Shopify introduces new Commerce Components toolkit for enterprises

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Shopify Inc. today introduced a new software toolkit, Commerce Components by Shopify, that promises to help enterprises more easily build online stores.

NYSE-listed Shopify provides a cloud platform that businesses use to develop and host e-commerce websites. According to the company, its platform has processed more than $475 billion worth of transactions for millions of online retailers. Its revenue grew 22% year-over-year, to $1.4 billion, in its most recent fiscal quarter.

The company’s customer base consists primarily of small and midsize businesses. With the new Commerce Components toolkit introduced today, it hopes to expand adoption of its platform among large enterprises.

The platform comprises a collection of software tools that each focus on easing a different e-commerce task. Until now, those tools were provided as a single bundle. With the Commerce Components toolkit, it will enable enterprises to purchase only the specific features they require instead of the entire bundle.

“Commerce Components by Shopify opens our infrastructure so enterprise retailers don’t have to waste time, engineering power, and money building critical foundations Shopify has already perfected, and instead frees them up to customize, differentiate, and scale,” said President Harley Finkelstein.

One of the tools included in Commerce Components is Shopify Checkout, which eases the task of building an online store’s checkout page. It can be implemented in both e-commerce websites and mobile apps. According to Shopify, the mobile version of the tool is 91% more effective at turning app users into paying customers than certain competing tools.

Shopify Checkout can process multiple types of e-commerce transactions. It enables users to make one-time purchases, buy subscriptions and preorder upcoming items. Support for coupon codes enables companies to optionally offer discounts through the interface.

Retailers using Commerce Components can process customer transactions using third-party payment processing services, as well as with the e-commerce giant’s own engine. The latter engine enables consumers to make payments in more than 130 currencies. According to Shopify, companies also have access to features for managing refunds and tracking outstanding orders.

Another component of Shopify’s value proposition to enterpises is a feature called Shopify Checkout. The feature can automatically enter users’ payment details into a checkout page to speed up purchases. According to Shopify, the feature reduces the amount of time it takes to complete e-commerce transactions by 75%.

Shopify says that Commerce Components also offers application programming interfaces for integrating with external applications. Using the APIs, a company can load data about user buying preferences from a Shopify-powered online store to its customer relationship management platform. Companies can also link Commerce Components to other external applications, including enterprise resource management systems.

Shopify already provides the ability to access its platform through APIs. However, it applies rate limits that restrict how frequently certain e-commerce tasks can be carried out. Commerce Components doesn’t include API rate limits, which will enable it to provide better support to enterprises with large-scale online stores.

As part of its product portfolio, Shopify offers a so-called frontend framework called Hydrogen. It can be used to customize the interface of online stores built with the company’s e-commerce platform. Enterprises using Commerce Components will have the option to use third-party front-end frameworks to design their e-commerce websites.

The company says multiple large retailers including Mattel Inc. plan to adopt Commerce Components. Besides the toolkit’s core feature set, customers will also receive access to support services and other technical assistance.