Traditional vs. composable platforms
Traditional ecommerce platforms provide businesses with comprehensive tools and functionalities to effectively manage their online presence. These platforms enable businesses to create, customize, and optimize digital storefronts for selling products or services online.
Key components of traditional ecommerce platforms include:
- Online store creation
- Product catalog management
- Shopping cart and checkout features
- Order and customer management
- Payment and shipping integration
- SEO capabilities
- Analytics and reporting tools
- Mobile commerce support
- Integration and extensibility options
Composable commerce platforms offer a more flexible and modular approach to building an ecommerce infrastructure. These platforms emphasize interoperability and allow businesses to assemble and integrate various independent services, applications, and capabilities to create a tailored ecommerce solution that meets their needs.
Composable platforms operate with an API-first approach, leveraging microservices architecture to ensure modularity and interchangeability of components. They offer flexibility and customization options, scalability, agility, and vendor neutrality. Composable platforms are headless by design. Businesses need to purchase a separate frontend and an external CMS. While some composable platforms may provide rudimentary frontend or CMS options, they may not fully meet all requirements, making it crucial to evaluate them based on your business’s desired functionalities and capabilities.
commercetools
commercetools is a highly scalable MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) commerce platform. It is best suited to enterprise-level businesses, omnichannel retailers, and global ecommerce operations. commercetools offers a flexible and customizable solution with an API-first approach, allowing simplified maintenance, scaling, and adding of features. It is developer-friendly and provides extensive tools for customization. However, commercetools has a steep learning curve for non-technical users and a small ecosystem of partners, requiring a tech-savvy commerce team to manage integrations.
Adobe Commerce (Magento)
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) is a flexible, scalable, end-to-end ecommerce platform. It caters to mid-market to enterprise-level companies that require more control over their digital commerce endeavors. Adobe Commerce offers robust and scalable features with built-in CMS (Content Management System) and page builder capabilities. It supports B2B ecommerce, customizable or niche marketplaces, and omnichannel retailers. Adobe Commerce provides flexibility, customization, an embedded AI, and feature-rich options. It also supports Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) or a fully headless approach and offers cross-channel personalization. However, it lacks automatic features and version updates.
Comparing commercetools and Adobe Commerce
Let’s dive into the specific features and capabilities of commercetools and Adobe Commerce, comparing their suitability for different business needs.
Architecture:
commercetools
- Follows the MACH principles (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless.)
- Utilizes a microservices architecture that allows for scalability and flexibility.
- Provides more than 300 commerce APIs and allows users to develop and manage ready-made commerce building blocks independently.
- Cloud-native, offering scalability, quicker development, and flexibility.
- Supports a headless commerce approach, decoupling front and backend solutions for seamless shopping experiences across digital touchpoints.
Adobe Commerce (Magento)
- Supports both a traditional architecture with built-in CMS and page builder capabilities or a PWA/Headless approach.
- Offers a flexible and extendable environment, allowing customization and integration with supporting technologies.
- The platform is exceptionally feature-rich, allowing organizations to run their entire commerce business through the platform, but this comes at the cost of having functionality that may not be needed.
Features:
commercetools
- Merchant center for managing product data
- Product information management (PIM) system for handling complex catalogs
- Carts and orders management for flexible pricing and multi-channel functionality
- Payment and shipping integrations
- Machine learning and AI capabilities for automation
- Data quality and customer experience enhancements.
Adobe Commerce (Magento)
- Built-in CMS and page builder for content management
- Product catalog management
- Shopping cart and checkout functionality
- Order and customer management
- Payment and shipping integration options
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Analytics and reporting
- Mobile commerce support
- Integration and extensibility capabilities
Community and support:
commercetools: commercetools has a smaller ecosystem of partners compared to Adobe Commerce. However, it has a community of experienced low- to mid-tier partners. It offers support through its developer-friendly tools and resources.
Adobe Commerce (Magento): Adobe Commerce has a robust ecosystem of specialized partners, developers, and experts worldwide. It has strong community support and a broad segment of experienced partners, especially at the mid to enterprise level.
Which platform is right for my business?
Both commercetools and Adobe Commerce (Magento) are powerful ecommerce platforms with their own strengths and target audiences.
commercetools is suitable for enterprise-level businesses, omnichannel retailers, and global ecommerce operations that require scalability, flexibility, and a MACH-based approach. It offers a developer-friendly platform with extensive customization options.
On the other hand, Adobe Commerce (Magento) caters to mid to enterprise-level companies that need more control over their digital commerce endeavors. It provides a feature-rich, flexible solution with a built-in CMS and page builder. It has strong community support and a wide range of partners.
Ultimately, the choice between commercetools and Adobe Commerce depends on your business’s specific needs and goals. Consider factors such as scalability, flexibility, customization requirements, technical expertise, community support, and budget when deciding.
How Vaimo can help
At Vaimo, we leverage cutting-edge digital platforms to elevate ecommerce businesses. With over 14+ years of experience in the ecommerce ecosystem, we work closely with our clients to identify the platform, solution, and technologies that best fit their needs. Our expertise spans a wide range of ecommerce platforms, digital experience platforms, and technologies, enabling us to provide tailored solutions aligned with your vision and goals.
Let us do the math and determine if you would benefit from Adobe Commerce (Magento), commercetools, or maybe both. Take the quiz to find out.