Is the future of eCommerce Headless?
Murli Pawar
Technology Strategist | VP - Technology | IIM Alumnus | Leading with Purpose
The way users shop online has changed and it is still changing. It has changed to an extent that it became headless.
In today’s world consumers are using various touch points like IoT, Virtual Assistant and Progressive Web Applications to making a purchase and consuming contents. legacy eCommerce platforms are struggling to keep up with the demands of the customer.
Headless Commerce is a solution that lets front-end and back-end of your e-commerce store stay independent of one another. You can say, it separates your User Interface layer from the elementary back-end services. In this approach, the front-end is removed from the back-end and a platform with back-end data model or cloud based infrastructure is introduced via a Restful API.
Headless Commerce and Traditional E-Commerce Solutions!!
The traditional e-commerce services come with a default front-end including the basic e-commerce attributes which is what every e-commerce entrepreneur looks out for, but Headless Commerce comes with all the elementary attributes and that too just the way you want it to be on your online store. In a traditional e-commerce platform, you have to abide by the front-end design developed by the platform and in order to make any changes related to the data or experience- the code, the front-end and the entire database needs to be changed.
With no default front-end in Headless Commerce, what you need is just a front-end developer to make any kind of customization and further create a unique and remarkable user experience tailor made for the business needs. In short, Headless Commerce allows infinite flexibility and access to the functionalities of an API to create a customized end user experience designed exclusively for you and your customers.
What Are the Benefits of Headless Commerce?
- Flexible: The present day customer wants a shopping experience that is unique, in trend, fast and most importantly easy to operate. With a separate front-end, you can simply bring in updates to your consumer layer without any muddle with the business infrastructure. So, going ahead, for any promotional campaign, you don’t need to wait for the developers to arrange the reconfiguration.
- Customization: With the decoupled architecture of Headless Commerce, the customizations no longer come in package offerings. You get to opt for not just the customizations that you want but also the way you want it.
- Personalization: Next time, if you seek to run some tests on the back-end that focus on attaining higher user personalization, you don’t have to worry about the front-end getting slow. The shoppers will enjoy a seamless experience while you run tests on the back-end.
- Quick Application: Having improved functionalities and integrations is not enough to run a smooth online store. With Headless Commerce, the functionalities can be introduced within no time. An update with respect to the iOS software can be applied quickly and you don’t have to reboot your system for the same.
So, If your business is growing at a rapid pace OR you own a business with CMS and want to grow your e-commerce offering OR your business deals with rich media content, Headless Commerce for your e-commerce store is the smart choice.