7 transformative effects of composable commerce

We can all appreciate the powerful potential of a stack of Lego. The opportunity to build and realize a vision. The unlimited scope for creativity. The freedom to change course at the click of a brick. That’s the beauty of interchangeable, composable parts.

Now imagine applying these same composable design principles to your martech stack. Well, it’s already happening — and the effects are truly game-changing. According to Gartner, organizations that adopt a composable approach will outpace the competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation. The reason? A composable commerce approach drives progress by providing the kind of flexibility that allows businesses to innovate and integrate new technology quickly and easily.

Composable commerce for the win

Traditional commerce platforms offer a set of fixed functionalities within an all-in-one-solution from a single vendor. This basic setup is a great starting point for businesses to begin their e-commerce journey, but those planning to deliver next-level personalized experiences need a solution to match their vision.

Composable commerce is built on the concept of composability and flexibility. A composable commerce approach allows marketing and tech teams to create and optimize customer experiences through a customized solution that integrates multiple technologies and vendors. This flexible approach encompasses MACH (microservices, APIs, cloud, and headless) as well as JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) architectures. For example, by leveraging MACH architecture for your back-end functionality and JAMStack for your front-end UI experience, your organization can build an extremely flexible solution that is ready to meet current and future digital commerce demands.

The fundamentals of composable commerce

Composable commerce is built on the following principles:

• Modular architecture
• Open ecosystem
• Business centricity

Modular architecture

With modular architecture, every component in the stack is self-sufficient and designed to operate independently. This makes it possible to achieve agile delivery, faster time to market, and better customer experiences across every touchpoint and device.

Open ecosystem

An open ecosystem gives teams the freedom to construct a best-of-breed solution using a combination of handpicked third-party applications, pre-composed solutions, and best practices.

Business centricity

Business centricity means investing in software and apps that meet the business’s unique needs and building a customized stack that adapts quickly to changing demands.

7 business benefits of composable commerce

Composable commerce has the potential to transform your business's processes and overall performance. The following are some key benefits of this approach:

1. Agility

One of the standout benefits of composable commerce is its ability to facilitate business agility. Composable solutions provide a flexible environment that allow businesses to pivot, switch gears, and deliver better customer experiences without heavy reliance on IT.

2. Plug-and-play convenience

Composable architecture is designed to be modular, which means each autonomous component is pluggable and can be replaced at any time without affecting the other parts of the system. This allows new features to be launched quickly and easily with minimal fuss and disruption.

3. Unlimited flexibility

By assembling composable, customized commerce stacks, businesses have the flexibility to manage every aspect of their business, from refining and polishing the look of front-end experiences, to continuously improving and optimizing how their business operates on the back-end.

4. Future-proof technology

A composable commerce solution is designed to continuously evolve, meaning your business is best placed to keep up with changing customer demands and expectations. There is no need to wait on a new ‘release’ of your platform or solution, progress is consistent and ongoing.

5. Scalability

Composable commerce’s lean, agile architecture allows businesses to quickly and easily scale the types of experiences that resonate with customers.

6. Faster time to market

Simple integrations allow your business to update features as and when required, making it possible for your organization to keep pace with trends and consumer demands as they happen.

7. Lower TCO

With monolithic software, businesses are subject to vendor lock-ins, meaning you’re locked into a contract for a fixed amount of time – switching vendors is costly and complicated. Composable commerce represents a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and is less expensive than fully re-platforming — costs of a modular build are minimized by identifying the specific solutions that fit with your business requirements.

The future of e-commerce is in your hands

These are exciting times. Thanks to the evolution of composable commerce, brands have never had so much freedom to build and deliver clever, impactful experiences that drive engagement and exceed customer expectations — the only limit is your imagination.

Find out more about composable commerce and how it can transform your business, or take your first steps toward a composable future by booking a demo with one of our team.