How we build composable ecommerce experiences with Commerce Layer.

Commerce Layer is a commerce API with no storefront attached. Shopify gives you a working store and asks you to work within it. Commerce Layer gives you cart, pricing, inventory and orders as services, and expects you to build the experience yourself.

You need engineering capability somewhere, either in house or through a long term agency relationship. There is no theme layer and no admin-built storefront. That is the trade you are making in exchange for total control of the front end.

Markets are a first class concept rather than an add-on, so each one carries its own price list, stock locations and rules. This is the single strongest reason to choose it, and it is worth modelling carefully at the start because changing market structure later is disruptive.

Yes, and that is the common pattern. The CMS owns the story and the campaign pages, Commerce Layer owns cart and checkout, and the front end pulls from both. Sanity and Contentstack both pair with it well.

Four to eight months for a multi-market launch. The commerce configuration is not the slow part. Building the front end and integrating fulfilment and tax for each market is where the time goes.