Business architecture

The canonical architectural formula is:

many inventory sources -> one retailer / MoR -> customer

External retailers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and other eligible suppliers may serve as inventory sources. In the base model, those sources do not become the sellers to the PRISM platform’s end customer solely because they supply the goods.

The customer encounters one retail proposition: one interface, a platform-controlled offer and checkout, one order relationship, and one customer-facing party responsible for the retail flow. The implementation may use its own facilities, logistics partners, or supplier-direct routing, but those operational choices do not by themselves change the identity of the customer-facing retailer.

PRISM Commerce supports two parallel assortment-formation models.

Platform-Sourced Base Catalog is a descriptive construction, not a newly frozen term. It refers to the broad base assortment that the platform obtains and maintains through retailers, distributors, manufacturers, APIs, feeds, catalog integrations, and other permitted sources. Its principal function is breadth / assortment coverage.

Expert-Curated Storefronts contain assortments formed by Expert Commerce Curators. Their principal function is depth / relevance / trust / expertise / demand generation.

Platform sourcing gives PRISM breadth. Expert curation gives PRISM depth.

The two models operate in parallel within the same unified retail, payment, procurement, compliance, fulfillment, delivery, returns, and claims infrastructure.

The PRISM base model assigns the unified customer-facing retail flow to the platform’s retailer. Depending on the actual implementation, the platform operates or coordinates payment collection, procurement, fulfillment, delivery, returns, refunds, and claims.

This does not mean that every operational function must be performed by one legal entity or with owned infrastructure. Outsourcing a logistics or technical function does not necessarily transfer the customer-facing retail relationship. Conversely, use of PRISM terminology cannot override contracts, payment records, customer disclosures, or applicable law.