Sephora is preparing for the next evolution of its ecommerce ecosystem through a new partnership with SaaS commerce platform commercetools.
commercetools’ MACH-based technology (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless) will give the beauty retailer more flexibility and scalability in its ecommerce systems, according to CTO Sree Sreedhararaj.
“As an early dotcom and digital leader in retail, we are continually looking to improve the consumer experience through seamless advances in technology supporting product discovery, shopping and checkout,” said Sreedhararaj in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “To do that, we need a quick, efficient and scalable platform that allows us to test, try and adapt at speed, which commercetools’ solutions provide.”
These new capabilities will help Sephora achieve its goals of unifying the in-store and online shopping experiences, bolstering omnichannel offerings and increasing personalization. While Sephora’s current ecommerce platform has integrated headless capabilities, the added functionality afforded by microservices, API and cloud capabilities — the “MAC in MACH,” as Sreedhararaj describes it — will help the retailer take these initiatives to the next level.
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“There are many perks to moving to a MACH program for such a big business as Sephora,” said Sreedhararaj. “We are a modern ecosystem with a variety of complex functions that need to be seamless for the benefit of our clients, whether that be quickly jumping product swatches, checking out with our same-day delivery option or choosing your Beauty Insider rewards — this all has to happen seamlessly and quickly. This new technology architecture allows us to continue to scale as quickly as our appetite desires.”
The transition will take place over the next two years, and Sreedhararaj promised that “new features we know our clients will appreciate” will be part of the mix.
“Sephora is the universe in which we orbit a variety of tools that are centered around the client and how they shop,” Sreedhararaj added. “[For example], personalization can seamlessly come through Sephora.com or the Sephora App experience via pulling up purchase history, offering suggestions on what [a customer might like] like, what services and gifts are available to them in store and knowing what delivery options are available based on where they are. These are unseen by the client, but a complex stratosphere of tools happening seamlessly, which commercetools allows us to scale and amplify.”
