Composable commerce for B2B: Overkill or delivers big?

The buzzword “composable commerce” has dominated digital strategy conversations since Gartner popularized the term in 2020. But behind the marketing hype lies a longstanding, proven practice of integrating specialized, best-of-breed technology components into a flexible and scalable ecosystem. Well before Gartner coined the term, B2B companies were already combining systems like ERP, CRM, PIM, and WMS to create tailored, high-performance digital solutions.

However, enthusiasm for composable commerce among B2B technology leaders is moderated by caution. Past project failures and perceived implementation risks contribute significantly to this hesitation, particularly in an industry that is traditionally slow and careful about adopting new technologies. With Gartner predicting that 80% of B2B sales interactions will be digital by 2025, addressing this tension between interest and skepticism is crucial. The central question remains: Can composable commerce deliver meaningful business value, or is it too ambitious given previous experiences?

In this article, we explore:

• The shifting expectations of B2B buyers toward B2C-like digital experiences.
• How composable commerce provides a future-proof approach to meeting these evolving expectations.
• Key misconceptions and internal barriers fueling skepticism about composable commerce adoption in B2B.

B2B buyers expect B2C-like experiences

Historically, B2B companies have been seen as technology laggards, often taking a conservative approach to adopting modern technology. But today’s disruptive, fast-moving market demands greater agility and responsiveness that legacy systems can’t deliver. Digital commerce wasn’t traditionally a core revenue driver in the loyalty-based B2B space. However, buyer behavior has shifted dramatically. Modern B2B buyers now expect experiences that are as seamless, intuitive, and efficient as those they encounter in B2C environments. This is especially true as millennials and Gen Z professionals increasingly move into decision-making roles. These tech-savvy buyers expect instant gratification, user-friendly interfaces, seamless checkout, flexible payment options, and responsive customer support.

With 75% of B2B buying teams comprising buyers aged 25 to 44 in 2024, B2B experiences mirroring B2C experiences are now imperative.

Companies still relying on rigid, monolithic platforms that can’t adapt to this buyer-centric model risk losing business to competitors modernizing their digital ecosystems. Consequently, B2B organizations have to make a strategic choice: build custom platforms in-house or purchase prebuilt solutions from external vendors to meet changing business needs. Each path comes with its own advantages and trade-offs.

The build vs. buy debate in B2B commerce

Traditional “build” approaches give companies full control and flexibility, allowing highly tailored functionality. However, they require skilled internal development teams, longer lead times, and substantial ongoing maintenance and security responsibilities. Additionally, these internally developed systems often fall short in broader capabilities, such as data democratization, cloud integration, and scalability.

Conversely, “buying” prebuilt platforms accelerates time-to-market and reduces technical complexity. However, the primary trade-off is limited customization. While companies can quickly address specific business needs, they risk missing out on broader agility improvements due to limited flexibility in extending capabilities. This constraint can ultimately slow their ability to adapt to evolving market demands.

Composable commerce offers a future-proof middle ground

Composable commerce offers a future-proof middle ground by combining the advantages of both building and buying digital solutions. It allows B2B organizations to construct flexible, tailored digital platforms from interchangeable, best-of-breed capabilities sourced from multiple vendors. Companies can selectively implement only the functionalities they need, such as search, cart, checkout, and PIM, to precisely match their specific business requirements. As requirements evolve, the ecosystem can easily incorporate additional capabilities like advanced analytics, AI-driven personalization, inventory management tools, or new payment methods.

In practice, this modular approach means transitioning from rigid, tightly coupled monolithic systems toward a loosely coupled architecture that promotes data democratization, cloud integration, and scalability. Components can be independently replaced, updated, or expanded without disrupting overall functionality, empowering teams to innovate independently, control costs, and align technical capabilities with evolving customer expectations.

Addressing skepticism around composable commerce adoption for B2B

Despite its clear advantages, composable commerce has faced skepticism in B2B, primarily due to perceived risks and failed implementations. These concerns, however, reflect less on the strategy itself and more on how it was executed.

• Vendor-centric marketing and rigid narratives: In the early stages, composable commerce was largely framed by technology vendors who focused heavily on MACH principles—microservices, API-first, cloud-native, and headless. While technically sound, this framing often emphasized implementation mechanics (“the how”) over practical business outcomes (“the why”). The result was a narrative that felt overly technical, vendor-driven, and disconnected from the core value propositions that matter most to B2B decision-makers.
• The misconception of “all-or-nothing” replatforming: Although the composable approach is designed to support smaller and faster time-to-value changes, many organizations continued to default to large, monolithic-like replatforming efforts. These companies mistakenly pursued ambitious “big bang” implementations, encountering prolonged timelines, high costs, and unexpected complexities, which created the misconception that composable commerce adoption was inherently risky or challenging.

None of these misconceptions are inherent to the composable approach itself. Rather, they stemmed from rigid execution models adopted by customers, often favoring large-scale replatforming, and marketing narratives that emphasized the “how” over the “why.”

Additional challenges often stem from internal factors, including data integration issues caused by legacy systems and cultural resistance to change—both of which remain significant barriers to digital transformation in the B2B sector.

• Data integration in legacy systems: Integrating legacy systems and managing data across multiple platforms is notoriously challenging in B2B. Successful digital transformation requires a unified approach to data management where consistency and accessibility are not limited. However, connecting new digital platforms with existing systems can be both complex and time-consuming. To overcome this, businesses must establish clear data governance policies and invest in robust integration frameworks that ensure long-term scalability and efficiency.
• Cultural resistance: Digital transformation often involves changing traditional processes, adopting new technologies, and embracing a digital-first mindset. However, many B2B organizations are not fully prepared for such a cultural shift, largely due to resistance from employees who are accustomed to legacy systems. Effective change management is essential to ensure clear communication and to cultivate a culture of innovation and adaptability.

With the right strategy, mindset, and internal alignment, we see B2B organizations successfully driving meaningful change through composable commerce without falling into the traps of the past.

The future of composable commerce in B2B

As technologies mature and best practices become clearer, composable commerce is entering a new phase—one defined by incremental innovation, strategies aligned with real B2B needs, and smarter solutions powered by AI.

Smaller, focused changes will replace big-bang replatforming

B2B organizations are stepping away from large, high-risk replatforming projects. Instead, they’re opting for incremental, high-impact improvements—modernizing one capability at a time with domain-focused technology vendors. Grid Dynamics’ Composable Commerce Starter Kit is designed to accelerate this journey. Pre-integrated with leading solutions for search, CMS, OMS, and more, it provides a proven framework that reduces complexity and accelerates time-to-value.

Flexibility is winning out over B2C retail-specific models

Many vendors are now intentionally moving away from rigid, B2C-centric models. Instead, they’re offering highly configurable platforms designed to accommodate a wider range of needs. For B2B technology decision-makers, the focus should be on evaluating how these flexible solutions align with the unique processes and requirements of their business.

However, as B2C thinking and talent increasingly influence B2B strategies, it’s critical to reexamine B2B commerce tactics through a more modern lens. This strategy forms the foundation of Grid Dynamics’ B2B Digital Growth Hub, where we offer tailored workshops and digital maturity assessments to help you identify high-impact B2C practices, without losing sight of what makes your business model unique.

Final thoughts

We hope this article has helped address the skepticism surrounding composable commerce adoption in B2B, particularly stemming from past failed implementations and perceived risks. By adopting composable commerce incrementally while maintaining a laser focus on business goals, B2B companies can delight today’s buyers and build the next generation of loyal, long-term relationships.

Adding to these advantages, the API-first nature of composable platforms makes it easy to connect with AI-powered tools and extend core capabilities, especially as AI becomes an increasingly prominent part of modern technology ecosystems, streamlining development and enabling smarter features. For example, leading vendors are embedding AI into implementation workflows to reduce complexity and accelerate time-to-value. Innovations like generative UI are making it faster, more intuitive, and far less dependent on heavy development cycles to build and customize digital experiences. 

With Grid Dynamics as your co-innovation partner, you gain access to deep composable engineering and AI expertise, combined with real-world B2B leadership and the ability to translate over 20 years of B2C tactics into high-performing B2B strategies.

Ready to turn buyer expectations into business results with composable commerce? Register for our B2B webinar series to get started.