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13 Best Tools for Composable Commerce Applications

Build a modern, modular and scalable eCommerce website

Jonathan Saring
Bits and Pieces

--

Composable commerce represents a paradigm shift in how digital commerce platforms are built, allowing businesses to select and integrate best-of-breed commerce components rather than relying on a monolithic solution. This approach enables unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and speed in adapting to market changes and customer needs. Here are 13 of the best tools that facilitate the development of composable commerce applications, empowering teams to build robust, adaptable digital commerce ecosystems.

1. Bit

Bit is a powerful tool for building and scaling frontend applications, while each part of the app (feature, page, user-experience, UI etc) is a reusable “Lego” building blocks that can be reused and updated across many apps.

Compose apps with reusable, managed components (features, UXs, pages etc)

The ease of modularity, reusability and customizability for your applications makes Bit an ideal choice for composable commerce. It allows development teams to create, share, and manage reusable components, fostering collaboration and accelerating the development of commerce applications by reusing frontend elements across projects.

Every feature, page, micro-app or UI in your apps become a building block you can instantly consume, use and even customize everywhere. Different teams can own and expose “Scopes” of components by business domians.

Split components into scopes: shared infra, UIs, and spesific stores…

Many Fortune-500 organizations use Bit for composable frontend apps on top a CMS and similar use-cases, report up to 80% faster deliver on new features and products, while reducing cost by as much as 75%. One of America’s largest companies reported saving over $100M in 24 months after building 2,454 components, reusing them ±25k times, and releasing new versions for components around 50k times per year. It’s a whole new ball game for composable commerce on the frontend side with Bit.

Building a new app? Choose and install any component! get updates and stay in sync

Changes are continuously propagated, built, tested and updated across all apps in the entire organizations via the bit.cloud platform. Quickly, you can compose and manage hundreds of frontend apps with just a small team.

Learn more

2. CommerceTools

CommerceTools is a leading cloud-native, headless commerce platform designed to offer businesses the flexibility and agility needed to create innovative ecommerce solutions. Unlike traditional ecommerce platforms, CommerceTools separates the frontend presentation layer from the backend ecommerce logic through APIs. This headless approach allows for the delivery of shopping experiences across various digital touchpoints, including web, mobile, social media, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Why CommerceTools for Composable Commerce?

CommerceTools is particularly well-suited for composable commerce due to its API-first design, microservices architecture, and cloud-native infrastructure. This setup empowers businesses to select and integrate only the commerce functionalities they require, such as inventory management, payment processing, and customer management, without being bogged down by monolithic software suites. The flexibility to mix and match services fosters innovation, enables rapid market adaptation, and reduces time-to-market for new features or products.

Key Features of CommerceTools

  • API-First Approach: CommerceTools is built around powerful, RESTful APIs, ensuring easy integration with existing systems and allowing developers to build custom ecommerce applications.
  • Microservices Architecture: It offers a suite of independently deployable microservices, each focusing on a specific commerce function, enabling scalability and resilience.
  • Multi-Tenant SaaS Platform: Being cloud-native, CommerceTools provides a secure, scalable, and maintenance-free infrastructure, reducing the operational overhead for businesses.
  • Flexible Data Models: It supports customizable data models that can adapt to complex product catalogs and business requirements, facilitating personalized customer experiences.
  • Global Commerce Support: CommerceTools is designed to support global commerce operations, including multi-currency, multi-language, and multi-brand strategies.

How and When to Use CommerceTools

CommerceTools is ideal for businesses looking to create tailored ecommerce experiences that can rapidly evolve with market demands. It’s particularly beneficial when:

  • Launching omnichannel retail strategies that require seamless shopping experiences across multiple digital touchpoints.
  • Modernizing legacy ecommerce platforms by migrating to a flexible, scalable cloud-native solution.
  • Expanding ecommerce operations globally, requiring support for multiple languages, currencies, and localized content.

For example, to integrate a custom checkout process using CommerceTools, you might use the following simplified approach:

// Fetch the cart details
fetch('https://api.commercetools.com/my-project/carts/my-cart-id', {
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer <your_access_token>'
  }
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(cart => {
  console.log(cart);
  // Proceed to implement custom checkout logic using cart details
});

This snippet demonstrates fetching cart details from CommerceTools, which is the first step in customizing the checkout experience.

Learn More

To dive deeper into CommerceTools and explore how it can power your composable commerce strategy, visit:

3. Contentful

Contentful is a leading content management platform designed to facilitate the creation, management, and distribution of content across any digital channel. Unlike traditional CMS platforms that couple content with specific presentation layers, Contentful provides a headless architecture. This means the content is stored independently of how it’s displayed, enabling developers to use APIs to deliver content to websites, mobile apps, and other digital platforms.

Why Contentful for Composable Commerce?

Contentful’s headless nature makes it an exceptional fit for composable commerce, where flexibility and the ability to quickly adapt to changing market conditions or customer preferences are crucial. By decoupling content from the presentation layer, businesses can ensure that their product information, marketing materials, and other content types can be seamlessly integrated into various commerce platforms and customer touchpoints. This agility enhances customer experiences and streamlines content management processes.

Key Features of Contentful

  • Headless and API-First: Provides RESTful APIs that allow for the retrieval and delivery of content across channels, enabling developers to build custom ecommerce solutions.
  • Rich Text Editor: Offers a user-friendly interface for content creators to manage and publish content without needing technical skills.
  • Flexible Content Modeling: Allows for the creation of custom content models that fit your specific business needs, making it easier to manage complex product catalogs and marketing content.
  • Multi-Language Support: Supports localization and internationalization, enabling businesses to manage content in multiple languages from a single platform.
  • Extensive Ecosystem: Features a rich marketplace of apps, integrations, and custom extensions that enhance the platform’s capabilities and facilitate integration with other tools and services.

How and When to Use Contentful

Contentful is ideal for businesses aiming to provide consistent, high-quality content experiences across all customer touchpoints in their composable commerce ecosystem. It’s especially useful when:

  • Developing omnichannel content strategies that require centralized management of product information, blogs, and other content types.
  • Expanding into new markets or regions, necessitating localized content in multiple languages.
  • Seeking to improve collaboration between content creators and developers by streamlining content operations and deployment.

For instance, integrating product information into a commerce platform could be achieved with the following simplified code snippet:

// Fetch product details from Contentful
fetch('https://cdn.contentful.com/spaces/<space_id>/entries/<entry_id>?access_token=<your_access_token>')
.then(response => response.json())
.then(product => {
  console.log(product);
  // Use product details to display on your ecommerce site or app
});

This example demonstrates how to retrieve product details from Contentful, which could then be dynamically integrated into an ecommerce platform or application.

Learn More

For those interested in leveraging Contentful for their composable commerce initiatives, the following resources offer in-depth information and guidance:

4. Elastic Path

Elastic Path is a pioneering headless commerce solution designed for enterprises and businesses seeking to implement API-driven ecommerce strategies. It stands out for its ability to deliver commerce capabilities as modular, microservices-based APIs, which gives organizations the flexibility to create highly customized, scalable, and innovative commerce experiences across multiple touchpoints.

Why Elastic Path for Composable Commerce?

Elastic Path is specifically engineered for the composable commerce model, offering a level of agility and customization that traditional ecommerce platforms cannot match. Its headless, microservices architecture allows businesses to seamlessly integrate commerce functionalities with other systems and technologies, such as CMS, CRM, and ERP systems, enabling a truly unified and flexible digital ecosystem. This approach ensures businesses can rapidly adapt to market changes, customer preferences, and new technology trends.

Key Features of Elastic Path

  • Microservices Architecture: Elastic Path’s services are broken down into highly decoupled, independently deployable microservices, enabling teams to innovate and scale specific functionalities without impacting the entire system.
  • Omnichannel Capabilities: Supports delivering consistent and personalized shopping experiences across various channels, including web, mobile, social media, and IoT devices.
  • Comprehensive API Coverage: Provides extensive RESTful APIs covering the entire commerce lifecycle, from product catalog management to order processing and checkout.
  • Multi-Tenant SaaS: Offers a cloud-native, multi-tenant SaaS model that ensures high availability, scalability, and security while minimizing the operational burden on businesses.
  • Customization and Extensibility: Enables deep customization and integration capabilities, allowing businesses to tailor their commerce solution to meet unique requirements and seamlessly integrate with existing technology stacks.

How and When to Use Elastic Path

Elastic Path is best suited for businesses looking to leverage the benefits of composable commerce to stay ahead of the curve. It’s particularly effective when:

  • Developing bespoke commerce experiences that require deep integration with existing business systems and workflows.
  • Expanding omnichannel strategies to include emerging channels and touchpoints, necessitating a flexible and adaptable commerce platform.
  • Scaling ecommerce operations without being constrained by the limitations of monolithic platforms, especially in dynamic markets where agility is key.

A simple example of integrating a product catalog with Elastic Path might look like this:

// Fetch a list of products from Elastic Path's Commerce Engine
fetch('https://api.elasticpath.com/catalog/products', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer <access_token>'
  }
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => {
  console.log(data);
  // Display the products in your application or website
});

This code snippet demonstrates retrieving product information using Elastic Path’s API, which could then be dynamically displayed in an application or website, showcasing the platform’s flexibility and ease of integration.

Learn More

To explore Elastic Path further and understand how it can facilitate your composable commerce strategy, visit:

5. Algolia

Algolia is a powerful search-as-a-service platform that enhances websites and applications with fast, relevant, and scalable search experiences. Its sophisticated search engine is designed to decrease search times dramatically, providing users with instant, accurate results from the first keystroke. Algolia’s API-first approach makes it a versatile tool for developers looking to integrate advanced search capabilities into their composable commerce solutions.

Why Algolia for Composable Commerce?

In the realm of composable commerce, where businesses aim to assemble their platforms using the best available microservices, Algolia stands out for its ability to provide superior search experiences. Quick and efficient search functionality is crucial for ecommerce platforms, as it directly influences user engagement and conversion rates. Algolia’s customizable and intelligent search algorithms can significantly enhance the customer journey, leading to better satisfaction and increased sales.

Key Features of Algolia

  • Ultra-Fast Search: Algolia’s distributed search network ensures low-latency responses, making searches lightning-fast.
  • Real-Time Results: Search results update in real time with each keystroke, offering users immediate feedback.
  • Custom Ranking and Relevance: Provides tools to customize search results based on business metrics, ensuring that users always find what they’re looking for.
  • Rich Analytics: Offers detailed insights into search patterns, popular queries, and user behavior, helping businesses refine their search strategies.
  • Multi-Platform Support: Algolia can be integrated into web, mobile, and even voice search applications, offering a unified search experience across all customer touchpoints.

How and When to Use Algolia

Algolia is particularly beneficial for composable commerce platforms that prioritize user experience and seek to optimize every touchpoint for engagement and conversion. It’s ideal for:

  • Enhancing product discovery on ecommerce sites with fast, accurate search results.
  • Implementing advanced search features, such as autocomplete, typo tolerance, and faceted search, to help users navigate large product catalogs effortlessly.
  • Analyzing search data to understand customer preferences and optimize inventory, marketing, and sales strategies.

Integrating Algolia into an ecommerce platform could be as straightforward as the following example:

// Initialize Algolia search client
const search = algoliasearch('YourApplicationID', 'YourSearchOnlyAPIKey');
const products = search.initIndex('your_products_index');

// Perform a search query
products.search('query string', {
  hitsPerPage: 10,
  filters: 'category:Shoes'
}).then(({ hits }) => {
  console.log(hits);
  // Process and display the search results
});

This code snippet showcases a basic integration of Algolia to perform a search within an ecommerce platform, demonstrating how easily Algolia can enhance the shopping experience with powerful search functionality.

Learn More

For more information on Algolia and how to incorporate it into your composable commerce applications, visit:

6. Stripe

Stripe is a comprehensive payment platform that simplifies the integration of payment processing into online platforms and mobile applications. Known for its developer-friendly API, Stripe enables businesses of all sizes to implement and manage online payments securely and efficiently. It supports a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, bank transfers, and emerging payment forms, making it a versatile choice for global commerce needs.

Why Stripe for Composable Commerce?

In the composable commerce ecosystem, where flexibility and the ability to quickly adapt to market changes are paramount, Stripe provides an essential building block for payment processing. Its robust API and extensive documentation allow developers to seamlessly integrate payment capabilities into their commerce solutions, ensuring a smooth checkout experience for users. Stripe’s focus on security, compliance, and global payment processing makes it an ideal partner for businesses looking to scale and enter new markets without the complexity typically associated with payment infrastructures.

Key Features of Stripe

  • Wide Payment Method Support: Stripe offers a broad range of payment options, including credit cards, digital wallets, and local payment methods, catering to a global customer base.
  • Developer-Friendly APIs: Provides well-documented, flexible APIs that enable custom integrations and workflows, fitting perfectly into the modular nature of composable commerce.
  • Advanced Fraud Protection: Includes built-in tools like Stripe Radar that use machine learning to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, enhancing security.
  • Automated Financial Reconciliation: Stripe simplifies the reconciliation process with automated reporting and accounting integrations, saving businesses time and effort.
  • Scalable Infrastructure: Designed to support businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises, Stripe’s infrastructure scales to meet the demands of growing transaction volumes.

How and When to Use Stripe

Stripe is an essential tool for any composable commerce platform that requires robust, flexible payment processing. Whether you’re building a new ecommerce site from scratch or integrating payments into a mobile app, Stripe’s APIs and tools can be tailored to meet your specific needs. It’s especially useful for:

  • Implementing a seamless checkout experience that supports multiple payment methods.
  • Expanding ecommerce operations to new regions with support for local currencies and payment methods.
  • Enhancing security and reducing the risk of fraud in online transactions.

Integrating Stripe into an ecommerce platform can be as simple as:

// Initialize Stripe with your secret key
const stripe = require('stripe')('your_secret_key');

// Create a payment intent for a specific amount
stripe.paymentIntents.create({
  amount: 1000, // Amount in cents
  currency: 'usd',
  payment_method_types: ['card'],
}).then(intent => {
  console.log(intent);
  // Use the payment intent to process the payment on the frontend
});

This example demonstrates creating a payment intent with Stripe, a first step in processing payments that allows you to specify the amount and currency for a transaction.

Learn More

To dive deeper into Stripe and explore how to integrate it into your composable commerce strategy, visit:

7. Moltin

Moltin is a flexible, API-first ecommerce solution that empowers developers to build and customize unique online shopping experiences. As part of the composable commerce ecosystem, Moltin provides a set of APIs that handle everything from products and carts to checkout and payments. It’s designed to liberate businesses from the constraints of traditional ecommerce platforms by offering complete creative control over how commerce functionalities are integrated and presented.

Why Moltin for Composable Commerce?

Moltin is particularly appealing for composable commerce because of its headless architecture and service-oriented design. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses aiming to craft bespoke ecommerce experiences that stand out in a crowded market. With Moltin, companies can quickly prototype and deploy new commerce ideas, integrate with existing systems, and scale effortlessly, all while maintaining a high level of flexibility and agility.

Key Features of Moltin

  • Headless Commerce APIs: Moltin offers RESTful APIs that cover the full spectrum of ecommerce operations, from inventory management to order fulfillment, enabling seamless integrations with existing business systems or custom frontend applications.
  • Rapid Development and Deployment: With SDKs for popular programming languages and detailed documentation, Moltin accelerates the development and deployment of new commerce functionalities.
  • Customizable Checkout Flows: Unlike rigid platforms, Moltin allows for the customization of checkout processes to align with unique business requirements and customer expectations.
  • Rich Product Management: Moltin supports complex product catalogs with customizable attributes, variations, and digital assets, catering to diverse ecommerce business models.
  • Flexible Payment Solutions: It integrates with a variety of payment gateways, providing businesses with the flexibility to choose the best payment solutions for their needs.

How and When to Use Moltin

Moltin is best utilized when businesses need to go beyond the limitations of traditional ecommerce solutions to innovate and tailor the shopping experience. Whether it’s integrating ecommerce into a new mobile app, deploying a unique online marketplace, or experimenting with novel business models, Moltin’s APIs and tools provide the necessary foundation.

Integrating Moltin for product management might look something like this:

// Using Moltin's SDK to create a new product
const MoltinGateway = require('@moltin/sdk').gateway;

const Moltin = MoltinGateway({
  client_id: 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID',
});
const productData = {
  name: 'Innovative Sneakers',
  slug: 'innovative-sneakers',
  description: 'A pair of sneakers that combines style and comfort.',
  price: [
    {
      amount: 9900,
      currency: 'USD',
      includes_tax: true
    }
  ],
  status: 'live',
  commodity_type: 'physical',
};
Moltin.Products.Create(productData).then(product => {
  console.log('Product created:', product);
});

This snippet demonstrates how you might use Moltin’s JavaScript SDK to create a new product in your catalog, showcasing the ease with which you can manage ecommerce operations programmatically.

Learn More

For those interested in leveraging Moltin for their composable commerce projects, the following resources are invaluable:

8. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an open SaaS ecommerce platform that combines the ease of use typical of SaaS solutions with the flexibility and customization capabilities of open-source software. It’s designed to support a wide range of ecommerce operations, from small businesses to large enterprises, offering robust features for creating, managing, and scaling online stores. BigCommerce stands out for its comprehensive set of built-in sales tools, advanced security features, and its ability to integrate seamlessly with various third-party applications and services.

Why BigCommerce for Composable Commerce?

BigCommerce is an ideal choice for businesses looking to adopt a composable commerce approach without fully committing to a headless architecture. Its API-driven approach allows for the integration of best-of-breed technologies, enabling businesses to tailor their ecommerce ecosystem to their specific needs. Moreover, BigCommerce’s extensive marketplace of apps and themes facilitates easy customization and enhancement of ecommerce capabilities, making it a versatile platform for businesses aiming to grow and adapt in the fast-evolving digital commerce landscape.

Key Features of BigCommerce

  • Extensive API Coverage: BigCommerce provides comprehensive RESTful APIs and GraphQL endpoints, enabling developers to build custom integrations and extend the platform’s capabilities.
  • Multi-Channel Sales: It supports selling across multiple channels, including web, mobile, social media platforms, and online marketplaces, helping businesses reach customers wherever they are.
  • Advanced Security and Compliance: BigCommerce offers enterprise-grade security features, including PCI compliance, to ensure that online stores are secure and customer data is protected.
  • Scalable SaaS Architecture: The platform’s cloud-based infrastructure is designed to scale as businesses grow, handling increases in traffic and sales without compromising performance.
  • Rich Ecosystem of Apps: With a vast marketplace of third-party apps and integrations, BigCommerce enables businesses to easily add new features and functionalities to their stores.

How and When to Use BigCommerce

BigCommerce is particularly effective for businesses that require a robust, all-in-one ecommerce platform capable of scaling with their growth. It’s suitable for:

  • Launching an online store quickly with a wide range of out-of-the-box features.
  • Expanding omnichannel sales strategies to include integrations with social media, online marketplaces, and brick-and-mortar POS systems.
  • Customizing and extending ecommerce operations with specific functionalities through BigCommerce’s extensive API and third-party apps.

For example, integrating BigCommerce with a custom CRM system might involve using its APIs like this:

fetch('https://api.bigcommerce.com/stores/{store_hash}/v3/customers', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-Auth-Token': '{access_token}',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "first_name": "Jane",
    "last_name": "Doe",
    "email": "jane.doe@example.com",
    "phone": "123-456-7890"
  })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data))
.catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

This snippet demonstrates how to add a customer to your BigCommerce store, showcasing the flexibility and extensibility of BigCommerce’s APIs for custom integration and automation.

Learn More

To explore more about BigCommerce and how it can support your composable commerce strategy, visit:

9. Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is Shopify’s enterprise-level ecommerce platform designed to meet the needs of high-growth, high-volume merchants. Offering unparalleled scalability, reliability, and flexibility, Shopify Plus enables large businesses to expand their operations while maintaining a seamless online shopping experience. It distinguishes itself with advanced features, dedicated support, and extensive integration capabilities, making it a robust solution for sophisticated ecommerce operations.

Why Shopify Plus for Composable Commerce?

Shopify Plus is particularly well-suited for composable commerce thanks to its open API and vast ecosystem of apps and integrations. This flexibility allows businesses to tailor their ecommerce solutions by integrating best-of-breed technologies for every aspect of their operation, from inventory and order management to marketing and customer service. Shopify Plus supports a modular approach to ecommerce, enabling merchants to easily adapt and innovate their platforms to meet evolving market demands and customer expectations.

Key Features of Shopify Plus

  • Unlimited Scalability: Shopify Plus can handle high volumes of traffic and transactions, ensuring that your store remains fast and reliable during peak times.
  • Advanced Customization: With access to Shopify’s Liquid templating language and customizable checkout, merchants can tailor every aspect of the shopping experience.
  • Exclusive APIs and Integrations: Shopify Plus offers advanced API access for custom integrations and partnerships with leading technology providers, enhancing the platform’s capabilities.
  • Dedicated Support: Shopify Plus merchants receive dedicated support from Shopify’s Merchant Success Program, including access to ecommerce experts and 24/7 priority support.
  • International Commerce: Shopify Plus facilitates global expansion with multi-currency and multi-language capabilities, along with tools for managing multiple storefronts.

How and When to Use Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is ideal for businesses that require a robust, scalable ecommerce platform capable of integrating with a wide array of services and technologies. It’s particularly beneficial for:

  • High-volume merchants preparing for rapid growth or seasonal traffic spikes.
  • Businesses seeking to innovate their ecommerce experience with custom integrations and unique functionalities.
  • Companies expanding internationally who need a platform that supports multiple currencies, languages, and localized storefronts.

Integrating a third-party CRM with Shopify Plus might involve leveraging its APIs:

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

const shopUrl = 'https://yourstore.myshopify.com';
const accessToken = 'your_access_token';
fetch(`${shopUrl}/admin/api/2021-01/customers.json`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'X-Shopify-Access-Token': accessToken,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    customer: {
      first_name: "Jane",
      last_name: "Doe",
      email: "jane.doe@example.com",
      verified_email: true,
      addresses: [{ address1: "123 Oak St", city: "Citytown", province: "California", phone: "555-1212", zip: "12345", last_name: "Doe", first_name: "Jane", country: "US" }]
    }
  })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(json => console.log(json))
.catch(err => console.error('error:' + err));

This code demonstrates how to create a new customer in Shopify Plus using the Shopify Admin API, showcasing the platform’s ability to facilitate custom integration and automation.

Learn More

For further exploration of Shopify Plus and its capabilities for supporting a composable commerce strategy, visit:

10. Vendure

Vendure is a modern, open-source ecommerce platform that embraces a headless architecture, offering flexibility and efficiency to developers building online stores. Crafted with TypeScript and built on top of Node.js and GraphQL, Vendure is engineered to enhance developer productivity and to streamline the customization process. Its headless nature means the frontend user experience can be developed independently from the backend logic, allowing for seamless integration with various frontend frameworks and technologies.

Why Vendure for Composable Commerce?

Vendure’s headless approach and focus on modern technology make it a perfect match for composable commerce strategies. It provides the backend ecommerce functionalities as modular services through a well-documented GraphQL API, enabling businesses to construct a custom ecommerce solution that can easily adapt and scale with their needs. Vendure’s simplicity in integration, coupled with its flexible plugin system, ensures that businesses can extend their commerce capabilities as needed without being tied down by the limitations of traditional, monolithic platforms.

Key Features of Vendure

  • Headless and GraphQL-Based: Vendure utilizes a GraphQL API for all interactions, making data fetching efficient and tailored to the exact needs of the frontend, enhancing the performance and user experience of commerce applications.
  • Plugin System: A flexible plugin architecture allows for extending Vendure’s core functionalities with custom features or integrating with third-party services, aligning perfectly with the composable commerce approach.
  • Easy to Customize: With Vendure’s focus on developer ergonomics, the platform is designed to be highly customizable, enabling developers to tailor the ecommerce experience to the specific requirements of their business.
  • Modern Tech Stack: Built using TypeScript, Node.js, and leveraging GraphQL, Vendure is positioned at the forefront of modern web technologies, offering a robust and future-proof foundation for ecommerce solutions.
  • Rich Admin Interface: Vendure comes with an out-of-the-box admin UI that provides comprehensive management capabilities for products, orders, customers, and settings, all customizable to fit the business’s operational workflows.

How and When to Use Vendure

Vendure is ideally suited for businesses looking to leverage the benefits of headless commerce to create unique and adaptable online shopping experiences. It’s particularly beneficial for:

  • Projects requiring a customizable and scalable ecommerce backend that can integrate seamlessly with various frontend frameworks.
  • Businesses aiming to enhance their ecommerce operations with custom features or integrations developed through Vendure’s plugin system.
  • Developers seeking a modern, developer-friendly platform that prioritizes ease of development and customization.

A simple example of creating a product in Vendure might involve using its GraphQL API:

mutation CreateProduct {
  createProduct(input: {
    translations: [{ languageCode: en, name: "Amazing Product", slug: "amazing-product", description: "An amazing product that does amazing things." }],
    assetIds: ["1"]
  }) {
    id
    name
    description
  }
}

This GraphQL mutation demonstrates how to add a new product to your Vendure store, showcasing the ease of use and flexibility of Vendure’s API for managing ecommerce data.

Learn More

To delve deeper into Vendure and explore how it can power your composable commerce initiatives, the following resources are invaluable:

Why Shopify Plus for Composable Commerce?

Shopify Plus is particularly well-suited for composable commerce thanks to its open API and vast ecosystem of apps and integrations. This flexibility allows businesses to tailor their ecommerce solutions by integrating best-of-breed technologies for every aspect of their operation, from inventory and order management to marketing and customer service. Shopify Plus supports a modular approach to ecommerce, enabling merchants to easily adapt and innovate their platforms to meet evolving market demands and customer expectations.

Key Features of Shopify Plus

  • Unlimited Scalability: Shopify Plus can handle high volumes of traffic and transactions, ensuring that your store remains fast and reliable during peak times.
  • Advanced Customization: With access to Shopify’s Liquid templating language and customizable checkout, merchants can tailor every aspect of the shopping experience.
  • Exclusive APIs and Integrations: Shopify Plus offers advanced API access for custom integrations and partnerships with leading technology providers, enhancing the platform’s capabilities.
  • Dedicated Support: Shopify Plus merchants receive dedicated support from Shopify’s Merchant Success Program, including access to ecommerce experts and 24/7 priority support.
  • International Commerce: Shopify Plus facilitates global expansion with multi-currency and multi-language capabilities, along with tools for managing multiple storefronts.

How and When to Use Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is ideal for businesses that require a robust, scalable ecommerce platform capable of integrating with a wide array of services and technologies. It’s particularly beneficial for:

  • High-volume merchants preparing for rapid growth or seasonal traffic spikes.
  • Businesses seeking to innovate their ecommerce experience with custom integrations and unique functionalities.
  • Companies expanding internationally who need a platform that supports multiple currencies, languages, and localized storefronts.

Integrating a third-party CRM with Shopify Plus might involve leveraging its APIs:

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

const shopUrl = 'https://yourstore.myshopify.com';
const accessToken = 'your_access_token';
fetch(`${shopUrl}/admin/api/2021-01/customers.json`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'X-Shopify-Access-Token': accessToken,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    customer: {
      first_name: "Jane",
      last_name: "Doe",
      email: "jane.doe@example.com",
      verified_email: true,
      addresses: [{ address1: "123 Oak St", city: "Citytown", province: "California", phone: "555-1212", zip: "12345", last_name: "Doe", first_name: "Jane", country: "US" }]
    }
  })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(json => console.log(json))
.catch(err => console.error('error:' + err));

This code demonstrates how to create a new customer in Shopify Plus using the Shopify Admin API, showcasing the platform’s ability to facilitate custom integration and automation.

Learn More

For further exploration of Shopify Plus and its capabilities for supporting a composable commerce strategy, visit:

11. Snipcart

Snipcart is a developer-centric ecommerce solution that enables the addition of a fully functional shopping cart to any website with minimal coding effort. By embedding a few lines of HTML and JavaScript into a site, developers can integrate Snipcart’s shopping cart, turning any website into an ecommerce platform. This simplicity and flexibility make Snipcart an attractive option for businesses looking to implement ecommerce functionalities without committing to a full-fledged ecommerce platform overhaul.

Why Snipcart for Composable Commerce?

Snipcart epitomizes the essence of composable commerce by offering a modular, plug-and-play solution that can be easily integrated into existing websites or systems. Its ability to work with any frontend framework or static site generator means that businesses can retain their website’s design and user experience while gaining robust ecommerce capabilities. This aligns perfectly with the composable commerce approach of building a custom stack of best-of-breed solutions tailored to specific business needs.

Key Features of Snipcart

  • Ease of Integration: Snipcart can be added to any website by simply including a snippet of HTML and JavaScript, facilitating quick ecommerce enablement.
  • Customizable Shopping Cart and Checkout: The look and feel of the shopping cart and checkout process can be fully customized to match the site’s branding and provide a seamless user experience.
  • Support for Multiple Payment Gateways: Snipcart offers integration with a variety of payment gateways, giving businesses the flexibility to choose their preferred payment processing solution.
  • Developer-Friendly: With comprehensive documentation and developer support, Snipcart prioritizes ease of use for developers, ensuring that integrating and customizing the shopping cart is as straightforward as possible.
  • Flexible Product Management: Products can be defined directly in the HTML or through Snipcart’s admin dashboard, supporting both physical and digital goods as well as subscriptions.

How and When to Use Snipcart

Snipcart is best used when businesses wish to add ecommerce functionality to existing websites or when creating new sites that require a flexible, easy-to-implement shopping cart solution. It’s especially suited for:

  • Small to medium-sized businesses looking to quickly start selling online without developing a custom ecommerce system from scratch.
  • Projects that need to integrate ecommerce into websites built with static site generators or headless CMS platforms.
  • Developers seeking a hassle-free way to enable ecommerce on blogs, portfolio sites, or landing pages.

Adding Snipcart to a site is as simple as:

<head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.snipcart.com/themes/v3.0.29/default/snipcart.css" />
</head>
<body>
    <button class="snipcart-add-item"
        data-item-id="product-id"
        data-item-price="25.00"
        data-item-url="/path/to/product"
        data-item-description="Product description"
        data-item-image="/path/to/product-image.jpg"
        data-item-name="Product Name">
        Add to cart
    </button>

<script async src="https://cdn.snipcart.com/themes/v3.0.29/default/snipcart.js"></script>
    <div hidden id="snipcart" data-api-key="YOUR_PUBLIC_API_KEY"></div>
</body>

This code demonstrates how to add a “Add to cart” button for a product on any webpage, leveraging Snipcart’s shopping cart functionality.

Learn More

For more detailed information about integrating Snipcart into your projects and taking full advantage of its features for composable commerce, visit:

12. Amplience

Amplience is a robust, API-first platform that revolutionizes how businesses manage and deliver content in the digital era. It combines headless content management (CMS) and digital asset management (DAM) into a single, unified platform designed to meet the dynamic needs of modern ecommerce. Amplience empowers businesses to handle their content and digital assets efficiently, facilitating the creation of engaging, multichannel digital experiences.

Why Amplience for Composable Commerce?

In the landscape of composable commerce, where flexibility and speed are paramount, Amplience stands out as a critical tool. Its headless nature allows businesses to decouple their content management from their ecommerce platform, offering unparalleled agility in content delivery across various customer touchpoints. This capability is crucial for businesses aiming to tailor and optimize their digital experiences in real-time, ensuring consistency and relevancy across all channels. Amplience’s API-driven approach ensures seamless integration with other components of a composable commerce ecosystem, enhancing the overall digital experience without the constraints of traditional CMS platforms.

Key Features of Amplience

  • Headless CMS and DAM: Amplience provides a powerful combination of content management and digital asset management, allowing businesses to centralize their content operations.
  • Dynamic Content Delivery: Utilizes a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to ensure that digital experiences are delivered quickly and reliably, regardless of the customer’s location.
  • API-First Design: Offers comprehensive APIs that enable seamless integration with ecommerce platforms, PIM systems, and other tools within the composable commerce stack.
  • Rich Media Support: Amplience supports a wide range of media types, from images and videos to interactive content, enhancing the visual appeal of ecommerce experiences.
  • Content Personalization: Features tools for creating personalized content experiences, enabling businesses to target specific audience segments with tailored messages.

How and When to Use Amplience

Amplience is an excellent choice for businesses looking to elevate their digital experiences through rich, dynamic content across multiple channels. It is particularly well-suited for:

  • Retailers and brands that require a flexible content management solution to keep pace with the fast-changing ecommerce landscape.
  • Businesses seeking to improve the consistency and personalization of their content across web, mobile, social media, and in-store displays.
  • Companies aiming to streamline their content creation and distribution processes by adopting a headless architecture that separates the content layer from the presentation layer.

Integrating Amplience with an ecommerce platform could involve leveraging its APIs like so:

fetch('https://cdn.amplience.net/api/v2/content/id', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer <Your_Access_Token>'
  }
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(content => {
  console.log(content);
  // Use the fetched content to dynamically update your ecommerce site
});

This example showcases how to retrieve and display content managed in Amplience on an ecommerce site, demonstrating the platform’s ability to deliver dynamic, API-driven content experiences.

Learn More

To dive deeper into Amplience and its capabilities for enhancing your composable commerce initiatives, explore the following resources:

13. OroCommerce

OroCommerce is a comprehensive ecommerce platform specifically designed to meet the complex needs of B2B businesses. As an open-source solution, it offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing companies to customize and extend their ecommerce capabilities to match their unique business requirements. With a strong focus on B2B functionalities, OroCommerce comes equipped with a wide array of out-of-the-box features tailored for the B2B market, including customizable workflows, price list management, and customer-specific catalogs.

Why OroCommerce for Composable Commerce?

OroCommerce’s open-source nature and robust API make it a prime candidate for businesses pursuing a composable commerce strategy. Its capability to integrate seamlessly with various business applications, from CRM and ERP systems to custom-built modules, allows for the creation of a highly tailored ecommerce ecosystem. This adaptability is crucial for B2B companies looking to innovate and streamline their operations, offering a level of customization and efficiency that traditional B2B ecommerce platforms may lack.

Key Features of OroCommerce

  • Comprehensive B2B Functionality: OroCommerce is built from the ground up with B2B commerce in mind, offering features such as corporate account management, multi-organization support, and quote management.
  • Flexible Open-Source Platform: The platform’s open-source model enables deep customization and extension, allowing businesses to adapt the software to their specific needs without limitations.
  • Advanced Integration Capabilities: With robust APIs and a wide range of available integrations, OroCommerce can easily become a part of a larger business technology stack, enhancing its composable commerce potential.
  • Multi-Website Architecture: OroCommerce supports the management of multiple ecommerce websites from a single instance, making it easier for businesses to manage diverse brands or regional markets.
  • Personalized Customer Experiences: Features like personalized price lists, content, and promotions ensure that B2B buyers receive a tailored shopping experience.

How and When to Use OroCommerce

OroCommerce is particularly beneficial for medium to large B2B enterprises seeking to digitize their sales processes, open new sales channels, or replace aging ecommerce platforms. It is well-suited for:

  • Businesses requiring a high degree of customization in their ecommerce operations to accommodate complex B2B sales cycles and workflows.
  • Companies looking to integrate their ecommerce platform with existing business applications, such as ERP, CRM, or PIM systems, to create a unified operational ecosystem.
  • B2B merchants aiming to provide a B2C-like shopping experience to their customers, with features like personalized catalogs and self-service portals.

For example, integrating OroCommerce with a CRM system might use the platform’s API:

<?php
// Example of using OroCommerce API to create a new customer
$httpClient = new \GuzzleHttp\Client();
$response = $httpClient->post('https://yourorocommerceinstance.com/api/customers', [
    'headers' => ['Authorization' => 'Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN'],
    'json' => [
        'data' => [
            'type' => 'customers',
            'attributes' => [
                'name' => 'New Customer LLC',
                // Additional customer attributes here
            ]
        ]
    ]
]);

if ($response->getStatusCode() == 201) {
    echo "Customer created successfully.";
}

This PHP snippet demonstrates how to create a new customer in OroCommerce via its REST API, illustrating the platform’s flexibility in integrating with external systems.

Learn More

To explore more about OroCommerce and how it can be leveraged for B2B composable commerce, visit the following resources:

Honorary Mentions

In addition to the core tools that empower composable commerce applications, there are several other platforms and services that, while not exclusively ecommerce-focused, play a crucial role in enhancing and securing the composable commerce ecosystem. Here are five honorary mentions that deserve recognition:

Netlify

Netlify simplifies the process of deploying and hosting front-end applications, making it an invaluable tool for developers building composable commerce solutions. Its seamless CI/CD workflows, serverless functions, and global CDN ensure that ecommerce sites are fast, secure, and always up to date.

Okta

Okta provides a secure, scalable identity management solution, essential for any ecommerce platform. By integrating Okta, businesses can offer their customers a seamless, secure authentication experience across their composable commerce ecosystem, enhancing trust and user satisfaction.

Vercel

Vercel is a platform for frontend frameworks and static sites, designed to integrate with headless content management systems and APIs. Its focus on performance and developer experience makes it a perfect fit for deploying fast, scalable, and easy-to-maintain composable commerce applications.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare offers a suite of security and performance services designed to protect and accelerate online commerce platforms. From CDN services to DDoS protection and secure DNS, Cloudflare ensures that composable commerce applications are fast, reliable, and safe from online threats.

Twilio

Twilio enables developers to build powerful communication features into their ecommerce applications. From SMS notifications about order updates to customer service chatbots, Twilio’s APIs add a critical layer of customer interaction and engagement to composable commerce ecosystems.

Conclusion

These tools represent the forefront of the composable commerce movement, each offering unique capabilities to support the development of flexible, scalable, and customer-centric ecommerce applications. By carefully selecting and integrating these tools, businesses can build a commerce platform that is precisely tailored to their needs and adaptable to the rapidly changing digital commerce landscape.

Programming
Web Development
Front End Development
Software Development
JavaScript

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Jonathan Saring
Bits and Pieces
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Written by Jonathan Saring

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I write code and words · Component-driven Software · Micro Frontends · Design Systems · Pizza 🍕 Building open source @ bit.dev

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