A composable decoupled storefront is infinitely more flexible & scalable than rigid legacy architectures. Composable Commerce unites business priorities & initiatives, creating an agile system that responds to business (and consumer) demands like poetry in motion.
Accelerated by the pandemic, eCommerce is an integral channel for businesses to engage and convert consumers. However, this subsequently changed the digital marketplace, with consumer demands now more intense and dynamic than ever before.
Businesses are now falling over themselves to innovate and adapt to get ahead of the competition, and with the necessity to rapidly adapt to a thriving marketplace, they require systems that can match the ambitions of not only themselves, but their consumers too.
More businesses are opting to breakaway from rigid tech stacks that lack the scalability, API integrations and perhaps most importantly in modern eCommerce, omnichannel support, in order to achieve their ambitions.
So what's the solution? Let's begin with the question...
What is Composable Commerce?
Essentially, Composable Commerce is an agile software architecture that enables businesses to customise and integrate best-in-class flexible applications from multiple vendors into a seamless technology stack.
It allows businesses to build a unique eCommerce experience by integrating the technologies that align with their organisational ambitions. Brands can hand-pick applications they want to utilise in order to create an unforgettable online experience for consumers.
Building a customised commerce experience is an intricate, complex process, but it ensures a finished design that suits a businesses defined requirements and possesses the potential to achieve their goals.
When organisations select and assemble composable commerce capabilities to satisfy exact business requirements instead of trying to force-fit standard out-of-the-box ecommerce functionality, they have wisely chosen composable commerce.
Before we move on, let's answer a frequently asked question about composable commerce architecture...
Is Composable Commerce the same as Headless Commerce?
Composable Commerce goes even further than headless commerce.
Composable software completely severs the frontend stack from the backend and can incorporate a myriad of flexible and infinitely scalable tech applications to build your perfect commerce stack.
Headless commerce is the first step toward implementing composable commerce.
Businesses that have adopted a headless approach have the potential to evolve into composable operation. Headless commerce is when a platform’s front and back-end coexist independently via APIs, and changes on one end doesn't affect the other.
Composable commerce goes beyond the significance of extensibility and decouples services that solve key business issues such as search, payments & checkout, or personalisation. Each component is pluggable, scalable, interchangeable, and can be continuously upgraded.
Composable Commerce is a term that was first introduced by Gartner in a report regarding the Future of Applications back in June 2020.
Composable Commerce Must Be Adopted for the Future of Applications - Gartner, DID YOU KNOW?
Both approaches connect best-in-class technological applications to facilitate unparalleled agility and flexibility to meet the needs of businesses who want to conquer the rapidly unpredictable modern-day digital market.
What can a Composable Commerce platform do for you?
With composable commerce, you have the flexibility at your fingertips to mix & match composable capabilities to achieve each and every specific goal.
Want to unlock new revenue channels? Add Live Video Shopping ✅
Want to improve search and increase average order value? Introduce an AI-powered search solution ✅
Dreaming of multiple centres? Bigger product inventory? Scale operations with an API-first order management system ✅
Integrating a custom stack that includes a range of best-in-class services covering capabilities like fulfilment, content or search services, commerce, and a payment gateway will give any business a competitive edge in the future.
The keepers of Composable Commerce, Gartner, reported that by 2023, businesses that adopted a composable commerce approach would outpace the competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation.
Composable Commerce Must Be Adopted for the Future of Applications - Gartner, June 2020, DID YOU KNOW?
What are the benefits of Composable Commerce?
Today’s eCommerce businesses are appraised not so much by the products they sell, but instead by the online retail experience they provide digital consumers.
Become Vendor-agnostic
Rather than being limited by one vendor's apps, brands can modify strategies and even experiment with new business models without relying on IT staff expertise.
As we've discussed earlier, in contrast to the monolithic tech stacks, composable commerce offers the ability to mix and match different vendor technologies/applications to achieve specific goals. With modular applications, only the required services’ APIs and logic are utilised.
Not only can independent components of a composable platform be swapped in and out as needed, but they can also be selectively applied to new experiences you build or be consumed in multiple experiences.
This flexibility gives businesses an advantage to help them stay ahead of consumer expectations and outmanoeuvre the competition. It also allows organisations to deliver highly differentiated and personalised commerce experiences on any touchpoint.
Modular Architecture Construction
Composable commerce has the ability to increase operational efficiencies for rapid development cycles and less interdependence across all touchpoints.
It provides access to a commerce ecosystem where your business can connect with partners, vendors, and other digital eCommerce solutions, so it's possible to easily build and adjust site features in real-time.
Businesses can maintain complete design and process freedom, scaling systems independently while simultaneously responding to modifications.
Controlled Costs
Reduce operational costs by choosing only the features and vendors you need, rather than having to buy total packages or subscribing to a year of financial burdens to access individual applications, etc.
Is “going composable” best for business?
Before implementing a composable commerce approach, ensure that your IT & development teams are prepared.
Versed in new developer tech
Previously integrated components in the backend with an API-first approach
Ensure design and UX are uniform are completely aligned across each touchpoint
If you're all set, undertake an incremental approach, and be sure to avoid the 'all-at-once' method of replacing the previous legacy architecture at huge cost. Identify the key business goals that will immediately make the biggest impact and start there.
The argument against composable commerce replatforming is that it's a financial and time-consuming burden. However, composable commerce presents a unique opportunity for businesses to change incrementally across multiple touchpoints - something businesses will need to adapt to as their customer channels grow more vast and fragmented.
Businesses will need to possess the tools to create an omnichannel experience across all customer touchpoints if they are to create a seamless, engaging and extraordinary customer experience that the modern-day consumer demands.
Wrap
More and more businesses are ditching their monolithic legacy architecture as it no longer sustains their ambition. Now, they're embracing new technologies like microservices, APIs and Headless Commerce systems that react to rapidly changing market dynamics.
Creating a completely composable, full-stack application that serves each and every business need, guarantees a solution to retail demands of the future.