An intuitive and dynamic eCommerce store is important in accomplishing the goals you’ve assigned for your online sales. A good platform allows you to make amends and customize your website, along with having the best features for making your website customer friendly.
With changing times, the traditional eCommerce platforms are fading away, giving way to a new and more prevalent form of eCommerce- Headless eCommerce.
In this article, we will explore headless eCommerce in detail, to help you decide whether to make a shift to this new eCommerce option or not.
What is headless eCommerce?
Headless eCommerce is an eCommerce solution where the back-end system is not dependent on the front-end system. The operation of both systems are independent and completely separated from one another.
It is known as the API-first approach, where communication between the two systems occurs via API. This allows customers to customize their stores easily and always make sure they’re offering the best customer experience possible.
How does it work?
The most fundamental feature of a headless eCommerce system is that its decoupled. This means that its front-end and back-end systems are separated, offering users a broader scope for customization and flexibility.
Headless systems work by pushing the content to the front end not via the eCommerce platform, but through a content management system instead. This results in faster deployments, as the work in the front-end and the back-end is done simultaneously.
You can also customize your website to offer a tailor-made customer experience by using flexible and dynamic themes, rather than the basic eCommerce themes. You can also build a website architecture custom to your needs using powerful APIs.
When you purchase on an eCommerce platform that uses headless solutions, the interface of the website- the front-end- sends an API request to the tools of payment gateway and order management system, which are situated in the backend.
The back-end or the application layer registers and processes your order then sends it to the presentation or the front-end layer, which displays it to you. Through this communication process, the headless eCommerce system helps the eCommerce store be efficient.
Benefits of Headless eCommerce
Headless eCommerce offers a wide range of benefits to your e-commerce business. Some of them are mentioned below:
1.)Easy Integrations
The e-commerce solutions in headless eCommerce are powered by APIs. This makes integration with new or pre-existing systems easier compared to traditional solutions. For example, the integration of e-commerce websites with tools such as subscription management, marketing automation tools, etc becomes seamless.
Moreover, headless systems do not require frequent updates once the initial connection is made, letting your data be transferred easily and quickly.
2.)Omnichannel Marketing
The Omnichannel marketing model is exceptionally effective for providing online sales to any e-commerce platform. This model helps your e-commerce store to connect with your customers at various points of their purchasing journey. Having the true omnichannel capability makes headless eCommerce highly beneficial.
3) Cost savings in the long run
Headless eCommerce can make your business finances more agile and in turn provide long-term capital benefits. This is because only the initial cost of starting a headless solution is high. After that, you can customize your site based on the consumers' trends without spending extra costs or resources. It also helps you save costs on factors such as product license, website maintenance, hosting fees etc.
4.)Experimentation
With a headless eCommerce model, experimenting based on user experience is encouraged. You can improve your business by rolling out new features, testing promotions or discounts, and creating an engaging user experience.
Impacts of Headless eCommerce On Your Customers
How does headless eCommerce impact the customers of your business? Read on to know.
1.)Rich customer experience
Headless eCommerce allows companies to control the elements of their eCommerce store with which the customers interact. This offers the customer a better experience and helps the companies retain them and increase their lifetime value. This also ensures that your website remains up no matter the device the customer uses to make the purchases.
2.)Better Security
The API system used by headless eCommerce offers significant levels of security, as it cannot be easily penetrated or affected by online threats. In addition, the CMS used in this system can be hidden under layers of code and is not exposed, increasing its reliability amongst customers.
3.)Stay in line with the latest trends
With headless eCommerce, companies can keep up with the latest trends at lower costs. Whenever you change your content, the result is instantly reflected on your website. With traditional websites, it can take a few minutes before the changes that have been made are shown to customers.
Difference Between Headless eCommerce And Traditional eCommerce
➔ Headless eCommerce solutions are decoupled. Their backend can power multiple frontends with APIs. A traditional solution, however, restrains you from making changes in the front end by also requiring that those changes are made in the backend. This makes the headless system more straightforward and seamless than the traditional eCommerce system.
➔ The customer experience on platforms following the headless eCommerce model is more consistent. They can carry out their shopping endeavors on multiple devices easily. The communication between the front end and the back end is smooth.
As a customer is browsing the products or making a purchase, the data is sent to the backend via API by the frontend. On the other hand, traditional eCommerce platforms only allow the customer to shop on a classic web store, meaning their eCommerce solution will either differ or be unable across multiple devices.
➔ The traditional eCommerce solutions allow the eCommerce stores to manage both front-end and back-end operations in a single platform. While this might work for some organizations temporarily- such as startups who do not have large development teams- They end up posing restrictions for the large and comprehensive businesses who want much more features on their website.
➔The creative control and freedom that’s given to the website owner are limited in traditional systems. Whenever they need to make even small changes, the project turns out to be time-consuming for them.
Therefore, websites that need to keep up with fast changing trends face a lot of trouble updating their data or offerings regularly if they choose a traditional eCommerce solution.
A headless eCommerce system, on the other hand, is flexible and allows the website owners to adopt new trends and changes quickly. This poses a significant impact on the overall agility and competitiveness of the organization.
➔ The decoupled architecture of headless eCommerce helps the customers acquire a scalable platform where they can build their business efficiently. Furthermore, with API facilitating the communication between the front-end and back-end, you can access more customization and control over your business.
This helps you in reducing dependency and beating the competition. This is not the case in traditional platforms, where things are comparatively complex.
➔ Headless eCommerce solutions allow you to collaborate with content management systems such as WordPress to optimize the user experience. Their API tools will enable you to build a brand-consistent image across channels, so that customer engagement and conversions face a boost.
➔ The elements that a headless eCommerce platform has built its back-end, but a traditional system lacks, include-
◆ Payment gateways
◆ An inventory management system
◆ Data processing
◆ Customer account management
◆ Billing and subscription platform
◆ Product inventory
◆ And much more.
Challenges to Headless eCommerce
Transitioning to headless eCommerce from a traditional system is difficult for any company. There are some repercussions businesses might face while shifting to headless eCommerce, which are highlighted below:
1.)Higher ownership costs
Headless eCommerce comes with a pay-per-use architecture, which means the more integrations your platform has, the more you will have to pay for it. As a result, the one-time investment cost is extensive, so you need to consider the options carefully before investing.
2.)Flexible yet complex
Smaller teams tend to find the distributed system of headless eCommerce challenging, and prefer the single solution offered by traditional eCommerce solutions.
3.)Difficulty in re-platforming
Migrating from your current platform to a more relevant one is not easy in headless eCommerce. It can be challenging and time-consuming, dependent upon the number of back-end integrations and front-end experiences you wish to have. Thus, if you want to re-platform sooner in your business, you should refrain from shifting to headless eCommerce.
4.)More resources are required
In headless eCommerce, it is essential to have both marketing and development teams on hand, as it separates copy from code. If you desire to add more features to your website, you will need developers' assistance.
5) Vulnerability of speed
Site performance can be hurt in headless eCommerce as the enormous number of APIs that connect the data are brought to the front-end. This causes your site to slow down, eventually deteriorating your conversion rate. In addition, your customers don’t usually like to wait for more than a few seconds for your page to load and will probably switch to another platform.
Steps to get started with headless eCommerce
Are you thinking about shifting your traditional commerce store to headless eCommerce solutions? Or deciding to build a new website? Of course, you’ll need to understand everything related to its first. To start with headless eCommerce, follow the procedure mentioned below in detail.
a) Evaluate
As we’ve mentioned above, it is significant for you to evaluate the headless eCommerce solution before making a paradigm shift. Check out the features of headless eCommerce along with its pros and cons.
Take assistance from a technical person or your technical team before making the decision. If you finally agree to move forward, decide what the motive is- why do you wish to shift to headless eCommerce over traditional eCommerce. Some of the reasons may include the following-
● You aim to reduce the downtime of your website
● You want to have access to more advanced features
● You wish to make instant front-end design changes
● You want to adopt an omnichannel sales strategy
b) Analyze your Needs
Headless eCommerce platforms are apt for direct-to-customer brands (D2C) and other online retailers who want to sell on multiple platforms. They’re also a good choice for global brands who wish to enhance their customer experience.
Headless eCommerce is best suited for your organization if your needs are similar to this. You should analyze your needs and specific factors about your organization before making the decision. This should include things like:
● The scalability of your platform
● The ability to offer an omnichannel experience
● Ease of Use and Security
● Customer support
● Re platforming, etc.
c) Making the purchase
The final step involves purchasing the best headless eCommerce platform for your needs. Some of the best platforms of 2022 include Magento, Big Commerce, Shopify Plus, and many more. Based on the features offered by these services and your budget, you should be able to choose a good platform for your headless eCommerce needs.
Final words
It is not difficult to shift to headless eCommerce if you have devised the right strategy. With all the knowledge you have gained from this article, it should be easy for you to come to a decision regarding your online eCommerce platform.
To experience the revolution in the online eCommerce systems that the world is experiencing, transform your website by making use of headless eCommerce for an enhanced customer experience and increased revenues!
