Navigating the Future of E-Commerce with Vaibhav Katri: A Beyond Tech Series

In this episode of "Beyond Tech" we delve into the fascinating realm of E-commerce with guest Vaibhav Khatri. In this article, we encapsulate the key insights from their discussion, which emphasized the role of E-commerce towards a digital-centric future. Additionally, we explore Fullstack Engineering, discuss challenges of monolithic systems versus microservices, and conclude with future technological impacts on E-commerce, like AI and blockchain.

The conversation starts with a creative analogy comparing E-commerce to the mythical land of milk and honey, illustrating the luxurious, effortless access to goods and services that E-commerce provides. It's described as a technology that intuitively understands and fulfills our needs, embodying a modern-day realization of age-old dreams of luxury and convenience.

Breaking Down E-commerce

To demystify E-commerce, Vaibhav explains it in simple terms: it is electronic business conducted via digital platforms, like mobiles or computers. He recounts a personal anecdote about explaining E-commerce to his father, highlighting the need for clear and straightforward explanations in our tech-driven world.

Challenges of Monolithic System

The episode transitions to discussing the limitations of monolithic E-commerce systems. Given the vast scale of modern E-commerce, Vaibhav suggests a shift towards a more flexible, microservices-based architecture. He emphasizes how monolithic systems, being large and unwieldy, can hinder innovation and create development bottlenecks.

The solution? Adopting Composable Commerce architecture, breaking down E-commerce systems into smaller, manageable components. This approach enables more agile, adaptable, and resilient systems, allowing for features like Cart, Check-out, and Order to be handled efficiently, while other capabilities can be customized or built from scratch.

The Microservices Approach

A major part of the dialogue revolves around microservices. Vaibhav advocates for this approach due to its flexibility in development, deployment, and scaling. The conversation touches on the importance of loosely coupled components communicating through APIs (discover more about this here), ensuring a streamlined development process without creating new monoliths.

Despite its benefits, microservices architecture is not without challenges. Vaibhav points out that it requires a mature organization and can be complex for smaller companies or new startups. He also discusses the importance of domain-driven design in microservices, ensuring each service addresses a specific business problem.

The Future of Technology in E-commerce

As the conversation winds down, Vaibhav shares his vision of the future, foreseeing significant impacts from AI, blockchain technology, the Internet of Things, and augmented/virtual reality. These innovations, he shares, will profoundly change how we interact with E-commerce platforms, pushing towards more personalized, efficient, and immersive digital experiences.

The episode concludes with Vaibhav’s predictions on the importance of insights into the future trajectory of technology in E-commerce and its potential to revolutionize customer experiences.

At Mercedes-Benz.io, we’re excited to be at the forefront of this digital transformation, continually exploring and implementing innovative solutions.

Stay connected for more enlightening discussions from "Beyond Tech", where we intersect the realms of technology and automotive innovation at Mercedes-Benz.io.

Check the entire episode on our YouTube channel.

Read about the other episodes

Episode about Web Technology Insights with Jorge Varandas