NetSuite CRM Review

Why We Chose NetSuite as Best CRM for Ecommerce

With the SuiteCommerce ecommerce add-on module, you can build an engaging website that delivers an intuitive shopping experience with image galleries, product comparisons, advanced site search and social sharing for both B2B and B2C clients. NetSuite is the most scalable platform in our review, allowing you to easily add modules as your business grows. It is suitable even for the largest enterprise-level businesses, so once you’re set up on the platform you’ll never need to switch — no matter how big your company grows. 

Your website is a core part of the wider NetSuite CRM that includes built-in customer service management tools to improve customer satisfaction and lower service costs. You can expedite resolutions by assigning, managing and routing customer support cases via phone, fax, email and the web. The included reporting tools allow you to monitor your customer service team’s metrics, including call times, customer satisfaction scores, subscription renewal rates and call volumes. You can also improve customer self-service with case submissions, order status tracking and a searchable knowledge center with published articles and videos to resolve common issues or answer simple questions.

Usability

As an enterprise-level CRM with many advanced tools and features, NetSuite is not among the easiest software applications for new users. If usability is important, consider our Keap review or monday.com Sales CRM review instead. 

However, anyone with experience using NetSuite’s ERP platform or other Oracle software services will feel at home. To keep sales staff on track each day, the CRM’s sales dashboard prioritizes reminders, which highlight the available opportunities to close, the tasks that need to be completed and the total contacts in the pipeline that have not had any sales activity in the past week. The main section of the dashboard lists your key performance indicators for sales, new opportunities and new leads.

You can easily drill down on any metric to get a deeper understanding of your performance or missed opportunities. The dashboard can also be customized to highlight the mix of tools, trends and information that is most important to your business goals. 

When the CRM is connected with NetSuite’s ecommerce solution, it becomes a single system of record for all customer activity and transaction data, thus improving sales effectiveness and enhancing the customer experience with real-time data integrations. With the included mobile app, you can access real-time business information, enter data, update customer information, submit expenses and take calls.

NetSuite Features

The features we review below are based on the core NetSuite platform with the SuiteCommerce module added. 

Ecommerce Site Selection

NetSuite offers three ecommerce platforms:

• SuiteCommerce (SC): This is NetSuite’s bundled and regularly updated out-of-the-box fast rollout option. To control how your site looks and works, you’ll use the intuitive SiteBuilder app. It lets you organize the structure, add products and categories, choose or customise a theme, and connect the site to your back office. If you prefer, you can also host your catalogue externally using the External Catalog Site feature. Bear in mind though that you can’t change the backend code with this option, so you have to work within SuiteCommerce’s boundaries.
• SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA): In contrast, choose SCA and you have control over the source code, meaning you’ve got much more flexibility when customizing your site. Unlike SC, however, you don’t get any new releases.
• SuiteCommerce MyAccount (SCMA): If you want to offer your customers the options to manage their own accounts, quotes and support cases via your website, you need SCMA.

Both SC and SCA clients have access to NetSuite’s Extension Framework. This lets you add custom features and design elements to your site without touching the core code; this feature minimizes the risk of site-breaking errors many WordPress users will be painfully familiar with. 

Inventory Management

We love how syncing NetSuite Inventory Management with SC and SCA stores gives customers real-time visibility into item availability. You’ll need to subscribe to this module to make sure your site only displays items that are genuinely in stock. This overcomes one of the most common problems ecommerce businesses face: telling a disappointed customer the product they thought was arriving tomorrow won’t arrive for weeks.

You can either remove out-of-stock items from your site until new inventory arrives or use NetSuite’s Lead Time feature to give visitors an estimated wait time for delivery.

Beyond the customer experience, NetSuite Inventory Management helps you cut your overall inventory costs by avoiding overstocking, track stock automatically from order to sale, and, if you operate online and offline locations, manage stock levels for each location based on real-time demand, past sales and seasonal trends.

Online Communications Management

We appreciate the care and thought that’s gone into how NetSuite allows firms to communicate with their clients. Although you’re free to configure your own email messages, we love how the platform offers 11 templates out-of-the-box ranging from order received or cancelled to checkout errors and regulatory confirmation.

You can also set up a regular customer newsletter, with users able to subscribe directly from your site. Choose which fields appear in your sign-up form, customize the layout and set your own error and confirmation messages. 

Customers can help you promote your brand and products using Pinterest Product Rich cards, X cards and Facebook share buttons. 

Product Presentation

We like that NetSuite allows shoppers to leave reviews on your website. Many marketers see user-generated content, especially reviews, as a proven way to build trust and drive conversions, and it’s included as standard with NetSuite. Users submit feedback via an easy-to-customize form, and you can fully moderate all comments, in case someone posts something offensive or irrelevant.

For product category pages, you have the choice of how you present items, including the screen layout, the size of individual product cards and whether or not to set up an infinite scroll to keep users engaged for longer. You can add badges to individual products both on category and listings pages to alert readers to a discount. 

Retailers offering sizing options will appreciate the 19 default sizes in imperial and metric units, so shoppers can more easily find the right fit for them. We also liked the product page printer which allows you to configure web page layouts for PDF or paper printing, ideal for customers who want to save or print product details without the usual formatting issues that come with browser-based printouts.

Intelligent Recommendations

NetSuite’s Intelligent Recommendation feature is especially useful for sales and marketing teams. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to suggest products customers are likely to buy, based on browsing behaviour, purchase history and transaction patterns. Sales reps can use it to add relevant items to orders and estimates, while marketing teams can display personalized suggestions on the website.

There are six different types of intelligent recommendations you can suggest:

• Frequently bought together: This suggestion uses data to determine what other customers tend to buy alongside with the items they currently have in their cart.
• Customers who bought this also bought: This presents products that other customers have purchased in addition to the items currently being viewed.
• Recently viewed: Shoppers get a reminder of items they’ve previously browsed, encouraging them to revisit products they showed interest in.
• Alternative items: If a shopper adds a multiple of an item to their cart and there isn’t enough stock left, your site suggests, for example, an appliance with a similar capacity or an alternative from another supplier.
• Buy again: You can flag items that customers tend to reorder, stimulating further sales from your regular buyers.
• You might like: These are products and services based on the shopper’s past orders or what similar customers tend to buy.

To use this feature, you’ll need at least 50 inventory items and some transaction history over the past 12 months.

Full Checkout Control

We were impressed by the functionality and customizability of shopper checkouts on NetSuite. When a customer’s ready to buy, you can guide them through a standard multi-step checkout (shipping address, then payment), a one-page checkout, or a billing-first flow (billing address, shipping address, then payment). Whichever path you choose, the process ends with a review page where customers can confirm their details before placing the order.

B2B users, in particular, will appreciate the ability to set a minimum total sales amount on orders, so you’re not wasting time on low-value transactions that cost more to fulfill than they’re worth. You can also offer shared or separate carts for business buyers, ideal for larger clients who order by department. As for payments, you’re free to let customers pay by card, invoice, or both.

Sales and Marketing Automation

As the heart of a CRM system, sales automation empowers your sales staff with a clear overview and granular details of every aspect of your customer relationships. 

The lead management tools on NetSuite are excellent. You can automatically assign leads to the right rep, track their progress through the pipeline, and transition lead records into opportunities, quotes and sales. When a lead turns into an opportunity (for example, after having an initial call or meeting or you have enough detail to create opportunity, estimate or quote,) NetSuite automatically advances it through the stages you’ve defined. Reps stay organized and managers get full visibility across the pipeline.

Sales managers can track core KPIs including pipeline health (projected, weighted and deals), new vs. closed opportunities, win/loss ratio, and sales order volume and value to identify risks, unblock deals and coach reps through their access to the key CRM analytics. 

Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ)

NetSuite’s CPQ feature provides you with an easy and error-proof process for selling highly configurable products with many variables, such as materials, colors, sizes and textures. This separate, chargeable module uses internal logic to prevent configuration errors, thereby saving you time and money on rechecking or reworking orders for products such as custom windows and front doors. With easy-to-use digital tools for creating 3D product visualizations and automating sales proposal generation, your sales teams can shift their focus from providing time-consuming quotes to nurturing leads and opportunities.

Partner Relationship Management

This unique CRM feature, part of the core NetSuite service, provides a real-time information flow to boost partner collaboration efforts in sales and marketing activities. You can work with other brands or vendors, creating a conduit between organizations for joint marketing campaigns, lead management, pipeline management and order processing. The platform can also automatically handle any partner commissions and royalties with shared data to alleviate any headaches or miscommunication about owed payments. You can also calculate your commission or partner payments using the same internal parameters on sales, quantities, profitability or custom criteria.

Excellent Company-wide Analytics

Earlier, we touched on the analytics available to sales managers and reps. NetSuite goes further with a rich set of company-wide reporting tools, including:

• Search analytics: Find out which products visitors search for most often and which terms (or synonyms) they’re using to locate them. For example, if users type “trainers” but your listings say “sneakers,” you can group the terms as synonyms to return the same results.  You can also apply one-way synonyms so “jeans” map to “denim” but not “denim” to “jeans” to help customers find what they want faster.
• Marketing reports: Marketing teams can run a wide range of reports across campaigns, from clickthrough rates on email links to revenue by lead source. This gives them a clear view of which campaigns are driving revenue and which ones need improving.
• Customer service reports: The contact center and helpdesk features on Netsuite are excellent, as is the reporting. Managers can monitor case volume, resolution times, rep activity and escalation patterns in real time. These insights help managers reduce delays, resolve issues faster and improve overall customer experience.

Customize your reports using NetSuite’s drag-and-drop Report Builder. Change columns, filters, formatting, layout and sorting as you need, so you get the results you need. You can then save and share reports with other users or teams.

NetSuite CRM Pricing

NetSuite is ERP software, so it’s priced differently to other CRMs. The number of users you’ll need influences the price, just like most CRMs we reviewed, but with NetSuite you’ll pay a core platform fee and a module fee. In this case, the CRM features covered in this review come from the CRM module, which is bundled into the main platform.

For this reason, every price is custom. But, according to our research, small businesses can expect to pay more than $1,000 per month for the licensing fee, add-on modules and additional user fees. 

Setup

NetSuite requires a one-time implementation fee for the initial setup process. Because the setup for the CRM also requires NetSuite’s ERP, the full implementation process can take weeks, if not months, of planning, data migration, configuration, testing and training for your team to use the platform efficiently. In most cases, you’ll need to assign a reliable project manager to work with your NetSuite representatives to ensure a smooth implementation and launch.

NetSuite offers a structured deployment model called SuiteSuccess. To speed up rollout and cut back on costs, they use prebuilt workflows and best-practice templates, but you’ll still likely want to configure it to fit your sales process, data structure or approval flows later on.

While it’s possible to use NetSuite’s CRM on its own without the other modules, it’s often better to think of it as a starting point for rolling out a full ERP which will become the software that drives your business as you grow.

NetSuite offers a wide range of certifications for administrators, users, consultants and developers. These programs highlight both the platform’s flexibility and its complexity — especially when tailored to fit specific industries. Many of the certification programs recommend at least one year of experience in managing NetSuite, in addition to coursework and a timed exam that consists of multiple choice and matching questions.

Customer Service

NetSuite offers four main support services:

For larger projects and custom integrations, you may want to consider reaching out to a certified NetSuite consultant or agency.

Drawbacks

The lack of transparent pricing is an issue, especially for mid-sized businesses seeking both a CRM and an ecommerce solution. While Oracle’s openness on the product’s features is commendable, its lack of transparency on pricing makes direct comparisons with other CRMs hard.

Businesses that aren’t ready to adopt NetSuite for more than the basic CRM software will likely need to purchase NetSuite Connector as an added module to integrate with selling tools such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay and Walmart. While NetSuite does have a robust set of native cloud-based tools for nearly any business process, accessing them typically comes with an added monthly module fee.

You can’t buy NetSuite as a standalone CRM. It comes as part of the base ERP platform. Unlike modules such as inventory or commerce, the CRM is bundled into the core suite at no extra cost. This might sound more like a bonus but you’ll be paying ERP-level pricing and committing to undergo a much more complicated setup process.

Methodology

Our editorial team and contributing writers considered all of the major CRM software providers in 2025 for review. After spending many hours participating in live product demos and testing each platform, we created a list of our favorite CRM systems to help small business owners and managers choose the best CRM for their needs.

In our review of CRM systems, we considered factors like tools and features, overall cost, usability and integrations in our reviews. We also considered a range of different use cases common to many small businesses and selected the service we found to be the best fit for each.

For the best CRM system for ecommerce businesses, we considered online store, inventory management, customer communication and review features, integrations, and reports. We chose NetSuite for its powerful capabilities and scalability.

Bottom Line

We recommend NetSuite CRM for …

• Mid-size or enterprise-level organizations looking for a single platform to manage sales, service, marketing and ecommerce, with the option to add more functionality over time.
• Organizations already using NetSuite ERP that want sales and service tools which integrate directly into their existing stack.
• Businesses in niche sectors with specialized workflows that want to add prebuilt and customizable industry modules now or later.

We don’t recommend NetSuite CRM for … 

• Small businesses that just want a CRM and not an ERP system.
• Companies wanting low-code or no-code customization options that non-technical users can implement.
• Firms working on a tight budget and/or timescale.