Overview of Integration Methods

Overview

Below are the most common integration methods with API-first tools such as Open Loyalty:

• API Gateway: A single entry point for managing, securing, and routing API requests to the appropriate services, simplifying client-side integrations

• Event-driven Architecture: Leverage APIs for event publishing and consumption, allowing systems to react asynchronously to events and promoting decoupling

• API Composition: Combine multiple API calls into a single, aggregated response, reducing client-side complexity and optimizing performance

• API Orchestration: Coordinate and manage multiple API requests in a predefined sequence or workflow, simplifying complex integrations

• API Choreography: Decentralize coordination by enabling services to publish and subscribe to events, facilitating loose coupling and greater flexibility

Primary Methods of Integration with Open Loyalty

API

API Integration uses RESTful APIs to enable synchronous communication between systems, allowing for real-time data retrieval and processing.

When to use API Integration:

• When you need real-time access to data or immediate processing of requests,

• When you want to retrieve specific data on demand or control the data being fetched,

• When you want to integrate with customer-facing applications (ie. Mobile App, eCommerce, POS)

Webhooks

Webhooks leverage user-defined HTTP callbacks for asynchronous event-driven communication, providing near real-time updates without continuous polling.

When to use Webhook Integration:

• When you want to receive updates automatically as events occur in Open Loyalty,

• When you need near real-time updates without the resources overhead of continuous polling,

• When you need to notify another system about important business events from Open Loyalty (ie. send a message when Member reaches a Tier)