal, accessible, and tailored answers for the customer. “Search is about more than just entering words into a box and hoping for the right results – it is the cornerstone of a digital experience," said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tzikakis/">Steve Tzikakis</a>, CEO, Sitecore. "With Reflektion, a brand can add various types of search including personalized search, preview search, conversational search, and voice search. This reduces customers’ effort and anxiety to find exactly what they need – with more convenience and speed – and leads to increased customer satisfaction with more conversions and revenue. Acquiring Reflektion reinforces Sitecore’s position as the leader in digital experience technologies that meets customers at the moment with more relevant, intuitive, and human experiences.”<h2>Elevating the E-commerce Experience with AI</h2>Reflektion brings an array of complementary commerce, AI, and personalization capabilities to Sitecore, which will further augment the DXP's acquisition of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/">Four51,</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/">Boxever</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-moosend-adds-ai-powered-email-marketing-automation/">Moosend</a>. Together, this nexus of data and deep learning technologies will allow Sitecore to seamlessly deliver intelligent, personalized, real-time information across channels.Four51’s API-first, headless e-commerce solution enables organizations to quickly and easily deliver engaging shopping experiences, helping them improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Four51’s feature set complements their existing B2C commerce capabilities while the Customer Data Platform (CDP) Boxever enhances customer intelligence with AI-driven personalization tools – making it easy to capture, unify and activate customer data and deliver personalized experiences at scale.With a robust stack powering their growth across data and digital commerce, search presents an ideal channel for connecting and expanding Sitecore's breadth of capabilities – and Reflektion delivers on that vision.“Since its inception eight years ago, Reflektion has become recognized for its unique approach to search-product discovery technology," said Amar Chokhawala, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Reflektion. "Our technology uses AI to adjust each consumer’s digital experience, in the moment, based on diverse data from multiple channels. I am proud of the passionate team at Reflektion who has been successful in bringing our AI-first approach to many site-search deployments for large e-commerce and retailers’ websites. With Sitecore, the Reflektion team and customers will be able to continue to leverage the enhancement of digital experiences, leading to continued growth and results for all.”The acquisition is expected to close in September 2021.<h2>Ramping Up the Competition</h2>Sitecore fired a "shot heard 'round the DXP world" last January when it announced its ambitious $1.2 billion growth strategy – which brewed speculation amongst competitors and analysts alike.While the mature market player celebrated its fourth year in a row as a Leader on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for DXPs</a>, it fell slightly behind both Acquia and Episerver (now Optimizely). <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/01/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms-2021.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms-2021" /><a target="_blank" href="https://www.contentful.com/resources/forrester-wave-agile-cms-2021-report/">Forrester’s Q1 Wave Report for Agile CMSes</a> paints a similar picture. Since 2019, Sitecore has elevated its Strong Performer status, now straddling the fence of the Leaders circle with a wider market presence. But like the Gartner MQ, they are lagging behind Acquia and Optimizely.With the acquisition of Boxever, Four51, Moosend, and now Reflektion, Sitecore seems poised to pounce. As competition heats up at the highest level of the enterprise, CMS and DXP players are accelerating their investment in innovation – and buying up the missing pieces to their platform puzzle. With consumers relying more on AI-driven voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, the channel opportunities for search are expanding in dynamic ways. Sitecore's bid to stay top-of-mind and top-of-market will require more than acquisitions. But their stack is looking more like a vision – and that's what every platform is searching for.<h2>About Sitecore</h2>Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world’s smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers. A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce, and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies including American Express, ASOS, Kimberly-Clark, L’Oréal and Volvo Cars rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers. Learn more at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore.com</a>.<h2>About Reflektion</h2>Reflektion’s Digital Commerce Experience Platform for eCommerce and Retail listens to the behaviors of each individual shopper, utilizes <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/glossary/artificial-intelligence-ai/">Artificial Intelligence</a> to calculate their preferences and intent, and then responds to every moment-to-moment interaction by displaying the most relevant content and products in real-time and across the digital touchpoints that matter most—including preview and site search, product recommendations, category and <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/glossary/landing-page/">landing pages</a>, and email.Leading retail brands such as Skechers, Ulta, Reeds, Petco, Ascena and RiteAid rely on Reflektion’s platform.Founded by pioneers in Artificial Intelligence and awarded both the Best eCommerce Solution and Best Overall Business Technology Solution by SIIA in 2019, Reflektion combines individual shopper insights, product intelligence, and <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/glossary/artificial-intelligence-ai/">AI</a> to create more relevant and impactful eCommerce experiences.

Sitecore Acquires AI-Powered Search Platform Reflektion

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These days, if you're not beating the DXP drum of "composable" and "scalable," you might seem out of step with the direction of the market. That's been a challenge for traditionally monolithic platforms that have invested in a vision of completeness for enterprise customers, but still want to be perceived as flexible amidst a growing stack of services. 
In an effort to MACHify (more on that in a minute), <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore</a> is evolving its own monolithic legacy position by adapting its fully-integrated platform of solutions. At last week's <a href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/en/world-tour/London" target="_blank">Sitecore Symposium World Tour</a> in London, the company outlined a composable product portfolio, showcasing customers delivering digital experiences at scale with its own composable offerings. 
<h2>Driving DXP growth through strategic acquisitions</h2>
In case you missed the barrage of stories we covered, Sitecore has been making headlines since announcing its <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/" target="_blank">$1.2 billion capital investment</a> last year – which, at the time, was unprecedented in the industry. 
As part of its growth plan, the company went on an acquisition spree. In just one year, it purchased four technologies that addressed key gaps in its DXP strategy: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-ai-powered-search-platform-reflektion/" target="_blank">Reflektion</a>, an AI-powered digital search solution; <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-moosend-adds-ai-powered-email-marketing-automation/" target="_blank">Moosend</a>, an e-mail marketing automation, and campaign management platform; <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/" target="_blank">Boxever</a>, a SaaS-based Customer Data Platform (CDP); and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/" target="_blank">Four51</a>, a digital commerce platform for e-Commerce B2B marketplace solutions. 
According to the company, these platforms are now fully integrated into Sitecore, achieving a significant milestone in delivering a complete, SaaS-based DXP.
<h2>MACH vs. monolith... or can we all just get along?</h2>
We've talked a lot about <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-releases-study-on-adoption-of-mach-technologies-by-tech-leaders-qa-with-sonja-keerl/">MACH</a>-based composable architectures and how they're being adopted at a wild pace, particularly as brands look to scale faster and faster. Following the seismic shift in digital transformation following the Covid-19 pandemic, many CMS and DXP companies doubled down on a composable market posture – and Sitecore was among the enterprise crop that announced its intentions to invest in a more composable DXP position.
Sitecore's product updates have been fundamental to expanding its advanced, SaaS-enabled capabilities, which do align with several principles of MACH architectures (which stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless). Sitecore says that its suite of capabilities will enable brands to provide real-time, personalized digital experiences across every touchpoint, from content to commerce – powered by the cloud. 
One of the key challenges for vendors in the MACH space is the ability to prove their "MACH centricity" under the tenants established by the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-releases-study-on-adoption-of-mach-technologies-by-tech-leaders-qa-with-sonja-keerl/">MACH Alliance</a>. The industry organization has become a bellwether for all things MACH and established strict requirements for members that reinforce the underlying fundamentals of the movement – all in an effort to help companies invest in the most composable solutions on the market.  For platforms like Sitecore, this has become an opportunity to tout the benefits of its broader market offerings while future-proofing products like <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/blog/headless/what-is-mach-architecture" target="_blank">Sitecore OrderCloud as "MACH Certified."</a> 
"For brands to truly meet the moment, it has never been more crucial than it is now to adopt technology that offers choice, flexibility, and speed," said Dave O'Flanagan, Chief Product Officer at Sitecore. "Sitecore is committed to delivering a composable DXP that meets the continuously changing needs of brands – unifying content, experience, and commerce, enabling them to offer exceptional customer experiences while continuing to innovate for whatever demands are around the corner. Ambitious brands have outgrown the one-size-fits-all vendors, and they will not settle for piecemeal point solutions – they need a stack of best-in-class features that work in harmony together – and this is what Sitecore delivers."
Here are more details on the updates to Sitecore's product offerings, which all build on innovation via their acquisitions:
<h2>Sitecore OrderCloud</h2>
<a href="https://ordercloud.io/" target="_blank">Sitecore OrderCloud</a> is an API-first, headless cloud platform for B2B, B2C, and B2X. This capability comes from the Four51 acquisition, which originally designed the platform. The new updates expand OrderCloud's marketplace support capabilities with the release of new order routing flexibility, supplier empowerment, and pricing flexibility. And as mentioned, OrderCloud is powered by a MACH architecture, giving it greater flexibility within the Sitecore stack.  
In addition, OrderCloud released a new Inventory Records feature to provide management flexibility that enables manufacturers, distributors, and retailers with seamless operational and commerce capabilities.
"With Sitecore OrderCloud, we are excited about the possibilities of connecting our customers with products they need and want to play sports and have fun," said Jason McConnell, Director of Product at NBC Sports Next. "We picked Sitecore OrderCloud because we're impressed with its composable developer-first functionality, which should give us all the flexibility needed to seamlessly weave commerce into our existing technology platforms." 
<h3>Sitecore Send</h3>
<a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/send" target="_blank">Sitecore Send</a> is an e-mail marketing automation tool that evolved from the Moosend acquisition. Sitecore's updates include six additional languages: Spanish, French, German, Greek, Japanese, and Portuguese. Sitecore also announced a new pricing plan with a 30-day free trial for the full range of Send's enterprise-level features.
<h3>Sitecore Discover</h3>
<a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/discover" target="_blank">Sitecore Discover</a> is an AI-powered product search and merchandising solution that came with the acquisition of Reflektion. It helps understand and predict an individual shopper's purchase intent based on patterns, context, and needs – all of which help convert browsers into buyers.
The updates provide Sitecore Discover's Commerce Engagement Console (CEC) with a revamped appearance library and editor, providing a better user experience and more control over merchandising. It also improves its widgets with type filters and rule exports, adding more convenience for users.
<h3>Sitecore Personalize</h3>
<a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/sitecore-personalize" target="_blank">Sitecore Personalize</a> is an AI-driven, cloud-native solution for delivering tailored experiences to every customer. The product stems from the acquisition of Boxever, a SaaS-based Customer Data Platform (CDP) that provides decisioning and experimentation capabilities.
As part of the update package, Sitecore Personalize has completed its integration with Sitecore Experience Manager, offering channel diagnostic testing and real-time personalization that complements Sitecore's market-leading CMS – and is all delivered in the cloud.
<h3>Expanded integrations for Salesforce and more</h3>
Sitecore also published several new connectors on its Sitecore Marketplace for several product integrations, including Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Responsys, and Klaviyo. The company also added new AI-powered product discovery capabilities to support a broad range of commerce-related use cases, including intelligent search, product listing pages, and product recommendations.
<h2>Ramping up the competition</h2>
Sitecore has been a consistent Leader on <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/webinars/4005210/the-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms" target="_blank">Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a>. However, in the most recent 2022 assessment, the platform has fallen slightly behind its chief competitors, Acquia and Optimizely, while Adobe continues to maintain its dominance.  
<img style="max-width:800px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/gartner-dxp-mq-2022-graphic.webp" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXPs graphic 2022" />
According to Gartner, the <a href="https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-keynote-the-future-of-business-is-composable" target="_blank">future of business is composable</a>, and Sitecore's journey towards composability and the cloud illustrates its commitment to the market. The analyst firm noted that Sitecore's efforts to convert its core applications into SaaS – and acquiring SaaS vendors with complementary capabilities in AI, CDP, and search, among others – is a strength. 
While the company may have slipped against its competitors, it certainly appears ready to do battle in the Composable Revolution. 
<h2>About Sitecore</h2>
Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world’s smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers. A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce, and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies including American Express, ASOS, Carnival Cruise Lines, Kimberly-Clark, L’Oréal, and Volvo Cars rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers. Learn more at <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore.com</a>.

Sitecore Announces Updates to Product Suite, Enhances Composable Features and Innovation from Acquisitions

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Sitecore Acquires AI-Powered Search Platform Reflektion

Sitecore Announces Updates to Product Suite, Enhances Composable Features and Innovation from Acquisitions