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Commercetools
Commercetools
from Wikipedia

commercetools, is a cloud-based headless commerce platform that provides APIs to power e-commerce sales and similar functions for large businesses.[2] Both the company and platform are called commercetools. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany with additional offices in Berlin, Germany; Jena, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; London, England; Durham, North Carolina; Zürich, Switzerland; Sydney, Australia; Shanghai, China and Singapore.[1] Through its investor REWE Group it is associated with the omnichannel order fulfillment software solutions provider fulfillmenttools and the payment transactions provider paymenttools.[3][4][5][6] Its clients include Audi, Bang & Olufsen, Carhartt and Nuts.com.[7] commercetools is a founding member of the MACH Alliance.

Key Information

History

[edit]

commercetools was founded by Dirk Hoerig and Denis Werner in 2006.[8][9] It launched its platform in 2013.[7] In 2014, commercetools was wholly bought by REWE Digital, part of Germany’s REWE Group.[10][11] Hoerig is credited with coining the term "headless commerce".[12]

In 2018, commercetools announced a $17 million investment to support its international expansion.[13] It expanded into the U.K market in 2019 with the opening of its London office.[14] In 2020, commercetools established a presence in Australia, with a team in Melbourne and a data center in Sydney.[15]

In 2019, commercetools raised $145 million from venture capital firm Insight Partners.[15] Insight Partners' managing directors Richard Wells and Matt Gatto joined commercetools' board of directors as part of the deal.[16][17] At the same time, commercetools was spun out by REWE. REWE remains a significant shareholder.[10]

In January 2021, commercetools partnered with car manufacturer Volkswagen Group to use the platform for its group brands, including Volkswagen, Bentley, Porsche and Audi.[18]

In May 2021, REWE group announced additional investment into commercetools to fund growth into the Chinese market.[19]

In September 2021, commercetools raised $140m in its series C round, led by venture capital firm Accel, valuing the company at $1.9 billion.[20]

In November 2021, commercetools acquired Frontastic[21][22] for an undisclosed amount.

In July 2024, Founder and CEO Dirk Hoerig stepped down as CEO and Andrew Burton was named as the new CEO.[23][24][25]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
commercetools is a headquartered in , , that develops a cloud-native, API-first commerce platform for enterprise solutions. Founded in 2006 by Dirk Hoerig and Denis Werner, the company pioneered architecture, allowing businesses to decouple front-end experiences from back-end functionality for greater flexibility and scalability. The commercetools platform adheres to MACH principles—Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless—enabling customized commerce experiences across digital, in-store, marketplace, and AI-driven channels for both B2B and B2C sectors. Key components include APIs for payments, checkout, inventory management, and customer personalization, supporting high-volume operations with features like 100,000 orders per minute processing capacity and sub-25-millisecond response times. The platform has powered over $75 billion in gross merchandise value as of September 2025 and serves global enterprises in industries such as retail, , and healthcare. Recognized as a leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce, commercetools has raised over $300 million in funding and achieved unicorn status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. With approximately 500 employees across offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia, the company, now led by CEO Doug McNary since October 2025, continues to innovate in composable commerce, integrating AI agents and unified data models to meet evolving enterprise needs. Notable clients include BMW, Sephora, Panasonic, and Woolworths, highlighting its role in enabling scalable, adaptive commerce infrastructures.

History

Founding

Commercetools was founded in 2006 in , , by Dirk Hoerig and Denis Werner. Hoerig, recognized as a pioneer of , brought expertise in cloud software for enterprise markets, while Werner contributed to the company's early technical and operational foundation. The establishment marked the beginning of a venture aimed at transforming digital commerce infrastructure in response to the evolving demands of global enterprises. The founders' initial goal was to overcome the constraints of traditional platforms, which often featured monolithic architectures that hindered flexibility, scalability, and rapid adaptation to market changes. By developing an API-first solution, Commercetools sought to empower businesses with a modular that separated frontend from backend logic, enabling seamless integration and customization without the rigidity of legacy systems. This approach was driven by the recognition that conventional platforms struggled to support the speed and agility required in a digital-first , where enterprises needed to innovate continuously to meet expectations. In its early years, Commercetools focused on building the first enterprise-grade system, designed to deliver scalability and customization for large-scale operations. This system emphasized cloud-native principles and API-driven connectivity, allowing developers to compose experiences tailored to specific needs while ensuring high and reliability. The headquarters served as the hub for this development, fostering a culture of innovation centered on composable architecture to address the shortcomings of outdated tools.

Growth and funding

Commercetools has demonstrated rapid expansion in the enterprise commerce sector, establishing itself as the fastest-growing company globally in this domain through its composable, cloud-native platform. By , the company had scaled its operations to 12 locations worldwide, enhancing its presence across , , Asia-Pacific, and beyond to support international client needs and talent acquisition. This global footprint facilitated accelerated adoption among enterprise customers, with the platform powering significant transaction volumes and contributing to the company's recognition as a leader in digital commerce innovation. The company's growth has been underpinned by substantial funding, totaling $302 million across seven rounds as of 2025. A pivotal early came in 2019, when led a $145 million Series B round dedicated to global expansion efforts, including new operations in the UK and , as well as strengthened activities in the and . This capital enabled commercetools to broaden its MACH (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture's reach and onboard high-profile clients such as and Yamaha. In September 2021, commercetools secured $140 million in its Series C funding round, led by Accel with participation from existing investors and , valuing the company at $1.9 billion. The proceeds were aimed at further accelerating sales and marketing in , , and APAC, while extending the product portfolio and partner ecosystem to drive enterprise-scale deployments. This valuation persisted into 2024, reflecting sustained investor confidence amid the boom. Revenue milestones underscore commercetools' trajectory, with the company achieving 80% topline growth in 2022 and surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2023. It experienced a 65% ARR increase in the in 2023, highlighting its position as a high-growth player in the sector. In February 2025, the company laid off dozens of staff as part of adjustments to market conditions.

Acquisitions and expansions

In November 2021, commercetools acquired Frontastic, the creators of a composable frontend platform designed to enable retailers and brands to build enhanced, customizable shopping experiences through flexible, API-driven architectures. This marked the company's first major acquisition following its Series C funding round, with the deal terms remaining undisclosed. Leveraging its September 2021 Series C funding, commercetools expanded its global footprint by enhancing operations in , , and the region, including doubling its go-to-market team in early 2021 to meet rising demand for modern solutions. The company established an hub in to support regional growth and opened additional offices across the , (including and the ), and beyond, enabling worldwide operations by 2025. On the strategic front, commercetools co-founded the in June 2020 alongside Contentstack, , and others, to promote best practices in modern, composable technology stacks emphasizing , API-first design, cloud-native scalability, and headless architectures for enterprise . In April 2024, the company entered the B2B manufacturing sector with the launch of its Foundry Blueprint for B2B Manufacturing, a pre-composed solution that accelerates composable commerce adoption by providing industry-specific tools for streamlined digital sales and operations.

Technology and products

Platform architecture

Commercetools operates as a headless, API-first, cloud-native, and composable commerce platform, decoupling the frontend from the backend to enable flexible, experiences. This design allows developers to integrate frontends across various channels—such as web, mobile, and in-store—while leveraging a modular backend for core commerce functions like and order processing. The platform's composable nature emphasizes assembling best-of-breed components via APIs, avoiding monolithic structures and promoting vendor-agnostic integrations. Adhering to MACH principles, Commercetools is built on , which consist of loosely coupled, independently deployable components for enhanced reliability and faster development cycles. It prioritizes an API-first approach, providing over 300 commerce APIs that facilitate customization and real-time exchange. The cloud-native infrastructure, hosted on Cloud and AWS, ensures scalability and lower through auto-scaling and container orchestration. Additionally, its headless architecture supports multi-tenancy, where a shared instance maintains isolated for each client, optimizing . On the backend, Commercetools utilizes as its primary database, enabling flexible, schema-less storage for handling diverse commerce data. This supports dynamic product catalogs that accommodate multiple product types, variants, and categories, with customizable attributes using various data types such as text, numbers, and references. The system allows for global routing and localization, ensuring consistent data management across regions without rigid schemas. For scalability, the platform is engineered for real-time adaptation through machine-readable structures that support AI-driven decisions and modular updates without service disruptions. It unifies multi-channel operations from a single backend, providing a centralized for , product, and inventory to deliver cohesive experiences. Enterprise-grade performance is achieved via high-availability features, including load balancing and auto-scaling, capable of processing up to 100,000 orders per minute and 10 billion requests per week.

Core offerings

The core platform of commercetools is its Composable Commerce solution, a cloud-native, system that provides programmatic access to data and functionality primarily through an , supplemented by , client libraries, and SDKs. This API-first architecture enables developers to build customized digital experiences by decoupling frontend and backend, allowing for flexible integration and across various commerce scenarios. Key components of the platform include robust product catalog management, which supports a flexible and customizable for handling product attributes, variants, and relationships; storefront capabilities that facilitate multiple brands, regions, markets, and ; and advanced search features with scoped access to store-specific catalogs. Additional essentials encompass promotions such as product and discounts, discount codes, and tiers; carts and checkout processes with customizable flows and support for multiple methods; and customer accounts featuring profiles, groups, and wishlists. These components form a centralized foundation for managing core data like products, , inventory, and customers. Commercetools supports both B2B and B2C with flexible catalogs that ensure accurate, localized product information tailored to complex , quotes, and approval workflows in B2B contexts, while delivering consistent experiences across devices and channels for all users. This adaptability allows enterprises to manage large-scale product data with enterprise-grade , including attributes and variants for scalable, region-specific presentations. The platform's extensibility is achieved through custom applications and extensions, enabling businesses to integrate tailored UI applications into the Merchant Center, add custom fields and objects to the , and modify API behaviors with business-specific logic. This approach supports the MACH principles of microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native, and headless design, allowing for seamless customization without altering the core system.

Innovations and integrations

Commercetools has embraced an AI-first approach, emphasizing the integration of to enhance customer experiences (CX) and user experiences (UX). This shift includes robust support for AI agents through its Agentic Commerce platform, which enables autonomous intelligence and real-time orchestration for in , , and . The AI Hub serves as a central collection of plug-and-play integrations connecting the platform to leading AI technologies, allowing seamless deployment across touchpoints without replatforming. Key components include the Vertex AI Plugin, which integrates Cloud's Vertex AI capabilities directly into the commerce platform for advanced personalization, and the AI , a resource for implementing AI-enhanced features to optimize CX/UX. In Fall 2024, commercetools released over 50 innovations focused on improving CX, UX, and platform capabilities, providing modular and scalable tools to maintain . These updates include accelerators designed to reduce timelines by up to 50% while minimizing costs, enabling faster deployment of modern solutions. A pivotal element of this release is the transition to agentic , where AI agents connect directly to the platform's core APIs for intelligent execution across business datasets, supporting safer automation and smarter decision-making. This evolution positions commercetools to deliver future-ready AI experiences, as demonstrated in partnerships like the one with for unified enhancements. In Spring 2025, commercetools introduced further compilations with innovations enhancing and UX through features like unified in-store (commercetools InStore), advanced programs including "Buy & Get" and "Best Deal" promotions, subscription capabilities, and hyper-targeted campaigns supporting up to 500 customer groups. AI advancements include an AI-based product tool, while operational improvements feature Reservations, enhanced Import (with 25% adoption in the first week), and the Payment Hub for no-code integrations. Additional updates encompass B2B Purchasing Lists and improvements to the Product Search . The platform's integrations extend its ecosystem through strategic collaborations and compatibility features. Commercetools has deepened its partnership with , incorporating PayPal Braintree as a Connect-ready payment component to expand checkout options and accelerate time-to-value for merchants. For composable frontends, the 2021 acquisition of Frontastic introduced a leading platform that empowers retailers to build outstanding, customizable shopping experiences using MACH principles. Additionally, commercetools maintains strong compatibility with the MACH ecosystem, adhering to microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native, and headless standards to integrate seamlessly with tools like systems and other composable services. For B2B commerce, commercetools offers the B2B MACHcellerator, a specialized accelerator developed in collaboration with partners like McFadyen Digital. This tool provides a cloud-native, elastic with over 280 pre-built features across 16 epics, tailored for complex B2B use cases such as personalized buying journeys and scalable operations. By leveraging MACH , the MACHcellerator enables rapid deployment of customized B2B storefronts, focusing on to support diverse business models and channels.

Corporate affairs

Leadership and operations

Commercetools is led by Chairman and Doug McNary, who assumed the role in October 2025 following the departure of previous CEO Andrew Burton. McNary brings extensive experience in driving growth and operational excellence at high-growth firms. The executive team includes Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dirk Hoerig, who pioneered the company's approach and continues to guide product innovation. Chief Customer Officer Eric Speciel focuses on enhancing customer value throughout the SaaS lifecycle, while Chief Technology Officer Hajo Eichler oversees scalable development with an emphasis on and . Jen Jones leads global branding and growth strategies, drawing on over two decades of experience. Matt Tuel manages financial scaling for rapid expansion, and the company maintains a Chief People Officer, Dobrescu, who fosters talent-driven cultures, and a , Shiri Mosenzon Erez, who shapes product vision for B2B platforms based on her 20+ years in the field. Headquartered in , , with a secondary hub in , , commercetools operates across multiple global offices spanning , , , and the , supporting enterprise clients on five continents as of 2025. The company maintains approximately 12 offices worldwide, including key locations in and (), (), (), (), and various U.S. sites, enabling a focus on localized enterprise support and ongoing innovation in composable commerce solutions. With approximately 600 employees as of late 2025, the organization emphasizes collaborative operations to deliver scalable, customer-centric platforms.

Financial performance

Commercetools employs a subscription-based (SaaS) centered on composable commerce, enabling enterprises to build flexible, -driven solutions. This approach allows customers to integrate the platform with best-of-breed tools, avoiding monolithic systems. Revenue streams primarily consist of tiered subscription fees based on usage metrics such as transaction volume and calls, supplemented by for custom implementations and ongoing support contracts. In 2024, the company reported $175 million in revenue, reflecting strong growth in its enterprise-focused offerings. As of September 2025, the platform has powered over $75 billion in annualized gross merchandise value (GMV). Commercetools maintains a valuation of $1.9 billion, established from its 2021 Series C funding round. The emphasis on recurring revenue from subscriptions supports sustained operations, with total funding raised exceeding $300 million across multiple rounds to fuel expansion. Profitability remains enterprise-driven, with the company achieving crossover profitability earlier in 2025 amid a focus on scalable growth. Commercetools' market strategy prioritizes MACH (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture adoption, which enhances long-term by allowing modular updates and integrations without disrupting core operations.

Customers and partnerships

Commercetools serves approximately 200 enterprise customers globally, spanning industries such as retail and . Notable clients include and in retail, as well as , , Yamaha, and in . A prominent example is Spoonflower, a for custom print-on-demand fabrics and home decor owned by . In January 2023, Spoonflower initiated a migration to a composable architecture centered on commercetools to address the limitations of its legacy monolithic platform, which struggled with billions of SKUs and complex updates. Partnering with Orium—recommended by RMW Commerce founder Rick Watson—the project targeted a launch of core and checkout features in Fall 2024, enabling enhanced artist-consumer connections, improved scalability, and easier maintenance through integrations like a . Another case involves an unnamed global toy maker that adopted commercetools to manage a unified website across international markets. The platform's cloud-native design provided instant scalability to handle traffic surges during sales peaks, such as Black Friday campaigns, preventing outages that had previously caused issues and social media backlash. This implementation allowed for phased rollouts, starting with the product catalog, and supported for optimized performance without disrupting operations. Commercetools is a founding member of the , established in 2020 to promote modern, API-first commerce technologies, alongside partners like Contentstack, , and Valtech. The company collaborates with implementation agencies such as Orium and RMW Commerce to facilitate customer migrations and custom solutions. Additionally, commercetools has integrated with Checkout to streamline payment options, enhancing checkout experiences with features like Fastlane for faster transactions. Customer implementations often leverage commercetools' modular architecture for efficient migrations, with timelines varying by approach: migrations can launch in as little as seven weeks for in-store engines, while phased strategies typically span two to five months for MVP development and full site transitions. Benefits include instant to manage demand spikes without infrastructure overhauls, reduced through transparent pricing, and accelerated time-to-market—such as a 30% reduction via pre-built components—enabling enterprises to achieve outcomes like 400% sales growth in select cases.

Reception and impact

Awards and recognition

Commercetools has been consistently recognized as a leader in digital commerce platforms, particularly for its composable and . In the 2025 for Digital Commerce, the company was positioned as a Leader for the sixth consecutive year, based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute. Similarly, in the 2024 , commercetools earned Leader status for the fifth year in a row, underscoring its market leadership in enterprise technology. The 2025 for Digital Commerce report further highlighted commercetools by ranking it highest in the use case with a score of 4.16 out of 5. Additional accolades affirm its innovation in SaaS solutions for . Commercetools won the 2024 SaaS Awards for Best SaaS Product for eCommerce, presented by the Cloud Awards, recognizing its platform's role in reducing by up to 75% and increasing average order value by 40%. It also received the 2024 Best in SaaS Award for Best Company in Composable Commerce Solutions, highlighting its global growth and technological edge. In the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide B2B Digital Commerce Applications for Midmarket Growth 2023–2024, commercetools was named a Leader, emphasizing its strong execution and strategy. These recognitions contributed to its achievement of status in 2023, a milestone for private companies exceeding $100 million in annual recurring revenue, shared by fewer than 200 firms worldwide. The company has pioneered since 2013, coining the term and establishing it as an industry standard for flexible, API-first platforms. This foundational innovation has earned endorsements as the leading AI-first commerce platform trusted by global enterprises, powering over $75 billion in annualized as of September 2025. In 2023, it was named Technology Partner of the Year by , acknowledging its collaborative impact on digital experiences. Built In also honored commercetools in its 2024 Best Places to Work Awards, reflecting its workplace excellence. Key events have amplified its leadership profile. The inaugural Elevate - The Global Commerce Summit in April 2024, held in , gathered industry leaders to discuss and featured announcements of Partner of the Year Awards. The 2023 year-in-review report summarized these milestones, including leadership and product advancements, positioning commercetools as a global commerce frontrunner.

Market position

Commercetools has established itself as a leader in composable and , enabling businesses to build flexible, API-driven solutions that prioritize and . This positioning aligns with the broader industry shift from legacy monolithic platforms to MACH (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architectures, a trend that gained momentum since the early 2010s and accelerated through 2025 as retailers sought greater agility in response to evolving digital demands. By 2025, commercetools' cloud-native platform has powered over 767 companies worldwide, processing more than $75 billion in annualized gross merchandise value (GMV), underscoring its role in driving this transition. In comparison to traditional platforms like Commerce Cloud, which rely on more rigid, integrated systems, commercetools offers superior agility through its composable design, allowing enterprises to integrate best-of-breed tools without overhauling entire infrastructures. This advantage is particularly evident against monolithic competitors such as Commerce Cloud or Commerce, where commercetools' API-first approach reduces time-to-market for custom experiences and supports seamless scalability across channels. has recognized commercetools as a Leader in the 2025 for Digital Commerce for the sixth consecutive year, based on its completeness of vision and execution ability, further highlighting its competitive edge in fostering over legacy systems. Commercetools is actively influencing key trends in , particularly the adoption of AI-first and agentic models that enable autonomous, intelligent interactions. In May 2025, the company launched the Commerce MCP and AI Hub, providing secure access for AI agents to backend services and facilitating real-time across operations. In November 2025, commercetools launched Agentic Jumpstart, a program to help enterprises grow revenue through AI-driven shopping implementations. As of September 2025, the platform processed over $75 billion in annualized GMV. This innovation builds on post-2020 global accelerations, where headless architectures like commercetools' have enabled personalized, multi-touchpoint experiences amid rising digital adoption. Partnerships, such as with for agentic AI shopping and as the first European retailer to deploy its full agentic suite, demonstrate how commercetools is propelling AI-driven and in global retail. As of late 2025, commercetools maintains sustained growth amid market shifts toward unified, multi-channel strategies, with a strong emphasis on B2B applications where it addresses challenges like the "52% Problem" of fragmented buyer experiences hindering revenue. The platform's focus on B2B has driven revenue growth for 56% of surveyed leaders and aftermarket expansion for 63%, positioning it as a key enabler for B2B operations. With 89% of customers willing to recommend it, commercetools continues to solidify its market standing through composable technologies that support extended buyer journeys across sales, marketing, and developer ecosystems.

Challenges and criticisms

In February 2025, Commercetools laid off approximately 10% of its workforce, impacting dozens of employees across marketing, sales, and operations departments, amid broader economic pressures in the sector including macroeconomic uncertainty and subdued growth rates. The reductions followed the company's failure to meet aggressive revenue targets, exacerbated by slower U.S. retail expansion of just 2.7% from Q3 to Q4 2024, and were accompanied by executive departures such as the and . Critics have highlighted significant challenges in migrating to Commercetools from legacy systems, where the process often involves complex data extraction, compatibility issues, and phased transitions that can disrupt operations and require extensive technical resources. Furthermore, the platform's emphasis on flexibility through its API-driven leads to high customization costs for enterprises, as essential features frequently demand custom coding rather than pre-built modules, increasing overall expenses. In the evolving post-2025 market, Commercetools faces broader pressures from rapid AI advancements, where its composable model must continually adapt to integrate emerging AI tools for and without compromising performance. This is compounded by competition from more integrated platforms like and Commerce Cloud, which provide easier and reduced customization needs for mid-market businesses, potentially eroding Commercetools' share in segments prioritizing speed over . In response, the company has emphasized ongoing platform innovations to enhance scalability and migration tools, aiming to alleviate these concerns while supporting AI-native capabilities.

References

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