how do you handle data consistency across multiple microservices

we're building out a new e-commerce platform and are moving towards a microservices architecture. one of the biggest challenges we're anticipating is maintaining data consistency when a single user action might involve updates across several services, like placing an order affects inventory, billing, and shipping services. what strategies or patterns have you found effective for this? are event-driven approaches like eventual consistency sufficient, or do you lean towards more synchronous, distributed transaction patterns when absolutely necessary? would love to hear about your experiences and potential pitfalls