Digital Commerce
Commerce platform strategy for retailers, distributors and manufacturers selling direct, B2B and through marketplaces. We help you decide what to build, what to buy and what to own, then source the platform, the implementation partner and the stack around it.
The right answer depends on your team, your budget and where you actually win. We start there.
The Decision
Large competitors can fund a custom platform and the engineering team behind it. Most businesses win on product, price and service, not on writing their own checkout. Here is how the three paths compare.
| Build custom | Closed SaaS | Configurable headless | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control of cart & checkout | Total | Limited; checkout locked | Full, often open source |
| Room to differentiate | Unlimited | Within the platform's rules | Your own front end on a proven core |
| Team to run it | Large, permanent | Small | A few developers plus a partner |
| Security patching | All on you | Vendor | Vendor core, partner operations |
| Lock-in | None | High: fees and apps | Low: you own code and hosting |
| Run-cost profile | Salaries, forever | Fees that grow with sales | License plus hosting, negotiable |
Commodity vs. Difference
Customers never choose a seller for its tax engine, but every one of these has to work perfectly. Built custom, each is yours to write, test, secure and update forever. Bought, they come maintained.
Build instead: the experience customers see and the things only you do. Trade-in and instant offers, consignment, configurators, dealer portals, image search, the pricing logic that sets you apart.
One Engagement
Product data, digital assets, commerce and customer data usually get bought one at a time, with separate agencies, separate budgets and systems that never quite connect. We plan them as one digital business platform and deliver it in phases.
Where AI Fits
Shoppers and buyers are starting to search in plain English, by photo, and through AI assistants that shop on their behalf. The platform you choose decides whether you show up.
Exact part numbers and plain-English intent in one index, plus image search for lookalike products.
Catalog, pricing and stock published so AI assistants can find, compare and buy from you.
AI help with listings, product copy and SEO, inside the platform your team already uses.
Live video consults with co-browsing for high-value and B2B sales.
Orders, leads, pricing and analytics in one place, so AI works from the same numbers you do.
Vendors screened for AI disclosure and content marking, with obligations assigned in the contract.
When to Call
| Trigger | What we help with |
|---|---|
| Custom site outgrowing its team | Separate desktop and mobile sites, one developer who knows everything, a feature wish list that never moves |
| Replatform in the next 18 months | Build, rent or own-the-core decision, platform shortlist and implementation partner selection |
| Fees growing faster than sales | Moving off revenue-share platforms to a license you can negotiate and fix in writing |
| B2B orders still by email or phone | Dealer and customer portals with contract pricing, quotes and approvals |
| Product data in spreadsheets | PIM, DAM and commerce planned together, so the catalog feeds every channel |
| Marketplaces run by hand | One inventory and price feed across your site, Amazon, Walmart, eBay and others |
| Board asks about AI in sales | Search, agentic channels and copilots matched to the right platform |
| EU AI Act readiness | Vendors screened for Article 50 duties and who owns each obligation in the contract |
Beyond the Platform
A commerce site customers rely on needs hosting, protection and support behind it. We source each layer from pre-vetted providers, chosen to fit the platform rather than bolted on later.
Managed hosting or Kubernetes for self-hosted and PaaS deployments.
CDN, WAF, DDoS and bot management, so real buyers get in and scrapers don't.
Catalog, order and customer data restorable within hours, tested before launch.
Day-to-day support for the systems around the store.
24x7 monitoring and response for a site that takes payments.
Penetration testing, PCI DSS readiness, Zero Trust staff access and vCISO support.
How We Deliver
Penetration test, quick fixes and a tested restore before anything new is built.
Your requirements and constraints scored against a platform shortlist. A recommendation you can defend to the board.
License terms in writing and implementation quoted fixed-price per phase. You own the code, the accounts and the data.
Each phase ships only when it beats the old site in testing. No cutover during peak season.
Proof
As CTO and then CIO of KEH Camera, David LaRue led the selection and build-out of a commerce stack for a business selling to consumers, dealers and marketplaces at once. At True Value he ran a multi-vendor sourcing program that included Adobe Commerce and Experience Cloud.
Selected and built out, with the full order-to-cash architecture and data conversion.
B2B and B2C storefronts integrated with PIM, customer MDM and a pricing and CPQ engine.
One inventory serving retail stores, wholesale, Walmart, eBay and Target.
Real-time inventory and pricing, the data that search and AI agents depend on.
Platforms We Evaluate
We recommend on fit with your team, budget and channels. IQ4hire is an official Shopware partner, and Shopware is one of the platforms we evaluate alongside these.
Shopware · commercetools · Shopify Plus · Adobe Commerce · BigCommerce · Medusa · Saleor
Pimcore · Acumatica · Cloud-based DAM
OpenSearch · Elasticsearch · Pinecone · Google BigQuery
Thirty minutes with a former Fortune 500 CIO who has built commerce platforms, not just advised on them.
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