Getting started in the world of Composable Commerce

Are you ready for the change?

The simplicity of an all-in-one system is appealing, but does it really serve the ambitious goals and business complexity of your brand?

The shift to composable commerce is necessary for brands to stay competitive, but it requires a commitment to change and to transforming your business. When you make that commitment, you expand your capabilities, and your business potential grows. If enhancing your retail capabilities is important for your business growth, then it's time to leave behind an all-in-one platform that might be stifling your ambitions.

There are three questions a brand needs to ask before starting its investment in composable commerce.

• Business Complexity

Are our business needs complex enough to require this change in technology?

• Digital Maturity

Do we have the digital maturity to handle a custom suite, including the willingness to invest in new technologies?

• Mapping the Future State

What are the future opportunities for our brand, and how can we transition to a new architecture?

As brands scale and seek continuous growth, business complexities increase. More locations, channels, product types, and revenue models, as well as the acquisition of new brands and in-store technologies, can put a strain on all-in-one technologies that once met business needs. Custom commerce suites provide the flexibility and agility to face complexity head-on. Modular technologies offer the capability to create seamless omnichannel experiences and support business complexity as you venture into new business lines, markets, and channels.

Digital maturity is a crucial factor when considering a modular platform. Are your teams prepared for new technologies that can provide new business capabilities and greater control over the customer experience, even if they require your team to redefine operational procedures and work with best-in-class tools? A custom suite model is better for brands that have already demonstrated success and want to scale the customer experience and business models in ways that may be more challenging on a monolithic platform.

To understand where to begin the migration to composable commerce, it's important to conduct a workshop on the future state architecture that your brand might require. By defining a North Star and understanding the specific opportunities your brand seeks to exploit in both consumer experiences and business innovation, you can outline a future state architecture and begin building a roadmap for change. While some brands choose a Big Bang approach to migration, many find that a phased and incremental approach helps build confidence in the technology decisions being made while accelerating the time to value for the investment.

The transition to a custom commerce suite is the right decision for brands with the right mix of business complexity, digital maturity, and future needs to justify moving away from a simpler monolithic commerce platform. Composable commerce provides the flexibility and adaptability to scale for brands that believe in selecting the right tools to support the brand now and as it grows.