Elastic Path, a provider of ecommerce software based on trend-setting headless commerce technology for deploying flexible online commerce systems, today announced a new CEO steeped in ecommerce technology experience.

Jamus Driscoll, CEO, Elastic Path

Jamus Driscoll, a former executive of Demandware who was involved in that ecommerce software-as-a-service company’s 2016 sale to Salesforce.com Inc., will take the reins at Elastic Path at a time when it has positioned itself for growth amid market demand for more flexible ecommerce technology, Vancouver, Canada-based Elastic Path says.

Driscoll takes the top job at Elastic Path after having served as CEO for the last two years at Moltin, a company acquired late last year by Elastic Path for its strength in providing microservices technology, which complements Elastic Path’s headless commerce platform for making flexible ecommerce deployments.

Headless commerce separates the customer-facing interface with the back-end commerce engine, theoretically making it more suitable for customizing with application programming interfaces or APIs, how companies interact with their online customers. Microservices build on that infrastructure by providing custom applications, such as for providing inventory status and contact pricing updates.

“The ecommerce market has reached a once-in-a-generation inflection point, as business and technology leaders demand full control over their digital growth strategies,” Driscoll said today in a statement the company released about his appointment as chief executive. “The days of cookie-cutter web shops are over; it’s time to realize a future where unique and ubiquitous digital commerce experiences power the next phase of growth.”

Elastic Path—with a mix of B2B and retail ecommerce clients including Pella Windows and Doors, Johnstone Supply, Deckers Brands, T-Mobile and Tesla—will continue to develop its mix of headless and microservices technology to provide such clients with “modular, interoperable” software applications designed to enable companies to interact with their customers in multiple ways that could be limited under traditional ecommerce technology platforms, Driscoll says.

Addressing both B2B and B2C markets

In an interview with Digital Commerce 360 B2B, Driscoll noted that many of Elastic Path’s clients don’t think of themselves as being restricted to either B2B or B2C commerce. Pella, he noted, is an example of company that is using Elastic Path to interact in multiple ways in sales to resellers and retailers as well as to individual consumers.

“Brands want full control over their digital experience, designing it in unique ways to connect with customers,” he said.

Pella, Driscoll said, uses Elastic Path’s mix of headless and microservices for selling “millions of SKUs” resulting from its customers’ highly customized windows and doors, which Pella then distributes through a complex network of business partners as well as direct-to-consumer.

Elastic Path was featured in technology reviews of B2B ecommerce platforms published earlier this year by Forrester Research Inc. and consulting firm Paradigm B2B. The reports note Elastic Path’s strength in technology integrations, though also point out that it lacks such B2B-focused features as complex configure-price-quote applications. Driscoll says the firm continues to work on its overall technology and on developing its network of more than 25 technology partners.

Brian Beck, a managing director of digital agency Enceiba and author of the book, “Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce,” says the flexibility offered by headless and microservices technology is becoming more in demand as companies want to “future-proof” their businesses.

“Implementing a digital commerce system is time-consuming and expensive,” he says. “Doing it well requires ‘future-proofing’ the business—creating a dynamic digital platform that can be used by the business for ten years or more.”

Facing COVID-19 pressures

“The plain fact is that even the best managers and executives can’t anticipate everything that is coming,” Beck adds. “If COVID-19 has proven nothing else to us, it is that businesses must be able to respond quickly to dramatic changes in their operating environment.

“Who would have thought just six months ago that sales teams would have their customers’ doors closed and locked, with buyers turning down in-person meetings, and that the majority of selling activities would be handled remotely? Companies that have digitally enabled their sales functions are more able to pivot to handle this situation.”

With a headless approach, he adds, companies “can find an advantage over more traditional full-stack solutions, in that new touch points can be quickly enabled with commerce capabilities.”

Driscoll succeeds as CEO Elastic Path founder Harry Chemko, who will remain as chief strategy officer and report to Driscoll.

At Demandware, Driscoll was involved as an executive in marketing, product management and sales, serving the company from its startup, through its initial public offering of stock, and its sale to Salesforce for $2.8 billion.

At Elastic Path, his “experience driving rapid growth in the digital commerce technology sector will enable him to have an immediate impact on scaling the company’s global market adoption,” says Jeff Klemens, chairman of the Elastic Path board and a partner at investment firm Sageview Capital.

In 2018, Sageview led a Series B investment in Elastic Path, bringing its total funding level to $63 million.

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