§ 03 · What is Adobe Commerce

The largest section in the primer. Twelve deep-dive pages cover the five flavors of Adobe Commerce, B2B capabilities, cloud architecture, AI, headless approaches, integration patterns, and security.

Five flavors of Adobe Commerce

From SaaS to on-prem. The five product packages and what each is for.

Commerce vs. Open Source

Where the licensed and free versions diverge — and why it matters.

B2B capabilities

Company accounts, shared catalogs, quotes, and the OOTB B2B feature set.

Cloud vs. on-prem

Identical code, different operational models. How to choose.

PaaS & SaaS architecture

The Cloud (PaaS) and Cloud Service (SaaS) architectures, side by side.

Adobe Commerce Optimizer

The headless storefront layer powered by AI-driven SaaS services.

AI in Commerce

Product recommendations, live search, generative variations, and the AI agents.

Headless & API Mesh

Three approaches to headless, and what API Mesh actually does.

Data integration patterns

APIs, files, PaaS connectors, and manual updates. Choosing the right pattern.

AEP & Real-Time CDP

How Commerce connects to Adobe Experience Platform for activation.

Enterprise differentiators

Complex B2B, OMS integrations, subscriptions, and pure headless.

Security & Fastly

Eight security practices and the Fastly CDN/WAF layer.