As Monolithic architecture solutions face flexibility, customization, and scalability challenges, businesses are increasingly exploring more adaptable architectures, like Headless Commerce.

Alongside this, the concept of ‘Composable Commerce’ has gained prominence as a robust model to cater to the evolving needs of businesses and the swiftly changing market.

So, what exactly it is, and how does it distinguish itself from Headless Commerce? Let’s investigate these aspects to comprehend why it might represent a revolutionary leap forward.

What is Composable Commerce?

The term ‘Composable Commerce’ was first coined by Gartner Research in June 2020, referring to building a flexible and customizable e-commerce system by integrating various components to build distinct ‘Packaged Business Capabilities’ (PBCs) solutions tailored to the deployment needs. These PBC solutions can connect through APIs.

The PBCs may include:

• Storefront
• Catalog
• Inventory
• Cart
• Checkout
• Payment

If we consider components as smaller and more intricate elements of the eCommerce system, PBCs represent the integration of each of these smaller components to craft a unique eCommerce solution tailored to each business. In this scenario, components are on an equal footing, and so are the PBCs.

Therefore, any modifications or expansions in any component or PBCs won’t impact the overall operation of the entire system.

To put it more simply, within the composable architecture, you build your eCommerce system much like assembling a Lego set. 

Here, each PBC corresponds to a specific Lego block with a designated function. These blocks can seamlessly combine and link through APIs, resulting in a flexible and personalized eCommerce experience that aligns with your initial needs and wants.

Hence, the eCommerce development model allows you to attain the utmost flexibility and optimization for your eCommerce system.

Pros of Composable Commerce

Some benefits to highlight when adopting Composable architecture:

• Flexibility

This eCommerce development model offers high flexibility. You can select to combine the most suitable components for your needs. This flexibility allows you to easily create an eCommerce system that adapts to market trends and ever-changing customer experience expectations.

• Customization & Scalability

The model can meet the highest demands for customization & scalability. You can freely customize each component based on your brand and what you want for customer experience. But you can also scale individual components to handle growing traffic and transaction volumes. 

This level of customization and scalability allows you to offer a distinctive shopping experience, boost competitiveness, and expand your operations without the need for a complete overhaul of the system architecture.

• Cost Optimization

Despite the initial setup costs, deploying Composable Commerce can help you save your development costs in the long run. Because you only need to pay for specific components they use and optimize your PBCs to avoid unnecessary expenses.

Most current Composable Commerce solutions offer discounts as more components are integrated, with Commerce Components by Shopify being a prominent example.

• Ease of Maintenance

Components in the Composable Commerce architecture are often separated and become independent of each other, making maintenance and updates for each component easier. This minimizes disruptions and the risk of system downtime during maintenance or upgrades.

Cons of Composable Commerce

• Complex Integration

Composable Commerce demands the integration of various components, and this process can be complicated and time-consuming. You’ll need to ensure that these independent components operate seamlessly and efficiently within the same system, requiring additional development and customization efforts.

• Integration Costs

At scale, the need for deploying a complex system may increase, and integrating multiple components may lead to high upfront and ongoing costs. So, it’s important to phase resources for continuous development, testing, and maintenance of this integrated operation.

• Planning Required

Implementing a Composable Commerce architecture requires meticulous planning from the number of components, choice of suppliers, and integrated solutions to issues related to maintaining and upgrading these components.

• High Technical Skills Required

Building and maintaining an eCommerce system following the Composable Commerce model demands a high level of knowledge and technical skills in various technologies and integrated solutions. You must invest in training your in-house teams or collaborate with highly specialized entities.

• Hard to Manage

Managing a Composable Commerce system can be a significant challenge, especially when you integrate components from multiple 3rd-party suppliers. While Composable Commerce provides flexibility in integration, it also implies that you have to manage relationships with various suppliers. 

When there is a need for expansion, you’ll work with these suppliers to ensure each component can scale concurrently and efficiently, avoiding any adverse impact on system development.

• Security & Compliance

Ensuring the security and following rules for many components at the same time can be tricky. Each supplier has their own security and rule needs. So, how can you follow all the rules from each supplier without messing up the way your Composable Commerce system works? – That’s the point!

What is the difference between Composable Commerce and Headless Commerce?

Both Composable and Headless Commerce architectures separate the frontend and backend, providing a higher level of flexibility and customization. These technology solutions are currently the focus of many large businesses worldwide.

So, what is the main difference between the two?

In the Headless architecture, the separation of the frontend and backend allows you to update and customize either the frontend or backend without affecting each other.

On the other hand, the modular nature of Composable architecture takes it a step further by decoupling all eCommerce components, enabling you to choose and set up perfect PBCs (Packaged Business Capabilities) for your needs.

The key feature of Composable architecture is that, while the frontend can connect to various components at the backend through APIs, these components are highly modular and independent. This means that changes to one component won’t affect other components or the frontend interface.

Should we deploy Headless Commerce or Composable Commerce?

When considering the prospects of eCommerce architectures, it is evident that both Composable and Headless Commerce offer superior customization and scalability, allowing you to break free from traditional constraints to adapt to market trends. However, the decision to implement a specific architecture will depend on your business needs, technical expertise, and the goals you want to achieve.

With SECOMM’s extensive expertise and deep experience in successfully deploying numerous Headless Commerce projects, we serve as a reliable partner to advise businesses looking to implement this architecture with innovative solutions.

Contact us or call directly on the hotline at 028 7108 9908 to take a leap forward with SECOMM and unlock the full potential of both Headless and Composable Commerce today!