Overview of Elastic Path
Elastic Path is a cutting-edge commerce platform designed to empower businesses to deliver extraordinary shopping experiences through its flexible, modular, and highly scalable architecture. Here’s a detailed look at what Elastic Path does and its key features.
Mission and Approach
Elastic Path is committed to breaking down the barriers that prevent commerce leaders from delivering exceptional customer experiences. The platform is built on the principles of Composable Commerce, which allows businesses to innovate and adapt quickly without compromising on functionality. This approach reduces the cost, time, and risk associated with implementing and managing multi-vendor commerce solutions.
Key Features and Functionality
Modular Products
Elastic Path offers a family of fully modular, MACH-based (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) products that can work together or independently to address various commerce needs:
- Product Experience Manager: Enables the creation of unique product experiences that exceed customer expectations, with minimal reliance on IT for custom work.
- CX Studio: Allows for the rapid launch of turn-key storefronts and shoppable landing pages to drive conversion and revenue, also without IT dependency.
- Composer: A commerce-intelligent iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) that streamlines the orchestration and management of composable solutions with no-code, instant-on integrations.
- Payments: A best-in-class payment processing solution powered by Stripe, offering concierge-level service, full price transparency, and no hidden fees.
- Self-Managed Commerce: A headless commerce product tailored for enterprises with sophisticated performance, data, or infrastructure requirements.
Commerce Engine
The Elastic Path Commerce Engine is a robust platform that includes advanced features such as:
- Bundling and Personalized Pricing: Allows for complex products and services to be streamlined into compelling consumer offerings. It also includes dynamic personalization based on customer behavior, segmentation, and activity.
- Order Management: Includes features like persistent shopping carts, checkout processes, delivery options, payment options, gift certificates, and warranties. It also supports customer registration, authentication, and profile management.
- Enterprise Integrations: Supports bulk data import-export, staging to production server synchronization, and various web services for catalog, customer, inventory, and order management.
Headless and Microservices-Based Architecture
Elastic Path Commerce Cloud is a headless, SaaS, API-first, and microservices-based platform. This architecture provides the flexibility to create tailored solutions by combining Elastic Path with best-of-breed ecosystem technologies and third-party services. It includes modules for Product Content Management, Customer & Account Management, Pricing, Carts & Checkout, Inventory, Promotions, Payments, and Orders.
Security and Compliance
The platform ensures secure payment processing through its partnership with Cybersource, using token management to replace sensitive payment information with token IDs stored in secure data centers, facilitating PCI data compliance.
Scalability and Performance
Elastic Path is built on trusted open source projects like Spring, Solr, Maven, and OSGi, making it easier for developers to work with and extend its features. The platform supports proxy cache servers, edge caching with CDNs, and works with databases such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server to ensure high performance and scalability.
Benefits
- Flexibility and Adaptability: Allows businesses to innovate on their own terms and adapt quickly to changing market conditions.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: Delivers personalized and dynamic content, ensuring customers receive what they want, when and where they want it.
- Scalability and Reliability: Provides cloud-based deployment through AWS, ensuring scalability, reliability, and seamless integration with other AWS services.
- Comprehensive Support: Offers robust support through AWS infrastructure support and Elastic Path’s own support channels.
In summary, Elastic Path is a powerful and flexible commerce platform that empowers businesses to create outstanding customer experiences, drive engagement and conversion, and adapt to the evolving needs of digital commerce.