Data macros use HTML and embedded SQL statements to retrieve and display data from the Net. You can connect Net. Because the product supports ODBC, you should be able to use any other ODBC-compliant database if you choose. You'd be on your own, however, since IBM has tested Oracle only and won't support the others. Unlike AbleCommerce or Intershop, Net.
Commerce lacks a great way to import data.
You have to break data down into a normalized format and then import with a command line utility. What this means is that if you have an existing inventory with product prices, descriptions, colors, sizes, and other attributes, you must create an import file with data broken into separate tables using special tags, similar to HTML tags. The format IBM uses is logical, but you don't get a utility to create the file, and that makes the import process more difficult. The entire site is driven from the database, so you have great flexibility. You can manage the site either directly on the live server or via an off-line staging server.