3 Key eCommerce Concerns Addressed by a Composable Commerce Approach

A little over a year has gone by since Composable Commerce was pioneered and subsequently caught fire in the eCommerce world. How are players embracing the movement? Is it all that it was cracked up to be? Does a Composable Commerce approach overcome the 3 main concerns practitioners have when evaluating an eCommerce solution? Namely, concerns around Total Cost Ownership, rapidly adapting to market & consumer needs, integration with other tools. Partnering with Ignite research, we extensively surveyed professionals in the sector to get a feel for their understanding and journeys so far. Spoiler: most practitioners are well on their way to adopting a Composable Commerce approach if they haven’t already implemented one. The benefits, in some cases, surpassed expectations, with the overriding opinion that this is only the beginning.

Before we dive into the nuances, let us briefly recap what Composable Commerce is. A far cry from the ‘traditional monolith’ platforms that started the eCommerce wave, Composable Commerce allows a company to leverage the “best-of-breed” solutions that power facets of their eCommerce engine, allowing them to create bespoke experiences to delight their customers. In a nutshell, it is an approach that leverages modern technology like microservices, APIs, Cloud, Headless, and JAMstack (JavascriptJavaScript, APIs, markup), in an open ecosystem that truly enables a practitioner to build an eCommerce experience that enables achieving and surpassing your business-centric goals.

Practitioners recognize these issues and more importantly, how Composable Commerce can help them tackle those concerns now and in the future. While 58% of respondents already employ a Composable Commerce approach, of those who do not currently use a Composable Commerce approach, 62% are researching, and a further 29% are evaluating options.

Let’s Talk Total Cost Ownership

A crucial concern in the evaluation of an eCommerce platform, the total cost of ownership(TCO), there are pleasant surprises in store with a Composable Commerce approach. Of those that have implemented a Composable Commerce solution, over 80% expected to see Total Cost of Ownership savings over the next 3 years. Breaking down these savings, 62% expect a 25% reduction in costs over the next 3 years, and 19% of respondents expecting savings of 50% over the same time.

By design, Composable Commerce is built for change. Need to implement a self-check-out option to keep up with the market? It is an easy and quick addition with a Composable Commerce approach, in contrast to a traditional monolith platform’s implementation. On a monolith, the implementation would usually incur higher developer costs, more lengthy and painstaking testing, and in some cases relying on an implementation partner’s availability. For a more detailed breakdown of what to expect on the cost front, check out our guide to total cost ownership here.

While the benefits from a TCO perspective will continue to roll in well into the future, what about getting started with a Composable Commerce approach? A significant change in methodology can be daunting with the perceived complexity of this approach.

Unsurprisingly, however, 81% of practitioners using a composable approach were able to implement it within 6 months! In addition, those who have implemented a Composable Commerce approach say that it took only one month to implement additions from third parties to their commerce solution.

Looking to implement a headless approach?

Our comprehensive guide to getting started with headless commerce will teach you more about the architecture, how to work with the front-end of your choice, and how to choose a platform your needs.

Read the Guide

Is Composable Commerce Right for Your Business?

Catch yourself thinking “but is this really a fit for my unique business?” We get it, differentiating your brand and products is tough to do in today's saturated marketplace. The true power of a Composable Commerce approach is the ability to control and deliver a unique and unparalleled experience for your customers across touchpoints both old and emerging.

Another key concern of practitioners is the ability to manage and add to their commerce solution themselves. Once again, the proof is in the pudding. Of those that implemented a Composable Commerce solution, 50% of respondents were making changes on their own to keep up with the evolving needs of their customers. You guessed it, that also means further savings. Additionally, they also reported that integrating with other tools (53%) and providing a consistent user experience (52%) was now easier than before. The benefits are spread across the business and technology teams, which makes a Composable Commerce approach a no-brainer in our eyes.

What does that mean for your business? Implementing third-party tools, following the “best-of-breed” approach allows you to quickly optimize existing or add new channels. Let’s take another example if you notice there may be an upside in switching search capability on your eCommerce offering. Composable Commerce allows you to make the swap significantly faster than if it were to be changed (if at all possible) in a traditional monolith platform. This freedom and speed allow you to optimize your experience to delight your customers, delivering and surpassing your business goals.

Next Steps

See what else the other respondents had to say, check out the full report here.

Ready to take the plunge? We'd love to connect and see how we can make Composable Commerce work for you, sign up for a demo here.