Headless commerce allows you to present a back-end product catalog without the design constraints of a traditional eCommerce platform. You can take full control over the aesthetics and presentation of your products.
With this approach, developers decouple the front-end (or "head") template or theme from back-end data. As a result, front-end developers are free to style product information, category, and checkout pages without the limitations of conventional eCommerce templates.
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Headless commerce continues to grow exponentially in the eCommerce industry as retail companies increasingly appreciate its ability to create unique, customer-centric experiences. With the flexibility to customize the front-end of a digital storefront, businesses can scale their operations and modify the appearance to fit the latest consumer trends without complicating back-end development. This creates more enjoyable experiences for shoppers.
The expansion of headless eCommerce solutions means that this type of website development has become popular with several high-growth eCommerce brands, including Lancome, Venus, and Under Armour. Companies have increasingly turned to these solutions because of the improved ability to track users across different channels and customize pages for different devices without having to worry about the back-end. This also improves omnichannel shopping experiences.
1. Key Headless eCommerce Benefits
There are three main differences between traditional and headless commerce:
- Front-end development options
- Customization and personalization
- Flexibility and adaptability
Let’s look at each of these headless eCommerce benefits in greater depth.
Headless Commerce vs. Traditional eCommerce: Front-End Development Freedom
Headless commerce doesn't constrain front-end development. With headless, you'll need to build front-end presentations from scratch. This solution allows you to create your own unique experiences for both users and administrators, which maximizes customization and personalization.
With headless commerce, businesses can access powerful customization options, such as the creation of unique layouts and user flows. In other words, companies may design their pages in precisely the way that users appreciate, adjusting their branding and style without back-end limitations.
Headless Commerce vs. Traditional eCommerce: Enhanced Customization and Personalization
A headless CMS for eCommerce also enables your business to reap the benefits of multiple types of website functionality in a single site. In this example, blog content on a platform like HubSpot or WordPress could coexist with product data from another eCommerce source.
Brands can also implement dynamic content that is tailored to user behavior and preferences. In other words, the design of the website could reflect what individual shoppers look for when visiting retail sites, which will boost customer engagement and conversion rates.
This aligns well with recent trends toward personalization. Businesses have begun to experience the power of AI to provide recommendations and targeted content in headless environments. Artificial intelligence analyzes large amounts of data to determine what customers expect, helping companies deliver ideal content to users at the optimal time.
Headless Commerce vs. Traditional eCommerce: Improved Flexibility and Adaptability
Conventional eCommerce platforms are often less flexible and provide fewer customization options. In many cases, separation from a constrained front-end enables businesses to develop solutions that truly meet their marketing and eCommerce needs.
Headless CMS for eCommerce setups offer unprecedented adaptability, which can help companies quickly integrate their information with other types of systems, such as CRMs and ERPs. This results in smoother omnichannel delivery.
Serverless computing and API improvements have helped to provide greater customization through improved flexibility.
2. Who Is a Good Fit for Headless Architecture in eCommerce?
Content Marketers
Headless commerce is an ideal solution for eCommerce businesses that devote significant effort to content marketing and branding.
Generally speaking, eCommerce blogging systems can be underwhelming, so many businesses adopt separate blogging platforms. With headless, brands can keep their store and blog under one roof to better integrate and add value to their content.
When eCommerce and CMS platforms work together well, online retailers see improved digital engagement. Consider, for example, how companies can use WordPress or HubSpot to blog about their products while linking to product pages to create a seamless user experience.
Headless eCommerce has produced powerful SEO benefits for businesses. About 77 percent of businesses with headless strategies report greater agility that allows them to quickly make necessary changes to their storefronts and better deliver content to users. Eighty-four percent of these companies also experience increased efficiency in site management.
Brands Needing High Customization
Headless commerce offers almost limitless design customization. As a result, businesses that need unconventional eCommerce template designs are perfect candidates.
Headless solutions decouple front-end and back-end data, which gives designers and front-end developers full control over the aesthetics of your store. As a result, you can create a unique and fully customized user interface that pushes beyond the constraints of standard eCommerce templates.
Nike offers a great example of a business that has taken advantage of the potential for customization with headless commerce. It wanted to create a special experience for mobile shoppers. Headless commerce made it possible to specifically customize the mobile version of Nike’s website for users without back-end limitations.
Target also helped demonstrate the level of customization that businesses can achieve through headless commerce. To keep people engaged across devices and channels, Target used headless capabilities to create an improved omnichannel experience. It keeps shoppers connected to their carts and personal interests, regardless of the devices they use.
B2B eCommerce Businesses
We've seen many B2B eCommerce businesses benefit from headless architecture in eCommerce because it allows them to better integrate with CRM systems. For example, companies using HubSpot CRM and CMS for headless eCommerce can centralize their marketing and sales efforts with a single platform.
Additionally, many B2B eCommerce businesses don't need the full eCommerce functionality that's typically present in eCommerce templates. Headless commerce allows them to display products, descriptions, and other information without requiring a direct purchase through an eCommerce system.
When companies employ headless B2B eCommerce, they can incorporate powerful capabilities that keep users engaged and encourage more purchases. Examples of these features include:
- Account-based pricing
- Easy integration with B2B CRMs, like Salesforce
- Generating unique product catalogs
There are several high-quality B2B tools and headless eCommerce platforms that can also enhance business operations, such as:
- BigCommerce
- Magento
- Shopify
3. Popular Platforms for Headless Commerce
WooCommerce
To have a successful site, you will need both an eCommerce platform and a front-end CMS platform. Any eCommerce platform will work, but WooCommerce is currently one of the most widely used platforms for headless solutions.
Businesses appreciate that WooCommerce easily integrates with versatile CMS options like WordPress. This makes managing blogs and product content straightforward while improving the user experience.
BigCommerce
That said, we're big fans of BigCommerce in the headless space. BigCommerce recently released a WordPress integration that makes the connection even easier. It’s also a better fit for growing businesses that process more transactions or maintain larger product catalogs.
BigCommerce has recently demonstrated significant advancements in API technology, which can make it easier for brands to link front-end and back-end capabilities, such as site logins. This enhances customer management for enterprise-level headless solutions.
BigCommerce has also introduced related headless features, such as multi-storefront support and enhanced API endpoints for developers. Companies will experience greater ease when managing their stores and connecting the front and back so that everything operates smoothly.
Other Notable Platforms
Retail businesses also appreciate the variety of other popular headless eCommerce platforms that have sprouted up in recent years, such as:
- Shopify Plus, which now offers advanced checkout customization options
- Contentful, where companies can use the Contentful Studio to create effective digital content experiences
- Magento, which offers enhanced GraphQL capabilities and schema support
4. Important Considerations When Going Headless
Platform Management
Once you decide to pursue a headless commerce solution, it's important to consider a few key parts of your website plan.
First, you should remember that your eCommerce platform will handle product listings. Make sure these are up-to-date and well-organized. Confirm that the descriptions in your eCommerce platform are fully ready to be viewed by consumers.
When your business builds your website in a headless format, it’s crucial to find effective strategies for a well-maintained product catalog and item description database. We recommend using specialized software, such as a Product Information Management system (PIM). These platforms make it easy to track every item you have for sale and all the information you might need for a product, such as its price and history.
Security and Compliance
Second, don't forget security. Offer a secure checkout experience so that shoppers feel safe and comfortable when they conduct business through your site. This will also increase customers’ trust in your brand.
As you develop secure checkout processes and improve customer data protection, it's important to remember that security for a headless eCommerce site might look different in some ways. Fortunately, using tools and techniques like these can go a long way toward boosting security:
- Secure shopper login APIs, which provide enhanced login security features
- An eCommerce platform that participates in the Open Web Application Security Project so that it follows best practices like using firewalls and attack monitoring
- Providing internal training to help employees better spot security threats and avoid falling victim to scams
Optimizing the Checkout Experience
Lastly, the checkout process is a make-or-break part of eCommerce. A smooth checkout is essential for your customer to make a purchase.
If your checkout process is too long or complicated, shoppers will likely abandon their carts and leave your website. Make things as simple and efficient as possible for customers as they navigate your site.
You can create a smoother checkout process in your headless environment by putting some of the following tips to use:
- Make sure you align your customer data regardless of the different channels they use.
- Customize the checkout experience based on the user’s channel, such as asking for less information on mobile devices or making AI chatbots available when customers use text messaging.
- Speed up the checkout process by allowing people to click to purchase as soon as they see a product they like. Try to offer one-click checkouts.
- When possible, incorporate API-based payment options, such as Stripe, PayPal, or Amazon Pay.
- Run A/B tests to see what checkout options produce the best results.
Conclusion
Overall, headless commerce is an emerging trend in the eCommerce space that’s ripe for technical innovation. As you look for ways to take your business to the next level, consider how you can incorporate these headless eCommerce ideas into your strategy.
At Groove Commerce, our expertise and experience in headless commerce can help you implement it successfully. Get started with an audit to discover how your site could improve. You can also read case studies to see how our services have helped fellow eCommerce companies. Contact us today to learn more about what we can offer your business.
