code talks commerce: the api economy as an e-commerce operating system
TRANSCRIPT
The API Economyas an E-Commerce Operating System
Sebastian Weikart - [email protected] - Commerce Special
Agenda• A Brief Introduction…• What are APIs and what is the API Economy?• Why are APIs so great?• What is important to consider when selecting an API Vendor? • What is the E-Commerce API Ecosystem & How can I use it as
an E-Commerce Operating System?• So how does it fit all together?!
A Brief Introduction• E-Commerce Architect since > 10 Years• 7 Years in London working with leading Retailers and Brands
- House of Fraser, ASDA Direct, Clarins Group, TM Lewin, Labelux Group and more
• Now living in Berlin, working as Product Owner, Architect and Tech Lead
• [email protected] / @sebbbulon
… and what is the API Economy?
What are APIs?
What are APIs?A short history…
• Since the beginning of time: Libraries delivered as Binaries for propriety platforms, delivered on discs or CDs
• Late 1960s: Remote Procedure Calls
• 1991: CORBA• 1998: SOAP• 2000: REST • 2001: JSON• since mid/late 2000: The Rise of
Software-as-a-Service / Cloud-based Products and Platforms that deliver Functionality through an API and are billed by Usage and other Metrics
A Definition… • An API Product is delivered through Cloud-based Software-as-a-Service• All or the great majority of the Products features & functions can be used through
this API• They use common Internet Protocols such as HTTP(S)• Largely standardised interface by implementing REST or similar Protocols,
commonly using JSON as a Format• All or the great majority of Functions are documented and accessible publicly (no
Pay-Wall or Exclusive Club) • Self-Service Sign-Up, Free Tiers, Usage based Billing • Sometimes API Products also known as “Headless” because there is no front-end or
templating layer
What is the API Economy?• APIs provide Software and Functions like Utilities (Gas,
Energy) • 3 Ways to take part and benefit from the API Economy:
• You provide an API Product• You consume an API Product for your own Product, and
leverage the additional generated Value for your Profit• You provide features and functions that are not covered by
certain APIs and offer it to it’s wider Ecosystem
Why are APIs so awesome?
Why are APIs Great?• You are standing on the Shoulder of Giants: Give you powerful
functionality without you having to implement them or needing to provide computing power
• They are Universal: No proprietary Language or Technology, use the one where you have the greatest Expertise, connect all applications in your Organisation
• Easy to understand with minimum Documentation due to REST Protocol and human-readable formats like JSON
• Billed by Usage like Utilities • Deliver new Functionality continuously without paying extra or needing to
upgrade
It’s a great fit for Omnichannel E-Commerce
• How does a classic Omnichannel E-Commerce Architecture look like?
Order Management System
Storefront Warehouse Management
Tear down the Silos - Connect all your Devices and Systems, Enabling REAL Omni-Channel in
Real Time
Use your CMS as the Leading System to deliver the Content. Or go Serverless in the
first place… • JavaScript integration can turn a static HTML Website into a
transactional one by adding an Add-To-Cart ButtonShopRocket:
SnipCart:
Moltin:
Commercetools:
How to Select API Vendors
What’s important when selecting API Vendors?
• SDK Support - make sure the vendor you are about to choose is committed to your particular development platform and to Android and iOS by updating the respective SDK regularly
• Regular release cycles, non-breaking upgrade process• Fast response times (< 100ms) and great uptime (> 99.9%) • Data Center / Point of Delivery available within German
Jurisdiction if this is important for you
What else do I need to look out for?
• Carefully check features - does it have a Search or do I need to look for a Search on top of the provided features?
• Can I configure Web Hooks?• Can I import / export Data in differerent formats like CSV or do
I need to develop this on top of the service? (can be tricky…)• Does it have a comprehensive user interface that covers all
the offered functionality?• Is their documentation open and available?
What’s sometimes not so Great?
• They don’t work offline - naturally• Extensibility / Flexibility of delivered Functions can be limited• Many API Vendors lack tools: “Guys, it’s an API, build from developers for
developers, you can do everything yourself” - On-Boarding suffers• Your clients might say: “Hey, back in the day when we had the PL/SQL
Application running directly in my Oracle Database, I could import / export this huge amount of data much faster”
• Often engineers have to adopt new Programming Paradigms they might not yet accustomed to like Asynchronous, Parallel, Message Driven, Reactive, Stateless etc… to leverage the full power of APIs
• Data flow needs to be designed carefully, as they are distributed among many systems
An Overview of the E-Commerce API Ecosystem
Content PIM CartsInventory &
Order Management
WarehouseMgmt Payment Analytics
/ DataCRM /
Marketing
BraintreeStripe QuBit Salesfore
KlarnaPaymill
Google Analytics Nutshell
many many
more…
many many
more…many many
more…Salsify
Contentful
Prismic
The E-Commerce API Economy (Excerpt)
Commercetools
Moltin
SnipcartOsmek YaaS
?fulfil.io
Shoprocket
E-Commerce API Platforms• YaaS.io (Hybris as a Service) • Oracle CommerceCloud• Commercetools• Moltin• Shoprocket• SnipCart• Mozu
Delivery on Demand APIs
• UberRUSH were the first on the market to actually offer a working on-demand delivery API
Integration Platforms• sometimes known as iPaaS
• MuleSoft Anypoint Platform• WSO2• elastic.io• Tray.io• Zapier
How does it fit all together?
Thank You!
[email protected] / @sebbbulon
Stock Photos (CC0 1.0) by NASA via Unsplash, Roy Fielding Image taken from Roy Fielding’s Twitter, Douglas Crockford Image taken from Douglas Crockford’s Google+
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