The surge in e-commerce has dramatically transformed the retail landscape. McKinsey reports that e-commerce sales doubled over the five years preceding 2022, and are expected to double again by 2026. However, businesses burdened by outdated technological infrastructures risk missing out on the next e-commerce revolution.
Historically, retailers have vied for market share through pricing strategies, inventory management, promotional campaigns, and marketing efforts. However, as companies strive to deliver more interconnected and personalized customer experiences, they are recognizing that technology is the new competitive frontier.
Customers now demand personalized, interconnected, omnichannel retail experiences. They seek flexible payment options and a streamlined, secure checkout process that avoids the need for redundant information entry or complex login procedures. The challenge lies in the fact that many legacy e-commerce platforms are not compatible with the modern tech stacks required to fuel growth.
This is where composable commerce comes into play. Companies can customize their store ecosystems with API-connected modules to create applications that meet their unique requirements. Essentially, composable architecture allows brands to select the best available components to construct a distinctive, lightning-fast checkout system, with virtually limitless possibilities.
Systems become obsolete when they lack support or struggle to meet the evolving demands of users. A legacy system may be widely utilized but offer limited value to your business.
As an e-commerce retailer, a monolithic suite or tech stack can stifle innovation and growth, making it challenging to compete with businesses built on modern, open architectures. Here are several ways outdated technology can impede your business growth:
1. Older systems are often rigid, making maintenance and upgrades time-consuming and requiring specialized expertise that can be difficult and costly to acquire.
2. Large businesses on legacy platforms often allocate significant IT resources to maintain their systems, and introducing new functionality is a gradual process. Real innovation often necessitates a complete re-platforming or migration to a new e-commerce tech stack.
3. Downtime is a major concern for online vendors. It can lead to lost sales, customer attrition, and damage to brand reputation. Legacy systems are more prone to downtime than modern, composable ones, often due to incompatibilities with contemporary systems and APIs.
4. Legacy systems may not support all the security measures of modern platforms, making them more vulnerable to breaches and potential data leaks.
5. Outdated systems are slow, from development to maintenance, and difficult to innovate. This can delay market entry for new vendors and provide a competitive advantage to those who can release products faster.
6. Older systems also negatively impact user experience, with slower page load times and increased likelihood of customer abandonment if load times exceed three seconds.
Composable commerce is an innovative approach to building retail websites, involving the integration of best-in-class e-commerce components into a custom tech stack tailored to specific business needs. This flexible setup enables retailers to enhance their e-commerce offerings by incorporating the most desirable components for their goals, freeing them from the constraints of monolithic, single-source software providers.
Headless architectures are a cornerstone of composable commerce systems. By decoupling the website’s frontend (content, formatting, and user interface) from its backend (functionality like pricing, checkout, hosting, and security), retailers can deliver high-quality content experiences through the frontend while integrating backend plugins to improve shopping and checkout processes.
With the influx of online brands, shoppers are overwhelmed by choices, and the market is saturated. By innovating across the customer journey, retailers can differentiate themselves from competitors offering generic experiences.
Checkout has long been a problematic area of the e-commerce purchase funnel, with high cart abandonment rates. A flexible tech stack can help build an e-commerce checkout solution that addresses customer concerns and improves conversion rates.
Limitless Checkout is a composable checkout solution that enhances conversion rates and average order value, powered by BigCommerce, Bold Commerce, and PayPal, and engineered by Coalition technologies. It empowers small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to unify omnichannel shopping and dynamically adapt customer experiences at a low cost.
BigCommerce’s commitment to “open SaaS” and its robust API endpoints enable developers to build composable and headless storefronts for unique use cases and checkout experiences. Bold Checkout facilitates a headless architecture, allowing for a faster implementation of added fees and varied shipping options. PayPal Commerce Platform (PPCP) offers flexible payment methods and pricing customization.
Limitless Checkout combines the best elements from the e-commerce ecosystem to offer flexible and powerful checkout experiences. With our extensive web experience and expertise, we can ensure a robust, seamless solution that stands the test of time.
Composable e-commerce platforms are becoming mainstream. A nimble and agile tech stack is essential for remaining competitive in the face of market dynamics.
Future-proof your business with Limitless Checkout. Schedule a free demo and consultation today to explore our offerings or contact us for more information.
