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Learning Path: Commerce Developer Fundamentals

⏱ 8–10 hours beginner
📜Corecommerce

Who this path is for

Section titled “Who this path is for”

You are a developer new to Optimizely Commerce. You may have .NET experience, frontend experience, or both. By the end of this path, you will understand how Commerce works, have built storefront features, and know how to extend the platform for B2B and headless scenarios.

How to use this path

Section titled “How to use this path”

Work through the steps in order. Each step builds on the previous one. Concepts give you the mental model; tutorials give you hands-on experience; guides teach specific tasks. Start with the foundational concepts, then build progressively more complex commerce features.

Estimated total time: 8—10 hours (spread across multiple sessions is fine).

Step 1: Understand what Commerce is and where it fits

Section titled “Step 1: Understand what Commerce is and where it fits”

Read — Optimizely Commerce

You will learn:

  • What problems Commerce solves
  • The difference between Configured Commerce and Customized Commerce
  • Core commerce concepts: catalog, pricing, inventory, cart, orders
  • How Commerce connects to CMS, ODP, and Recommendations

Time: 20 minutes

Step 2: Learn how the product catalog works

Section titled “Step 2: Learn how the product catalog works”

Follow — Manage the Product Catalog

You will do:

  • Create a catalog container
  • Add categories to organize products
  • Create products with variants
  • Set up pricing for variants
  • Configure inventory levels

Time: 25 minutes

Step 3: Understand Commerce Connect

Section titled “Step 3: Understand Commerce Connect”

Read — Commerce Connect

You will learn:

  • What Commerce Connect is and when to use it
  • How Commerce Connect differs from Configured Commerce
  • The integration architecture: data sync and transaction proxy
  • Connector types: pre-built and custom

Time: 15 minutes

Step 4: Configure the checkout flow

Section titled “Step 4: Configure the checkout flow”

Follow — Configure Checkout

You will do:

  • Set up the checkout pipeline
  • Configure payment methods
  • Configure shipping providers and rates
  • Handle tax calculations
  • Test the end-to-end checkout flow

Time: 30 minutes

Step 5: Integrate Commerce with CMS

Section titled “Step 5: Integrate Commerce with CMS”

Follow — Commerce with CMS Integration

You will learn:

  • How product pages work as CMS content
  • Building product landing pages with editorial content
  • Using content blocks for product display
  • Cross-selling and upselling through CMS components

Time: 25 minutes

Step 6: Build a B2B storefront

Section titled “Step 6: Build a B2B storefront”

Do — Build a B2B Storefront

You will build:

  • A B2B organization structure with buyer accounts
  • Customer-specific and volume-based pricing
  • A quick order pad for SKU-based ordering
  • An approval workflow for purchase controls
  • Purchase order payment with net terms

Time: 90 minutes

Step 7: Implement custom pricing

Section titled “Step 7: Implement custom pricing”

Do — Implement a Custom Pricing Service

You will build:

  • A custom pricing rules engine
  • Volume discount tiers
  • Customer contract pricing
  • Time-based promotional pricing
  • Minimum margin floor enforcement

Time: 60 minutes

Step 8: Set up multi-warehouse fulfillment

Section titled “Step 8: Set up multi-warehouse fulfillment”

Do — Set Up Multi-Warehouse Fulfillment

You will build:

  • Multiple warehouse locations with inventory
  • Proximity-based warehouse selection
  • Split shipment logic across warehouses
  • Inventory reservation during checkout
  • Real-time availability display

Time: 60 minutes

Step 9: Deliver commerce data through Graph

Section titled “Step 9: Deliver commerce data through Graph”

Read — Content Delivery with Optimizely Graph

You will learn:

  • How Graph indexes commerce content
  • GraphQL queries for product data
  • When to use headless delivery vs traditional rendering
  • Authentication and caching strategies

Time: 20 minutes

Step 10: Understand the platform identity layer

Section titled “Step 10: Understand the platform identity layer”

Read — Opti ID and the Optimizely One Ecosystem

You will learn:

  • How Opti ID provides SSO across all Optimizely products
  • Organization and role management for commerce users
  • How identity connects commerce, CMS, and experimentation
  • Enterprise SSO integration options

Time: 15 minutes

What to do next

Section titled “What to do next”

After completing this path, you are ready to:

  • Build production storefronts — Apply catalog, pricing, and checkout patterns to real projects
  • Add headless commerce — Follow the Headless Commerce with Graph recipe for decoupled frontends
  • Personalize commerce experiences — Connect Commerce data to ODP segments for targeted product recommendations
  • Set up Commerce Connect — Follow the Set Up Commerce Connect guide to integrate external platforms
  • Prepare for certification — Visit Optimizely Academy for the Configured Commerce certification track