Introducing the Optimizely MCP Server: AI That Speaks Commerce Part-I
Introducing the Optimizely MCP Server: AI That Speaks Commerce
We've connected Optimizely's B2B commerce engine directly to AI assistants, so your teams can search, transact, and manage orders through natural conversation.
Watch the Optimizely MCP Server in action — live demo with OpenAI
Watch the Optimizely MCP Server in action — live demo with Claude
Commerce Should Respond to Intent, Not Clicks
For years, B2B buyers have navigated complex catalogs, pricing tiers, and procurement workflows through rigid interfaces designed for a pre-AI world. Thousands of clicks to find a product. Dozens of fields to complete an order. Hours lost to processes that should take seconds.
We built the Optimizely MCP Server to change that. By connecting Optimizely's industry-leading commerce platform to AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), we're giving buyers, sales reps, and procurement teams the ability to search, transact, and manage the entire commerce journey through natural language, the way humans actually think and communicate.
"The future of B2B commerce isn't a better UI. It's no UI at all just intent understood and executed instantly."
The Protocol That Connects AI to Real Systems
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that allows AI models like ChatGPT and Claude to connect securely to external tools and data sources. Think of it as a universal adapter: instead of custom integrations for every AI platform, one MCP server exposes your commerce capabilities as structured tools any compliant AI can invoke.
Optimizely's MCP Server exposes the full power of the Insite/Optimizely Commerce platform catalog search, cart management, order submission, promotions, pricing, and more as a set of AI-callable tools. The result: an AI assistant that doesn't just answer questions about your catalog, but actually acts within it.
How It Works
User speaks intent
A buyer or rep types a natural language request "Find me a telescopic boom lift for a rental construction site."
AI interprets & selects tools
ChatGPT and Claude understand the request and call the appropriate MCP tools searching the catalog, fetching pricing, checking inventory.
Commerce engine executes
The MCP Server routes the call to Optimizely's live APIs returning real products, real prices, real availability.
AI presents & acts
Results surface in conversation. The buyer can compare, add to cart, apply promotions, and submit the order all without leaving the chat.
Eight Tools. One Seamless Commerce Experience.
Today's release of the Optimizely MCP Server ships with eight core capabilities, covering the complete buyer journey from discovery to checkout.
Product Catalog Search
Natural language queries against the full Optimizely product catalog with facets, pricing, and images.
LiveCustomer & Order Lookup
Instant retrieval of customer records, order history, and account status for authenticated sessions.
LivePricing Queries
Real-time unit pricing, break pricing, VAT calculation, and customer-specific tier pricing.
LiveInventory Availability
Live stock levels, backorder status, and warehouse availability across all configured locations.
LivePunchout & Session Ops
Full support for PunchOut session initiation, requisition returns, and procurement system handoffs.
LiveCart Management
Add items, update quantities, apply PO numbers, set payment methods, and submit orders all conversationally.
LivePromotion Inspection
Check applied and available promotions on a cart or product in real time before order submission.
LiveCMS & Content Sync
Surface CMS-managed content product descriptions, banners, landing pages through AI-driven queries.
Coming SoonMeasurable Outcomes from Day One
Early pilots with enterprise B2B customers across manufacturing, construction equipment, and industrial supply showed significant improvements in time-to-order and reduction in support escalations when AI-assisted commerce was introduced.
The Roadmap Ahead
This is just the beginning. We're actively expanding the MCP Server's surface area to include CMS content synchronization, personalized recommendation tools, multi-cart workflows, and approval chain automation for enterprise procurement scenarios.
We're also working closely with the teams at Anthropic, OpenAI, and other leading AI providers to ensure the Optimizely MCP Server remains at the cutting edge of what's possible when AI meets commerce infrastructure.
If you're an Optimizely customer and want early access, reach out to your account team. If you're an AI platform or integration partner interested in building on top of our MCP Server, we'd love to talk.
Amazing work!