The Monthly Wrap-up for August

Welcome back! We hope you've had a fantastic summer and found some time to rest and recuperate. As we get back into the swing of things, we're pleased to kick off this month's newsletter with a feature from Artur Hasselblad, CTO and Co-founder of Partnersense, one of our partners. Artur provides valuable insights into the ever-changing landscape of technology, connecting the dots from early human tools to today's advanced eCommerce systems. We'll also introduce you to some exciting new partners and customers and update you on the latest improvements to the Brink Commerce API that our team has been focused on.

Let's dive right in!

Around 1.6 million years ago, an epoch-shaping event occurred: a flint hand axe emerged as an unexpected mediator, resolving a dispute between two Homo Erectus individuals entangled in a romantic rivalry. This marked humanity's earliest employment of technology to navigate interpersonal interactions —a primitive counterpart to the contemporary "thumbs down" button, albeit more rudimentary in form.

Those were simpler times. Mainly because the flint hand-axe was the only piece of human technology around and would remain so for another hundred thousand years, followed by the invention of firecraft. The hand axe was, and still is, a good example of a great tool —a single-purpose, focused piece of functionality with acknowledged limitations and boundless potential.

As a CTO at a company that focuses on eCommerce implementations, I always try to entertain two perspectives when looking at technological changes - the impact it might have on our customers' business, both internal and external, and the impact it might have on the developer teams I'm working with. Does it bring value? When? Is it hard to implement? Should we commit? When?

This dance routine of system evaluation is not always part of a structured process, but neither is the release of new functionality, systems, and technology. Changes happen constantly, sometimes with incremental improvements, other times with a big bang, disrupting maybe more than one expected or anticipated (talking about you Chat GPT).

Being prepared for changes in whatever you build becomes more important than ever, and understanding that building great customer experiences is an ongoing process is crucial to success and not repeating the same process of platform overhaul that happens every five years.

Enter Composable - not a technology, system, or platform, but rather a way of building things based on the simple premise of exchangeability, openness, and purpose-built solutions. Working with a composable solution allows you to take what you need in order to build the platform you need for your audience. It also makes it possible to make choices based on a single system's capabilities and functionality rather than making compromises that can prove short-sighted over time.

Composable isn't something new. We have been doing it for years. What's new is the fact that a lot of vendors better understand how to leverage their products' core functionality, provide out-of-the-box data exchange, and better focus on what makes their product a great fit in a platform rather than trying to be the platform that solves all the cases.

If you are thinking about upgrading your platform or starting a new online business and are looking mainly at feature-complete systems that thick all the boxes in your requirement process, I challenge you: What would it mean for your business to build the solution you really want?

Artur Zarzycki Hasselblad is the CTO and one of the founders of Partnersense.

Partnersense was founded on the belief that technology and commerce benefit from collaborative discussions and that solutions and processes should be mapped out on the same whiteboard. The Partnersense network includes seasoned process and business developers, project managers, solution architects, requirements specialists, and developers.

We are now MACH Certified

We are happy to announce that Brink Commerce now joins the respected MACH Alliance to help advance the shift toward Composable Commerce. The MACH certification further solidifies our commitment to delivering technology that supports the growth and success of businesses in the ever-evolving eCommerce landscape.

Check out the press release here.

New friends and customers

We have partnered with renowned eCommerce agency Panagora, and our first joint project is the fast-growing jewelry and fashion brand Tom Wood. A new Composable Commerce ecosystem was launched earlier this month. Go check it out.

Read the news article here.

We have a new sustainable partner

We have partnered with Turnr to offer customers a truly sustainable choice for their eCommerce operations. Our first joint project is àvora, with many more to come.

With a shared vision of promoting environmentally friendly and economically sustainable practices, Brink Commerce and Turnr aim to transform how businesses manage their online operations and returns.

Read the news article here

Discussing the future

Last week, we hosted the first Brink Product Forum at our office in Stockholm. We had some great discussions with partners and customers about how we can support merchants even better.

We've made some changes

During the summer, we launched a new website and blog. The blog will focus on everything MACH and Composable, featuring knowledge articles and guides from our team and guest authors. Go check it out at brinkcommerce.com/blog.

The Brink Commerce team has been busy after the vacation period. We've updated Brink Commerce API to improve how you manage your commerce ecosystem. Let's look at two new features that make it easier for merchants to adapt to business needs. These changes offer practical solutions while maintaining the flexibility and customization you value.

Real-Time Stock Change Notifications

Our Brand API now offers the ability to communicate stock changes—whether an item goes "In Stock" or "Out of Stock"—through webhooks and/or AWS EventBridge events.

This feature allows:

• Real-Time Data to Merchandising Systems: Keep your merchandising or personalization system (like XO/Algolia) up-to-date with accurate stock information.
• Back-in-Stock Functionality: Whether it’s a feature you provide or one from a third party, keeping customers informed about product availability has never been easier.

Use Cases

• When a?productVariant?switches from a positive to a zero or negative stock level, an event/webhook triggers to mark it "Out of Stock."
• When a?productVariant?moves from a negative to a positive stock level, an event/webhook triggers to mark it "In Stock."

This real-time feature is indispensable for keeping your merchandising strategies agile and responsive to actual stock levels.

Manage API Credentials in Merchant Portal (Retail)

Manage all your credentials directly from the Brink Merchant Portal. This update enables you to:

• See: View all your active and expired API credentials.
• Create: Quickly set up new keys.
• Update: Make changes to existing credentials effortlessly.
• Administer Scopes: Control API access rights, ensuring each integrator has only the level of access they require.

Commercial Upside

Enhanced security and manageability, less administrative overhead, and fine-grained control. Technical Upside: Centralized management of credentials provides a cleaner, more secure architecture that simplifies debugging and governance.

Have a great rest of the week!

/Your friends at Brink Commerce.