Our view
Platform
commercetools Development
commercetools is a set of commerce APIs rather than a finished store: catalogue, cart, checkout, pricing and orders as cloud services you combine with your own frontend, CMS and search. It suits brands whose requirements outgrow a packaged platform, and who can run what they assemble.
Where it fits
Where commercetools fits
Composable commerce pays off when no single suite fits your model, and costs more than it returns when one does.
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Several brands, regions or channels
One commerce backend serving many storefronts, apps and marketplaces, each with its own catalogue, prices and language.
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Rules a suite cannot model
Pricing, bundling, subscription or B2B logic that would need heavy workarounds on a packaged platform.
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A best-of-breed stack to keep
A CMS, search, PIM or OMS you already run, with commerce added alongside rather than replacing them.
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A team that can own it
In-house or partner engineering for the frontend, integrations and releases. Composable moves that work to you.
commercetools at a glance
- Best for
- Multi-brand and multi-region models, and requirements no single suite fits
- Hosting
- Vendor-run cloud SaaS; you host the frontend and any services you add
- B2B
- B2B in the core APIs: business units, buyer roles, quotes and approvals
- Headless
- API-first by design: the storefront is always a separate frontend
- Pricing model
- Annual subscription, typically linked to order volume or GMV
Capabilities
What we do on commercetools
From the first architecture decision to running it in production.
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Architecture and composition
Choosing the frontend, CMS, search, PIM and payment services and how they connect, with the trade-offs written down.
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Headless storefronts
Fast storefronts on a modern frontend framework, built against the commercetools APIs.
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Replatforming
Moves from Magento, Salesforce or a legacy suite, with catalogue, customer and order data and URLs carried across.
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B2B implementation
Business units, buyer roles, quotes and approval flows configured for how your customers actually buy.
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Integration and data
ERP, OMS, PIM and payment connections built for production load, with retries and monitoring.
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Releases and managed support
Monitoring, releases and ongoing development, so a composable stack stays maintained after launch.
Composable is a commitment, not a feature
commercetools gives you the parts, not the finished store. That is its strength when your model genuinely needs it, and its cost when it does not: more systems, more integration and a team that owns the result. Discovery is where we establish which side of that line you are on, before anything is signed, and we will say so if a packaged platform would serve you better.
Services
What we deliver on commercetools
The same services run across our platforms. These are the ones commercetools projects most often need.
- Advisory Independent platform selection, architecture review and roadmap work for commerce teams — paid advice, with no obligation to let us build it. Read more
- eCommerce Development Enterprise storefront builds and rebuilds for D2C and B2B brands on Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Read more
- Platform Migration Replatform without losing rankings, data or revenue. Magento, WooCommerce and legacy stacks to Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce or Salesforce. Read more
- B2B Commerce Company accounts, contract pricing, quotes and approval chains on Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce B2B and Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Read more
- Custom API Integration Connect your storefront to the systems that run the business — ERP, OMS, PIM, tax and fulfilment integrations built to survive production. Read more
- Product Data & PIM Product information management for commerce — one authoring source, clean attributes and syndication to storefront, marketplaces and AI agents. Read more
Compare
How the platforms compare
The right platform depends on where your complexity sits, not on a feature list. This is the short version of the conversation we have in discovery.
| Criterion | Shopify Plus | Adobe Commerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | commercetoolsThis page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Brands that want speed to launch and a store their own team can run | Complex catalogues, contract pricing and deep ERP coupling | Retailers and B2B sellers whose business already runs on Salesforce | Multi-brand and multi-region models, and requirements no single suite fits |
| Hosting | Fully hosted SaaS; Shopify runs infrastructure, security and upgrades | Adobe-managed cloud or self-hosted, with more of the stack in your control | Fully hosted SaaS, run by Salesforce | Vendor-run cloud SaaS; you host the frontend and any services you add |
| B2B | Built-in B2B features on Plus: company accounts, catalogues, price lists, payment terms | Native B2B module: company accounts, shared catalogues, quotes and approvals | Separate B2B Commerce product, on the same CRM data | B2B in the core APIs: business units, buyer roles, quotes and approvals |
| Headless | Hydrogen framework and Oxygen hosting, over the Storefront API | GraphQL and REST APIs for a decoupled frontend | Commerce API with the PWA Kit composable storefront | API-first by design: the storefront is always a separate frontend |
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription, with a variable fee that scales with revenue | Annual licence, typically tiered by revenue | Typically a share of gross merchandise value | Annual subscription, typically linked to order volume or GMV |
Vendor pricing and plan features change. Confirm current commercial terms with the vendor before you decide.
How it runs
How a commercetools project runs
- Discovery
Your channels, catalogue and pricing rules, every system commerce must connect to, and the URLs that protect your search visibility.
- Architecture
The composable stack chosen (frontend, CMS, search, PIM, payments), with each choice and its running cost written down.
- Build and integrate
Frontend, commerce configuration and integrations built in parallel against a staging environment with real data.
- Launch and run
Data migration, redirects and a monitored cutover, then releases and support on an agreed cadence.
Frequently asked questions
When is commercetools the right choice over Shopify Plus?
commercetools tends to fit when you run several brands, regions or channels from one backend, need pricing or product models a packaged platform cannot express, or already have a CMS, search and PIM you want to keep. Shopify Plus usually wins on speed to launch and total cost of ownership when its model fits. The honest answer depends on where your complexity sits, which is what discovery establishes.
Does commercetools include a storefront?
Not in the traditional sense. It is API-first, so the storefront is a separate frontend, built on a framework such as Next.js or on the vendor's own frontend product. That gives you full control of the experience, and it means the frontend is part of both the project and the running cost.
What does MACH mean?
Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless: the architecture principles commercetools is built on. In practice, commerce arrives as independent services you combine with other best-of-breed tools, rather than as one suite.
Can commercetools handle B2B?
Yes. Business units, buyer roles and permissions, quotes and approval flows are part of the platform. As with any B2B build, the configuration and the ERP integration are where most of the work sits.
How long does a commercetools implementation take?
The number of integrations and systems in the stack drives the timeline far more than page count. A focused launch with a few integrations behaves very differently from a multi-brand rollout. Discovery establishes that before any date is committed.
Planning a commercetools build or migration?
Tell us where it hurts. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.