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Headless Commerce: New Era of eCommerce

15 Jul 2021

Mike Patel

Getting started with Headless Commerce

An interesting side effect of the COVID pandemic is the technological, and subsequently societal, evolution that helped us balance our “business-as-usual” needs with our social responsibility. As traditional storefronts shuttered their operations, steady consumer demand pushed more buyers to online shopping.

As a result, we have seen an explosion in order and fulfillment innovations. Curbside pickup, for instance, became a widespread ordering option for retailers as new technology and apps made the service a seamless add-on. The customer experience saw a dramatic shift, one that will likely continue long after COVID.

This example appropriately illustrates how consumers are pushing for more convenience in the buyer journey. Consumers no longer go to a store, research at the store and buy at the store. The experience is more integrated, bringing together various touchpoints to make shopping fast and convenient.

Consumers today are demanding full, constant control and instant gratification. They surround themselves with connectivity in mobile phones, smartwatches, video game consoles and numerous IoT devices. No matter where we are, access is always within arm’s reach.

The buyer experience determines a brand’s success nowadays. Businesses are learning that positive engagement across multiple platforms is the key to earning and keeping customers.

As trends and technologies rapidly emerge and transition, staying ahead of consumer needs is becoming more demanding. To quickly adapt their operations, businesses are starting to benefit from flexible frameworks made possible by headless commerce.

What Is Headless Commerce?

The buyer experience changes rapidly, both in the technological platforms being used and the consumer’s expectations brands try to meet. Brands need to be able to change how they present themselves to the customer. Being able to add or adapt interfaces without a major system overhaul is needed to make that kind of responsiveness feasible.

This is the basis of headless commerce — the disconnection of the front-end interface from the back-end functionality of an eCommerce platform. This provides the versatility to innovate and improve the user experience without having to adapt the back-end functions. If a brand wants to create an experience on a new IoT device or if they want to update existing interfaces, they can simply do the update and plug in their preferred back-end eCommerce solution.

Headless Commerce vs Traditional Commerce

Headless commerce architecture is complex, as the APIs that provide its “plug and play” versatility create additional layers to structure. Although it is less limiting, not all businesses have the infrastructure to make headless commerce viable. For some brands, traditional or decoupled models are more appropriate for their eCommerce needs. Let’s explore the differences between traditional and headless commerce to see how they fit.

Traditional Commerce

Traditional and headless commerce differ in their flexibility, customizability and front-end development process.

Traditional commerce is often considered in a monolithic model, where the front-end and back-end are inherently bound. Because the layout is part of a fixed structure that includes the back-end content, developers have a limited array of frameworks they can apply. If they were to make any expansive changes, it would take a long time to configure the back-end database and the front-end layout to work together.

One benefit of traditional eCommerce platforms is that they have predefined templates for the customer experience. For a startup small business or inexperienced users, it is a simple and fast way to get a basic online presence.

Intermediary tools like Shopify or WooCommerce can manage your products and content or you can use a CMS like WordPress to handle everything from content to interface.

The Disadvantages of Traditional Commerce

The downside to the simplicity of traditional eCommerce is that you are often limited to a set of tools, layouts and, subsequently, consumer experiences to implement. There are few opportunities for customization, unless you want to go through the exhaustive task of overhauling the entire front and back-end systems.

The interconnectedness of the front-end and back-end not only restricts design possibilities but also various integrations and security. Affecting multiple layers of code and manually entering data can be risky and time consuming.

Security is another risk of a coupled CMS. With a unified system giving administrators untethered entry to front-end configurations and back-end systems, security breaches are a concern. If unauthorized users gain access, they can obtain sensitive customer records, content and payment information.

In a headless framework, access to the front-end is not intrinsically tied to the back-end or the APIs that communicate with it. APIs add to platform security by being designed specifically for a particular function to limit the amount of accessible information. Meanwhile, admins can restrict access to back-end systems without disrupting authorized editors from creating the front-end presentation.

Headless Commerce

A headless system is based around the back-end and APIs to give developers full freedom to create a truly unique, custom user experience on the front end. Once you have databases and information management systems in place, all you need is front-end developers creating brand new layouts that fit their brand, business goals and customer expectations.

When they need to create new functionality, they simply have to apply an API call to retrieve data. Since these APIs are not tied to a specific interface layout, they can be used to translate information to desktop browsers, mobile devices, wearable technology or IoT devices.

This versatility makes headless commerce systems long-term solutions to ever-changing technology and industry demands!. If new voice-activated hardware becomes available, building a sound presence is as easy as creating the front-end interface and applying an API call.

Benefits of Headless Commerce for Merchants

With an array of ERPs, PIMs, CRMs and other key infrastructure components, businesses can begin to create immersive, scalable and high-quality user experiences in a headless commerce framework.

Along with PCI compliance and security, large enterprise retailers see a number of benefits in implementing a headless commerce architecture. The big push is being spurred by the following key factors:

– Changing consumer demands: COVID and modern business trends have given consumers previously unforeseen access from countless convenient touchpoints. Customers want their shopping experience to be faster, simpler and more educational. Streamlining the experience wherever the consumer needs it is possible with headless commerce.

– Technological innovation: As technology expands, users have access to more touchpoints to interact with brands. Alexa speakers, Apple watches, smartphones and in-store kiosks are just some of the new ways content and purchasing functions are being made available. If a new platform emerges, a front-end design can be quickly integrated with an API into appropriate information management systems.

– Growing competition: Technology has given rise to burgeoning competition and new solutions to solve old problems. The customer has more control and the growing competition is trying to add more value than everyone else. This is what has given rise to experience-led structures designed around differentiating and defining brands and their perceived value.

Despite the added complexity of developing a headless commerce system, there are several benefits for businesses and consumers.

Benefit #1 Seamless Omnichannel Presence

Sharing common information makes for a better, more cohesive brand experience. Having a headless commerce infrastructure allows brands to choose the tools and APIs to create a consistent, engaging experience.

As channels open up, a headless commerce platform will allow you to extend your content wherever you need. With new IoT devices, interactive signage and in-store demos constantly coming into play, being able to seamlessly add new sales channels without worrying about eCommerce platform compatibility is a must.

Benefit #2 Usability and Adoption

New technology is a hard adjustment, so organizations are sometimes willing to forgo efficiencies if it means less training investment. However, the long-term effectiveness and future-proof nature of headless commerce make it essential for companies looking to grow.

With its implementation, headless commerce actually shortens the learning curve for marketing and sales teams. The back-end is safe from alteration or incompatibility, so developers can focus solely on designing and delivering the best front-end experience. Admins can provide greater access without worrying about security and teams can respond to changes quickly without having to know the ins and outs of database management.

Benefit #3 Personalization and Customization

Headless commerce is unrestrictive, giving you full range of motion to apply any pre-existing or custom front-end solutions. If you have found success with an open source framework but have been bogged down in development, headless commerce can decrease costs, wait time and maintenance.

Benefit #4 Flexibility for Developers

Being able to apply a CMS, DXP or progressive web app (PWA) brings headless commerce’s versatility and scalability to the masses. Common tools enterprise organizations and startups use to power the the customer experience in a headless structure include the following:

– WordPress

– Drupal

– Adobe Experience Manager

– SiteCore

No matter how you want to develop the unique look of your brand, headless commerce allows you to create without limits. While traditional eCommerce platforms can require specific programming skills, developers are free to use their favorite frameworks in headless commerce.

Benefit #5 Scalability

You can integrate virtually any tool easily into your architecture to meet your business needs, which is crucial as those needs change. If a new opportunity comes up or you need to change an existing channel, being able to add a front-end interface and link pre-existing back-end content is easier than developing from scratch.

Brands no longer have to wait weeks or months to get an eCommerce channel running on new devices. If you can apply a template to a new device, integration can take place within a day.

Benefit #6 Testing and Optimization

The ease of adjusting and applying different user experiences gives brands the ability to continually optimize their offerings. A brand trying to A/B test content on a new smartwatch, for example, would only have to change the front-end template to compare engagement. Alternatively, they could also try plugging different information systems into a common front-end solution.

Being able to mix-and-match back-end and front-end solutions helps you understand what works best for your customer. Applying changes quickly without fear of the user experience being affected beyond changes made to the front-end allows retailers to confidently assess their marketing effectiveness.

Benefit #7 Conversion Rates

Optimizing your brand strategy with headless commerce across websites, social media platforms, mobile apps, kiosks and IoT devices draws better, higher-converting traffic. Customer-centric sales models have been ideal for several years and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. By offering content in accessible, engaging ways, brands can attract more high-value traffic organically.

Marketers have more agile control over their promotional tactics via headless commerce. They can create more enthusiasm and exposure for deals and recommendations. At the same time, they can reduce roadblocks that lead to shopping cart abandonment and page bounces.

Benefit #8 Costs

Costs can be seen as a downside or a benefit to headless commerce, depending on your perspective.

Building and managing custom front-end interfaces can be initially costly and time-consuming, as well as the initial integrations with back-end solutions. Marketing and IT teams will need tight coordination and there may be additional training costs if marketers are given control over the front end.

The flipside to this is that a more robust, harmonious and personalized user experience will lead to lower long-term customer acquisition and customer retention costs. Paid advertising costs are rising, and a move to organic marketing strategies is a more cost-effective way to add value and build better customer relationships. Brands can build a more loyal customer base and earn customers by supplying a more personalized customer experience.

Up-and-down scaling is also more efficient and responsive to make changing customer demands less costly to meet. A major benefit of headless commerce is the ability to easily add transactional capabilities with an API to any new device. During heavy sales periods, for example, you could scale your shopping cart and POS systems and de-scale as demand wanes.

Benefit #9 Customer Experience

Being able to pull back-end systems together and utilize them across different channels makes the customer experience more convenient, relevant and interesting. As customers move nimbly from social channels to websites to mobile apps, a headless commerce architecture can pull and update customer data, purchase information, product information and other content to blend the experience.

With headless commerce, brands can bring personalized features, recommendations, promotions and preferences to any new platform. This enriches the experience and facilitates a more positive, constructive interaction with the brand, which in turn leads to a stronger relationship.

Benefit #10 Website Speed and Functionality

With the versatility to use any front-end custom solution, CMS, DXP or PWA, developers can choose the optimal delivery system for their experience-led commerce platform. They can strip back functions to deliver only the desired features to the target audience, offering faster web page performance and a better experience.

As part of a technical SEO effort, this is an attractive side effect of headless commerce. User experiences will naturally improve on mobile platforms and web speed will increase. Conversion rates will increase, bounces will decrease and businesses will get more value from the customer.

Benefit #11 Time to Market

Bringing a cohesive omnichannel experience to users is time consuming in a traditional model. In a headless model, the removal of back-end development costs means developers can focus fully on creating the front-end experience.

This also separates responsibilities from back-end and front-end developers, so that a team does not have to work in tandem to manage a full-stack remodel. Teams can work on individual back-end projects and front-end projects that will sync via API. In building out databases and creating novel user interfaces for new touchpoints, this allows a robust system to be developed much quicker.

As brands adopt new channels and enter new markets, being able to quickly reach new touchpoints is critical. From a competitive standpoint, this keeps you at a distinct advantage in perceived value. You can reach customers faster and extend more relevant solutions.

Benefit #12 Reach of an Omnichannel Brand

For enterprise retailers, omnichannel strategies in a headless commerce framework can expand across platforms as well as audiences. Launching in new regions and designing micro-brands around the world is made easier with a decoupled front end.

Personalizing messages for different audiences is made easier when content and contact information can be segmented into separate back-end systems. With headless commerce, marketers can use various region-sensitive platforms that pull information from specific databases.

This results in tailored messaging that more closely matches the values and attitudes of the intended regional audience.

A tailored approach that stays sensitive to culture nuances is further benefited from a seamless language integration. Translation services through Google or third-party engines are useful but often lack contextual verbiage and proper grammar. Clunky translations can create a confusing and frustrating experience for users, which will ultimately hurt your perceived brand value.

With headless commerce, language barriers can be dealt with prior to publishing. Marketers can translate content prior to release and attach appropriate characters and grammatical elements.

How Does Headless Work?

To understand how a headless website works, let’s first explore the traditional eCommerce website. It’s possible to build an eCommerce website from scratch or copy an existing one.

There are different website types, from simple websites with a text based storefront, to fully fledged online stores where customers can place product orders.

The model of the website is quite standard and follows the SaaS model. There is an application program interface (API) which all pieces of the website can use. All the business logic for the website is written in a template language.

This code is then written in an imperative programming language like Java or JavaScript. Each piece of software communicates with the other using the API.

Why Is Headless Great?

Many websites try to use both the front-end and back-end together. For example, when you login to the main site, you are taken to the back-end.

This can lead to lots of maintenance, as well as security issues. In a headless installation, the back-end is a stand-alone piece of software. This means you only have to access the back-end once and it’s open to all, with no need for a code base to maintain.

On the flip side, headless software gives you a complete workflow and your front-end is the same as the back-end. If your website was to get hacked, you don’t have to shut down the entire server to restore the front-end.

Just grab the front-end and let it run as you need it, without affecting the back-end at all.

Advantages

– It allows website owners to scale their eCommerce websites without having to re-write their website.

– It cuts costs of operating a website by operating on a single website, instead of having multiple.

– Being headless it can be much easier for programmers to start using than creating a new back-end and front-end from scratch.

– Many web-developers are already familiar with using JavaScript and with headless software it makes it easier to write code. It’s also easier for developers to test their code if all of the functions are built into the website and don’t have to be coded.

This new trend in the eCommerce world has opened many doors for both developers and eCommerce brands.

Why Do Some People Still Use a Back-End?

Back-end software allows more power, because it requires a server to be created on each site. You can run additional versions of the same software on each server to try to get the best possible performance.

It is easy for a single server to give 100% of the performance. However, when multiple servers are running at the same time, a single server may experience crashes that could affect other sites that were connected to it.

Multi-server architecture is complicated. However, with the rising demand for faster internet connection and low-cost computing power, it may become necessary to create separate server installations for every single website you will host.

The general steps for setting up a multi-server installation are to: Build a separate server on your own local server.

What Are Some of Your Options for Headless eCommerce

There are a few big players in the headless eCommerce space like Magento, Shopify and OroCommerce that are all competitors of a few years ago. All of these companies offer a platform that is based on open source technology.

One thing they all have in common is that they all compete with Shopify for the $4 billion dollar market share. The goal of a headless eCommerce installation is to put an end to the high cost of creating and maintaining a complex software system.

Also to significantly reduce the cost of an eCommerce website. Shopify (which is a competitor of Magento) focuses on scalable eCommerce and Magento is focused on eCommerce.

How To Get Started?

To get started you’ll need to move from the old, traditional, static design that is desktop web site towards the new responsive web design. There are numerous options to learn how to do this, or you could just hire a professional to take care of it for you.

Another option is to simply sign up with a major headless commerce platform. They already have all of the tools available for you to take advantage of. That way you are sure to not forget anything.

Most importantly, you will need to figure out which headless commerce platform you want to work with. From there, if you don’t already have an existing website the platform will make one for you. it’s a piece of cake to get started on your site.

Some of these platforms will let you get started with a totally free account and some offer free trials. This way you won’t risk anything.

How Headless Commerce Supports Omnichannel Retail

According to a recent report by McKinsey, up to 25% of retailers will go headless over the next two to three years. It all comes down to how retailers and online businesses are delivering goods and services.

This is why the role of omnichannel retail is of such concern to businesses: if they don’t evolve to become omnichannel and address the needs of their customers, they will lose ground to competitors and fail – or they will be forced to merge in order to survive.

This article will bring you up to speed on how headless commerce supports omnichannel retail. We will discuss what omnichannel retail is and what it is not. We will also go into detail about how this retail experience works and what it will mean to your customers.

What is Omnichannel Retail?

Omnichannel retailers have digital channels in place to offer customers seamless services. In the past, the shopping experience revolved around stores and employees, but now we see the emergence of stores as an online sales channel.

The digital transformation of retail is moving to offer real-time service and support as well as a seamless shopping experience. In addition, technology is now moving towards a headless paradigm that merges online and offline.

In the past, headless websites were simply websites without any content. But now, we are seeing headless commerce systems as websites that have a database as well as their own store of objects.

How will Headless Commerce Impact the Omnichannel Retail Experience?

Consider the car rental business: a customer can order their car online, reserve it in advance or cancel at the last minute without having to interact with a sales representative.

If a similar service were available for hotels, the customer could find and book their stay on the website, and pay for it without going to the front desk.

A young traveler who books tickets and rentals from their home would have only to show up at the airport, and pick up their bags from the car rental counter. Wouldn’t that be convenient? This idea is no longer futuristic. These are great examples of the omnichannel retail.

How To Adopt Headless Commerce

Headless commerce falls under the eCommerce and online shopping industries, but can be adopted by any kind of business. Fluidly transitioning from an omnichannel approach to a headless one, requires adopting the right structure, processes, and technologies.

At the core, headless commerce requires modern multi channel platforms, content management systems and other technologies. However, that’s only part of the story.

What’s it worth to your business? If you’re a retailer or online business that offers goods or services via a portal, mobile app, API or website, you can try to create a multichannel experience by relying on back-end systems. However, this may take a lot of effort and will cost you a lot of time.

Headless takes care of most problems for you.

The Omnichannel Paradigm Shift

This concept of offering an omnichannel retail experience extends from the brick-and-mortar store to the online experience, and now includes the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Basically, customers have access to an omnichannel experience, both in-store and online, where they are offered the best of the store and the online experience. One of the biggest challenges in omnichannel retail is that one of the easiest ways to increase sales is to increase the available inventory in the store and/or in the virtual/augmented reality version of the brand.

Because of this, online businesses need to extend their virtual space, also known as their app-store, into the physical world.

The Omnichannel Retail Experience

While shopping online has become much more than just a simple click, buying goods and services has remained a more traditional and static activity. Consequently, the value proposition and experience has not evolved as much as it has online.

Now, consumers don’t just browse, but they compare prices, check availability, test products and so on, and are in a constant state of anticipation and demand. The value of online shopping has become its own obstacle, and retailers are starting to look at how to solve these challenges.

Brands like Amazon and Apple have been pioneers in this field. They have provided buyers with the ability to browse the internet, and find the products they are looking for, no matter what country or channel they are shopping from.

Advantages of Omnichannel Retail

One of the big advantages of omnichannel retail is that, unlike other channels, it gives retailers the opportunity to present a completely unique online shopping experience to each of their customers. This is crucial in an increasingly digital world, where a single wrong move or missed opportunity can cost a customer the trust they need to buy.

Instead of the omnichannel retail model that relies on customers to have a consistent experience, headless commerce allows brands to create the complete shopping experience online.

Customers can now receive a personalized recommendation based on all of the actions they have taken to interact with the brand over time.

3 Headless Commerce Platforms To Consider

Most of the business owners are looking out for the next big thing in the market to benefit their business. But, what if you have heard of the three headless commerce platforms that are making waves in the market and none of them are making it a bad idea to host your business on these platforms?

In this article we’re going to show you three headless commerce platforms to consider. These platforms have shown the world how headless platforms truly work and how to profit from there services. Let’s get started.

Can Headless Commerce Platforms Boost my Business?

There are three headless commerce platforms in the market and there are a number of advantages that come with this specific type of online platform, including:

Savings:

– The startup costs for your business are slashed by half or better. By getting headless commerce platforms, you can get the most accurate ROI and highest conversions within a budget.

ROI:

– By getting headless commerce platforms, you can get the most accurate ROI and highest conversions within a budget. Easier to manage.

Since you no longer need a site builder, you can easily manage these headless platforms from your browser itself. With that said, you don’t need to invest in any extra platform software that takes up a lot of time.

Headless Commerce Platform Review: OroCommerce, Shopify and BigCommerce

OroCommerce

This is one of the leading 3 headless commerce platforms with a lot of use cases and features. It is a social commerce platform that allows users to streamline online stores and share best practices and learnings from their peers.

OroCommerce integrates with leading eCommerce platforms such as Magento, BigCommerce, Voom and PrestaShop. It also comes with a drag-and-drop coding interface that enables the businesses to create web stores using Ruby on Rails.

Business owners can also utilize features such as Amazon Payments, Payoneer, Bitcoin, and fiat currency transfers. It also offers a way to monetize their online store by having an additional line of revenue-generating services. Pros It has a large range of features. It has a large range of features.

Shopify

Many of you might have heard about Shopify in the news or the web. It’s the company that keeps growing at the speed of light and is rapidly becoming the largest eCommerce platform in the world.

Shopify is extremely popular and one of the most trusted platforms. It is free to use Shopify with a 14 day trial as you just need to create your own online shop and start selling your products.

SEO is already taken care of by the company to help your eCommerce website to grow. This is also called the Multi-channel commerce platform that is a lot different from traditional commerce platforms.

Headless Commerce Platform Review: BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a company that has been built on a more flexible and responsive technology. They don’t treat you as a single entity and instead they allow you to run your online business seamlessly from the headless platform.

They provide a lot of customization and options for you to customize the look and feel of your online store. There is an integration tool that makes it possible for your customers to use your website without opening your code.

As you can imagine, you can use these powerful features to drive your business.

How APIs Enable Headless Commerce

A headless commerce architecture is made possible primarily through an application programming interface (API). This acts as a communicative bridge between the front-end user-facing system and the back-end operation.

An API takes requests input by the user, sends it to the back-end system and returns a response back to the user. Some common usage examples of APIs include:

– Logins with linked social media accounts.

– Adding items to shopping carts.

– Using search functions on websites.

– Booking flights or hotels on aggregate sites.

APIs are used to power numerous functions in eCommerce. A front-end experience is managed via a content management system (CMS), digital experience platform (DXP) or some custom system that works for the brand. The API plugs this into back-end information systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP), product information management (PIM), point of sale (POS) or customer relationship management (CRM) systems. These store and manage data such as content, inventory, infrastructure, pricing and security to supply to the customer.

An example of this can be seen in how a user searches a product catalog. The customer inputs their search, whether it is typed into a search bar or spoken into an IoT device, and the API sends the request to a PIM. That back-end system does not need to be changed or integrated, and it can deliver information to any API-backed channel.

Why Should I Choose Headless Commerce Platforms?

Because these platforms are doing a great job of solving the potential problems faced by today’s businesses and why should any business even consider using them?

Here are the three things that you need to think about and try to understand before deciding to adopt a headless commerce platform for your business:

– Privacy – Consumers love it. They understand perfectly when a store customizes certain things when they log on to your website, but they don’t like to be followed around after they leave.

– Trust – Without it, your business is dead. Customers want to know your site is safe to use and has a tone of security.

– Ease of Use – The most popular shopping cart software offers “login and shopping” like functionality. Customers want a seamless experience no matter what.

Building a Better Experience with Headless Commerce

Implementing a headless commerce architecture requires investments in APIs, IT support, training and integration tools. For enterprise retailers, direct-to-consumer businesses and experience-driven brands, the investment gives them a long-term structure to scale and adapt to a changing eCommerce landscape.

Customers are raising the bar and expecting more from brands, demanding accessibility, rich content and personalized experiences. Headless commerce can give you a competitive edge through instantaneous optimization opportunities.

Content updates are faster with headless commerce. Users get more reliable data in channel-specific experiences, connecting their customer information, product catalog and purchasing system to an intuitive interface.

It does all this while promoting better security and fraud management. With decoupled front-end platforms, authors and editors with admin privileges do not have to worry about outside users breaching sensitive information.

Headless commerce is future-proofing brand development, accelerating the evolution of the consumer journey and modern business models. From start-ups to enterprise solutions, growing businesses will need to get on board to keep pace with consumers and the competition. Follow our blog for more information about headless commerce and how to implement it for your business.

Conclusion

Headless commerce is the future of the retail landscape, because it allows for a more seamless and immersive user experience. We hope you enjoyed this article about how headless commerce works. Like we mentioned earlier, there are now more options than ever when it comes to building headless commerce applications.

Mike Patel

Mike Patel is a digital marketing enthusiast, innovator and President of a leading Digital and E-commerce Development Agency in Dallas, Texas. Mike holds a BS, Computer Science degree from Wayne State University and is a key player in the E-commerce development and digital marketing industry since 2004. The scope of technology in his extensive experience of more than 15 years ranges from Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click) management, E-commerce SEO, Google Shopping Ads and more.