Why We're Excited About Adobe Commerce's Next Evolution

For many years we at Tom & Co have recommended Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) to ambitious retailers looking for flexibility, power and deep customisation. But let's be honest, that power often came with trade-offs. High total cost of ownership, complex security management and major version upgrades that felt like re-platforming all over again.

Today I am excited to talk about a genuine step change: Adobe Commerce as a Service (ACaaS) - a complete rethinking of the platform as a service, rather than just a product. It represents a future where teams can focus on growth and customer experience, not keeping the lights on.

Imagine never again having to plan, budget for or execute a major version upgrade. With ACaaS, upgrades and security patches are handled automatically by Adobe in the background. Your customisations and integrations continue to work thanks to backward compatibility, freeing up valuable time and resources so your team can shift from maintenance to innovation.

Speed has always been a critical factor in eCommerce success. Research shows that even a one-second delay in page load can significantly reduce conversion rates. ACaaS is built on Adobe's Edge Delivery Services, which serve front-end assets globally from the network edge, enabling sub-second load times and near-perfect performance scores. One of the early adopters, Hanesbrands, reported a fourfold performance improvement. That level of speed translates directly into better SEO, higher organic traffic and improved conversion rates.

ACaaS is also headless by default. The storefront decouples from the backend commerce engine via APIs, allowing retailers to build unique, content-rich experiences across web, mobile, in-store and social channels. At Tom & Co, we have been building headless commerce experiences for over a decade, and our API-first expertise positions us perfectly to help brands get the most out of this new model.

Adobe has also embedded its AI engine, Adobe Sensei, directly into the platform. This means smarter search, more relevant product recommendations and AI-driven personalisation that convert more visitors into customers. Combined with creative tools such as Adobe Firefly and Adobe Express, content teams can produce on-brand copy, image variations and A/B tests at speed, all within a connected workflow.

Crucially, ACaaS maintains enterprise-grade capability while simplifying operations. It can support vast catalogues with hundreds of millions of SKUs and handle complex B2B needs such as shared catalogues, role-based pricing, and custom quotes. Retailers can run B2C, B2B and D2C channels all from a single instance, providing flexibility at scale.

This isn't just another product update. ACaaS represents a new platform mindset. It removes upgrade cycles, delivers built-in performance and scalability, embeds intelligence throughout, and reduces total cost of ownership. In short, your team can stop firefighting and start innovating.

If you would like to explore how Adobe Commerce as a Service can transform your business, drop me a message. As certified Adobe Commerce experts, we at Tom & Co are ready to guide you through this new chapter.