Starting an eCommerce business today is a bit like stepping into a giant supermarket - endless tools and platforms line the shelves. The right choice depends on your budget, your business model, and the customers you want to serve.

At first glance, the differences between these tools may seem small. But in reality, the architecture you choose is one of the foundations of long-term success in digital commerce. The wrong choice can hold you back later; the right one will unlock growth and scalability.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the three most common approaches to building an online store. To make it simple, we’ll compare each option to something everyone understands: real estate. Together, we’ll discover which “accommodation” best fits your business. 

Launching your eCommerce business with a SaaS platform is like renting a fully furnished apartment. No need to buy furniture, fix plumbing, or set up electricity. It’s quick, affordable, and predictable. Similarly, with a SaaS shop, in just a few days or weeks your website can be live and ready to welcome customers.

But here is the catch: you don’t actually own it. Just like tenants cannot knock down walls or paint them pink without the landlord’s approval, your business will be limited by what the platform allows. That means your future growth depends not only on your vision but also on your vendor’s roadmap.

Imagine one day your landlord decides fridges over 150cm are banned. Or they brick up your windows “for security reasons.” Or worse - they move your front door to the bathroom. Absurd in real estate, right? But this happens all the time with SaaS platforms.

Just a few recent examples:

• Shopify deprecated certain payment providers in 2022.
• Shopify changed Split Payment handling, requiring third-party integrations to update their workflow.
• Service Timely terminated support of Shopify integration due to changes in app listing policy.

For business, “landlord rules” means disrupted operations and unexpected costs. When your platform changes direction, you have no choice but to follow – and that can derail your growth strategy.

Despite the risks, SaaS platforms remain incredibly attractive:

• Relatively quick time-to-market: from a few days to a few weeks.
• Low start-up cost.
• Low maintenance and automatic upgrades: vendors handle servers, patches, and security fixes.
• Accessible & user-friendly: most SaaS platforms don’t require technical knowledge.
• Predictable costs: usually pay-as-you-go or subscription-based.

Just as palaces were historically showcases of unique architecture, art, and design, composable commerce gives you the ultimate freedom to shape unforgettable customer experiences, setting new standards for your industry.

A palace is never built by a single contractor. You bring in the best architects, artisans, and landscapers to work together. Likewise, composable commerce often requires collaboration between multiple teams and vendors, integrating specialized solutions into one seamless shopping experience.

It’s ambitious, yes. But the reward is enormous. Both building a palace and running one demand visionary leadership and careful management - and both deliver prestige and legacy that last.

A palace isn’t built overnight or for small needs - it’s designed for expansion, heritage, and power. Similarly, composable commerce isn’t about chasing quick wins. It’s about laying a foundation for long-term scalability, flexibility, and differentiation.

Businesses usually enter the composable world in two ways:

1. Large enterprises making a technological leap — digitalization, launching eCommerce, or redesigning their IT stack. For them, no out-of-the-box solution can meet their ambitions.
2. Fast-growing mid-sized businesses outgrowing their current SaaS or Monolith. Just as grown-up children leave their parents’ house, these businesses begin migrating processes to external best-of-breed tools: from built-in search to AI-driven engines like Algolia or Klevu, or from admin-based product management to enterprise PIMs like Pimcore, Akeneo, or InRiver.

Over time, the pursuit of smarter processes and unforgettable customer experiences naturally leads to composable commerce.

Best For:

• Enterprises with complex digital strategies.
• Global brands needing regional, channel, or model-specific experiences.
• Businesses investing in long-term innovation instead of chasing quick return of investments.
• Rapidly growing eCommerce startups ready to scale with sophistication.

Examples: Commercetools, Elastic Path, Adobe Commerce ecosystem, custom enterprise ecosystems built from best-of-breed solutions. 

Don’t just think about where you are today — think about where you want to be in 3–5 years. The right platform decision now can fuel your growth, scalability, and customer experience tomorrow.

At vConnect.dk, we’ve spent over a decade helping businesses of all sizes and industries turn technology into a growth engine. If you want expert guidance on selecting and implementing the best eCommerce architecture for your goals, get in touch with us today - we’d love to help you succeed.