Headless Commerce: The Complete Guide

Quick Rundown: Deliver bespoke eCommerce experiences that keep your business at the forefront with headless commerce. This sleek, modern solution is packed with innovative functionalities to drive tangible value for your eCommerce store. To know more, dive into this comprehensive guide and discover how it can revolutionize your CX.

Ecommerce has become incredibly popular since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many traditional businesses and retailers discover themselves opting for ecommerce website development to enhance their digital presence.

Moreover, this has proved to be a significant boost for businesses, as retail outlets had no choice but to shut down due to domestic and international lockdowns.

Indeed, the revenue generation from ecommerce sales went up from 16% to 19% in 2020, according to a latest report.

The more accustomed consumers are to online shopping, the more crucial it becomes to their purchasing process. Therefore, any ecommerce platform must meet the requirements for delivering long-term value and features by giving customers a streamlined and customized shopping experience.

When discussing customer experience: How do you draw and engage customers on these ecommerce platforms? And how can firms effectively expand their brand to keep up with emerging market demands?

The answer is simple: HEADLESS COMMERCE.

The term headless commerce has certainly come on your radar by now. And therefore, this blog will outline the common aspects of headless ecommerce systems, as well as some advantages and use cases of opting for this architecture.

So, let’s get started!

What is Headless Commerce?

The popularity of smartphones and other smart devices has compelled ecommerce companies to pursue a multi-channel strategy, and this is where headless commerce solutions come into the picture.

As stated, headless commerce dissociates an ecommerce application’s front-end and back-end parts. With the use of APIs, we can establish communication between them.

The best headless ecommerce businesses utilize headless CMS development and headless ecommerce platforms to handle their operations, including product delivery schedules, promotional schemes, inventory management, and many others.

When we consider the best and most popular headless CMS, Strapi (for example) fulfills every factor which you need to build the best website, mobile apps, and eCommerce sites.

The distribution of the contents to different devices and channels via APIs can happen with the click of a button, enabling the ecommerce company to rapidly streamline its content while providing customers with a smooth experience across all devices.

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How Does Headless Commerce Work?

In order to become headless, one must understand the utilization of API and transition from a commerce-led to a content-led perspective. A software interface known as headless ecommerce API makes it possible for two apps to interface with one another.

The application and presentation layers pass API requests to each other to operate any headless commerce system.

To understand the working of headless commerce architecture, let’s take an example:

When you make an online purchase from your smartphone, the presentation layer (the app interface) sends an API request to the application layer for the processing of the order. The presentation layer then displays your purchase information after the application layer has accomplished its job.

Lastly, since the headless commerce system’s back-end is accessible to anyone ready to send the appropriate APIs calls, this approach applies to all the front-end parts of headless ecommerce sites.

As a result, headless commerce solutions give online stores outstanding flexibility and omnichannel functionality.

Differentiating Headless Ecommerce from Traditional Commerce

If you’re still baffled about which commerce solution to opt for, let us sort things up with a quick explanation that explains the topic of headless commerce vs traditional commerce.

• The prime difference between the headless solution and the conventional platform is that the former is decoupled while the latter is not. A headless solution’s back-end can power numerous front-ends via APIs due to decoupling, whereas a traditional solution is packaged with just the front-end.

• Customers with a consistent content environment can easily switch across different digital devices when using headless commerce solutions. On the other hand, traditional commerce platforms restrict creative control and, consequently, consumers experience a time-consuming process.

• APIs are basically the tools offered by headless ecommerce platforms. Additionally, headless CMS like WordPress and Shopify are suitable for front-end development, while Magento, BigCommerce, etc., are for back-end development. On the contrary, there are several limitations concerning design and overall process for front-end and back-end developers working on traditional commerce systems.

• With headless commerce, you may offer greater customizations, use cutting-edge technologies, and have more influence over your business, all the while lowering dependency. However, traditional commerce platforms complicate incorporating new technologies for expanding consumer interactions to boost dynamic capabilities and performance.

How Does Headless Ecommerce Influence Your Business?

The modern market’s demands, particularly those related to omnichannel and personalized experiences, can be achieved through headless commerce platforms.

Overall, it offers both brands and retailers several advantages and has a positive influence on businesses. Let's take a look at the key benefits of headless commerce below-

• Enhanced Performance and Security - Storefronts running on a headless commerce architecture typically load quicker and offer higher security. Fast-loading websites usually improve the user experience and boost the SEO and organic outcomes of ecommerce businesses. According to recent Google Research, 53% of website visitors leave a page if it doesn’t load in under 3 seconds.

• Flexible and Rapid Deployments - The freedom and flexibility that headless commerce architecture offers are of the utmost advantage to front-end developers. Developers don’t need to worry about any back-end constraints because all they need to do is access data by making an API call, allowing them to build entirely new user experiences.

• Refined User Experience - The two main elements of headless ecommerce content comprise headless CMS integration with the ecommerce platform. You can check the use case of headless CMS for a better understanding. The combination helps define and optimize the user experience across your sites.

• More Time to Market - No matter what technology you wish to employ today or in the future, the headless architecture ecommerce setup is completely independent. Technological independence offers developers great technological freedom, which positions your marketing staff in the driving seat.

Use Cases of Headless Commerce

Various tools and platforms available in the market can give you the best digital experience for your business. In fact, with the help of Strapi development services, you can craft a highly appealing yet ultra-functional website that delivers a seamless multi-device experience.

Let’s quickly review the top three use cases of headless ecommerce platforms in the contemporary digital environment-

• Enhancing the digital functionality and user experience of prevailing mobile and web applications.
• Interacting with customers through new touchpoints.
• Starting from scratch for the startups that are technologically native.

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How to Get Headless Commerce Off the Ground?

Now that you have a thorough understanding of what headless commerce is and how it might help your organization, you might be a little motivated to engage in headless commerce yourself.

So, thinking about deploying it? If so, we’ve optimized a three-stage strategy that will assist you in getting off the ground with the best headless solution-

1. Consider several factors to determine if using headless ecommerce solutions is the correct strategy for your organization.
2. Before transitioning to a headless platform, think about a few aspects, such as functionality, advantages for your business, and use cases.
3. If you decide to move forward, examine and analyze the top headless ecommerce software currently available.

Let’s quickly review the steps now.

STEP.1: Evaluate whether headless commerce is best suited for your company

Finding the best parameters for your business is the first step in breaking ground, such as your willingness to improve a ready-made, functionalized storefront in pursuit of a customized experience.

Additionally, suppose you have a committed team of technical experts or are ready to collaborate with any service providers to implement innovative concepts. You can choose the approach for your company in that instance.

STEP.2: Points to take into account before switching to a headless commerce platform

The decision to opt for headless commerce is significant, but you must first identify the platform that will best serve your company’s needs as it grows.

Following your conclusion of whether it’s appropriate for your company, you can further assess it using a few essential properties.

STEP.3: Analyzing the most widely-used headless commerce platforms

There are many headless platforms available in the market right now. Various alternatives are open if you require a headless solution for B2C or B2B ecommerce.

Utilizing the headless commerce software will allow you to provide your clients with unique front-end and back-end development solutions, keeping your store pertinent to their demands.

Jamstack is a Hardcore Enabler of Digital TransformationWhen your business is in the midst of ramping up, you should go for headless ecommerce. This way, ecommerce organizations connect and meet their customers’ changing requirements. Moreover, it will determine their success in the fiercely competitive ecommerce market. Since the advantages, use cases, and functionalities are already discussed in the article, you can think about the absolute growth in popularity. Additionally, trends show that the adoption of headless commerce will not slow down soon. Exciting, right?Furthermore, you’ve already taken the initial steps toward a better future. It’s never too late to consider a headless solution for the ecommerce business.Headless commerce solutions come with plenty of advantages for your businesses. Therefore, connecting with the right Jamstack development company with skilled developers makes sense to guide you throughout the process.Our experts at Radixweb have the most in-depth understanding of technologies and trends in the market, which benefits our clients in every aspect. Bring us your existing mobile or web applications, and we’ll turn them into a completely customized, high-performance, and user-friendly platform utilizing headless commerce and CMS development.Get in touch right away!