E-commerce architecture is full of nuance and complexities. Creating a storefront capable of supporting and adapting to those challenges in the long term requires building flexible yet resilient components into your architecture. However, most traditional e-commerce architecture consists of overlapping components where making changes to one aspect often requires editing another. London-based studio, Rotate°, knows this well having spent the last decade working closely with e-commerce businesses to build future-ready, composable architecture to support their clients’ growing business challenges. So, what do they recommend when it comes to creating a flexible and reliable eCommerce architecture?
Turn to Composable Architecture for flexibility and scalability
Unlike traditional e-commerce, composable architecture focuses on building independent yet interchangeable components that can be adapted at any point without impacting another aspect of your e-commerce business. Rather than relying on a single framework that provides limited customization, Composable Architecture gives you the power to create a unique and flexible tech stack that can easily evolve alongside your business. You can learn more about the benefits here: What is Composable Commerce and How Does it Relate to Headless Commerce?
Establish your single sources of truth
In non-composable architectures, data is often scattered across various locations. For instance, information for pricing, stock and tax codes might be housed in your e-commerce platform but also found across your accounting software and warehouse systems. Data on customers and orders might be available in your e-commerce platform as well as the system you use for Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In this scenario, modifying a part of your system or migrating data to a new system is expensive both in terms of time and cost. The risk here is that these costs become too high, essentially locking you in with your current vendor.
In composable architecture, the ability to easily swap or add to components minimizes the risk of vendor lock-in. The key to this is to establish all single sources of truth where possible. Look at where the data for key components lie – where can you find your customer data, orders, inventory, product information?
How Brightpearl works as a single source of truth for Big Green Egg
For the UK distributor of luxury barbecue brand Big Green Egg, Brightpearl is their primary source of truth and has been for many years. It houses core information about stock, customers, orders, products, pricing and tax codes. Keeping the transactional nature of their e-commerce platform separate from the management of orders, stock and products, meant Big Green Egg was able to modify its architecture without any downtime or data migrations. It also meant that it could leverage each platform within the architecture to its fullest capability, effectively using the best tool for each specific task rather than trying to get one platform to handle it all. In just three months, they moved their Content Management System (CMS) and eCommerce platform, rebuilt their storefront and implemented various microservices without the need for downtime or data migrations. Having Brightpearl in place ahead of the replatform project ensured continuity of information and ensured a smoother migration.
Build a resilient eCommerce foundation
Implementing a robust ERP system, like Brightpearl, that can act as a consistent source of truth is key to harnessing the full potential of Composable Architecture. By establishing clear, centralized data sources and maintaining flexible, interchangeable components, businesses can overcome the constraints of traditional e-commerce systems. Seamless updates and integrations within their systems architecture can be made with little to no downtime or data loss, creating a resilient foundation that can evolve to meet business and market needs.
