Transforming industrial commerce with composable solutions

Discover how industrial businesses are modernizing commerce with flexible, digital-first strategies powered by EY and Adobe.

In brief

• Industrial companies can modernize commerce by integrating channels and adopting modular, composable solutions for agility and growth.
• Incremental upgrades enable seamless customer experiences, improved efficiency and reduced risk, without disrupting existing operations.
• EY Transformational Commerce empowers industrials to adapt quickly, unify platforms and drive measurable results in a digital-first market.

Industrial organizations are adapting to a rapidly evolving market. Traditional B2B sales models, once centered on hardware, are shifting toward approaches that incorporate software and subscription-based offerings. This transition calls for a new perspective on commerce, one that integrates multiple sales channels and delivers a cohesive experience for customers.

At the same time, the sector faces rising operational costs and increasing demands for efficiency. As millennials and Gen Z become key decision-makers, their preference for self-service is prompting businesses to reconsider their commerce strategies. This shift is driving digital transformation efforts aimed at streamlining operations and enhancing customer interactions.

The challenge is, how can industrial businesses modernize their commerce capabilities to meet these demands without disrupting existing operations?

EY Transformational Commerce, powered by Adobe, offers a modular, composable architecture that enables industrial organizations to respond to these challenges with agility. Rather than relying on rigid, monolithic platforms, businesses can select and integrate components that align with their specific needs. This adaptability is crucial in a sector that requires bespoke solutions to cater to diverse customer needs.

A flexible solution for a complex market

Imagine a world where clients can easily place orders for hardware, software and subscriptions, all on a unified platform. That’s the vision driving many companies today. The goal is to create a user-friendly platform that allows clients to manage their accounts, place orders and oversee their operations from a single interface. This is particularly crucial for those in field service roles who need to make quick decisions while on the go.

EY Transformational Commerce allows businesses to bridge the gap between various sales channels, whether it’s online ordering, in-store kiosks or mobile applications. The flexibility offered by composable commerce means that companies can tailor their solutions to meet specific business needs without accumulating excessive technical debt. This includes supporting hardware, software or subscription sales in a single transaction or enabling field reps to manage orders and accounts from a unified portal.

Adobe Commerce Cloud and Commerce Optimizer continue to boost other capabilities. The platform integrates with Adobe Experience Manager, Target and Analytics, allowing businesses to personalize experiences and analyze performance across channels.

Commerce Optimizer modernizes the front-end experience without requiring a full re-platform. It includes GenAI-powered search and product recommendations, an extensible catalog model, and tools that allow merchandisers to publish updates faster and reduce content creation time. These features help teams focus on strategic priorities rather than technical maintenance.

Supporting change through composable commerce

The value of composable commerce lies in its ability to support transformation without requiring a full re-platform. Industrial organizations can adopt new capabilities incrementally, reducing risk and enabling continuous improvement. Adobe Commerce supports this approach through features such as GenAI-powered search and product recommendations, extensible catalog models and streamlined content publishing tools.

Modernizing for resilience in a digital-first market

Failing to modernize presents real challenges. Organizations that lag in adopting digital capabilities risk falling behind more agile competitors. By embracing self-service tools, companies can enable sales teams to focus on relationship-building and strategic growth. With the right approach, industrial businesses can navigate change and position themselves for long-term success in a digital-first environment.

How EY can help

EY professionals work across the industrial sector to support transformation initiatives that span technology, operations and organizational change. Through collaborative efforts that include transformation management offices, change enablement teams and data-driven strategies, EY teams help organizations rethink store operations, explore new market channels and adopt artificial intelligence in ways that align with their long-term vision.

By working across disciplines and functions, EY teams combine strengths and contribute to outcomes that reflect the priorities of industrial businesses, whether that’s improving service delivery, supporting new revenue models or enhancing customer engagement.