Architecture Overview
Whether you have chosen to integrate with Bluecore or are still deciding, this guide will help you navigate and understand the initial architecture decisions that need to be made with support and guidance from your Bluecore onboarding team.
Setting up Bluecore starts with a few decisions that will require technical, marketing, and your Bluecore account team’s alignment. It is important to assess the benefits and limitations as well as ensure all the technical requirements are met for each decision outlined below.
Namespace overview
A Namespace is a Bluecore environment that uses one primary currency, email domain, consistent products, and refers to a single website URL to ingest data.
Namespaces contain a website integration, customer lists and segments, product data and catalogs, and campaign templates.
Single v. multiple Namespaces
The Bluecore team will recommend whether you need to use one or multiple Namespaces based on the following factors:
Single Namespace | Multiple Namespaces |
Need reporting for only one currency | Need reports for multiple currencies |
Consistent product catalogs | Different product catalog IDs |
Consistent product availability across geographic locations | Different product availability across geographic locations |
Same website URL across geographic locations | Different websites across geographic locations |
If you do need multiple Namespaces, they will all be linked together so that you can:
Access enhanced analytics for all Namespaces in one place
Have one central place for user management
Copy audiences, email templates, and widgets across Namespaces
Product catalog structure
The product catalog is the backbone of your Bluecore integration and determines how your marketing team uses product data in their campaigns and merchandising rules Your Bluecore team will recommend the model that’s best for you based on your catalog and merchandising strategy.
Product variants model (also known as SKU-level)
Most popular structure
Each version of the product, such as different size or color, is represented with its own unique SKU
Parent products model
Each product rolls up into one SKU, even if it has a different size or color
For both catalog structures, the website integration is required to continuously update dynamic product attributes, such as price or stock.
The product feed is highly recommended for both catalog structures.
Campaign support by catalog type
While Catalog structure informs your product-driven campaigns and how you can set them up. You can reference the table to see how campaigns are affected by your product catalog model.
Common Campaign | Product Variant | Parent Product |
Back in stock | Yes, based on product attributes only, such as size or color | Yes, based on product only |
Bestsellers | Yes, based on product attributes only, such as size or color | Yes, based on product only |
Replenishment | Yes | No |
Email service provider
If you plan to use Bluecore's Communicate product to send emails, you have two options: use Bluecore's email service provider (ESP) partner, SendGrid, or use an existing ESP like Salesforce Marketing Cloud or Responsys.
If you choose to use SendGrid, your Bluecore team will handle most of the setup, but your team will need to:
Update your DNS settings
Share IPs with your security team to add to their allow list
Campaign and audience data considerations
While not directly part of Bluecore’s architecture, how you choose to collect data and ingest into Bluecore plays a vital role in informing the structure and quality of your campaigns and audiences.
The following are required data ingestions that you can capture data in near real-time (NRT), through batch feeds, or a combination of both.
Email Eligibility
Email Eligibility determines who you can send email campaigns to, based on their status, which can be known, opt-in, or unsubscribed.
When Bluecore is your sole ESP, it is recommended to use the near real-time (NRT) options to collect both unsubscribes and opt-ins.
If you use other vendors with Bluecore as your ESP, you will collect email eligibility updates from other sources. In this case, we recommend capturing Bluecore updates through the NRT options and using batch feed updates from the other ESPs.
Customer Purchases
If you plan on using audience-driven campaigns like targeting customers who have made a purchase, collecting purchase information in NRT is most effective for having the most up-to-date information for audiences and to trigger campaigns.
Batches can then be used to submit supplemental data from other sources that can’t be captured in NRT.
Product Catalog
If you plan to use product-driven campaigns that rely on the availability of products, collecting data using NRT will keep your stock updated after customers make purchases.