Introduction

The e-commerce ecosystem is in a state of constant flux. Every year brings new challenges and opportunities, different to the previous years. It is an exciting time to be an e-commerce business, as long as you can take advantage of the opportunities that come with all this change. To ride this wave of change to sustainable growth, you need to be able to identify customer needs and respond to them without a beat. You need to seize opportunities and take on challenges as they arise. To be able to do that, you need agility and adaptability.

One effective way to ensure you are always ready is to use effective tech solutions that complement your goals. Often, a company's technology infrastructure organically evolves as the company grows and new needs appear. A technology evolution like this might solve immediate problems, but it is not sustainable or scalable for further growth. Eventually, the scar will outgrow the bandaid, and your annoyances will become big problems.

In the past years, composable commerce has been heralded as the solution to challenges that come with traditional commerce platforms. Traditional platforms operate on a one-size-fits-all approach. In contrast, composable platforms allow you to create a connected ecosystem by choosing the best micro-solutions for your needs. This gives you a flexible, fast and easy-to-use solution that is future-proof.

Here are 4 main challenges e-commerce companies are experiencing that can be solved by updating your technology.

Keeping up with customer wants and needs

Consumer standards and expectations for online shopping are higher than ever, and they keep increasing. Nowadays, all your potential customers expect fast, smooth, and personalised experiences when shopping online. Features like the ability to pay with your preferred payment method, a consistent brand experience across channels, and access to responsive customer service have become requirements.

To satisfy these ever-evolving customer needs, you need an efficient system that helps you identify and respond to them quickly. In short, to keep your customers happy, you need to be agile and adaptable.

Consider the platform you are currently using: Can you test new user experience flows without spending a lot of time and resources? Are you quickly able to add new payment methods to answer customer demands? Can you make small changes without having to update your whole system?

What is available to customers online is rapidly changing, and so are their desires. In a composable platform, you can adopt new services with ease. All the different services you use will be in constant communication but will not rely on each other to function. A composable platform will allow you to adapt quickly and set you up for success in the future.

Minimising checkout churn

In a customer journey, everything should be well-aligned from the first touch point to the checkout process. It is crucial to optimise your checkout experience to convert the rest of the customer journey into a successful purchase. If your checkout is causing dropouts for any reason, all the effort you put into improving customer experience becomes inconsequential. Your checkout should be smooth, reliable, and match the rest of the customer journey.

According to Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate in 2022 was 70% globally. Issues relating to the checkout process are at the top of the list of reasons for abandonment. On the one hand, considering all the work it takes to get your customer to the checkout stage, that is a frustrating number. On the other hand, it is a straightforward problem you can tackle with considerable rewards. By optimising your checkout, you can increase your conversion rates.

The reasons for abandonment at checkout vary. It can be that your customers are unhappy with the payment options available, or you might be asking for too much information. It can even be a detail as small as asking your customers to create a too-complex password.

Whatever the reasons for checkout churn, you need to be able to test, identify and resolve quickly. A composable commerce platform is an ideal environment for minimising checkout churn. With a composable platform, you will have your pick amongst best-in-class solutions to optimise your checkout, like loyalty tools, form fillers, delivery and return options, payment service providers that offer easy customisation like Mollie, and more. All of these solutions you add to your platform will also be available in every channel and device you offer your customers, providing them with a comprehensive brand experience.

Optimising fulfilment logistics

Imagine buying a product online, and instead of receiving it, you get a message that you’ll be refunded because it is out of stock. Or going through the effort of researching and picking an item only to learn that it’s sold out when you add it to your cart. Experiences like these can cause your customers to abandon the purchase and lose trust in your business. On top of that one purchase you will lose, you will also risk losing all future transactions with your customer.

Similarly, limited or expensive shipping options, unreliable delivery and returns, and the lack of fast communication can cost your company valuable business. When you use siloed solutions that rely on human labour for tasks like stock management, shipping and returns, and customer service, the risk of something going wrong increases.

In a composable platform, you can integrate solutions that will allow you to automate these processes and ensure they can communicate. For example, you can connect your payments to your order fulfilment and customer service solutions so you can help customers in the moment when they reach out to you about problems with their order.

Dealing with cybersecurity and privacy concerns

Data protection and cybersecurity have become critical concerns for businesses and individual users alike. As a growing e-commerce company, it is crucial to have systems in place to protect all the data your customers trust you with. Not only for obvious security reasons but also for your reputation as a trustworthy online store.

Using a composable platform means having access to a variety of solutions to address privacy and security issues, like micro-services and security plugins. Your first step should be integrating a credible PSP like Mollie that complies with European Banking Authority guidelines and is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified. By using a PSP to process your payments, you can benefit from their systems that have proven trustworthy and establish trust with your customers.

If you are dealing with similar challenges, have a look at the technology you use with a critical eye. How well is it working for your goals? Can you focus on growth, or are you always extinguishing small fires? Switching to a composable commerce solution will give you the flexible, easy-to-work-with and agile technology you need for sustainable growth. Initially, the switch might require you to invest resources and time, but you can optimise the process by working with an experienced composable commerce platform like Deity.