Headless Commerce, Today’s Online Selling Solution

Importance of Headless Commerce to Improve Your Business

Entering the third decade of the 21st century, advances in digital technology are increasing in human daily life, especially in digital commerce or e-commerce. The existence of a pandemic makes online shopping a solution in the midst of a slumping economy.
E-Commerce is growing very fast! Innovations in technology are also developing, one of which is Headless Commerce.
Its popularity is increasing, along with its various benefits to business actors. In the future, Headless commerce may become a new standard for B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Customer) companies.
Curious what is Headless Commerce? Let’s see the following article

What is Headless Commerce?

Headless Commerce is a system that separates the Front-End from the Back-End, both of which work independently & through API (Application & Programmer Interfaces).
Headless Commerce is an E-Commerce solution that stores, maintains and distributes content without using the Front-End layer.
Developers can use the API to send items such as products, blog articles, or customer reviews to any device.
At the same time, frontend developers can work on how to present that information using whatever Framework they choose.
Product information and content delivery systems consist of using APIs that can be used for any channel, such as mobile apps, smartwatches, voice assistants, or digital kiosk screens. This means no more ‘master’ front end.
Therefore, the focus of Headless Commerce is to combine all shopping experiences, facilitate content testing and changes, and create an ecosystem where it is easier and faster to adopt new innovations.

 

What is the difference between Headless Commerce and Traditional?

Here are some differences that make Headless Commerce the solution for your business.

• Development

  • Traditional: A very rigid design because the Front-End is still connected to the Back-End
  • Headless Commerce: Has flexibility in design settings because it uses an API, which makes the Front-End and Back-End parts separate

• Customization

  • Traditional : Adjusts to the default settings
  • Headless Commerce: Design can be customized by each user and device used.

• Flexibility

  • Traditional: Changes that occur, require Front-End and Back-End simultaneously
  • Headless Commerce: The changes that occur do not make them dependent on each other.

 

Benefits of Headless Commerce for Your Business

Being different & better than competitors will open up new opportunities for your business to win the competition in the digital world. Here are the benefits you can get when using Headless Commerce in your business.

• Have Competitive Strength

Headless Commerce allows you to adapt more quickly to market and consumer demands. In addition, you can create a shopping experience that is faster and more suitable for different situations.

• Content Consistency Across Channels

Your content can be customized according to the channels used, such as websites, mobile apps, and social media. This will strengthen the user experience who gets consistent content throughout their visit to your channel.

• Service Optimization & Content Work Efficiency

Headless Commerce makes it easy to do A/B testing because you can get creative with your display. This way, you can get results faster to show which design and UX are working best and apply any changes with minimum delay.

Working on content on Headless Commerce also becomes more efficient because every content created will be stored in one content center, so there is no need to rework each existing front-end framework. A change will be applied to all front-end frameworks at once.

• Reach More Audience

Your business’s content is now accessible to all users from different devices. This is because you can choose what front-end framework to use.

• Scalability

Scalability means the ability of a system to handle additional loads. With Headless Commerce, because the back-end (content creation and storage) and the front-end are separate, when you optimize or upgrade one part, there will be no downtime/broken display during maintenance.

• More Guaranteed Security

Security is the most important thing for your business. Headless Commerce also offers better security. This is because the front-end and back-end are separate, and are linked to an API, which reduces the risk of DDoS attacks from the backend.

• Not Easy to Lose Content

Headless Commerce stores your content data in the Cloud, which will be linked using an API. When a hacker attacks, your data will not be lost entirely.

Example Companies that Use Headless

Headless commerce has now become a more opt-for brand to offer a superior online shopping experience. And here are the prominent brands that have adopted headless commerce.

• Nike

Everyone knows Nike, and no need for a special introduction since this brand stands out from the crowd among the footwear brands. Nike is one of the brands that have gone headless because they wanted a mobile-first approach to give the best shopping experience for mobile customers. In the end, Nike aimed to make the highest profit and gain more market share from their competitor. 

• Lancôme

Lancôme, the French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house saw the potential in Headless Commerce for providing customers with the best shopping experience through Progressive Web Applications. And the results are amazing, where Lancôme saw a 17% increase in their conversion rate since adopting the headless approach.

• Under Armour 

Under Armour, the American sports equipment company also adopted the Headless approach. Even though Headless Commerce was relatively new at that time, with dedication and a dynamic mindset, they successfully transformed its site into profitable and one of the leading sportswear retailers. 

 

Is headless commerce fit for every e-commerce store? 

If you ask whether headless commerce applies to all e-commerce stores, the short answer is NO. Depending on the website architecture, it might not be a good fit for every e-commerce store.

Suppose you are craving more personalized and unique experiences with flexible development and the resources to support the headless commerce transformation. In that case, if you choose headless commerce, you are on the right path.

Another case is if you are pretty satisfied with the traditional architecture, you do not need headless commerce because it may not be worth the financial and time resources. It all depends on your goals or what you are trying to achieve–then you can evaluate if headless is the only best way to get you there.

If you are still in doubt about deciding whether to transform into headless commerce or not, you can check this list:

• I already have an established infrastructure, but re-platform with another tool into our existing technology is not as easy as it seems.
• I feel we are left behind competitors in traffic and revenue because I am too overwhelmed by making front-end and back-end adjustments.
• I want my customer shopping experience to be fast and have more granular control over the elements that affect performance and site speed.
• My storefront theme or template is not attractive to customers and can not be customizable as I would like.
• I do not have a native mobile app for iOS or Android for my e-commerce.
• I have a mobile shopping app, but it is not as user-friendly as competitors’ or I would like it to be.
• I want to build a unique and attractive storefront e-commerce experience by adding some custom storefronts, but it is not possible with my current platform.

If you tick at least half of those above, you can consider headless commerce for your business.

 

Top Headless E-commerce Platform: Magento

Magento is an e-commerce platform that provides online businesses with a dynamic shopping cart system and flexibility over their online stores’ appearance, content, and functionality.
Magento provides a wide range of powerful catalog management and marketing tools. Keep in mind that API extensions are not directly available in every version or function of Magento. This may need more development.

Closing

If you currently feel that the CMS you are using has not been able to deliver the user experience you want, Headless Commerce is your business solution.

It is perfect for your growing business and looking to strengthen your omnichannel network. In addition to a clearer user experience, increased conversion rates and business branding are a distinct advantage for your competitors.

Upgrading to Headless Commerce will take your business to the next level. Please talk to us whenever you need information or have doubts about Headless Commerce, and we will be happy to assist you.
And follow us on Instagram @lime.commerce

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