Dynamics eShop vs Sana Commerce

Why growing Microsoft Dynamics businesses choose a connected platform in 2026

If you’re choosing an eCommerce platform for Microsoft Dynamics, you’ve probably narrowed things down to integration and B2B features. Both Dynamics eShop and Sana Commerce connect your store to Dynamics data, and Sana is a B2B webstore option.

But a webstore is only the start. Manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers are now adding self-service portals, digital payments, marketplaces, mobile and POS, and AI-assisted experiences. The platform you choose today decides how easily you can add them tomorrow.

That’s where Dynamics eShop stands apart: one Dynamics-centered product family for commerce, portals, payments, POS, marketplaces, and AI — so you can grow without adding a new vendor, integration, and upgrade path for every project.

WHY DYNAMICS ESHOP

Five advantages of a connected platform

One product family.

eShop, ePortal, ePay, eConnect, POS, and DeS AI are designed to work together on Dynamics 365.

Both Dynamics ERPs.

Support for Dynamics 365 Business Central and Finance and Operations.

Reusable integration.

New experiences build on the same Dynamics foundation instead of starting a new integration project.

One team to call.

When an issue spans commerce, portals, and payments, one support organization owns it.

AI across channels.

Commerce Agent, Portal Agent, AI Lens, Voice Search, and a Shopify AI Commerce Agent.

IN THIS GUIDE

Five things to compare

1Integration depth and customization – how deeply each platform works with Dynamics
2Implementation and go-live – how launch risk is managed
3Support and customer success – who owns problems after launch
4Future readiness and AI – how you add new channels later
5Total cost of ownership – what you’ll really spend over three years

COMPARISON 1

Integration depth and customization

Don’t judge integration by the connector alone. Judge it by how well it handles your real business processes.

What to check

✓Customer-specific pricing, availability, and credit rules
✓Order creation, invoices, and fulfillment data
✓Account permissions and write-back to Dynamics
✓Which Dynamics entities the platform can read and write
✓How much you can configure before custom development is needed
✓What happens to customizations during product and Dynamics upgrades
✓Whether new channels reuse the same integration or need a new project

How Dynamics eShop handles it

Dynamics eShop supports both Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. Its commerce, portal, payment, POS, connector, and AI products all share the same Dynamics-centered foundation, which cuts down on repeat integration work every time you add a new experience.

As with any vendor, confirm the exact scope against your Dynamics version, data model, and business rules.

THE DYNAMICS ESHOP DIFFERENCE

Your integration is an asset you build once and reuse. When you add a portal, payments, or a marketplace channel, it runs on the same Dynamics foundation as your store. Bring your real pricing, credit, and fulfillment scenarios to a demo and see it for yourself.

COMPARISON 2

Implementation and go-live success

How a project is run matters as much as the software. Even a good platform can stumble because of unclear requirements, messy ERP data, thin testing, or unclear ownership.

Common risk areas

✓Data quality: products, customers, pricing, inventory, images, and accounts
✓Requirements: input from business, ERP, finance, operations, sales, service, and marketing
✓Testing: business rules, integrations, payments, responsive design, security, and performance
✓Adoption: training, content readiness, approvals, and support handoff

The Dynamics eShop implementation path

Dynamics eShop follows a proven six-phase process that catches data, access, and process issues before launch — not after. Here’s what happens at each stage:

Phase	What Dynamics eShop delivers
1. Discovery	Business goals, users, Dynamics environment, workflows, integrations, content, data readiness, and success criteria.
2. Configuration	Requirements are translated into settings, mappings, permissions, storefront or portal experiences, and any needed extensions.
3. Testing	Pricing, inventory, orders, payments, integrations, responsive behavior, and performance all work as expected.
4. User acceptance testing	Your team runs defined scenarios and confirms the solution supports the approved processes.
5. Training	Admins and business users can handle daily tasks, spot issues, and find support.
6. Go-live planning	Production readiness, final data checks, ownership, cutover, communications, and post-launch support.

COMPARISON 3

Support, training, and customer success

Treat support as an operating model, not a promise. Compare these side by side:

✓Support channels and service hours
✓Severity definitions and response targets
✓Escalation procedures
✓Training, onboarding, and warranty coverage
✓Where product support ends and implementation services begin

Dynamics eShop offers dedicated support staff, training, a support portal, and product expertise across its entire DeS portfolio.

Why that matters: when a workflow crosses commerce, portals, payments, or marketplaces, you don’t have to figure out which of several vendors owns the problem. One team does.

ASK EVERY VENDOR

Who owns an issue that spans your store, portal, and payments? With Dynamics eShop, the answer is simple: we do.

COMPARISON 4

Future readiness and innovation

A platform you pick in 2026 may need to support new customer journeys, sales channels, payment options, self-service, and AI over the next several years. So look at the roadmap, the platform’s breadth, and how easily you can add new experiences on the same Dynamics data.

The Dynamics eShop product family

Product	What it does
eShop	B2B and B2C commerce connected to Dynamics 365.
ePortal	Self-service portals for customers, vendors, sales, service, and payments.
ePay	Payments across commerce, portals, payment links, ERP, mobile, and in-store.
eConnect	Connections to external channels such as Shopify and major marketplaces.
DeS AI	AI-driven product discovery and self-service for commerce and portals.

You don’t need all of these on day one. Start with what you need now, and add the rest when you’re ready — on the same foundation, with no new vendor to onboard and no duplicate data flows to maintain.

AI capabilities to evaluate

Judge AI by real use cases: what data it uses, how it’s governed, whether it’s available now, and what measurable value it delivers. Dynamics eShop’s AI lineup includes:

✓DeS AI Commerce Agent – conversational product discovery and shopping
✓Portal Agent – AI assistance inside self-service portals
✓AI Lens – visual product search
✓Voice Search – voice-led product discovery
✓Shopify AI Commerce Agent – DeS AI for Shopify storefronts

Questions for future-focused buyers

✓Which roadmap features are available today, which are limited, and which are still planned?
✓Can AI use live, governed ERP or commerce data? What controls apply?
✓Can all your experiences — customer, vendor, service, marketplace, payment, POS, commerce — share one identity, data, and integration approach?
✓How will each new experience affect licensing, implementation, support, security, and upgrades?

KEY TAKEAWAY

If your roadmap includes more than a webstore, platform breadth matters. With Dynamics eShop, every new experience builds on your original investment instead of requiring a new stack.

COMPARISON 5

Total cost of ownership

Instead of asking “Which platform is cheaper?”, ask: “How many solutions, integrations, vendors, support relationships, and upgrade paths will we manage over the next three years?” Build your cost model around your full roadmap, not just the first release. Include:

Cost area	What to include
Software	Subscriptions, modules, environments, user or transaction pricing, and optional features.
Hosting	Infrastructure, monitoring, capacity, resilience, security, and backups.
Support	Included coverage, premium support, escalation, maintenance, and post-launch services.
Integrations	ERP, payments, tax, shipping, marketplaces, external commerce platforms, and custom endpoints.
Expansion	Customer or vendor portals, payments, marketplaces, POS, AI commerce, and future channels.
Operations	Internal admin, vendor coordination, testing, training, upgrade planning, and issue ownership.

Every extra vendor adds licensing, integration, security reviews, and upgrade work. Dynamics eShop covers commerce, portals, payments, POS, marketplaces, and AI in one product family — so the expansion and operations costs above stay under one roof. Ask us for a written three-year estimate based on your roadmap, and compare it line by line.

SIDE BY SIDE

Capability comparison

Capability	Dynamics eShop	Sana Commerce
B2B commerce	Supported through eShop	Core B2B focus
B2C commerce	Supported through eShop	Confirm scope for your edition and project
Customer portal	Customer self-service through ePortal	Buyer self-service features
Vendor portal	Available in the ePortal family	Confirm scope for your project
Service portal	Available in the ePortal family	Confirm scope for your project
Payments	ePay family and connected payment workflows	Payment features available
Marketplaces	eConnect supports selected platforms and marketplaces	Integrations in the Sana ecosystem
POS / mobile POS	POS and mobile features in the DeS portfolio	Confirm scope for your project
AI commerce	Commerce Agent, Portal Agent, AI Lens, Voice Search, Shopify AI Commerce Agent	Publicly promoted AI features
Dynamics integration	Business Central and Finance and Operations	Direct ERP integration across supported Dynamics products

MAKING THE CALL

Which platform is right for you?

Choose Dynamics eShop if...

✓Your webstore is one part of a bigger Dynamics 365 plan.
✓You want B2B, B2C, portals, payments, POS, marketplaces, and AI working together.
✓You want fewer integrations, vendors, and upgrade paths.
✓You want one team accountable across your digital experiences.
✓You want room to grow without re-platforming.

Sana Commerce may be enough if...

✓You only need a B2B webstore.
✓You’re comfortable sourcing portals, POS, marketplaces, or payments separately.
✓You don’t expect your digital needs to expand much.

YOUR CHECKLIST

Seven questions to ask every vendor

1Which of our requirements are standard, configurable, extension-based, or custom — and will you document that?
2Which Dynamics versions, entities, and business rules do you support, and what data can you read and write?
3How will you test pricing, inventory, orders, payments, performance, security, and integrations before go-live?
4What support channels, training, response targets, escalation, and post-launch services are included?
5What happens to our configuration and custom work when you or Microsoft release a major update?
6Can you share references with a similar Dynamics version, business model, and scope?
7What’s the full three-year cost for our roadmap, including every extra system, integration, and service?

CONCLUSION

Build for where you're going

Storefront features are only part of the decision. The platform you choose will shape your integrations, support, costs, and options for years.

Sana Commerce can serve companies that only need a B2B webstore. But if your plans include customer or vendor portals, payments, marketplaces, POS, or AI, Dynamics eShop gives you one connected platform to get there — with one integration foundation, one product family, and one team behind it.

SEE IT WITH YOUR OWN DATA

Book a Dynamics eShop demo built around your real pricing rules, customer structures, catalog, inventory, order workflows, and payment needs. We’ll show you how your store, and everything after it, runs on one connected platform.

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