Composable architecture is set to change the world of ecommerce because it offers the flexibility to update your ecommerce site and to use new tools and functionality quickly and easily.
You can improve customer experiences on your mobile apps, website, social media channels, marketplaces, messaging, livestream shopping, and in-store.
Composable architecture terms
Composable architecture – also known as microservices architecture, Gartner introduced the term in 2020 to describe the independent services and features that can be used to create fast and flexible business solutions.
Microservices – these are internal and external services that communicate through application programming interfaces (APIs). Within a composable architecture each microservice operates independently to deliver a specific business function and they can all communicate with each other.
In contrast, a traditional monolithic ecommerce solution delivers all your services using a single engine, often including many pre-built features and functions. The approach is powerful but often lacks flexibility because changes can affect other dependent business systems and processes.
Microservices allow you to send and receive a lot of data very quickly making them ideal for organizations that need to handle high volume transactions.
Headless ecommerce – this means separating the backend of your business operations from the frontend which controls and delivers what your customers see. Headless ecommerce makes it much easier to experiment with frontend experiences without affecting other parts of your business.
MACH – this is an acronym for Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless. Together these technologies support the openness and flexibility of composable architecture. This framework allows you to use multiple solutions for your presentation layer which are accessed with API calls. Your core ecommerce functionality could be from one provider, content management (CMS) from a second, and your shopping cart from a third, for example.
The benefits of composable commerce
Composable commerce allows you to choose best-of-breed building blocks to implement your ecommerce infrastructure and improve customer experiences. You aren’t tied to a single provider.
Composable or modular ecommerce also makes your solutions extensible. The assets you choose from different providers can be modified to meet your specific requirements. You no longer have to choose between buying or building a solution, you can simply buy the best tools and extend their usefulness by adding additional features. If you wish, you can introduce just a single composable function at a time, rather than implementing a completely new ecommerce platform.
Different teams in your organization can control their own elements and amend or replace microservices seamlessly. You can be fully focussed on performance across all your channels, from the speed of your ecommerce site to business systems integration, or effective personalization.
If you own a medium to large ecommerce business, want to retain control of your customers’ experiences and have the capacity to manage multiple workstreams and technologies it is an option worth considering.
Composable commerce with Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce carries forward the composable legacy of Magento which always accommodated modules and extensions for functions such as content management (CMS), search, catalog management, product information management (PIM) and customer relationship management (CRM).
Your developers can quickly write and deliver app-like experiences for any part of your customer’s journey, including single-page and multi-page web apps, mobile apps, internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices.
You will have flexibility to deliver bespoke functionality across all your presentation layers with over 500 REST and GraphQL APIs offered by Adobe Commerce. You can also integrate with other Adobe tools and third-party frontends to create unique ecommerce experiences.
Even if composable commerce isn’t on your horizon today Adobe Commerce gives you the flexibility to adopt the approach in the future. All your touchpoints use the same APIs and services which are optimized for efficiency, high performance, and low latency, so you can rely on them. Your customers’ experiences will be consistent, frictionless and reliable without potential concerns about interoperability.
As new opportunities to engage with your customers emerge you can build and test new experiences and take advantage of continuous integration and delivery (CICD) and agility for constant innovation.
Adobe Commerce also allows you to operate a traditional ecommerce site and a headless progressive web application (PWA) in PWA Studio which is compatible with Adobe Experience Manager. This allows you to layer complex, personalized customer journeys and content-led experiences. You can deliver app-like shopping experiences on mobile and desktop devices and use Adobe Commerce’s integrated content tools.
Start your composable commerce journey here
Williams Commerce is an Adobe Commerce Gold Partner with EMEA Adobe Commerce Specialization. With more than 10 years of experience we know how to get the best from Adobe Commerce, now and in the future.
We will be delighted to discover more about your business goals and to discuss how composable commerce could work for you.
Talk to one of our experts today.
