Elastic Path, the leader of the Composable Commerce movement, has released findings from a new survey conducted in collaboration with Retail Dive’s studioID. The research reveals valuable insights into the rate and drivers of composable commerce adoption, the obstacles to implementation, and the sentiment around the technology. It also identifies pain points related to the speed of launching new integrations: 60% of respondents said they expect adding new technology to their commerce solution to take over six months.

The report, The State of Composable Commerce 2023: Are You Unlocking The Opportunities?, confirms that composable commerce adoption is on the rise, with 96% of respondents saying they are “very or extremely familiar” with composable commerce, and 92% having implemented a composable solution. 

Additional findings include:

Time to market. Retail leaders consider composable commerce an essential tool for meeting consumer expectations, but the data shows that 60% believe it would take more than six months to add new technology to their commerce solution. In fact, 69% of respondents using composable commerce said implementation took more than six months and a staggering 27% of respondents had experienced an implementation time of over a year. 

Implementation challenges. 32% of respondents cited time spent building and managing integrations as a major obstacle to composable implementation, while 34% identified making new hires to perform these functions as a critical barrier. Respondents identified availability of pre-built integrations, which can address this pain point, as a top criteria when evaluating a composable solution. 

Top criteria for evaluating a composable commerce solution. Retail executives considered available solutions based on a number of criteria, with ease of making changes as the top priority (46%), as increased flexibility is one of the trademark benefits of composable. Also referenced was data security (44%), reflecting the fact that the structure of composable commerce can make data privacy especially tricky as companies rely on multiple systems and must ensure they are all compliant when transferring data among them. The third most referenced criteria was the availability of pre-built integrations (36%), highlighting that integrations are the backbone of composable, but building them is a time drain.   

Top benefits of composable commerce. Top benefits included: ability to create highly differentiated digital experiences (30%); improved customer satisfaction (30%), and the ability to make incremental changes rather than undergoing a complete overhaul or replatform (29%).    

Retail executives predict longevity for composable commerce, with 96% of respondents saying they believe the approach will continue to be a prominent tool over the next five years, with only 4% anticipating it will be eclipsed by new technological solutions. 

Download the full research report and explore additional information and details about the survey results here. 

Survey Methodology

The survey, conducted by Industry Dive’s studioID in collaboration with Elastic Path, was taken by 200 retail leaders in the United States at companies with $100 million to $3.5 billion in annual revenue in July and August 2023. Respondents were asked about their familiarity with composable commerce, challenges or requirements that led them to adopt a composable commerce approach, what they looked for in a provider, their current use of integrations, and their expectations for the future.