Custom ecommerce
At Pico, we build e‑commerce solutions on top of the customer's existing backbone of systems – not by replacing them with yet another monolithic commerce platform. We call this custom commerce.
This means we start from the systems that already contain the company's business logic and master data, for example:
ERP – pricing, customers, orders, discount structures, credit rules, etc.
PIM – product data, variants, attributes, classifications, and enrichment
WMS / OMS – inventory logic, delivery, split shipments, routing, status
Other domain-specific backend systems
E‑commerce thus becomes a channel and experience, not the place where business logic lives.
MACH as the architectural foundation
The architecture is largely based on MACH principles:
Microservices
Functionality is divided into independent services, each solving one task.API‑first
All systems communicate via well-designed APIs, ensuring flexibility and replaceability.Cloud‑native
The solution is scalable and robust from day one.Headless
Frontend and backend are separated, so experience and business logic can be developed independently.
This approach makes it possible to compose a solution that fits the customer's business precisely – without being tied to one specific product or vendor.
CMS and frontend
On top of the backbone systems sits the CMS and frontend layer, where we typically use:
Umbraco CMS as the content platform
A headless or composable frontend, tailored to the customer's needs
The frontend and CMS are set up to support both:
Standardised commerce flows
Product List Pages (PLP)
Product Detail Pages (PDP)
Basket / Checkout
Login-based customer pages (B2B portals, customer-specific views)
Business-specific needs
Customer-specific pricing and assortment
Role and user management
Integration with sales processes, customer service, and supply chain
Content and campaign pages that marketing can maintain themselves
The result is a frontend that can be scaled, individualised, and changed, without having to reconsider the entire backend landscape.
Commerce is managed where the business already lives
A key advantage of this setup is that the customer continues to run their commerce through the systems they already use and trust:
Prices and discounts are managed in ERP
Product data and structure are managed in PIM
Inventory and delivery are managed in WMS / OMS
Customer agreements and logic remain in one place
The e‑commerce solution thus becomes an extended part of the existing business, rather than a parallel system with overlap and data duplication.
Less platform overhead – greater flexibility
Many standard e‑commerce platforms such as Commercetools, Shopware, Magento and others come with extensive functionality out of the box.
However, a large part of this functionality covers:
Pricing and customer logic
Order and inventory management
Business rules and workflows
… which is already defined and managed in the customer's backbone systems.
When that is the case:
You often pay for features you do not actually use
You end up with duplicate business logic
Complexity arises in synchronisation and error handling
By instead building a targeted, custom e‑commerce solution, you can:
Significantly reduce licensing costs
Achieve greater flexibility
Get a solution built precisely for your own business
Standard platforms vs. custom architecture
Standard platforms are designed to work for many. This also means that:
Architecture and data models are compromises
Advanced or industry-specific needs often require customisations on top
Custom functionality is built into a framework that was not designed for it
When custom needs take up a lot of space anyway, we often find that:
Complexity grows disproportionately
Upgrades become more difficult
The business adapts to the platform – not the other way around
With a composable and MACH-based approach, the situation is turned on its head:
The architecture adapts to the business – not the other way around.
In summary
Our approach to e‑commerce delivers:
A solution built on the customer's existing system landscape
Less platform overhead and fewer licences
Clear areas of responsibility between systems
High flexibility and future-proofing
An e‑commerce experience that can evolve in step with the business
E‑commerce does not become an isolated system, but an integrated and natural part of the company's overall digital business.