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headless commerce Article

<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="listen-to-the-full-episode-of-“the-critic's-corner”-podcast-&gt;"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d">Listen to the full episode of “The Critic's Corner” Podcast &gt;</a></h4> <hr /> Last year, a new word was added to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/">Merriam-Webster's</a> Dictionary called enshittification, a slang term used to criticize the degradation in the quality and experience of online platforms and experiences over time. Fun, right?Er… not so much.From a website or e-commerce perspective, enshittification typically manifests as an increase in things like ads, costs, or features, but the definition has been expanded to encompass any state of deterioration – even politics and culture.One might conclude that our world is in a current state of enshittification, but for the purposes of my latest episode of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/asteroids-and-dinosaurs-a-moment-in-time-on-ai/id1801794414?i=1000720435502">“The Critic's Corner” podcast,</a> we'll stick with the decay of modern digital experiences. Something we're all familiar with. On that note: my guest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/">Kelly Goetsch</a> was enshittified upon, something he wrote about recently on LinkedIn. If you don't know Kelly, he's what you might call an industry luminary, someone who has been shaping and influencing the DX and commerce landscape for quite some time. He's currently the COO at an outfit called <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pipe17.com/">Pipe17,</a> an OSM alternative that's make waves in its category.In our podcast conversation, Kelly shares more about his recent brush with "abysmal" CX during a retail TV purchase, exposing how online experiences have truly degraded in quality over time as the pursuit of profit takes over. He digs into the prevailing winds that brands face and how a lot of discovery and transacting is happening off-platform and off-site – and that's changing commerce pretty substantially.“A lot of e-commerce over the traditional web is very, very broken,” he said. “And generally, it's a lot harder to drive people to your brand.com website.”Maybe this abysmal reality is a sign of the times. Simultaneously, AI is dismantling the SaaS landscape before our very eyes. It's now possible to build apps faster than ever with less developer reliance, and there's a conscious move to consumption-based pricing. All this uncertainty is disrupting the roadmaps for software vendors and enterprises, and it's all accelerating at a breakneck pace. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="-"> </h4><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“value-is-not-created-by-that-which-is-different,-but-that-which-is-unique.-that's-something-that-took-me-a-while-to-fully-understand,-but-it's-true.-there-are-a-lot-of-legacy-platforms,-or-even-newer-versions,-but-still-fundamentally-legacy-approaches.”">“Value is not created by that which is different, but that which is unique. That's something that took me a while to fully understand, but it's true. There are a lot of legacy platforms, or even newer versions, but still fundamentally legacy approaches.”</h4> <hr /> When I invited Kelly on “The Critic's Corner," I was hoping to catch up on our alignment within the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">MACH Alliance.</a> We've been in each other's orbit for several years, and I've watched him drive success at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetools</a> while building a strong community of interest around composable architectures and practices. But our conversation took some intriguing twists and turns. During the episode, Kelly gets real about what’s at stake as consumers seek new and better ways to search and engage with brands – namely, AI-powered answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a>, where simplicity seems the norm (for now). No more combing through blue links or battling search ads to get a straight answer, and we can expect more ads and transactions to move there as well. Of course, this is resulting in a precipitous decline in classic search traffic, which is bad for marketers. He likened all this change to the moment an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.Dark? Sure. But from the ashes rose new life, and he sees the same potential.At the same time, as revolutionary as ChatGPT is, Google isn't going anywhere tomorrow. Websites will continue to be relevant for a while as consumers adapt to this new digital reality. You can catch a two-minute snippet of Kelly's observation about “living in the future” right here: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/fcaczDULJ-c"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fcaczDULJ-c" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> On the content and enterprise software side, we also discuss CMS and its own category challenges. He recently asked in another LinkedIn post if we really need another content management system in an already crowded and mature space. This isn't a problem that's exclusive to our industry, but with hundreds of choices battling it out, it's a common question. I ask Kelly how we navigate this commoditization, where platforms – particularly legacy players – are compositionally the same, and AI is shifting expectations. He's focused beyond the legacy “dinosaur” story and looking for real differentiation.“Value is not created by that which is different, but that which is unique,” he said. “That's something that took me a while to fully understand, but it's true. There are a lot of legacy platforms, or even newer versions, but still fundamentally legacy approaches.”Asteroids… dinosaurs... could this be the end as we know it? Maybe. But as Kelly maintains, this is where the opportunity lies. So things get a little dark, but there's some light at the end of the tunnel. I promise. I have mad respect for Kelly's thinking, and this podcast episode is chock-full of wisdom nuggets. We spend a little time talking about his “origin story,” which colors some of his perspective. That collective experience – and success – might also be why he's firmly grounded despite these seismic changes. So strap in, turn up the volume, and watch the skies for falling objects.<h3 id="listen-to-“the-critic’s-corner”-podcast-with-kelly-goetsch">Listen to “The Critic’s Corner” podcast with Kelly Goetsch</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d">Listen to the full episode </a>&gt;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d">Subscribe on Apple Podcasts</a> &gt; <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:58.49%"><a href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/critics-corner-apple-podcast-kelly-goetsch.jpg" alt="" /></a></figure> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaSee Agility CMS at the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Asteroids and Dinosaurs: A Moment in Time on AI, Commerce, and CMS with Kelly Goetsch

matt-garrepy

<hr /> It’s no secret that retail is under pressure. The “trade wars” and tariff drama are creating a groundswell of uncertainty, and consumers are shifting their behavior in response.As such, brands are looking for new ways tap AI-powered personalization to drive clicks and sales across the digital commerce frontier. We’re seeing a lot of new innovation at the vendor level, but also partnerships and strategic alliances blossoming to enhance the marketer experience and improve CX outcomes. To that end, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/optimizely">Optimizely</a>, the DXP powerhouse known for its testing, personalization, and content management chops, has announced a strategic technology partnership with unified commerce platform <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetools.</a> Together, they’re aiming to transform how enterprise B2C retailers deliver digital experiences.According to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.optimizely.com/commercetools/">press release</a>, the combination of Optimizely’s content management, personalization, experimentation, and AI capabilities with commercetools’ flexible, composable commerce platform will give marketers greater domain over their digital experiences. The goal is simple: drive conversions and improve customer retention.If it delivers as promised, this partnership could provide a functional, marketer-first solution that unshackles enterprise teams from the grind of dev-heavy digital rollouts and addresses one of the biggest pain points in modern enterprise retail: speed to market.<h3 id="why-this-partnership-matters">Why this partnership matters</h3>Marketers are feeling the heat. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.marketingweek.com/career-overwhelmed-emotional-exhaustion/">According to a recent survey</a>, over half feel overwhelmed, undervalued, and emotionally exhausted. AI is adding some complexity to the equation, but it could also be part of the solution – if it’s done right. For Optimizely and commercetools, freeing marketers to own and accelerate their digital experiences is central to their partnership promise. At the heart of their new integration is the unification of commercetools’ flexible product catalog with Optimizely’s CMS and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai/">AI engine, Opal,</a> which recently announced some fantastic new enhancements. At a high level, here’s how it works: By injecting rich platform data from commercetools to inform AI agents within Optimizely Opal, marketers can leverage product data directly in their CMS. No more chasing down developers for content tweaks or waiting weeks for product pages to go live. Instead, marketers can launch fully personalized, omnichannel campaigns in a matter of weeks, not months.And the timing couldn’t be better. In this volatile consumer market, where trends shift overnight and expectations for personalization are sky-high, speed to market isn’t a luxury. It’s survival.<h3 id="key-benefits-of-optimizely-+-commercetools">Key benefits of Optimizely + commercetools</h3>Again, marketers are central to this partnership, and removing the roadblocks to productivity is key. By unifying content and commerce, users can create content-rich, personalized experiences powered by real-time product and customer data across every brand, market, and channel. With integrated conversions through experimentation, marketers can run A/B and multivariate tests across product, cart, and checkout flows and deploy what works instantly. By using Opal AI to generate product content such as descriptions and sales copy in seconds, marketers can also accelerate their campaign velocity.The Optimizely/commercetools partnership also promises to improve productivity by reducing development friction, giving users greater control over product pages, content, and personalization without submitting tickets to IT. End-to-end workflows will provide marketers with the ability to launch and optimize experiences without relying on the barrier of development resources.There’s also the benefit of leveraging a more composable, scalable architecture that’s future-proofed for what’s next. This is something commercetools is uniquely designed for, coming from a headless commerce heritage. Together, teams will have greater composable latitude for extending or swapping services as needs evolve.<h3 id="behind-the-curtain:-investing-in-innovation">Behind the curtain: Investing in innovation</h3>It’s worth noting that both Optimizely and commercetools are backed by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.insightpartners.com/">Insight Partners,</a> which counts <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://monday.com/">Monday.com</a> as a successful portfolio IPO. This gives this move an extra layer of strategic depth. Shared investment could signal a potential for aligned roadmaps, faster innovation, and tighter integrations over time. How deep the connection goes is speculative, but the companies seem to be angling around this as a key advantage.Based on how this relationship has been telegraphed, this feels like more than a simple “tech handshake,” but a concerted effort to create a retail-ready composable ecosystem built around the needs of the modern marketing team.<h3 id="the-bottom-line">The bottom line</h3>As I said, retail is getting squeezed, and there’s no crystal ball to predict how things will unfold. In response, the market is getting creative, looking for new ways to provide greater agility and adaptability to maintain growth. Marketers are central to winning that fight, and they need more control and better tools to respond fast to the chaos. At the same time, we’re seeing significant disruption in digital commerce as more product discovery shifts to social, and search slides deeper into channels like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Downstream, Shopify and other tools are becoming more extensible to combat the shifting tides of consumer preference. Building a beachhead between content and commerce – and focusing on the enrichment of data and the usability for marketers – is an area where vendors can establish differentiated value.For enterprise retailers and the content teams that support them, this new partnership is a sign of where things might be headed. The monolithic mashups of the past are giving way to intelligent, modular ecosystems where content and commerce are evolving in omnichannel directions. At the same time, DXPs have made significant strides in embracing a more composable posture to meet this market mandate. Now, they’re all meeting in the middle and exploring new ways to thrive. Both Optimizely and commercetools have reached the top of their respective corners of the DX stack, and this integration is a clear signal that enterprise strategies and priorities are shifting. Many variables are in flux, but if there's one universal constant at play, it's the need for speed. Marketers can't be hamstrung by development delays or complexity – so having an AI-powered solution that gives them greater control and moves at a faster pace is key.Optimizely has already established its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/some-thoughts-on-the-gartner-digital-experience-platforms-dxp-magic-quadrant-for-2025">dominance in the DXP</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-leads-gartners-2024-mq-for-content-marketing-platforms-as-more-dxps-join-the-game">Content Marketing Platform</a> categories, and it continues to push the envelope to enrich testing, experimentation, and personalization. But offering a more modular approach for powering commerce with Optimizely's elegant CMS capabilities is another win – and a feather in its own composable cap. Trust is also a key component, and these proven brands offer the kind of scalable assurances that enterprises are seeking. That's a big reason why this new pairing could be a compelling path forward. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-optimizely-or-commercetools?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Optimizely or commercetools? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Optimizely and commercetools Partner to Accelerate Enterprise Retail Experiences

In recent years, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">headless commerce</a> – or the separation of the frontend and backend of an application – has emerged to offer e-commerce sites greater freedom of expression and the ability to enrich the customer experience. In spite of these advantages, maintaining a headless architecture comes with several challenges, including the need for additional resources to keep content and features updated and the risks of decreased site speed and increased security vulnerabilities. And, of course, there are additional costs for building infrastructure and testing.So you need to ask: is going headless the right move for your organization? The alternative (supposedly) is to stick with the more traditional, all-in-one, "monolithic" platform approach. One key benefit of doing so is the built-in frontend that makes it easy for non-technical users to launch an online storefront quickly.However, monolithic systems can lock an e-commerce company into one vendor’s pre-existing development environment and limit its developers to the most common use cases. In sum, the monolithic approach tends to work better for new businesses that wish to get a website launched quickly. But, our experience is that it’s not long before these businesses begin to feel restricted by their platform’s templates and tools. <h2>Are You Really Ready?</h2>Making the decision to jump to a headless architecture can be scary. Migrating an entire frontend is hard, and more often than not you’ll also choose to migrate the backend, and it will most likely take longer than planned. Moreover, e-commerce organizations get absolutely none of the headless benefits until the migration is completed.Under this scenario, the existing site is kept on life support for the months or years the development team is focused on building the new headless frontend. And even if a development team hits all its key project dates and goes live, it’s still hard. There may still be many capabilities and features that can’t be included in that initial launch, which leaves the newly created frontend in catch-up mode.<h2>You Can Go Halfway</h2>The good news is that going headless does not have to be all or nothing. It’s possible to achieve many of the benefits of going headless without taking the full plunge.  Here’s how:<ul><li>Don’t take on more than you can handle. Especially in the current market, where every second counts and organizations likely have fewer engineers than they did last year, expecting a resource-strapped development team to rebuild an entire frontend is unrealistic, and would likely take too much time and upfront investment.</li><li>Implement a supplemental strategy where, instead of replacing a monolithic frontend in one big project, the organization chooses one critical headless capability at a time to add to the frontend. For instance, instead of replacing the whole site, e-commerce marketers could replace an element in product pages that isn't helping shoppers convert to buyers. This cumulative approach focuses the team on achieving meaningful short-term milestones. In this way, an e-commerce organization can continuously add new capabilities and progressively evolve from a monolithic system until the entire backend is segmented into microservices or different best-of-breed vendors. This approach also means that business value will be delivered throughout the migration.</li><li>Consider dedicated frontend composition platforms that implement additive strategies while allowing all business users - including developers, marketers, and designers - to help bring new functionality to the site. This can help overstretched development teams avoid becoming a bottleneck so the broader organization can deliver new experiences to the existing site more quickly. Reducing handoffs and eliminating the build step enables quicker content creation, which allows for more experimentation and, ultimately, a faster path to optimization and revenue-driving conversion improvements.</li></ul><h2>Open the Doors to Experimentation</h2>Let’s look at a common scenario. If an organization’s team does a quick analysis of its product pages and evaluates where the most underutilized real estate is on those pages, they will be able to translate that deficit into an opportunity and make that real estate more effective. For example, on many product pages, there are large swaths of whitespace and then a related product carousel tucked down at the bottom of the page where customers rarely venture. In this case, moving those related products up on the page is a good way to drive up average order value.In addition, the organization can choose to take it a step further and turn that related products carousel into a "build a bundle" offer where shoppers can attach three additional items to purchase all at once - with just one click. Ultimately, the organization can quickly and easily test anything - including the page layout and adaptive experience options, without needing weeks of lead time for planning and development. It's all about picking one’s opportunities and providing the desired experience built with the technology that gets you the shortest time to value and responsibly balances business success.The decision to go headless (or not) certainly does not need to be an all-or-nothing event. It’s possible to go halfway or to dip your toes in just a little bit. Don’t try to do everything at once; instead, focus on doing a little at a time, and take advantage of new design tools that unleash frontend creativity and agility while transitioning to your ideal e-commerce stack at a gradual pace.<hr /><a href="/critics/ryan-breen">Ryan Breen</a> is Chief Technology Officer at Zmags and a CMS Critic contributor.

Dipping Your Toes into the Headless Waters - Why Jumping Into the Deep End May Not Be the Best Bet

ryan-breen

Let's be honest: there's nothing quite like Awards Season. Just ask Moira Rose.
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<div class="tenor-gif-embed"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/moira-rose-schitts-creek-awards-favorite-season-gif-16223893">Moira Rose Schitts Creek GIF</a>from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/moira+rose-gifs">Moira Rose GIFs</a></div>
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And it's not because of the glitz, the glamour, or even the drama (although last year's Oscars did deliver the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/entertainment/oscars-crisis-will-smith/index.html" target="_blank">slap heard 'round the world</a>).
No, we love Awards Season because it's a celebration. An opportunity to cheer for the things we love. From film to music, actors to performers. Heck, even our favorite technologies.
Each year, CMS Critic is proud to feature our People's Choice Awards: a unique, one-of-a-kind platform for celebrating our industry. Since 2012, the People's Choice Awards have provided an opportunity for you – our community of digital professionals and stack fanatics – to tell us which platforms you love the most.
The People's Choice Awards are always fun and engaging, and the results never fail to surprise us. We put the power in your hands to nominate and vote, so it reflects your community participation. No matter how you feel about the outcomes, this is a win for every platform involved and your passionate users and fans.
This year, we had record participation from around the globe for both the nominations and final voting, and we're thrilled to share the winners you selected!
<h2>And the Oscar goes to...</h2>
But first, a quick reminder about the contest and how it worked:
<ul>
<li>In <a href="/nominate-your-favorite-platforms-for-the-2022-cms-critic-peoples-choice-awards/">December 2022</a>, we invited readers to nominate platforms across a set of categories on our website.</li>
<li>Nominations closed at the end of January.</li>
<li>The top five nominees (in the case of a few ties, the top six) were selected for voting in each category.</li>
<li>General voting began in early February and closed on February 20.</li>
<li>Participants could vote only once, and companies that offered incentives of any kind were disqualified.</li>
</ul>
And that's it! Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2022 People’s Choice Award winners:
<h4>Best Enterprise CMS: Contensis</h4>
<a href="https://www.contensis.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/contensis-logo.jpg" alt="Contensis Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best DXP: Adobe Experience Cloud</h4>
<a href="https://business.adobe.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/adobe-edited.jpg" alt="Adobe Experience Cloud Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Free CMS: Joomla!</h4>
<a href="https://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/joomla-edited.png" alt="Joomla! Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Flat File CMS: Statamic</h4>
<a href="https://statamic.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/statamic-edited.jpg" alt="Statamic Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Open Source CMS: Umbraco</h4>
<a href="https://umbraco.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrRdPATQsqJ5M2tqVIMIHVlkjBnO2Cl29dGTXI9dhb9_BNa9pqdulIhoCK40QAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><img style="width:120px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/umbraco-edited.png" alt="Umbraco Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management): Microsoft SharePoint</h4>
<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/sharepoint-edited.png" alt="Microsoft SharePoint Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best E-Commerce Solution: Shopify</h4>
<a href="https://www.shopify.com/free-trial?term=shopify&amp;adid=565872334073&amp;campaignid=15436644439&amp;branded_enterprise=1&amp;BOID=brand&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrQTcMx9LwHQNvRFM6fN3NdS4GIn0wcvVgK3LdPDmBWiVFRhMOA64HxoCZEQQAvD_BwE&amp;cmadid=516586854;cmadvertiserid=10730501;cmcampaignid=26990768;cmplacementid=324494812;cmcreativeid=163722649;cmsiteid=5500011" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/shopify-edited.png" alt="Shopify Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Headless Commerce Solution: commercetools</h4>
<a href="https://commercetools.com/resources/booklet/microservices?utm_source=Paid%20Search&amp;utm_medium=Google%20Search&amp;utm_content=microservices-bookle-CA&amp;utm_campaign=MACH&amp;utm_term=commercetools&amp;utm_campaign=MACH%20retargeting%20AMER&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_acc=9131799125&amp;hsa_cam=19415290532&amp;hsa_grp=145609670540&amp;hsa_ad=643141341485&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=aud-1945381266863:kwd-366236213007&amp;hsa_kw=commercetools&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrbE7RUL47caWM3RyFkC6b649F5PR5Z6DHNnToZTeBOWkTjGjxOL6IBoCGAMQAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/commercetools-edited.png" alt="Commercetools Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Headless CMS: Contentful </h4>
<a href="https://www.contentful.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:260px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/contentful-edited.jpg" alt="Contentful Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Website Builder: YOOtheme</h4>
<a href="https://yootheme.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/yootheme-edited.png" alt="YOOtheme Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Static Site Generator: Next.js</h4>
<a href="https://nextjs.org/" target="_blank"><img style="width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/next-js-edited.png" alt="Next.js Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Composable System: Uniform</h4>
<a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/uniform-edited.jpg" alt="Uniform Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Digital Experience Composition (DXC): Occtoo</h4>
<a href="https://www.occtoo.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/occtoo-edited.png" alt="Occtoo Logo" /></a>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Congratulations to our People's Choice Winners!</h2>
There you have it, folks! Thank you again for participating in our Awards this year, and always, we welcome your feedback and your votes for next season!

Let's Celebrate the Winners of the 2022 CMS Critic People’s Choice Awards

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Last week, Portland-headquartered <a href="https://www.sheerid.com/shoppers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SheerID</a> announced a new partnership with composable commerce vendor <a href="https://commercetools.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercetools</a>. The goal: help merchants create better personalization and more relevant offers and promotions for consumers based on identified customer segmentation.
“Our partnership with SheerID further demonstrates our commitment to providing our merchants with access to market-leading technologies,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kelly Goetsch</a>, chief strategy officer at commercetools. “We look forward to working together to help merchants sell more, grow faster, and create meaningful connections that build customer engagement and loyalty.”
<h2>SheerID gets personal</h2>
SheerID operates what it calls a “digital verification engine.” With more than 20,000 authoritative data sources, the system helps to instantly verify eligible customers for offers they qualify for.
With brands like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/andy-jassy-amazons-new-ceo-signals-bold-future-for-loud-and-digital-experiences/">Amazon</a>, Spotify, and T-Mobile already on the verification platform, SheerID boasts their customers have received three times the conversion of their typical campaigns when utilizing the verification platform.
“Our strategic partnership with commercetools enables the company’s merchants to access our audience verification service, driving significant business outcomes,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeweatherly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Weatherly</a>, chief executive officer at SheerID. “Providing offers to valuable consumer communities like students, teachers, and healthcare professionals is a proven strategy to drive immediate sales. In the cookieless future, online merchants increasingly rely on privacy-compliant, zero-party data marketing solutions like this to drive consumer acquisition, retention, and loyalty.”
<h2>Heading headless with commercetools</h2>
The partnership with commercetools – a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">leading headless commerce platform</a> and member of the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MACH Alliance</a> – was a natural fit for SheerID to improve customer segmentation. More integrations like SheerID and commercetools could be likely in the future as companies embrace the headless commerce structure, allowing for greater flexibility and more software offerings.
“The integration was conceived with MACH principles in mind,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyvanags/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Vanags</a>, global director of retail technologies and marketplace partnerships at SheerID. “Companies will be able to flexibly set up SheerID with their existing frontend e-commerce systems and DXP, CDP, and marketing automation systems. With our supporting documentation and sample open-source code, a merchant's developer or system integrator can easily leverage the verified customer data to create custom promotions, feed the loyalty system and/or personalize the site experience. Companies are only limited by their imagination!”
<h2>About commercetools</h2>
The inventor of headless commerce, <a href="https://commercetools.com/?utm_source=press_release&amp;utm_medium=announcement&amp;utm_campaign=publicis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercetools</a> is an innovative technology disruptor that has established itself as an industry-leading eCommerce software provider. Today, some of the world’s most iconic brands and growth-focused businesses trust commercetools’ powerful, flexible, scalable solutions to support their ever-evolving digital commerce needs. As the visionaries leading the modern MACH (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless) architecture movement, commercetools provides customers with the agility to innovate and iterate on the fly, merge on and off-line channels, drive higher revenue, and future-proof their eCommerce business.
<h2>About SheerID</h2>
SheerID is the global leader in identity marketing. With SheerID, brands identify and acquire customers from highly valued consumer communities — such as the military, students, teachers, first responders, and more — with personalized offers, gated by instant verification from the largest set of authoritative data worldwide. SheerID verifies over 2.5 billion people via 20,000 authoritative data sources; provides global insights from hundreds of the world’s leading brands, and never shares or sells customer data. As a result, the world’s biggest brands — including Amazon, Home Depot, Spotify, and T-Mobile — rely on SheerID as their identity marketing partner. Founded in 2011, SheerID is backed by Fortson VC, Brighton Park Capital, Centana Growth Partners, Voyager Capital, and CVC Growth Partners. For more information, please visit <a href="https://www.sheerid.com/business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SheerID</a> or follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/SheerID" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/sheerid/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SheerIDdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a>.

SheerID and commercetools Form Partnership to Provide More Personalization and Better Offers for Consumers

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Last week, the MACH Alliance announced the addition of three new members to the organization: Adyen, Commerce Layer, and Pipe17. With these new members, as well as naming <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/google-cloud-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member/">Google Cloud</a> an Enabler member earlier this month, the MACH Alliance now boasts <a href="https://machalliance.org/members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">74 total members</a>.
<h2>Adyen: an A+ choice for financial tech</h2>
The Netherlands-based financial technology company, <a href="https://www.adyen.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adyen</a>, was the first added to the MACH Alliance roster last week. Adyen’s all-star list of clients includes Facebook, H&amp;M, Uber, and Microsoft, with a specialization in providing end-to-end payment options and financial products in one solution.
“Joining the MACH Alliance is a natural move for us, as our success hinges on the strength and flexibility of our digital backbone, of which MACH solutions are foundational,” said Brian McDonnell, Senior Vice President, Partnerships at Adyen. “Unified commerce for retailers and other players in the fintech space wouldn’t be possible with legacy technology. We believe the MACH framework is the standard that will change the game for how businesses connect, transact and grow.”
<h2>Commerce Layer provides ready-to-use headless commerce experiences</h2>
<a href="https://commercelayer.io/why" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commerce Layer</a>, an Italy-based, API-first, headless commerce platform, helps customers scale their businesses for almost any commerce channel in any market. Commerce Layer utilizes a set of “ready-to-use micro frontends that allow you to quickly create a headless commerce site without compromising the flexibility and the uniqueness of your brand.”
They also focus on commerce, merchandising, and product discovery rather than content and catalog management.
Occupying MACH principles, Commerce Layer promotes composable, headless commerce and offers customers a “clean separation of commerce and content,” which helps developers design and build efficient and clean shopping experiences.
<h2>Pipe17 offers operations ease from initial sale to delivery</h2>
Seattle-based <a href="https://pipe17.com/why-pipe17/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pipe17</a> is an API-first e-commerce integration operations platform that helps customers simplify the workflow of orders from the point of sale to fulfillment obligations.
As opposed to just focusing on quick and scalable e-commerce solutions, Pipe17 uses composable technology to connect inventory data, as well as shipping and fulfillment services, which help companies keep the same tempo from sale to delivery. They promise users improved sales, smoother integrations, greater visibility for consumers post-checkout and easy accessibility for developers.
<h2>MACH Growth at MACH Speed</h2>
Since the MACH Alliance formed in June 2020, the organization has had a stringent process for accepting new members based on principles aligned with MACH (microservices, API-first, cloud-native SaaS and headless). With the goal of “future proofing enterprise technology,” each organization must embrace MACH architecture in order to be accepted. With growth increasing from 15 organizations at the launch of the MACH Alliance to now almost 75, companies are taking note of the benefits of early adoption of these principles, compared to other monolithic enterprises. With four new additions already in the first month of 2023, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/8-cms-trends-to-watch-in-2023-from-mach-to-metaverse/">we anticipate seeing even more adoption of MACH principles and growth for the MACH Alliance continuing for the rest of the year</a>.
<h2>About the MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization, governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members or otherwise. The Alliance was formed in June 2020 to help enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website.
The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts who share the same vision for the future. Learn more at <a href="http://machalliance.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">machalliance.org</a>, read here about MACH certification and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/machalliance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/machalliance/posts/?feedView=all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>.

Adyen, Commerce Layer and Pipe17 Named Newest Members of MACH Alliance

The Mandalorian might have popularized the creed of "This is the Way."
But in the galaxy of composable commerce, it seems there's a new mantra: "This is the Path."
<a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/" target="_blank">Elastic Path</a>, a leader in the explosive category of composable commerce, recently <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/resources/press-releases/elastic-path-secures-60m-growth-funding" target="_blank">announced</a> a $60 million growth financing round from funds and accounts managed by <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual" target="_blank">BlackRock.</a> This included participation from existing investors led by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/sageview-capital/" target="_blank">Sageview Capital</a>.
With this new infusion of capital, Elastic Path is poised to expand its empire. With a total raise of over $120 million, the company appears well-funded and well-positioned to continue leading the market away from traditional, monolithic commerce platforms to more composable solutions.
"As digital moves from a channel to the heart of the enterprise, brands demand more: More speed. More control. More flexibility. And our strong growth is clear evidence that we are meeting that demand with a product that enables brands to manage the complexities of their business." said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamusdriscoll/" target="_blank">Jamus Driscoll</a>, CEO at Elastic Path. "I'd like to thank our new and existing investors for their continued belief in our vision of Composable Commerce, and with this capital, we look forward to accelerating market change, one successful customer at a time."
<h2>What is composable commerce?</h2>
<a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/composable-commerce" target="_blank">Composable commerce</a> is a modern approach by which e-Commerce teams are empowered to select and assemble various best-of-breed solutions from across the digital stack and compose them to meet their exact business requirements. Instead of trying to force-fit standard "out-of-the-box" e-Commerce functionality to fit specific needs, composable commerce leverages <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">MACH</a> (Microservices, APIs, Cloud-native, Headless) and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/" target="_blank">JAMstack</a> (JavaScript, APIs, &amp; Markup) architectures to adapt to rapidly changing market dynamics  – now and in the future.
The market is rapidly moving to composable-centric solutions. Gartner predicts that by 2023, organizations that embrace composability will <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3986490/composable-commerce-must-be-adopted-for-the-future-of-ap" target="_blank">outpace the competition by 80%</a> in implementing new product features. And according to the <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/resources/ebooks-white-papers/state-composable-commerce-2021" target="_blank">2021 State of Composable Commerce Report</a>, 95% of e-Commerce practitioners believe composable commerce is the approach businesses should take. 
Elastic Path spearheaded its "Composable Commerce Movement" to make it simpler and faster for brands with complex requirements to deliver unique digital commerce experiences. The company makes this possible by providing a <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/elastic-path-commerce-cloud" target="_blank">MACH-based commerce platform</a> and what they refer to as "Pre-Composed Solutions" that make it fast and easy to migrate. It also offers <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/products/composable-commerce-xa" target="_blank">Composable Commerce XA</a>, which provides complete experience assurance for multi-vendor commerce solutions.
Elastic Path has built a clear reputation as a leader in headless e-Commerce. Its composable, API-first commerce platform is specifically targeted towards enterprise-level organizations, but the growth of the pre-composed elements may broaden its target audiences. For all these reasons (and more), Elastic Path was featured on our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank">Top 10 Headless Commerce Platforms</a> list. 
<h2>Banking on future growth</h2>
According to the company, the new investment will enable Elastic Path to build on strong performance in 2021 as the market accelerates its shift to composable commerce. 
Highlights from the past year include:
<ul>
<li>400+% year over year growth</li>
<li>140+ new product releases, including <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/products/catalog-composer" target="_blank">Catalog Composer™</a>, a groundbreaking advancement for brands with complex catalog and channel requirements</li>
<li>25+ new <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/blog/what-pre-composed-solution-how-does-it-accelerate-time-market" target="_blank">Pre-Composed Solutions™</a> and Accelerators added to the Composable Commerce Hub™</li>
<li>Introduced <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/products/composable-commerce-xa" target="_blank">Composable Commerce XA™</a>, the only production-support offering spanning multi-vendor Composable Commerce solutions</li>
<li>Became the first and only <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/technologies/mach-architecture" target="_blank">MACH-based</a> commerce vendor to achieve <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/resources/press-releases/elastic-path-commerce-cloud-first-and-only-composable-api-first-headless" target="_blank">SOC 2 for security</a></li>
<li>40+ new partners onboarded</li>
<li>Added new marquee enterprise customers, including Konica Minolta, HarperCollins, Orgill, and DMSI</li>
</ul>
Elastic Path also <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elastic-path-acquires-moltin/" target="_blank">acquired Moltin</a> in early 2020, a fellow API-first commerce technology platform, helping to solidify its position in the headless commerce market and deploy commerce experiences faster, easier, and at a greater scale.
"We were extremely impressed with Elastic Path's team, the strength of its product offerings, and its impressive growth over the past 12 months," said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkerwindoyle/" target="_blank">John Doyle,</a> Director at BlackRock. "We are pleased to partner with Elastic Path to support its continued growth into the future."
<h2>MACH... but no MACH Alliance?</h2>
With the growing awareness and interest in MACH technologies, it's impossible to ignore the efforts of the <a href="https://machalliance.org/members" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> and its mission to "future-proof" enterprise technology for the future of digital experiences. Started by <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/commercetools-acquires-frontastic-adds-composable-frontend-capabilities-to-headless-commerce/">commercetools</a>, the fledgling organization has already amassed over 40 members in its cabal, all platforms that feature a singular, pure-play focus on the MACH attributes. The MACH Alliance recently expanded its charter to include a class of Enabler members that provide the platforms and technologies that other members utilize. This includes netlify, MongoDB, and most recently <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/aws-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member-reflects-growth-of-cloud-native-solutions/">AWS</a>.
While it offers a fully MACH-enabled solution, Elastic Path has been vocal about its lack of presence in the MACH Alliance. In a blog post, the company revealed why it has chosen not to participate in the highly-visible organization, particularly the MACH Alliance has grown its influence over the last few months. The key reason: Elastic Path's strategy to expand its breadth of offerings and include multiple products such as <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/commerce" target="_blank">Elastic Path Commerce</a> – which is not microservices-based.
This along is a key blocker for joining the MACH Alliance, but Elastic Path has instead forged its own "path" with the Composable Commerce Movement, adding its <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/hub" target="_blank">Composable Commerce Hub</a> – a library of partner resources designed to help brands reduce the risk and complexity of using MACH-based technologies and empower them to rapidly deliver business outcomes. To date, its Hub contains composable solutions from vendors such as <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-upgrades-open-dxp-capabilities-to-expand-composable-enterprise-features/">Acquia</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/andy-jassy-amazons-new-ceo-signals-bold-future-for-loud-and-digital-experiences/">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-contentfuls-175m-investment-round-means-for-the-future-of-cms/">Contentful</a>, and more.
<div>
<h2>About Elastic Path</h2>
</div>
<div>Elastic Path is the company powering mission-critical digital commerce for the <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/case-studies" target="_blank">world's leading brands</a>, such as Intuit, Pella, Deckers Brands, T-Mobile, and over 250 other leading brands. As relentless innovators, Elastic Path pioneered the <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/headless-commerce" target="_blank">Headless Commerce</a> space in 2011 and spearheaded Composable Commerce in 2020. Elastic Path provides industry-leading headless commerce solutions for digitally-driven brands to rapidly build, deploy, and continuously optimize highly differentiated commerce experiences. Elastic Path is a global company with offices in Boston, Newcastle, Reading, Toronto, and Vancouver.</div>

Elastic Path Secures $60M in Funding for Composable Commerce Growth

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Elastic Path logo against a dark blue background

Best Video Experience

Give your audience the best video experience

#000000

Just before Christmas, <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/" target="_blank">Optimizely</a> – a leading digital experience platform (DXP) provider – delivered a gift that we're still unwrapping: an integrated version of its <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/commerce/b2b/" target="_blank">B2B Commerce Cloud</a> and <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/content/" target="_blank">Content Cloud</a> products.
OK... so maybe the other schwag under your tree had a bit more pizzazz. But this tidy pairing brings some real power to brands, particularly those looking to reach audiences with sophisticated content strategies and digital experiences. The new integration also has to potential to help large marketing teams collaborate more effectively around their content – providing a more complete ecosystem of services.
According to Optimizely, the integration leverages its B2B Commerce Cloud as a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank">headless commerce</a> API, making B2B data and capabilities available in Content Cloud. The coupling enables users to access B2B-specific features in the Commerce Cloud while using Content Cloud CMS to manage all the pages, templates, content, and assets of their website. Content Cloud also lets marketers build and manage multiple sites while leveraging shared data for customers, products, and orders in B2B Commerce Cloud.
Another key feature of the integrated solution is a combined out-of-the-box search engine, allowing users to search products in the B2B Commerce catalog as well as the Content Cloud – and return combined results. Users can also manage their product catalog in B2B Commerce and have them available in Content Cloud.
“Optimizely Content Cloud has a long history of providing marketers with extensive tools for content publication and creation of exceptional digital experiences,” said Justin Anovick, Chief Product Officer of Optimizely. “With the integration of B2B Commerce Cloud, businesses can extend these tools to B2B customers, enabling the delivery of optimal digital experiences across audiences.”
<h2>Powering buying experiences with B2B Commerce Cloud</h2>
To be clear, Optimizely's B2B Commerce Cloud and Content Cloud have been stand-outs in their own right. The former has carved a decent niche as a one-stop commerce solution, decreasing the complexity of a brand's online commerce stack by collectively managing catalogs, quotes, orders, product configurations, and more – all with one holistic view. It also boasts personalization capabilities, leveraging data-driven recommendations to power custom digital commerce experiences.
Optimizely has focused its B2B Commerce Cloud on manufacturers and distributors, helping them configure custom solutions that meet their specific brand requirements. Additionally, the solution has made the connections with an organization's ERP, PIM, and other backend systems more efficient, allowing them to scale their growth across their stack. Those connections are key, and so is maintaining the security of a brand's data; to that end, Optimizely has achieved ISO certifications in its pursuit of assuring the highest standards of data security with B2B Commerce Cloud.
<h2>Create once, publish everywhere with Content Cloud CMS</h2>
On the other side of the integration equation is Optimizely's Content Cloud, a shadow of the former Episerver (which, as you know, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/episerver-to-acquire-optimizely-the-worlds-leading-experience-optimization-platform/">purchased Optimizely in 2020</a> and consolidated under its banner). Content Cloud has been enabling marketing teams to leverage an industry-leading content management system to distribute content across channels with a coupled, headless, or hybrid CMS model – or via Optimizely's global network.
Content Cloud boasts a wide berth of rich features including personalized media management, drag-and-drop layouts and authoring, custom workflows, and more. The system also enables users to create and target personalized content and commerce experiences based on dynamic audience segments. The personalization features come out of the box at a rules-based level but can be upgraded through their <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/hyper-personalization/" target="_blank">AI-powered 1:1 personalization</a> with <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/intelligence/recommendations/" target="_blank">Content Recommendations.</a>
<h2>Providing sample resources and implementation support</h2>
One thing Optimizely consistently does well is listen to customers. This has been most evident following the large-scale acquisitions of Episerver and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-acquires-customer-data-platform-zaius/">Zaius</a>, where users needed both training and vision to build confidence around the company's roadmap. This is just one contributing factor to the company's leadership positions on <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner's 2021 Magic Quadrant for DXPs</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/company/press/optimizely-named-a-leader-in-agile-content-management-systems/" target="_blank">Forrester Wave for Agile Content Management Systems</a>.
To help customers get the most from this new integration, Optimizely is releasing a B2B-specific sample site packed with Content Cloud templates and blocks – giving users a pipeline of resources to accelerate their builds. In its press release, the company said that the sample site will answer the "time-to-market metric" variables that many B2B customers weigh when selecting technology vendors. Once again, evidence that Optimizely is listening to the voice of the customer and thinking ahead.
Additionally, Optimizely has named <a href="https://www.nishtech.com/">Nishtech</a> – a full-service digital experience and e-commerce consultancy – as a preferred implementation partner to support the B2B Commerce Cloud/Content Cloud integration. Nishtech is an Optimizely Platinum Partner that has first-hand experience with the new integration and can be contracted to guide customers and their agencies through setting up and utilizing the new integration.
<h2>About Optimizely</h2>
<a href="http://www.optimizely.com/">Optimizely</a> is on a mission to help people unlock their digital potential. With their leading digital experience platform (DXP), they equip teams with the tools and insights they need to create and optimize in new and novel ways. Now, companies can operate with data-driven confidence to create hyper-personalized experiences. Building sophisticated solutions has never been simpler. Optimizely’s 900+ partners and 1100+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 9,000 brands, including Toyota, Santander, eBay, KLM, and Mazda, enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue and grow their brands.

Optimizely Integrates B2B Commerce Cloud and Content Cloud, Combines Headless Commerce with CMS

Optimizely logo against a black background

2021 Year in Review: Acquisitions, Headless CMS and Commerce, and Composable Top the News

Image of 2021 with the CMS Critic magnifying glass logo icon replacing the zero in 2021 text, fireworks exploding in the background

Well, 2021 is almost at an end. The holidays are upon us, and merrymaking is in full swing (at least as far as Omicron will let us swing). Before we wrap things up and officially start the festivities, there's one last piece of business to attend to...
NOMINATIONS!
That's right: it's time to kick off our annual CMS Critic Awards – and it all starts with our 2021 People's Choice Nominations! Starting today, you can submit your favorite platform in a variety of categories such as Best DXP, Best Headless CMS, and more. Based on your input, we choose the top three contenders in each category – and let you vote for the best of the best. 
The 2021 People's Choice Nominations will be open until January 15th, 2022. Once we've tallied your submissions, we'll open voting on the top three platforms in each category.
Here's some exciting news: this year, we've added Best Composable System and Best Headless Commerce Platform to the nomination list. We covered the rise of both categories throughout the year – now you can tell us which platforms are doing it best!
To learn more about the CMS Critic Awards, keep reading. Ready to submit your nominations? <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/2021-cms-critic-awards-nominations/">Click here!</a>
<h2>What are the CMS Critic Awards?</h2>
OK... so maybe our program is a little less visible than the Oscars, but it fills an important gap in our industry by celebrating the contributions of CMS, DXP, and the related ecosystem of vendors.
Since 2012, the CMS Critic Awards have been something of an institution. Not only do they give our panel of thought leaders an opportunity to "chime in" on the general direction of the industry, but they also give individuals a chance to vote for their favorite platform. It's a fun way to engage with our communities and create more visibility around the importance of this technology sector.
To provide a fair shot to all vendors, we offer two unique programs:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/12/criticschoice_logo-1024x173.jpg" alt="CMS Critic's Choice Awards Logo" />
Critic's Choice Awards
Hand-selected by our CMS Critic editorial staff, vendors receive the coveted Critic's Choice Award for each category based on our internal research and criteria.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/12/peoplechoice_logo-1024x173.jpg" alt="CMS People's Choice Awards Logo" />
People’s Choice Awards 
As previously mentioned, these community-based awards are designed to engage with readers through an open forum. The top three vendors with the most nominations will be featured on our website for voting, and the platform with the most votes in each category is declared the winner. The rules are simple, and focus on fairness and integrity: participants may nominate or vote only once, and companies that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.
<h2>2021 People's Choice categories for nominations</h2>
This year's categories include:
<ul>
<li>Best Enterprise CMS</li>
<li>Best DXP</li>
<li>Best Free CMS</li>
<li>Best Flat File CMS</li>
<li>Best Open Source CMS</li>
<li>Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management)</li>
<li>Best E-Commerce Solution</li>
<li>Best Headless CMS</li>
<li>Best Headless Commerce Platform</li>
<li>Best Website Builder</li>
<li>Best Static Site Generator</li>
<li>Best Composable System</li>
</ul>
Both the Critic's Choice and People's Choice Award results will be announced at the same time in mid to late February of 2022.
<h2>Submit your nominations!</h2>
Go on... tell us what platforms you love! Fill out the form below and submit your nominations. You can only vote once and a valid email address is required with each entry. Companies that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.
We can't wait to see your nominations. Cheers – and happy holidays!

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Forks up! We've got one more slice of news as we leave November in the rearview.
Along with the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., it was a month full of "stuffing" at the CMS and DXP table. We shared the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/postman-releases-2021-state-of-the-api-report-shows-global-trend-towards-api-first-digital-era/" target="_blank">Postman "State of the API" report</a>, which further cemented the global trend towards an API-first digital era. We also covered <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/kontent-by-kentico-aims-to-take-enterprise-headless-cms-to-a-new-level/" target="_blank">Kontent by Kentico's continued efforts to transform headless CMS</a> for the enterprise through committed innovation.
From a mergers and acquisitions perspective, November was a bit cooler than in previous months. But there was one piece of news to dish about: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/commercetools-acquires-frontastic-adds-composable-frontend-capabilities-to-headless-commerce/" target="_blank">commercetools devoured Frontastic</a>, adding composable frontend capabilities to its headless commerce offering. We'll be following the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank">headless commerce</a> sector throughout 2022 as we expect to see more consolidation, investment, and expansion – particularly as Omicron reinforces the focus on digital transformation.
Finally, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/solodev-cms-for-kubernetes-now-available-with-contract-pricing-in-aws-marketplace-for-containers-anywhere/" target="_blank">Solodev launched its CMS for Kubernetes with contract pricing</a> options in the AWS Marketplace. Announced at <a href="https://reinvent.awsevents.com/" target="_blank">AWS re:Invent</a>, this heralds a new era of container offerings, allowing users to deploy in-cloud or on-premises in almost any environment. Solodev was the only CMS in the mix to offer the new capability.
Enough on the leftovers. Here are a few more tidbits to chew on:
 
<h2>MACH Alliance announces eight newly certified companies as Global Membership nears 50</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/mach-alliance-new-members.jpeg" alt="MACH Alliance new members logos" />
The <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3366290-1&amp;h=2364601792&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machalliance.org%2F&amp;a=MACH+Alliance" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a>, a group of independent tech companies dedicated to advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems, announced that it has certified eight new members in its ecosystem: 
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.actindo.com/" target="_blank">Actindo AG</a>, a digital operations platform enabling efficient e-commerce</li>
<li><a href="https://www.appnovation.com/" target="_blank">Appnovation</a>, a global digital consultancy specializing in the design, development, and support of engaging experiences</li>
<li><a href="https://www.builder.io/" target="_blank">Builder.io</a>, a platform to visually create and optimize high-speed app and website experiences</li>
<li><a href="https://www.convictional.com/" target="_blank">Convictional</a>,  a supplier enablement platform for retailers and marketplaces</li>
<li><a href="https://www.fast.co/" target="_blank">Fast</a>, a one-click and headless checkout solution making it easier to buy and sell online.</li>
<li><a href="https://graphcms.com/" target="_blank">GraphCMS</a>, the GraphQL Content Federation System</li>
<li><a href="https://www.objectedge.com/" target="_blank">Object Edge</a>, a consultancy that builds digital experiences for enterprise B2B/B2C/D2C commerce and content</li>
<li><a href="https://www.storyblok.com/" target="_blank">Storyblok</a>, a fast-emerging headless content management system. You can check out <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/interview-headless-cms-storyblok-expands-partner-program-with-u-s-agency-campbell-ewald/" target="_blank">our interview with Barry D'Arcy</a>, VP of Partners at Storyblok.</li>
</ul>
The Alliance estimates that roughly 100,000 tech professionals around the globe are now involved with MACH. This is based on the headcounts of member companies and in-house tech teams of enterprises deploying MACH initiatives. 
The Alliance's growth comes as IT budgets are expected to rise faster in 2022 than they have in over a decade – and spending in support of flexible, composable business and IT initiatives will be prioritized as organizations struggle to be digitally agile and meet consumer demands.
"We've reached a moment of reckoning where digital leaders are realizing legacy technologies pose greater risk than reward, and the pandemic has made it more clear than ever that composable architecture is the way forward for the enterprise," said Sonja Keerl, MACH Alliance president. "Even big tech has started slowly moving in this direction, which is all the more reason why the Alliance upholds its high certification standards since MACH-washing has become increasingly common. The Alliance exists to help organizations weed through that noise and be their guide throughout their MACH journey."
MACH stands for Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless. The move towards MACH has accelerated in the past few years, leading to the start of the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> in 2020. Founded by commercetools, Contentstack, EPAM Systems, Valtech, and 15 members at launch, the MACH Alliance is a non-profit cooperation focused on introducing a new, open, and best-of-breed enterprise technology ecosystem. 
Maintaining Exclusive Certification Standards
The MACH Alliance maintains the <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3366290-1&amp;h=2299048448&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fmachalliance.org%2Finsights%2Fmach-certification-a-seal-of-confidence&amp;a=highest+standards" target="_blank">highest standards</a> in order for companies to become certified. The high bar provides enterprises with essentially an insurance policy that guarantees future-proof technology. Choosing a certified MACH vendor helps ensure the following:
<ul>
<li>Connectability: other applications connect easily through API</li>
<li>Scalability: cloud-native SaaS ensures seamless rolling upgrades that don't require human intervention</li>
<li>Swapability:  companies can easily add and replace software and make changes on the fly without disrupting front end UX/UI</li>
<li>Adaptability: the functionality of the software can be used with multiple front ends</li>
<li>Flexibility and Transparency: prevents vendor lock-in, allowing companies to stay in charge of their own technology and be able to respond to any situation</li>
</ul>
Gaining Investor Attention
MACH Alliance vendor members have accumulated more than $2.5 billion in funding, and the valuation of the category just by its vendors is estimated at over $20 billion.
The Alliance has played a key part in fueling this interest, with the group referred to by Forrester analyst Joe Cicman as being "...the bouncers controlling the velvet rope at the entrance of the Coolest Tech in Town Club." In his July write-up, "<a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3366290-1&amp;h=3090673364&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forrester.com%2Fblogs%2Fbuy-an-integrated-platform-not-a-box-of-rocks%2F&amp;a=Buy+An+Integrated+DXP+Platform%2C+Not+Just+A+Box+Of+Rocks" target="_blank">Buy An Integrated DXP Platform, Not Just A Box Of Rocks</a>," Cicman noted how the MACH Alliance enforces the definition of modern technology. He also reinforced the importance of composable set-ups, stating the only practical playbook today is one that is cloud-native.
Learn more at <a href="http://www.machalliance.org/" target="_blank">www.machalliance.org</a>.
<h2>GoDaddy data breach impacts over 1.2 million WordPress accounts</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/binary-g2d4825f8f_1280.jpg" alt="Hacker and binary numbers" />
Alas, there are WordPress woes in the land of GoDaddy...
In a statement released by <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1609711/000160971121000122/gddyblogpostnov222021.htm" target="_blank">the Securities and Exchange Commission</a>, GoDaddy's Chief Information Security Officer Demetrius Comes said they discovered unauthorized third-party access to their managed WordPress hosting environment.
<div>Comes also stated that upon identifying this incident, they immediately blocked the unauthorized third party from their system. They have determined that beginning on September 6, 2021, the culprit used the vulnerability to gain access to the following customer information:</div>
<ul>
<li>Up to 1.2 million active and inactive Managed WordPress email addresses and customer numbers: The exposure of email addresses presents a risk of increased phishing attacks.</li>
<li>The original WordPress Admin password set at the time of provisioning: If those credentials were still in use, GoDaddy reset those passwords.</li>
<li>sFTP and database usernames and passwords for active customers</li>
<li>SSL private key for a subset of active customers: GoDaddy is in the process of issuing and installing new certificates for those affected.</li>
</ul>
<div>The investigation is ongoing and GoDaddy is contacting all impacted customers directly with specific details. If you're concerned, contact GoDaddy via their <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/help">help center</a>.</div>
 
<h2>WordPress 5.9 Release Date Gets Delayed to January 25, 2022</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/wordpress-59.jpg" alt="WordPress 5.9" />
Keeping up with WordPress version releases is a bit like playing pool with a rope. While Gutenberg gets new enhancements almost every two weeks, bigger releases are much less reliable. 
Case in point: the latest version of WordPress – 5.9 Beta – <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/" target="_blank">was scheduled for release</a> on November 16th. Apparently, that news was a bit premature, and the organization <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/17/wordpress-5-9-beta-1-delayed/" target="_blank">shifted the release to January 25, 2022</a>, to accommodate 5.9's new features.
Perhaps this is understandable given that WordPress is the most widely used open-source CMS on the planet. Maintaining standards is key, and even the most minor changes can impact users. That said, WordPress has a documented philosophy around development: <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2010/04/20/deadlines-are-not-arbritrary-theyre-a/" target="_blank">deadlines are not arbitrary</a>. Schedules can shift if results demand it, but there's a clear focus on making commitments and sticking to timelines. 
Such is life. We hope to see 5.9 on January 25th.
What is included in WordPress 5.9?
According to WordPress, 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/06/introducing-twenty-twenty-two/" target="_blank">Twenty Twenty-Two</a> joining the party and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site.
Here's a sneak peek video of 5.9:
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvEG9XWD4JI" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
 
<h2>commercetools Acquires Frontastic, adds composable frontend capabilities to headless commerce</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/commercetools_frontastic_featured.jpg" alt="Composite image of the commercetools and frontastic logos on a blended background" />
commercetools, a leading headless e-Commerce platform, recently <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/commercetools-acquires-frontastic-adds-composable-frontend-capabilities-to-headless-commerce/" target="_blank">announced</a> the acquisition of Frontastic, a composable frontend platform.
The purchase comes just a few months after commercetools announced a $140 million <a href="https://commercetools.com/press-releases/commercetools-secures-140m-series-c-funding-round-to-accelerate-global-growth" target="_blank">Series C funding round</a>. The company hopes it will broaden the reach of its game-changing commerce technology for creating differentiated user experiences.
"We've been partnering with the Frontastic team since the very beginning and see a huge market opportunity for their Composable Frontend Platform around the world," said Dirk Hoerig, CEO and Co-Founder of commercetools. "With this powerful combination, we're bringing the MACH (Microservices, API, Cloud, and Headless) movement to the mid-market as well as to digital business teams so that more companies can benefit from modern commerce experiences."
It's worth noting that commercetools was one of the earlier headless commerce platforms on the scene, helping to shape the modern standards for headless commerce. Their decoupled environment now enables a multitude of commerce capabilities across an ever-growing network of channels and endpoints. Like other platforms in the composable field, commercetools also embraces the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">MACH principles</a> – providing a truly open, modular environment that enables businesses to embrace innovation and respond to change quickly.

CMS Monthly Recap: MACH Alliance Announces New Members, GoDaddy Data Breach, commercetools Acquires Frontastic, and More

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