Composable Commerce - Pros and Cons

Consumer demand is ever-changing, forcing even the most successful brands to constantly evolve their customer experience and operating models. In a rapidly changing industry, companies search for ways to be more agile, less dependent on pre-built platforms, and have more control.

A solution to this is Composable Commerce, a modular approach that enables companies to rearrange their setup as needed.

Below is a list of Pros and Cons to use when you are considering a transformation to Composable Commerce.

The Pros of Composable Commerce

1. Best of Breed - the right solutions for your needs

Choosing the very best components to support your critical business processes is one of the main reasons for a composable approach. With a composable ecosystem, you can choose what you need instead of being limited by what's already integrated into a monolithic platform.

2. Agility - set the pace yourself

With a composable approach, you will be flexible and able to continuously perfect the customer experience. Furthermore, you can make changes in your ecosystem whenever you want to keep up with tech innovation and changing customer demands without going through an entire re-platforming project.

3. Business Acceleration - saves time (and money)

Integrating different components is easier with the composable approach since they communicate through modern APIs. This saves time and makes sure that you can focus on your operation's more critical business values.

4. Cost-effective (Total Cost of Ownership)

Pay only for what you need. To make the most out of your investment, you can choose the features and vendors you actually need instead of paying for an all-in-one platform where you only use parts of it.

5. Freedom for your data

With a monolithic platform, you often have to deal with lock-in effects where you can't easily access your data from other systems. However, the composable ecosystem is integrated through open standards, making the data easy to access with precision.

6. Serverless makes you scalable

Although technically not a requirement for a composable ecosystem, a serverless infrastructure enables you to increase capacity instantly where needed. And there are no limitations to scaling your business globally. The concept of serverless means that the ecosystem is distributed, running in multiple data centers worldwide. As a result, you can offer your customers an ultra-low latency experience wherever they are.  

7. Microservices can focus on specific tasks

A well-functioning Composable Commerce setup builds on microservices. Every component in the ecosystem is independent and has one specific purpose. Microservices give you the freedom to upgrade, develop, and improve without affecting other parts of your ecosystem.

8. API-first for connectivity

An API-first, or API-only, approach is advantageous in many aspects and should be the foundation of a Composable Commerce ecosystem. You will avoid lengthy integration projects since modern APIs aim to connect your components with ease. An API-first setup also ensures that you can access the data you need when you need it.

9. Cloud-Native is true SaaS

When composing your ecosystem, choose cloud-native components. A cloud-native setup comes with a few distinctive qualities. First, you typically get to access the real advantages of SaaS, enabling you better control over your performance instead of relying on manual IT-ops needed to scale the performance of an all-in-one platform. It can also reduce your costs and increase energy efficiency.

10. Headless

A critical part of any Composable Commerce ecosystem is the customer-facing front-end. A modular headless approach gives you the freedom to connect any front-end to your backend. As a result, you can sell through a mobile app, website, or any other digital channel without changing the backend. Furthermore, you can use any framework to build a world-class customer experience.

Some even use headless as a way to describe Composable Commerce, the principles are similar, but there are differences.

The Cons of Composable Commerce

Of course, there are also a few cons, depending on the maturity of your business.

1. Multiple components to select and manage

When defining your Composable Commerce ecosystem, you may want to add multiple services and products from different vendors. This could require dealing with various vendors and the need to sign numerous agreements. We recommend that you work with a partner that knows what components will solve your business needs.

2. Functionality overkill

The Composable Commerce approach is perfect if you want complete control and ensure everything runs smoothly. But if your business is just starting or your operation needs just essential functions, the out-of-the-box alternatives could be a better match.

3. Administration of multiple systems

A composable ecosystem aims to create a setup where you can choose all the specific functions critical to your business—however, multiple new systems may require new skills in your organization.

4. Skillset in the internal organization

When building a composable ecosystem, you have to ensure that you have a great partner or the organization necessary to make the changes. If not, you will miss out on many essential upgrades, and the composable setup will not live up to its full potential.

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Are you interested in making the transition to Composable Commerce? We would be happy to discuss the pros and cons of Composable. Get in touch today.

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