What does it take to build a truly flexible and scalable eCommerce solution? The answer is composable commerce.
Composable commerce is a modular approach to building an eCommerce technology suite. Businesses integrate several best-in-class tools for specific purposes rather than using a single monolithic platform for everything.
In other words, you are free to “compose” your e-commerce tech stack as you wish. This flexibility lets retailers build a more dynamic, powerful and cost-effective solution that can quickly adapt to market trends and improve the customer experience.
In this article, you’ll learn how composable commerce works, its benefits and challenges, and where Pro Carrier fits into your composable commerce setup.
What is composable commerce?
Composable commerce is a modern, cutting-edge approach to building an e-commerce solution. It’s based on the principle of modularity, where retailers can choose individual software solutions, such as a dedicated payment gateway, customer data platform, and inventory management system. This contrasts with many e-commerce platforms, which bundle multiple features into a single platform.
The ability to choose a specialised software provider results in a more robust solution that increases productivity and delivers a better customer experience. Rather than being forced to use a payment gateway that only facilitates a couple of payment methods, for example, you’re free to choose the best payment gateway possible.
Modern APIs and cloud architecture make composable commerce possible. APIs act as the glue holding different components together and allowing them to communicate seamlessly. Cloud solutions scale with your business needs allowing retailers to dynamically adjust resources based on traffic so you can avoid downtime during peak periods.
In short, composable commerce is an ideal approach for any retailer that wants to build an agile and specialised eCommerce backend that can scale at will to meet the needs of a rapidly changing market.
Composable commerce vs. headless commerce
It’s easy to conflate composable commerce with the better-known headless commerce. While composable commerce and headless commerce share similarities, they differ in scope and purpose:
- Headless commerce involves decoupling the front end from the back end. This allows businesses to create unique consumer-facing experiences across multiple channels (e.g., websites, mobile apps, and in-store kiosks) while using the same back-end system to manage data and operations.
- Composable commerce goes beyond decoupling by integrating multiple specialised platforms into a single ecosystem. It not only separates the front-end and back-end but also empowers businesses to replace or enhance specific components independently.
Let’s take a look at an example. A business using headless commerce can deploy a new front-end website design without changing the website’s back-end product management system. They have to stick with the same payment processor, however, and are restricted in their ability to customise the checkout process.
However, a retailer using a composable commerce approach can redesign its site as it wishes, replacing the payment processor with a more flexible or modern alternative. It can also change the shipping solution without impacting its workflow or any other tool.
By adopting composable commerce, retailers break free from vendor lock-in and gain the freedom to build an eCommerce platform that evolves alongside their business.
What are the benefits of composable commerce?
Composable commerce offers several advantages for retailers seeking better flexibility, scalability and performance from their eCommerce operations.
Here are the biggest benefits of composable commerce:
1. Lower costs
Cost efficiency is a primary benefit of composable commerce. Unlike traditional, monolithic solutions, where retailers pay for a bundled solution that may contain multiple features they don’t need, composable commerce lets them invest only in the tools and services they require.
2. No vendor lock-in
Many eCommerce solutions lock retailers into one vendor, making it incredibly difficult to switch providers or adopt new technologies unless they are a feature of their eCommerce platform. Most retailers won’t migrate from Shopify once they’re established on the platform, for example, even if it no longer offers the most optional solution.
That doesn’t happen with composable commerce, however. Retailers can upgrade any part of their operation at any time. It’s easy to replace your logistics partner with another without changing your entire online ordering and warehousing solutions, for example.
3. Scalability
Composable commerce makes it easy to scale your solution as your business grows. Thanks to cloud-native architecture, businesses can scale up and down their solutions as required.
For example:
- Retailers can scale up their order management and payment systems to handle increased traffic during peak shopping seasons.
- When expanding across borders, retailers can add region-specific tools, such as a local payment processor or a multilingual content management system, without overhauling their entire operations.
This flexibility ensures that composable commerce solutions can grow alongside the business, adapting to new demands and opportunities as needed.
4. Better performance
Composable commerce lets retailers use best-in-class tools for specific functions, improving performance and better customer experiences. Here are a few specific ways these tools can improve operations:
- Faster page load times: Retailers can improve website speed by decoupling the front end from the back end and using lightweight components. This can reduce cart abandonment rates and improve the customer experience, among other things.
- Better personalisation: A composable commerce setup makes it easy to integrate customer data platforms and other widgets to deliver personalised product recommendations and targeted campaigns.
- Streamlined checkout and delivery: With composable commerce, you’re not restricted to an out-of-the-box payment solution. You can use any gateway you like and integrate your order management system with a dedicated delivery solution like Pro Carrier to further automate and streamline workflows.
What are the challenges of composable commerce?
While composable commerce offers immense benefits, it also presents certain challenges that retailers will need to address. These include the following:
1. Vendor management
Composable commerce requires integrating tools and services from multiple vendors. The upside is best-in-class solutions, but it also means managing multiple relationships and integrations. Each vendor will have its own SLAs, update schedules and support systems, which can be overwhelming for small teams.
It’s far from impossible to manage, but retailers can mitigate the stress by ensuring compatibility between each of their providers prior to purchase and working with an integration partner to create and manage their eCommerce infrastructure.
While this allows businesses to use best-in-class solutions, it also means managing relationships with several providers. Each vendor has its own service agreements, update schedules, and support systems, which can become overwhelming for businesses without a dedicated IT or procurement team.
2. Complex integrations
It can be technically challenging to connect multiple disparate systems, even with native APIs. Improper connections will result in data siloes at best and broken workflows at worst. Make sure to test and verify every connection before launching your solution to the public. Check your integrations are stable after every vendor software update, too.
3. No comprehensive support
In a traditional eCommerce infrastructure setup, businesses have a single point of contact for support and troubleshooting. Composable commerce, however, relies on multiple vendors, each responsible for specific components. This decentralized support structure can complicate problem resolution and require you to go back and forth between multiple support teams.
Paying for premium support can ensure quick and comprehensive answers to your problems. Alternatively, partnering with an eCommerce agency or integration partner for ongoing support can relieve much of the burden.
While these challenges may seem daunting, they are manageable with the right planning, expertise, and partnerships. They certainly shouldn’t put you off creating your own composable commerce solution.
Add Pro Carrier to your composable commerce setup
Pro Carrier integrates seamlessly into composable commerce ecosystems, offering domestic and cross-border delivery solutions that delight customers.
Here’s what you get by adding Pro Carrier to your existing setup:
1. Seamless interaction with every major eCommerce platform
It doesn’t matter which platform you use for your site’s front end; Pro Carrier has native integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and many more. We’ll even handle the integration. You just tell us your platform, and we’ll do the rest.
2. Real-time tracking
Our advanced tracking solutions let brands and customers track their shipments at every stage of the journey. Retailers can manage all of their deliveries through a single dashboard, while your customers receive a minimum of five order updates in their native language. There’s even a tracking and returns portal they can use to streamline things even further.
3. A carrier-agnostic approach
Just like composable commerce doesn’t lock you into a single vendor, our service doesn’t lock you into a single carrier. We’re carrier-agnostic, meaning you’re free to choose the best carrier for your requirements. You can even use dedicated carriers for specific services, like express shipping, to ensure your customers get an optimal experience.
Contact one of our experts today to learn how we can help your business achieve eCommerce excellence.