Introduction As e-commerce evolves, so do user expectations. Today’s customers want more than keyword-based results—they expect intuitive, natural, and personalized product discovery. Traditional search tools like Apache Solr, while dependable, fall short in understanding what users actually mean. That’s why we’ve launched a live beta version of a new Semantic Search experience: semanticsearch.hybrisarchitect.com This beta site completely replaces Solr with an AI-powered search engine designed to understand natural language and deliver results based on intent, not just matching words. Try it with queries like: Show me all digital cameras under 500 dollars Show me all digital cameras under 500 …
Author: Marc Raygoza
Marc is the Founder of HybrisArchitect.com.
He enjoys helping others learn more about SAP Commerce Cloud (Hybris). Marc is a SAP Commerce Certified Professional and has held the role of SAP Commerce Cloud Architect at Deloitte, PwC, Brillio (a Bain Company), and Nasty Gal. Marc holds an M.S. Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. in Accountancy from California State University, Fresno. He can be reached at: mraygoza@hybrisarchitect.com
Rethinking SAP Commerce Search: From Solr to AI-Driven Discovery
Article 1 Title: Why Solr Is No Longer Enough for Modern Commerce Search Introduction I had the opportunity to create a search engine using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with OpenAI and in-memory vector datastore. To say that I was impressed is an understatement. I realized that every developer now has the power to build advanced search capabilities tailored to their organization’s needs without relying on legacy keyword search engines. For over a decade, Apache Solr has been the backbone of search functionality in SAP Commerce (Hybris). It excels at keyword indexing, faceted navigation, and performance at scale. But in the age …
Grateful to Be Recognized Among the Top Hybris Experts
I’m honored to be included in EchoGlobal’s recent feature: 14 Leading Hybris Experts in the SAP Ecosystem This recognition is meaningful not just on a personal level, but as a reflection of the collective work and knowledge-sharing that continues to shape the SAP Commerce community. Through HybrisArchitect.com, my mission is to make SAP Commerce more approachable and effective for those building in it every day. From foundational concepts to enterprise-grade architecture patterns, I focus on offering practical guidance that helps both engineers and business leaders design scalable, resilient digital commerce platforms. Thank you to EchoGlobal for the recognition—and to the …
Why Problem-Solution Mapping is Essential for SAP Commerce Modernization
Executive Summary Structured problem framing increases SAP Commerce project success rates. Problem-Solution mapping accelerates business and technology alignment. Visual mindmaps (PlantUML) simplify complex modernization strategies. Architects who lead with structured thinking drive faster decisions and better outcomes. Structuring Complexity to Enable Execution SAP Commerce implementations operate across hundreds of models, integrations, and touchpoints.Teams default to reactive fixes without a structured breakdown, increasing scope and time-to-market risk. Using a Problem → Solution mindmap forces an architecturally clean decomposition: Each problem is isolated. Solutions are designed against specific outcomes. Cross-team misalignments surface early. Structured thinking is an enabler for scalable execution. Driving …
From Quick Tips to Career Growth: A New Chapter for HybrisArchitect.com
When HybrisArchitect.com first launched, our goal was clear: share quick, practical tips to make SAP Commerce (Hybris) implementations a little easier. That mission still stands—and will remain. But as our community has grown, so have the questions we hear. More and more, those questions go beyond code. They’re about something bigger: how to grow in your role. Even if a promotion isn’t on your radar right now, it’s worth keeping in mind. Why? Because growing your career often starts with one foundational habit: getting more organized and intentional in how you think and work. Some folks have a natural knack …
How I Stopped Wrestling with Diagram Tools and Started Using ChatGPT + PlantUML
If you’ve ever built diagrams for SAP Commerce projects, you probably know the feeling. You start out with good intentions — trying to explain how everything fits together.Then you open your favorite diagramming tool… and lose the next hour lining up boxes, fixing arrows, and adjusting text so it doesn’t spill off the page. That was me too. All I wanted was a clean, simple diagram that told the story. But I’d spend more time fixing the layout than thinking through the architecture. At one point I thought: “Why can’t I just explain what I want in plain English / …
Visualizing SAP Commerce Architecture with PlantUML (Free Editor Included)
I know it’s been a while since the last article. I haven’t forgotten the importance of sharing what I learn. So, I’m sharing a useful tool that I use every day: PlantUML. If you’re not already using PlantUML to document your SAP Commerce projects, you’re missing out on one of the easiest wins in your dev workflow. It’s a no-BS tool for turning simple text into diagrams you can commit, version, and share without leaving your IDE. If you want to skip the setup and dive right in, head over to diagrams.commercesense.io—a clean, ad-free PlantUML editor I helped build specifically for …
SAP Commerce Project Team – RACI Matrix PowerPoint File
This article is written for project managers or delivery managers who need to understand and/or create a RACI matrix for their SAP Commerce Cloud Implementation projects. First, what is a RACI matrix? A RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix is a table that communicates the roles and responsibilities for a project. At the end of this article, you will have an opportunity to purchase a SAP Commerce Cloud RACI Matrix PowerPoint file inspired by SAP Commerce’s article “Recommended Staffing for SAP Commerce Cloud” to use for your future projects. We felt compelled to write this article because we have seen …
How to Identify and Fix SAP Commerce Cloud Backoffice Internal Server Error Issues
Situation The product team from a large SAP Commerce Cloud business client could not access the Product’s Classifications tab in Backoffice. Each time the team tried to access the Classifications tab, they encountered an “Internal Server Error” popup message. This issue contributed to thousands of dollars of lost revenue each day because the product team was unable to launch new products on time for the holiday season. With the help of Kibana, the SAP Commerce V2 log monitoring platform, we identified a StackOverFlow error captured in the Backoffice’s log file. The log message didn’t provide the root cause, but it …
Build a Native Mobile Category Page with SAP AppGyver Tutorial (Part 3 of 3)
In the first part of the Build a Native Mobile Category Page tutorial, we implemented the required metadata and main page canvas required for our category page. If you missed the first part of the tutorial, click here to read the first installment of Build a Native Mobile Cateory Page with SAP AppGyver. In the second part of the tutorial, we configured JSON data stored on Mockachino's mock JSON API site to our Chair App. Click here to review the second installment of Build a Native Mobile Category Page with SAP AppGyver. In this final installment of the three part …