Composable Commerce – The Next Big Thing in Ecommerce

The increased number of internet users leads to an incline in demands that challenges online businesses in capturing them. Outdated processes are, however, holding back the optimization of business strategies.

Traditional e-commerce platforms are showing us that one system can’t do it all. They tend to offer quite a standardized set of features and capabilities, with less emphasis on customization. They are monolithic and don’t offer much integration flexibility or personalization. So if you want to scale up and build a scalable business, you need something else. Something else is named “Composable commerce”.

What is Composable Commerce?

Composable commerce refers to a type of architecture. The use of microservices allows businesses to include features such as: better search experiences, shopping carts, personalized product recommendations, dynamic pricing, payment gateways, product catalogs, multiple sales channels, shipping carriers, checkout processes, etc. These modules are designed to be decoupled from each other. This means that it is possible to change or upgrade individual pieces of the puzzle, without disrupting the rest of the system.

Furthermore, a composable strategy provides seamless integration with other tools or systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) or inventory management (WMS), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

Composable commerce strategies use APIs (application programming interfaces) to allow for easier integration. The purpose is to allow merchants to “compose” their own unique ecosystem by combining different applications with different features.

The architecture based on PBCs helps create more user-friendly business solutions. Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs) are software components developed over a specific business function, consisting of data schema, APIs and a set of services. In other words, features of the independent, modular components that can be easily combined, or better said, composed and integrated with other ones into a custom application landscape to create a flexible and customizable commerce solution.

Some examples of composable commerce systems include webshops of H&M, Lululemon, Gymshark, etc.

Composable Commerce vs. Traditional E-commerce

Customization

The approach of the composable commerce ecosystem is allowing merchants to customize and tailor their e-commerce experiences to their specific needs and goals. In other words, this can include personalized product recommendations, dynamic pricing and discounts, and integration with other tools or systems. Traditional e-commerce platforms, on the other hand, tend to offer a more standardized set of features and capabilities. Furthermore, it offers less emphasis on customization and personalization.

Integration

Composable commerce ecosystems often use APIs (application programming interfaces) to allow for easy integration with other systems and tools. This can include integration with CRM systems, inventory management systems, and other business-critical tools. Traditional e-commerce platforms, on the contrary, may not offer as much integration flexibility.

Scalability

Composable commerce ecosystems are often designed with scalability in mind. This allows businesses to easily add or remove components as their needs change. Hence, it makes it easier for businesses to adapt to changing market conditions and customer demands. Traditional e-commerce platforms may have limited scalability, making it difficult to add new features or functionality as the business grows.

Cost

Composable commerce systems may have higher upfront costs than traditional e-commerce platforms, as businesses will need to invest in the development and integration of multiple components. However, over time, the flexibility and scalability of composable commerce platforms may result in cost savings compared to traditional e-commerce platforms, which may require costly upgrades or replacements as the business grows.

Conclusion