There are currently more than 2.6 billion online shoppers globally, according to Capital One Shopping Research. That’s the equivalent of one-third of the world’s population.
Today’s consumers are finding what they need — whether that’s everyday household items, clothing, groceries, or other wares — with a few clicks of a button. While shopping online might look seamless on the front end, meeting this massive demand requires brands to have a solid ecommerce infrastructure on the back end.
A combination of tools, people, and processes must come together to deliver a modern shopping experience — but many brands still struggle to strike this balance. According to Forrester, customer experience teams use four different technologies, on average, and many of those solutions just replicate the capabilities of tools their organization already uses.
In today’s rapidly shifting ecommerce environment, brands can’t afford to use redundant technologies that don’t deliver value. They need a stronger, automated, and more efficient infrastructure to drive profitability and a better customer experience.
Ecommerce infrastructure consists of a range of technology systems that support a brand’s digital operations across the customer life cycle — from initial contact all the way through the post-purchase experience. Here are six core technologies that make up the infrastructure.
Web servers are crucial components of ecommerce infrastructure because they’re the secure, scalable technical foundation upon which everything is built — from a brand’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) website to data warehouses that store its valuable first-party data.
Without web servers, your brand can’t create the digital user interfaces customers interact with throughout the buyer journey. Because of this, web servers are an indispensable part of cultivating your company’s ecommerce presence.
A strong infrastructure is flexible enough to adapt to changing customer and market dynamics, which is why application programming interfaces (APIs) have become so important.
It’s rare for one platform to be able to address all your brand’s operational needs.
The most effective ecommerce tools are open, are interoperable, and play well with other third-party, best-of-breed solutions, such as:
In an ever-changing ecommerce landscape, API-led integration is vital for brands to stay nimble.
A product experience management (PXM) platform centralizes ecommerce product content in one place, creating a single source of truth for your brand.
The platform offers advanced product information management (PIM) capabilities, including unified content syndication that simplifies and automates the data
mapping and transformation process and AI-powered automation that streamlines workflows and collaboration.
A PXM platform allows you to:
A PXM platform also embraces API-led integration, allowing you to be more efficient, maximize the value of the ecommerce tools you use every day, and develop a robust ecommerce technology stack that positions your brand for profitable growth.
Payment processing solutions aren’t just important for completing a sale. They’re crucial for safeguarding customer data and maintaining trust.
When a customer provides their payment card information, they expect to get something of value in return beyond the product or service they purchase. They expect your company’s commitment to protecting their personal data.
They also expect the payment experience to be seamless and flexible, with multiple options to complete their purchase — whether that’s using credit, buy now, pay later (BNPL), or paying through a third-party payment processor.
Any friction in this part of the journey could jeopardize your ability to convert a customer and potentially establish a long-term relationship with them.
These solutions integrate inventory and warehouse management systems to allow customers to track the location of their shipment in real time.
They also enhance supply chain visibility for your brand, enabling you to route orders more efficiently or proactively address bottlenecks that could reduce customer satisfaction or delay delivery.
More companies are leaning on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fulfillment solutions to optimize picking, packing, and shipping; improve and scale inventory management; ensure product availability; and meet customer demand for faster and on-time delivery.
This is one area in which ecommerce infrastructure drives automation that improves operational execution and, in turn, the customer experience.
Buying a product is just the beginning of a customer’s relationship with your brand. An effective infrastructure supports every stage of the purchase process, including the return experience.
Post-purchase experience tools facilitate hassle-free returns and exchanges, enabling customers to initiate returns online and offline with similar ease. They support flexible return policies that feature extended return windows, store credits, and exchanges, as well as AI-driven, personalized product recommendations that allow your brand to upsell or cross-sell customers.
These solutions also help engage customers with personalized emails that include thank-you messages after purchase or exclusive discounts on a customer’s next purchase.
Robust, integrated ecommerce infrastructure has become nonnegotiable in a world in which consumers increasingly expect more from brands.
Today’s consumers shop across multiple channels and demand a seamless experience from one to the next. In fact, 58% of shoppers make purchases at physical retail stores and 66% on online marketplaces like eBay or Amazon, according to Salsify’s “2025 Consumer Research.”
Shoppers also expect personalization — 81% prefer companies that offer a personalized experience, according to Forbes. And they demand convenience in the form of a seamless, transparent delivery experience and competitive pricing, notes Salsify consumer research.
Deals, discounts, and loyalty rewards are among the many incentives that differentiate brands, according to VML’s “The Future Shopper 2024” report. In exchange, many reward brands with their long-lasting loyalty.
Your brand can’t execute any of these things without the right technical backbone. A modern shopping experience demands future-driven ecommerce infrastructure.
This technical foundation embraces integration, AI-powered automation, and data analytics to help you turn product content into a strategic asset. With the right infrastructure, you can optimize your processes and nurture better collaboration across every stage of the customer life cycle to create back-end processes that materialize into seamless experiences on the front end.
Siloed solutions that provide a single-channel view of customers put your brand at a disadvantage. Fortifying your ecommerce infrastructure with integrated solutions that facilitate an omnichannel experience is the way forward to drive growth and profitability.