The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently affected our lives. Manufacturing, transport, marketing, retail, and support have all felt COVID-19’s effects, impacting every stage of the buyer journey. This issue highlights the need for a new ecommerce system that helps brands extend their reach and more effectively engage with clients on various platforms. One possible solution is headless ecommerce, which offers a more flexible and agile alternative to traditional ecommerce.
What is headless ecommerce?
Headless ecommerce is essentially a system in which the front and backends of a typical ecommerce application are separated. All ecommerce solutions consist of web applications that enable startups and entrepreneurs to set up online storefronts. But headless ecommerce allows more flexibility to set up online shops according to user preferences. It also provides customers with a richer and more rewarding experience. "Going headless" is a significant step forward that offers many advantages over traditional ecommerce. And like the best ecommerce solutions, it provides a range of features and functionalities that make it easy for users to set up and deploy their own ecommerce store.
How does headless ecommerce differ from standard ecommerce?
The main difference between headless ecommerce and standard ecommerce solutions is how they are set up. In most ecommerce systems, the front and backends are integrated in a single platform. Headless ecommerce apps take a different approach, separating these components and essentially treating each as distinct entities. Among many other benefits, this architecture enables users to customize their sites however they want. Headless apps rely greatly on APIs, experience managers, and IT partners—whether in-house or partnered with another business. Along with essential tools such as Heroku and Mulesoft, these comprise the critical resources that enable companies to consistently innovate and deliver increased functionality and more engaging customer experiences.Because of the separation of the front and backends in headless ecommerce systems, users can implement necessary updates to each component more easily. This facilitates the process of staying on top of new developments in the ecommerce sector, which is often a significant challenge with traditional systems.
Main characteristics of headless ecommerce platforms
Many of the best headless ecommerce systems share the following characteristics:
- They adopt an “API-first” approach
- They provide an omnichannel experience
API-first approach
API-first systems prioritize Application Programming Interface (API) design and development over implementation. This contrasts with standard ecommerce systems, in which the code takes precedence. With code-based systems, making changes can be a laborious process that requires intensive reworking. Even slight modifications can cause delays, as development teams repeatedly rework the system to implement the necessary changes. In most cases, the process is not only time-consuming but also costly. In API-first systems, the application interface used to develop the rest of the application is created first. Any required features are then added as independent services accessed by the API. Consequently, future applications can be more easily incorporated into the existing system.The API-first approach is especially suitable for cloud-based systems. Because of the flexibility of its infrastructure, an API-first system simplifies the process of managing even complex cloud-based applications.
Omnichannel experience
One of the main benefits of "going headless" is their ability to provide an omnichannel experience. Unlike traditional ecommerce solutions that limit customer access to a few channels, a headless ecommerce platform allows more flexibility and easier access. This is an especially useful feature for audiences that may utilize mobile platforms, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other modern technologies.
Benefits of a headless ecommerce platform
Headless ecommerce generally simplifies and streamlines the process of designing and developing online commerce systems. Some of its main benefits over standard ecommerce solutions include:
More flexible customization options
Headless ecommerce architecture is set up to allow for virtually unlimited customization. Therefore, developers can tailor the platform to reflect the brand’s language and tone more closely. Having the backend separate from the frontend also enables developers to make as many customizations as needed on either side without disrupting or having to rework the entire system. This makes it possible to create an ecommerce store that's more versatile than traditional ecommerce platforms' shop-with-checkout systems.
Easier and quicker integration
Headless platforms allow developers to integrate new features quickly. They also make it possible to develop new and more efficient APIs and incorporate those that typically utilize frontend resources. With a headless ecommerce system, the backend typically constitutes the core architecture. The way the system is set up makes it easy to add new features as needed without involving the frontend. Consequently, extra functionality can be added simply by incorporating working APIs to the backend.
Improved customer experience
Headless systems are ideally suited to consumer needs. The ease with which they allow integrating new solutions can greatly improve the customer experience. One of the most successful examples of headless ecommerce is Amazon, which integrates new features quickly in response to customer demands and preferences. By using headless architecture, companies such as Amazon can test out new features and implement them quickly if user response is favorable.
What these benefits mean to your company
Many of the early adopters of headless commerce were larger enterprises with sizable IT and development teams. This is mainly because the custom programing necessary for separate front and backend development requires considerable time, sometimes taking several months from start to deployment. But headless systems are becoming more and more feasible for startups and smaller companies with limited resources. Firms with creative and ambitious development teams with a strong DIY ethic can test new designs and incorporate them into existing systems without endless reworking and modifications. Headless ecommerce can provide the following tangible benefits to companies: Improves employee adoption of the new technology. Steep learning curves have traditionally been some of the most significant obstacles to using new technologies. Although B2B ecommerce platform popularity has skyrocketed, it's still difficult to re-learn from scratch every time an update comes out. For many companies, the difficulty in getting employees and clients onboard supersedes the need to adopt more advanced technological innovations. But with a headless approach, anyone can access and update a B2B ecommerce platform's frontend features—without advanced technical knowledge.Provides the most suitable tools for specific tasks. Headless ecommerce offers the tools necessary to develop more rewarding experiences for customers. The more efficient use of APIs helps ensure coordinated experiences that are more consistent with the brand’s voice and vision, even across different channels. These tools also make it easier to develop consistently identifiable promotions, inventories, product information, and other services.Reduces time spent on making changes. With traditional ecommerce platforms, a considerable amount of development time is spent making changes and modifications and then troubleshooting and ensuring compatibility through the system. A headless ecommerce solution drastically cuts down the time it takes to modify the user interface because frontend changes can be made independently of the rest of the platform. Furthermore, headless ecommerce solutions have the advantage of readymade templates and partner solutions. These enable developers to deploy ecommerce apps with minimal coding.Shortens response times to market trends. In today’s commercial and retail markets, trends come and go in the blink of an eye. Companies that can respond to market changes quickly have a considerable edge over the competition. Headless ecommerce allows brand managers to react to upcoming trends almost as soon as they become aware of them. Furthermore, they make it possible to quickly launch innovative frontend features without incurring steep backend development costs.
How headless ecommerce benefits your customers
Ultimately, a headless ecommerce solution should be about addressing the customers’ needs, including user experience and ease of access. Considering the speed at which customer and societal demands change, brands need to be able to pivot quickly to address constantly-changing expectations. Headless ecommerce is ideally suited for this purpose, allowing brands and customers to interact in new and more rewarding ways. Among the headless ecommerce features that are most beneficial to customers are:
1. Instant changes and optimization
Headless systems allow new content updates to be reflected as soon as they are introduced. This is a marked improvement over traditional ecommerce systems, in which new features can take several hours to deploy.
2. Enhanced user interfaces
A headless approach gives developers total freedom to control the various elements that users typically interact with. This allows for a greater degree of creativity and a more streamlined user experience.Headless architecture also increases site compatibility, ensuring that ecommerce business pages work seamlessly on different devices and platforms. In contrast, traditional ecommerce design will often have to be reworked to address disappearing or incorrectly displayed page elements.
Amp Up Your Game
Many ecommerce business solutions come with premium price tags yet offer limited functionality. Furthermore, most of them are difficult and costly to customize because the front and backends are integrated into a single system.Headless ecommerce is a more flexible and straightforward alternative to traditional ecommerce platforms. They are generally easier to use, allowing for unlimited customization and simplifying the process of improving customer experience. With Ampry’s help, you can optimize your headless system to see higher conversions, better click-through rates, and better ROI on advertising efforts.