It’s safe to say that a slow webstore is one that’s leaking revenue. Impatient customers don’t want to battle slow loading times, clunky UX, or rigid systems.
Many traditional ecommerce platforms might seem convenient, but you could feel hemmed in by their limitations. Thankfully, headless commerce is a powerful solution and one that’s transforming how we transact online.
In this post, we’ll discover headless commerce, explaining exactly what it is, outlining its benefits, helping you decide whether you should make the switch, and walking you through the key steps for implementation.
What is Headless Commerce?
In simple terms, headless commerce is an ecommerce system where the frontend (what your customers see and interact with) is completely separated from the backend (where all the crucial data and functionalities live, such as product information, inventory, and payment processing).
They communicate via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that act as the crucial bridge between the two.
Traditional Commerce vs Headless Commerce
Traditional commerce
With traditional commerce platforms, such as Shopify, the frontend and backend are tightly coupled into an all-encompassing system. While this might seem convenient initially, it often leads to slow updates, limited design flexibility, and a struggle to adapt to new technologies.
Many businesses become frustrated by the constraints imposed by these rigid structures, especially if you’re trying to scale a business and implement other pieces of tech.
Headless commerce
As headless commerce uses a decoupled architecture, your frontend developers have complete freedom to use any technology they choose. The backend team can focus on optimising data and functionality.
APIs are the secret sauce here, allowing seamless communication and data exchange between the two independent layers. It’s about building a robust and adaptable system, not a restrictive one.
Popular options include Salesforce and Sana. You can even run BigCommerce as a headless platform. Very cool!
Key Benefits of Headless Commerce
There are significant benefits to going headless, and many help address the pain points I see my clients struggle with daily. That’s not to say that replatforming to a headless commerce setup would solve every problem, but making the change could create a better environment for growth.
Flexibility
Frontend technology is far more advanced these days than the PHP used by WordPress. With a headless commerce platform, you have the freedom to choose the best frontend technology.
You could use React, Vue, Angular, or any other cutting-edge framework that matches the performance and user experience you’re after.
As your team scales, deploying new features and updates becomes harder. With a decoupled system, it’s easy to roll out updates and new features on the frontend without touching the backend, and vice-versa.
AI has upended SEO, with many websites seeing a massive drop in organic traffic from Google. With a headless system, you can easily extend your presence to new channels such as IoT devices, smart mirrors, and LLMs.
Enhanced Customer Experience (CX)
No customer wants to wait for a slow-loading website. By implementing a lightweight frontend, you can ensure a lightning-fast loading time, lower bounce rate, and happier customers.
A headless setup allows data to be displayed in a highly personalised way on the frontend, creating a closer relationship with the customer. This is difficult to achieve with monolithic systems.
With a headless commerce system, you ensure a consistent and seamless experience across all touchpoints, regardless of whether someone views your website on a browser, uses a mobile device, or another output method.
Performance
As the front end is decoupled from the back end, scaling either or both elements is far easier. You can grow seamlessly and handle traffic spikes without performance degradation.
Future-Proofing
Many consider PHP to be a legacy system, and yet a large chunk of the web runs on WordPress. There are newer technologies that offer innovative solutions.
Headless commerce makes it significantly easier to integrate these innovations into an existing setup. Plus, these setups reduce the risk of running an outdated infrastructure and system that requires constant maintenance.
Developer empowerment
Having a more flexible tech stack could lead to a happier team that’s able to code in the best programming language for the job without limitation. Also, by adopting headless commerce, developers will want to work for you as you’ll be seen as a forward-thinking employer.
When to Consider Headless Commerce
It’s easy to get swept up with new tech and shoehorn it into your business without considering if the change will help you achieve your goals.
If you’re considering switching to headless commerce, it’s worth building a dummy store and running extensive user testing before deploying it live.
In terms of use cases, a headless system is ideal if you’re operating an omnichannel model with an online store, mobile app, retail POS, and want to explore voice assistants and other emerging channels.
If personalization is key to your plan to win or you aim to deliver a complex customer experience, a headless commerce system can be a great solution.
Another use case is brands in rapid scale-up mode who are being hampered by their legacy tech stack that cracks under high traffic and transaction volumes. Moving to a headless setup can offer a robust path to growth.
Key Considerations When Implementing Headless Commerce
Making the move to headless requires careful planning. There are many elements to focus on before making the switch.
Choosing the ideal backend
Depending on your existing infrastructure and future goals, you could use Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, or a dedicated headless commerce solution like Commercetools. You can also go down the custom route, but the cost will be high.
Selecting a frontend framework
As you’re free to choose the frontend based on your requirements and not the underlying platforms, you could build in Next.js, Gatsby, and Nuxt.js. All offer excellent performance and development flexibility.
API strategy
Developing an API strategy is critical to defining how your frontend and backend will communicate, managing API keys, and planning for potential integration challenges.
Team and Resources
While the initial setup can be more complex, the long-term benefits are substantial. You’ll need skilled developers who understand headless architecture and API integrations.
Content Management System (CMS)
You’ll need a headless CMS solution, like Contentful, Strapi, or ButterCMS, to manage your content. This allows your team to update product descriptions, blog posts, and other content without needing developer intervention for every small change.
The content is then delivered to your frontend via APIs, just like the cart functionality is.
What Hurdles Might You Face?
As with any technology, there are hurdles you need to overcome and common misunderstandings to address.
Increased complexity and cost
Compared to launching a Shopify store, going headless requires more technical expertise and can involve a higher upfront investment. However, it is an investment in the future scalability of your business.
Limited vendor choice and longer commitments
These are misconceptions. Many traditional ecommerce platforms store your data in their servers, making it difficult for you to migrate between platforms.
In a headless commerce system, as your frontend and backend are separate, you have the flexibility to swap out components (like changing your backend platform) without having to rebuild your entire customer-facing experience.
Integration headaches
What makes traditional ecommerce platforms excellent is they have already built and tested the integrations between the frontend and backend.
As you’re choosing the best option for each service (payment gateways, CRM, ERP), you’ll need to take care of the integrations, which can be tricky. Having a robust API management and testing strategy is crucial.
Headless is only for large enterprises
While this is partially true, as it’s unlikely a startup will have the resources to invest in a headless commerce system, more small and medium-sized brands are adopting a headless tech stack to future-proof their business.
What Are Some Real-World Examples?
Many leading brands have embraced headless commerce with great success. For example, Nike leverages headless to provide a highly personalised and engaging shopping experience across its various digital touchpoints.
Under Armour and ASOS have also adopted similar architectures to deliver speed, flexibility, and a consistent brand experience on a global scale.
It’s not just for mega brands. Reusable bottle and cup brand, Chilly’s went headless early in their growth to gain creative freedom over their storefront and facilitate international expansion.
Sustainable lifestyle brand KOTN quickly realized the immense potential for savings and scalability that a headless approach could bring.
Should You Go Headless?!
Headless commerce is more than just a trend. It represents a fundamental shift in how ecommerce websites are built and delivered. It empowers businesses with unparalleled flexibility, drives enhanced customer experiences, and provides the scalability needed to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.
If you’re wrestling with the limitations of a traditional ecommerce platform, or if you envision a future where your brand offers truly unique and personalised customer journeys, I urge you to explore headless commerce further.
As part of your consideration process, talk with experts who can guide you through the transition. It could be the strategic move that unlocks your next level of growth.
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