What do you need to know about MACH as an eCommerce merchant?
Selecting a technology vendor that implements MACH architecture is crucial for businesses transitioning to Composable Commerce architecture.
MACH has been generating a lot of attention in the digital commerce space recently, and as a result, many merchants have been asking me what it means and what they need to do about it.
MACH is an acronym that stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless. It represents a modern technology architecture that is based on these four principles.
Although MACH architecture is not limited to digital commerce, it is being championed by digital commerce tech vendors such as commercetools, Vuestorefront, and BigCommerce through the MACH alliance, thus gaining a lot of traction in the digital commerce space.
Before discussing what it means for merchants, it is important to understand MACH further.
MACH explained
Let’s take a closer look at the four principles of MACH architecture.
“M” — Microservices: This is an architectural approach where an application is built as a collection of small, independent services that can communicate with each other via APIs.
“A” — API-first: API-first means that the application is built with APIs as the primary interface. This allows new functionalities to be introduced via API before they are even made available via the UI. As a result, all the functionalities of the application are exposed via API, which is a prerequisite for the “H” — headless in the architecture.
“C” — Cloud-native: Cloud-native means that the application is designed and developed specifically for the cloud environment. All merchants use the same version of the software, and the update and upgrade of the software happen automatically.
“H” — Headless: Headless means that the application is decoupled from the presentation layer or front end. This means that the entire UI can be built using a completely different technology outside of the application by interacting with the application’s API.
In my opinion, the “M”, “A”, and “H” are closely related, or even loosely talking about the same thing. When an application is built using the microservices approach, it will have full API coverage, which enables headless architecture. I see the “M” — microservices as the core of this architecture.
The “C” is also extremely important. It completely separates a MACH application from an on-premises application that pretends to be a cloud-based application. If you have to manually apply security updates, software, or server upgrades, you are not using a cloud-native application.
MACH and Composble Commerce
Composable Commerce is a way to structure your digital commerce capabilities. It involves using modular, standalone components or services that can be easily integrated or “composed” together to create a customised digital commerce system. These components or services are referred to as packaged business capabilities (PBCs).
MACH is the technical enabler of this structure.
Technology vendors that implement that MACH architecture can power one or multiple PBCs.
The “M” is especially critical in this case. When a technology vendor builds their functionalities as microservices these functionalities are then decoupled from each other and can function separately. Merchants can then adopt some not all of these futilities to “compose” their overall digital commerce system. Thus choosing a technology vendor that implements MACH is critical for businesses shifting to the Composable Commerce architecture.
Technology vendors that implement MACH can power one or multiple PBCs for merchants’ Composable Commerce systems. The “M” in MACH is particularly crucial in this case, as building functionalities as microservices enables them to function separately, making it easier for merchants to adopt some, rather than all, of these functionalities to “compose” their overall digital commerce system.
Therefore, selecting a technology vendor that implements MACH architecture is crucial for businesses transitioning to Composable Commerce architecture.
What does it mean for merchants?
For most merchants, it is important to understand the idea of MACH but not necessarily chase it.
At this stage, MACH as a technology architecture means more to technology vendors and large enterprise retailers than to smaller retailers.
To future-proof their businesses, all that small and medium-sized brands & retailers need to do related to MACh is to start thinking about adopting technology vendors that implement the MACH architecture.
Most technology vendors in the digital commerce space have either implemented this architecture or are partially on this architecture and shifting to full adoption anyway.
For enterprise retailers, it is necessary to take it further and begin implementing their overall system using MACH. Ideally, they should incorporate as many cloud-native apps as possible and build all additional custom business logic as microservices to allow for maximum agility and flexibility.
