Shopify Commerce Components

Early 2023, Shopify launched its Commerce Components solution. Not too long after launch, I started to get customers asking what it was, how it compares to Plus, what's the new tech, etc. Well, I must say, I am initially underwhelmed.

TL;DR: Shopify has a rich ecosystem of APIs and its not surprising that they would want to package them up in ways that offer flexibility to customers ... just don't go looking for new tech here.

Overview

The Commerce Component landing page currently offers this description:

The modern composable stack for enterprise retail Enterprise retailers can now build with the same components Shopify uses to power 10% of all US ecommerce—including the world’s best-converting checkout and fastest storefronts.

There are 30 “components” bucketed into six categories:

• Storefront (6 components)
• Cart and checkout (5 components)
• Core commerce (8 components)
• Data and compliance (4 components)
• Shipping and logistics (4 components)
• Omnichannel (3 components)

The We Make Websites provides a good third-party overview, see Shopify Commerce Components - The Future of Enterprise Retail?

Assessment

Commerce Components is not a new release of a tangible, deployed technology. It is instead a repackaging of existing technology into clusters of related domains that can be offered for sale individually with customizable pricing and service level agreements.

Proof Points

While all these proof points may change in the future, at the moment here is what I see:

1. The documentation for Commerce Components itself is quite light, limited to marketing descriptions. There are only two pages on Shopify.com that describe or document the offering, see the Commerce Components landing page and Components by category. There is one entry in the help center, see this topic.
2. There isn't any Commerce-Components-specific documentation in Shopify's developer portal.
   • The string "commerce components" is not present on their developer homepage nor on their developer docs landing page.
   • The API docs homepage has the same layout and categories as seen on the site prior to the launch of Commerce Components.
3. There is not a public document that associates specific APIs to Commerce Components.
4. There isn't a Shopify community related to Commerce Components.
   • A search for "Commerce Components" on the community site returns 37 results at the moment and with one exception they are not specific to the Commerce Components offering. The one exception does not have an answer nor any community engagement.
   • There is not a Commerce Components group or forum on the community site, see Partners and Developers and Shopify Discussions.

Recommendations

If you are planning to migrate to Shopify and are considering Commerce Components, evaluate ALL Shopify capabilities in the context of your audit. For each domain where you have a need, attempt to map requirements to the Commerce Component(s) that may be required. This will provide you with rough guidance on which components need to be negotiated and licensed.

There is a risk that an API may be needed that has not been identified or purchased. I say this because it's not always clear in Shopify's documentation how specific APIs map to specific Commerce Components.

Bottom line, Shopify has a rich ecosystem of APIs and its not surprising that they would want to package them up in ways that offer flexibility to customers ... just don't go looking for new tech here.