Headless Commerce: How to create unique user experiences with your e-commerce platform

In the last decade alone, the world of e-commerce has changed tremendously: the explosion of mobile commerce, the birth of social commerce, the market dominance of e-commerce -Huge Amazon, not to mention the constant change. Consumer Behavior and Expectations. So how can online retailers keep up with new trends and react quickly to technological changes? And how can e-commerce platforms meet the demands of the modern customer? Get in the headless trade. Headless commerce architecture is the decoupling of a website’s front-end presentation layer, which includes elements such as text colors and styles, images, charts and tables, buttons, etc., from the back-end e-commerce functionality: pricing, infrastructure, security, payment, etc. Developers can use the frontend technology of their choice to deliver high-quality content experiences and connect an e-commerce solution to the backend that handles all business functions. As more and more e-commerce businesses try to keep up with current trends, this number is sure to increase.

In this guide, we examine the key differences between traditional and headless trading, the benefits you can expect from headless solutions, and how our own traders are reaping the rewards of headless trading.

Headless Commerce vs. Traditional Ecommerce 

Flexibility is the driving force behind the shift to new e-commerce models. Because the client-side of the website is decoupled from the technical side, the headless model can offer businesses an unprecedented level of flexibility, which is critical in today’s market. This flexibility allows brands to create a unique customer experience on the user interface. 

Traditional Ecommerce 

The most traditional e-commerce model is the all-in-one monolithic model mentioned above. established companies and businesses. The advantages of a monolithic model are full platform control for the IT department, which can be useful when a front-end experience requires extreme 

Customization. Also, with older e-commerce platforms, everything is packaged, making it easy to set up systems and use pre-installed tools. On the other hand, monolithic strategies often have a long time to market and high development costs that can slow innovation. Additionally, there’s little room for extensive design, customization, and merchandising options, and it can be difficult to integrate with your current systems.

Headless commerce.

Headless commerce systems meet businesses wherever they have commerce functionality. Brands will deliver API-driven experiences through a CMS, DXP, application, device, or custom frontend — with Big Commerce powering the commerce engine.

With headless, brands can produce e-commerce experiences mistreatment of robust arthropod genus (application programming interfaces). 

At Big Commerce, the core elements of our SaaS platform are hospitable extension and association to the other surroundings to extend efficiencies and scale back bottlenecks.

From extremely bespoke React.js or angular sites to a CMS, it is doable to integrate even the foremost advanced commerce necessities with lovely work. Brands oughtn’t to compromise content to mix it with agile, versatile e-commerce.

Commerce-led or commerce-first models use the arthropod genus for information orchestration and provide relative management thereto groups for infrastructure connectivity. On a SaaS platform, the quantity of API decisions offered is vital to creating positive functions properly.

Open SaaS may be a SaaS platform design alternative that incorporates the following:

1. High or unlimited API call volumes.
2. Multiple endpoints.
3. Well-documented developer documents.
4. A significant concentrate on API development in the product roadmap make.

For platforms employing a stone technology, the frontend/presentation layer and also the backend/server-side are prepackaged along into an Associate in Nursing an all-in-one solution. whereas this will create putting in place your online store a lot of straightforward and straightforward, it would gift some complications for enterprise-level businesses.

This can be why several businesses are shifting from a monolith approach to Mach.

A sort of composable design, Mach stands for microservices, API-first, cloud-native SaaS, and headless. Contrary to a monolithic architecture, that lacks the pliability required to adapt quickly to digital change, MACH architecture permits you to settle on the technology that works best for your business and future goals. Click here for a lot of data on a way to go headless with BigCommerce.

Headless Commerce edges

There are multiple benefits to victimization each a commerce-led or a content-led e-commerce strategy.

Content- and experience-led methods using headless commerce will give brands:

1. Advanced technologies to make visionary, quick websites.
2. Flexibility and familiarity for frontend developers.
3. Complete possession of website architecture.
4. Selling effectiveness for innovation while not symptom backend processes.
5. Speed to plug for international and omnichannel GTMs.
6. Conversion rates and lower client acquisition costs.

Additionally, headless commerce reveals a world of potentialities with brands that are trying to find a content-led strategy to start with. There are actually no limitations to the customizations which will occur within the digital e-commerce space. 

Let’s check out a number of the best edges of headless commerce.

Headless Commerce Use Cases

whether or not you like WordPress, Drupal, Bloomreach, Adobe expertise Manager or different CMS/DXPs, PWAs or have your own custom engineered resolution with leading technologies like Gatsby — headless commerce works in mere concern associates use case.

All you would like is an API association to decouple the platform’s presentation layer so plug the platform into wherever you need it to work.

the foremost common reasons for employing a decoupled SaaS e-commerce platform together with a separate forepart solution are:

PCI compliance mitigation: Less work for IT teams, as the SaaS supplier takes on the risk.

Checkout security and fraud protection: Same as above. Less work for IT groups because the SaaS provider takes on the risk.

Open design and extensibility: Utilize pre-built integrations with ERPs, CRMs, and more, or a custom build your own with further Apis and SDKs.

Content Management System (CMS).

Once the headless approach is paired with a CMS, it makes for a strong combination. In these cases, the e-commerce platform is decoupled from the presentation layer, therefore a whole can use standard CMS solutions like WordPress, DXPs like Drupal, or custom frontend solutions for uncomparable client experiences that increase conversion.

particularly if you’re taking an omnichannel approach, pairing headless commerce with a headless content management system is the thanks to going. employing a single CMS, you’ll produce channel-specific content and numerous user experiences with arthropod genus powering your frontend and backend.  

If you select CMS from a SaaS giver, the e-Commerce platform can provide PCI compliance and inventory management — tho’ it is connected to further systems like an ERP, PIM, or OMS tool via APIs.

WordPress.

WordPress is the CMS of alternative for over thirty million websites around the globe.

With BigCommerce’s launch of the BigCommerce for WordPress plugin, there’s currently a scalable, SaaS answer accessible for the WordPress brand. BigCommerce conjointly partners with Nexcess for uncomparable WordPress hosting support.

Contentful.

Contentful may be a headless CMS and API-first content management platform that allows users to create, manage and distribute content on any digital channel.

in contrast to a conventional CMS, Contentful offers users full management over their content model in order that they can opt for the content they need to manage. With REST APIs, users can distribute content across websites, mobile apps, and a spread of different channels.

Contentful offers an easy interface so users can manage their content independently, or they’ll assign custom roles, permissions, and validations to figure out with a team.

Prismic.

Prismic may be a headless website builder that helps digital corporations unlock growth with the best performance, strong disapproval, And quick iteration.

As an API-first, hosted, proprietary CMS, Prismic offers an online app for making and publishing content in an exceedingly approach that’s easier for each developer and editor. 

in contrast to different solutions, Prismic is compatible with each technology, permitting developers to the US whichever tools/languages they prefer, it permits content groups to figure independently, and change content within the authoring surroundings while not involving developers, and it doesn’t need infrastructure management, which implies selling teams will begin creating and publishing content right off the bat.

Contentstack.

Contentstack, a pioneering agile CMS, empowers marketers and developers to collaborate around content. 

As a headless, API-first solution, Contentstack works to alter content creation by separating the frontend content from the backend code, permitting developers to form and manage content via relaxing APIs. mistreatment Contenstack’s technology, groups will publish across multiple platforms as well as online stores and mobile apps.

just like Prism, Contentstack offers teams the liberty to create content severally from backend developers in order that they can get their websites off the bottom quickly and seamlessly.

The Final Word

In our survey with Retail Dive, 60% of participants knew 2 methods because the most significant to managing or reducing client acquisition costs: making content to publish via their own channels and up their overall digital experience.

As we have a tendency to still get into a relationship-promoting the model that’s known by content, intermingled with commerce, and supported experience, you have got to be extraordinarily agile and extremely filmable to thrive. once all, the sole constant changes.

SaaS e-commerce solutions will alter you to quickly adapt to alter while achieving a lower total value of ownership, a quicker time to market, bigger security, and everything you would like to deliver a first online looking experience. Open SaaS and headless are some ways you’ll bring home the bacon all of this with additional flexibility and selection once it involves what frontend you use. If you would like to find out more regarding how headless commerce is getting used to driving content-led and experience-led online stores, inspect the BigCommerce headless commerce solution.