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Nov 19, 2020 | 6 minute read
written by Shaneil Lafayette
The development of the World Wide Web was the catalyst behind the emergence of the eCommerce era in the late 90s to early 2000’s. At a point where we still didn’t understand the internet's full capabilities, we were able to transform it into a destination where consumers could experience a digital representation of their physical shopping experience online.
Today however, the internet is no longer a destination, but rather a medium. Consumer behavior has evolved over the years, and more and more, brands are moving into an era where they want to design creative, engaging experiences that their customers can’t get from the competition.
So how do they get there? To this day, there are only two main eCommerce vendor options you can choose from:
With all the development of cutting edge technology it seems silly that we still could only choose just one.
It’s almost like starting a New Year's resolution diet 15 year ago, where the options were either a frozen microwave dinner from Weight Watchers or learning how to cook healthy meals from scratch.
On one hand, with Weight Watchers, you were always guaranteed a safe, pre-made healthy meal that you never had to worry about. However, at times it lacked variety, it often would include ingredients that you didn’t like, or it was missing the spice level that you needed. But, because of its pre-packaged nature you couldn’t change it without a cumbersome and time intensive process.
On the other hand, you could eliminate that problem by creating the meals from scratch for your specific needs. But you may not necessarily be an expert in healthy meals and you wouldn’t know how to choose your ingredients and prepare them to fit your dietary needs. Not to mention the level of effort and time that would be required at first to learn how to cook and then spend time preparing healthy meals per your unique needs.
Then companies like Hello Fresh stepped in to alleviate the problem. They created a model, where they provided a vast variety of meal options to choose from, along with the ingredients required to prepare each meal and step-by-step instructions to quickly do so. They satisfied the need for something simple and safe by providing meal options you never had to think about, while also still giving you the creative freedom to customize your meal by removing that cilantro you think tastes like soap or adding that extra spice.
This is the utopia that most digital strategists have been yearning for, but never had access to - Until now. Today we bring the concept of “Hello Fresh” to the eCommerce space with the Composable Commerce Hub. The hub is a key part of our Composable Commerce-as-Service offering which makes innovative and cutting edge experiences a staple rather than a luxury.
No longer will you be forced to compromise, as Composable Commerce-as-a-Service grants you the power and control of DIY with the speed and confidence of Shopify, Magento and Salesforce.
Hear from our Chief Executive Officer, Jamus Driscoll
How is this all possible?
We bring to you Composable Commerce-as-a-Service from Elastic Path; the utopian combination of speed, flexibility, and assurance that makes Headless Commerce accessible for all. And it’s made possible by the two main components: 1) Our API-First Headless Commerce Platform and 2) The Composable Commerce Hub.
The API-First Headless Commerce Platform comes fully loaded with all the core commerce functionality needed to power your unique high growth business.
While the Composable Commerce Hub brings together a robust library of Pre-Composed Solutions™ and Accelerators in one central location making it the first and only open exchange of business solutions powered by an ecosystem of leading commerce providers. With these two options Elastic Path continues with their commitment to make Headless Commerce accessible to all.
What does this mean for your business?
While you have unlimited access to the highly admired MACH based commerce capabilities, we have taken it a step further by democratizing DIY commerce so you never have to settle for rigid cookie-cutter solutions or bear the risk of relying on overly complex solutions; no matter what your eCommerce team looks like or your needs are.
You will now have the choice of a variety of Pre-Composed Solutions™ to rapidly launch your commerce solution in weeks! These business-ready solutions consist of commerce capabilities from Elastic Path, third-party integrations, and customizations that brands can use to quickly deploy their vision with minimal risk. You need a self-checkout app? You’ve got it in as little as 2 weeks!
But if you’re looking to compose a larger solution, you no longer have to fear the process of putting it together. Our accelerators make your “DIY” experience easier and faster with our partner integrations, Reference Applications, and Pre-Built Extenders.
With Elastic Path as your partner, and the Composable Commerce Hub as your resource for designing and deploying differentiated commerce, your team can rest assured they are in good hands. The hub provides the assets and guidance to empower you to rapidly launch per your unique requirements and continuously optimize your experience as customer needs, market events, and competitive pressure change.
Don't Take Our Word For It
Brands like Stance have already and still continue to benefit from Composable Commerce-as-a-Service. Stance, an American sock, underwear and T-Shirt brand was committed to providing a seamless shopping experience in-store to eliminate long wait lines. To achieve this, they needed to launch a mobile checkout option just in time for the holiday season. With the self-checkout pre-composed solution™ from Elastic Path, they were able to launch their new experience in under 7 weeks with only 2 developers. After a previous estimated project timeline of 9+months with a traditional legacy platform, Stance was able to save time and money with Elastic Path.
There is room for many more brands to start stepping outside of the box and launch differentiating experiences quickly like Stance. I think more and more, the industry is beginning to realize we have to move away from the “Think it. Do it in 9 months to a year down the line” mindset to “Think it. Do it. In months.. Weeks.. Days!” anthem. The Composable Commerce Hub makes this new anthem a reality. Now brands can confidently invest in a Headless Commerce platform, knowing they will gain the agility to rapidly adapt to market changes, while still feeling confident in their ability to drive revenue.
To learn more or join the Composable Commerce Movement visit our Composable Commerce Hub and let us know if you have any questions. We’d be happy to help!