Composable Commerce: a mindset more than an architectural model

Composable Commerce should be viewed as an ongoing process of evolution, rather than a static state that must be achieved

Composable Commerce is a modern approach to building and managing digital commerce solutions, first introduced in a Gartner research article titled “Composable Commerce Must Be Adopted for the Future of Applications”.

It involves using modular, standalone components or services that can be easily integrated or “composed” together to create a customised digital commerce system.

The idea of Composable Commerce emerged as a response to the changing landscape of customer experience. With the line between digital and physical, online and offline becoming increasingly blurred, customers now have high expectations for a seamless and unified shopping experience across all channels. As a result, businesses must rethink and recompose their tech stacks to create a blend of commerce functionalities, also known as packaged business capabilities (PBCs) according to Gartner, that can power digital and physical commerce experiences in a unified and agile way.

This idea is further supported and enabled by two emerging trends in the digital commerce space: Headless Commerce and the Modularisation of Commerce Functionalities.

Headless Commerce

Headless commerce is an approach to the eCommerce technology stack where the frontend user interface (UI) and the backend commerce functionality are decoupled. Instead of being provided as one package, the frontend UI is built separately and communicates with the eCommerce platform via APIs.

As I explained in my previous article “Headless Commerce: what is it exactly and what does it mean for your business” the ultimate form of headless commerce looks something like the image below

This architecture gives businesses the ability to replace eCommerce frontend UI or commerce backend without affecting the other. However, it is still viewing commerce functionalities (the eCommerce platform) as a whole, which doesn’t accurately represent what’s happening in the digital commerce space. Instead, commerce functionalities are being modularised and provided in the form of SaaS apps, which I call the modularisation of commerce functionalities.

The modularisation of Commerce Functionalities

The modularisation of commerce functionalities is a fascinating trend that has been revolutionizing the digital commerce space for years. As I discussed in my previous article “The Evolution of eCommerce Technology: Tracing its Roots and Predicting the Future”, eCommerce functionalities such as search and merchandising, loyalty, reviews and UGC, and subscriptions, which were once an integral part of an eCommerce platform, are now built as independent SaaS apps.

This shift is akin to taking a single, bulky software and breaking it down into individual components to make it more flexible, versatile, and agile. You can see an illustration of this transition in the image below:

The rise of these specialized apps has meant that businesses are relying less on the native functionalities offered by eCommerce platforms. Instead, they can now leverage the power of individual SaaS apps that specialize in a particular area of eCommerce. This means merchants can achieve better results by choosing the apps that best meet their unique business needs, rather than relying solely on an eCommerce platform. Plus, it allows for greater agility and the ability to innovate, as merchants can quickly and easily replace one app with another without having to undertake an entire re-platforming project.

When you bring together the ideas of headless commerce and the modularisation of commerce functionalities, you arrive at the concept of Composable Commerce. In a Composable Commerce system, each individual component is like a building block that is independent but interconnected through APIs, working together to create a seamless digital commerce experience for your customers.

From a purely technical point of view, Composable Commerce = headless commerce + modularisation of Commerce functionalities

However, I see Composable Commerce be more than just an architectural model — it’s a mindset. It’s a shift away from the monolithic approach to eCommerce or in-store technology, towards a collection of digital commerce capabilities that power your business across all channels. By breaking down these capabilities into modular parts, each piece can be replaced and upgraded on its own, allowing for maximum flexibility and agility in innovation.

So, what does all of this mean for you as a merchant?

Well, chances are you may already be making the shift towards Composable Commerce without even realising it. It’s becoming increasingly common for businesses to use multiple SaaS apps as part of their digital commerce stacks, such as Yotpo, review.io, Klaviyo, SearchSpring, Algolia, Recharge, Nosto, and many more.

This move away from the traditional monolithic approach is essential, and if your eCommerce platform doesn’t allow for it, it might be time to start thinking about re-platforming.

To fully embrace the concept of Composable Commerce, it’s important to break down the barriers between online and offline and take a holistic view of your entire digital commerce systems, including Loyalty, Reviews and User-Generated Content, Product Information Management (PIM), and Customer Data Platform (CDP). This means looking beyond just your eCommerce website and finding ways to leverage these tools and capabilities across all digital touch points with your customers.

It’s worth noting that while flexibility is critical, it can also lead to complexity. The more you break down your systems and modularize the commerce capabilities, the more complex your system becomes. It’s essential that your internal team has the technology and digital maturity to manage this complexity before you dive too deep. Currently, most businesses that fully embrace Composable Commerce are large enterprises with the resources to handle the complexity that comes with it.

It’s important to remember that the focus should always be on the customer experience, not technology. Composable Commerce should be viewed as an ongoing process of evolution, rather than a static state that must be achieved. Technology should serve to enhance the user experience, not hinder it. To successfully implement Composable Commerce, you need to work with your unique circumstances to build a solution and roadmap that best serves your customers, business size, and internal capabilities.