How to future-proof your eCommerce tech stack

KPS’s CTO, Tim Hillman, discusses how retailers can adopt a more composable approach to their tech stack to meet customer expectations, beat the competition and enjoy compounding returns over time.

Depending on their level of digital maturity, this can be challenging for different reasons. For instance, companies that rely on a monolithic infrastructure (i.e. they have one enterprise software to handle all aspects of the business) may struggle with technical debt and may not be able to implement change fast enough. Those who sit on the composable end of the spectrum (i.e. they use best-of-breed apps) may struggle with keeping it all tight and secure.

This begs the question then—how can businesses meet customer expectations and even beat their competition without ripping their whole tech stack apart? And how can they do so securely without breaking the bank?

Monolithic vs. Composable Model

Achieving digital agility doesn’t mean that you need to part ways with your core capabilities. In fact, there are many benefits to having some form of monolithic architecture in place. Relying on a single core system means that your data is stored in a single place and it’s easier to keep it secure. You also have one vendor to go to for any issues or requests which makes the whole infrastructure management easier and simpler.

However, this model becomes problematic as soon as you start looking at growth. When you rely on a single vendor, you’re locked into their roadmap so you can’t innovate and experiment as easily. Likewise, all pieces are virtually soldered together which means that initiating any change could potentially disrupt your whole ecosystem.

Composability, on the other hand, allows you to experiment and remain flexible without making huge upfront investments in time and money. If you break down your infrastructure into its most minute components, you can move any of them to a composable model. This allows you to incrementally build an infrastructure where data from every part of your system is available to any other part without disrupting the day-to-day running of these applications.

That said, going too fast or too slow towards a composable model can be equally detrimental. Instead, you have to start small and build from there.

Start with a Proof of Concept

If you’re at the very beginning of your composable journey, start with a baby step. Rather than thinking in broad strokes of everything you’d like to change, why not zoom in on a very small part of your tech stack and modularise that first?

Say, for instance, you’ve identified that your conversions are down and you want to change your checkout process. Instead of ripping out the whole checkout engine, break it down to its components and look at each part individually. Perhaps you can replace the promotion engine or work on the basket feature which can also link to your point-of-sale process in-store. This can be a stepping stone towards a more composable architecture without necessarily making huge investment or having to wait months or years before you see the benefits from it.

Composability can do wonders for your business!

Unfortunately it’s not an easy model to nail. There are so many new tools and technologies out there that sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between hype and reality. What trend is a fad and what trend actually has the power to transform your business?

This is where sourcing a good digital transformation partner can make all the difference. Composability comes with some inherent challenges like keeping a tight ship when it comes to security and making sure there aren’t any data leaks. Even if you’re tech savvy as a business, you can’t possibly keep track of it all. A good partner will ensure you follow best practice, you prioritise the right problems and you implement quick wins which can bring you immediate returns.

Embrace Risk

Finally, there’s no digital change that doesn’t start with a change of mindset. If you want to keep your tech stack flexible and perhaps gain some competitive advantage in the process you have to become comfortable with failure. Not all tools you’d set your hands on will work nor should they. That’s part of the process of building something that’s uniquely yours.

Something that is especially beautiful about the composable model is that it’s technology-agnostic. So, if you already have some internal capabilities or custom-built systems, you can still leverage those in building your composable platform. This may involve some trial and error, but that’s part of the process.