Microservices architecture in your e-commerce

Microservices architecture is the opposite of the monolithic approach, in creating software architecture. Most of the traditional businesses that I know, that sells their products online, do so using an e-commerce platform considered monolithic.

Monolithic platforms vs Microservices

These platforms, even if they work, are platforms in which all the e-commerce services and functionalities are in the same code base. They are made up of a single piece and their components are interdependent and interconnected.

That is why it is said that they are monolithic architectures, and in many scenarios or contexts they should be replaced by microservices architectures.

Before continuing, and to know a little more about microservices by reading these articles:

What problems are there in using microservices in your e-commerce?

Headless e-Commerce vs Microservices in e-Commerce: Difference

What is the problem with monolithic architecture?

The problem - if it really exists - with monolithic architecture is related to the delivery, deployment, or rapid implementation of different services, when these are updated.

Additionally, these types of architecture are often the bottleneck for vendors, whenever you want to quickly integrate new technologies or enhancements to e-commerce.

One solution is to develop your e-commerce with a microservices architecture. How this architecture can be applied to e-commerce is what we will see in today's article.

E-commerce microservices architecture

As we saw in Sergio's article, on microservices in general, the e-commerce microservices architecture also contains the separate services. The grace is that these services have their own code base, and even database.

The microservices architecture allows these separate services to communicate with each other through serverless events, and connect to your store and purchases on a website or mobile application with APIs.

You can think of it as a sophisticated version of modular architecture, in which microservices can be standalone applications. In this case, the idea is that each component performs a function in your e-commerce.

The following diagram is an example of how you could organize the different services of your e-commerce connecting the frontend through an API layer to the backend through a data layer.

Example of microservices architecture for e-commerce

Each part can mean a different provider

As we have commented previously, the interesting thing about this architecture is that each of the microservices can have different e-commerce providers.

You can literally have a provider for payments, a provider for analysis, a provider for the search service, and another provider for the order management system ( OMS ). How about?

Of course, for the entire system to work properly, your different providers must have a robust API that meets your needs. It will be up to you to know how to manage all these providers and services.

There are tools in the market to do it effectively, and pay special attention to the iceberg of microservices in your e-commerce.

Iceberg of microservices in your e-commerce

Positioning and differentiation

Therefore, I think that if you really want to differentiate yourself and position yourself in an increasingly competitive and demanding market, and have competitive e-commerce in the current context, you must take into account, the architecture of microservices and know how to select the best services and providers to your architecture.

Conclusion

To conclude, and as you have seen, the microservices architecture is attractive for e-commerce businesses, because each microservice can be developed independently, and deployed independently. This allows you to solve highly complex problems when your e-commerce scales and gets big.

If you have medium-sized e-commerce, you can also opt for the microservices architecture. If you need help, don't hesitate to contact us!