Headless, microservices and the future of commerce platforms

How digital ecommerce and platform architecture is evolving as a result of COVID-19

If you look at an ecommerce platform, you will see that it is made up of many different components: product landing pages, product databases, checkout, order and fulfilment management, inventory, marketing, customer service, and so on. Platform architecture describes the mechanics of how all of these things are designed to fit together.

Until now, the majority of ecommerce platforms have more or less followed the same pattern. Fast forward to 2020 and, for reasons explored in depth in the Headless, Microservices and the Future of Commerce Platforms report, platform architecture is now at the heart of how digital commerce is evolving.

Headless and microservices, API-first design, cloud-native computing and SaaS services all relate to software design and platform-build methodologies. They each aim to make the development and deployment of products faster, more efficient and scalable. They achieve this by re-thinking the way component parts in a system, like an ecommerce platform, fit together and interact with each other.

As brands and retailers continue to deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the severe disruption caused to offline commerce is creating new opportunities for expanding into different channels. As a result, there is a need for more flexible and adaptive commerce platforms which can deliver the best experiences across every channel.

With this new urgency for digital transformation, headless and microservices appear to be ticking the right boxes. Today's IT and ecommerce leaders across the UK agree. Our survey found that on average, these platforms will be adopted in 7.4 months, if not already, with more than half of IT and ecommerce leaders (57%) conceding that their current platforms will not be fit for purpose in 12 months' time.

From monoliths to microservices, Wunderman Thompson Commerce’s latest report looks at the bigger picture as well as the vital details, drawing on new, independent research to present a fresh perspective on headless, microservices, API-first and cloud-native tech, and why and how your business should be approaching them.

For more in-depth transition guidance and steps to adoption, download Wunderman Thompson’s Headless, Microservices and the Future of Commerce Platforms report