Lessons in Modern Commerce: Q&A From the Webinar
Hanna Sobolewska
Recently, we hosted a webinar with Breitling, Saleor, Algolia, and Contentful about how brands can scale globally without losing their essence. The discussion revolved around Breitling’s replatforming journey, which began with a clear need for change.
Breitling decided to replatform because their legacy system was a costly, rigid monolith that limited scalability. Instead of patching it, they rebuilt from scratch with dedicated teams and partners to lay the foundation for a future-proof platform. If you’d like to dive deeper into the reasons and approach, check out our case study on replatforming.
We already shared the webinar announcement on our blog, and now we’d like to highlight some of the most interesting points raised during the Q&A part of the discussion.
Expert Q&A on Commerce
What does the process of creating an online store look like?
It doesn’t start with code – it starts with a discovery phase. As Michał Ociepka from Mirumee explained, we always start with understanding the business itself. Without that, even the most advanced stack won’t fit the real use cases.
Collecting requirements through various techniques, such as persona mapping and visual prototypes, helps define not just what should be built, but why.
Often, clients don’t know exactly what they want at the outset – so our process is about shaping the idea together before writing a single line of code.
How do physical stores evolve when digital experiences are so advanced?
For luxury, the physical experience is irreplaceable. As Alexandre Viola from Breitling put it:
It’s important to be able to see, test, and touch the product, and have a contact you can speak with directly in the shop. Virtual try-on or 3D projection will never replace that feeling. At the same time, we already bind channels together – you can start on the web, add products to your wishlist, call the boutique where they guide you through it, place the order, and get it delivered to the closest store.
Alexandre Viola, Digital Platforms Lead at Breitling
The lines are blurring: a customer can choose items online, finalize the order over the phone, and pick it up in a boutique. Digital and physical aren’t separate worlds – they’re touchpoints in the same journey.
Which aspect of AI in commerce is most exciting for the future?
For Solene Mieville from Algolia, it’s about semantic and vector search combined with LLMs to guide discovery in a more natural, conversational way.
For Mirek Mencel from Saleor, the real opportunity lies in strategy:
Brands don't need more noise – they need better strategies. And AI isn’t about creating noise, but about enabling better decisions through real-time data. Without a robust data foundation, AI is just another feature.
Mirek Mencel, Founder & CEO of Saleor Commerce
Looking ahead, “agent commerce” could transform digital journeys. Shopping agents may become brand-guided companions that help customers navigate products online with the same intimacy they would get in-store.
How do you balance upfront integration costs with long-term agility?
For Alexandre, the answer is people. The autonomy gained after replatforming frees teams to work on meaningful projects instead of repetitive bottleneck tasks. That time saved translates into brand value, even if it’s hard to put numbers on it.
From Mirumee’s perspective, integration also means tapping into the expertise of best-in-class partners. As Michał noted:
The real value of composable is not just flexibility. It's also gaining from providers who have already solved problems you haven’t faced yet and from direct collaboration with partners who help you avoid reinventing solutions they’ve already built.
Michał Ociepka, COO at Mirumee Commerce Lab
Final Thoughts: Building Beyond the Stack
What Breitling’s journey shows is that commerce today is no longer about choosing between online and offline. It’s about building ecosystems where business, technology, and human experience align.
Key takeaways from the Q&A session
- Understand the business context before shaping any solution.
- Blend digital with physical in seamless journeys.
- Treat AI as an industry-wide opportunity rather than a project deliverable.
- See integration costs as investments in autonomy and future agility.
At Mirumee, this is what excites us most: not just building stacks, but helping brands build platforms that reflect their essence – and scale with their ambitions.
Planning a replatforming journey?
From discovery to delivery, we’ll guide you every step of the way.
