The rise of ecommerce has shifted the ways many corporations conduct business, together with the ways we speak about business. Even throughout the last decade, the availability of digital platforms for conducting business has skyrocketed. While ecommerce itself is not brand recent, a lot of its trends and practices are, because of this rapid evolution.
For ecommerce businesses, staying on top of the latest trends and changes presents a unique challenge. Exciting opportunities might pop up repeatedly for those that are capable of sustain with the changing landscape. But with the rate of developments, that is often easier said than done. Finding ways to implement real practices that optimize the latest technologies and applications for your small business is not at all times straightforward.
A outstanding example of this is able to be the idea of headless commerce, or headless ecommerce. Major brands like Nike have adopted a headless approach to great success. Naturally, others need to copy that success by adopting similar approaches. Headless commerce is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot today, but its meaning can easily cause confusion. Is headless ecommerce a good thing, or a bad thing? What’s headless ecommerce, exactly? If you’re asking yourself these questions, we can answer them for you.
What’s Headless Ecommerce?
Headless commerce refers to a strategy for structuring an ecommerce platform so that the frontend and backend can function individually. In other words, the
This method allows for faster turnaround and implementation of recent changes to your platform. Older models, where the frontend and backend are linked together, are less efficient to work with when recent extensions are being added.
It could be helpful to use the analogy of dining out at a restaurant when enthusiastic about headless commerce. The frontend of the ecommerce platform is represented by the menu and your waiter or waitress. After browsing the menu, you make your selection, and your server passes the information along to the backend. On the backend, your food is prepared by the kitchen, and brought back out to you as the finished product.
Now just imagine how less efficient that process can be if the server needed to go back to the kitchen to prepare your food themselves. This might allow for a more customizable experience for businesses with lower volumes. But for a business that’s attempting to optimize and function many purchasers as possible, separating the two ends is vastly superior.
So now that you just higher understand the general idea of headless commerce, you could be wondering what exactly it looks like. Here’s a quick breakdown of how headless ecommerce platforms work.
Headless Ecommerce Platforms 101
As mentioned previously, headless ecommerce is intended to help corporations adapt and evolve seamlessly by decoupling frontend and backend programs. But what exactly are these programs, and how does this separation work?
The method for decoupling the frontend and backend relies heavily on APIs (Application Programming Interface). API is a fancy term for a system that enables two or more programs to communicate with one another. With a headless ecommerce platform, individual programs are capable of communicate through a shared API despite performing different tasks. That is the key to headless ecommerce architecture. The API must allow for a seamless exchange of information between backend and frontend software.
If you’re thinking that this sounds too complicated to implement for your small business, don’t worry. While headless ecommerce itself involves a little bit of complex programming, implementing it via a content management system (CMS) simplifies the process. A headless CMS for ecommerce allows businesses to create, edit, and modify their ecommerce website without requiring much expertise.
Ecwid users, for example, can easily implement our ecommerce software with any CMS they’re already using. Our software is engineered to offer a headless commerce experience, so the work it is advisable do is fairly limited.
Best Headless Ecommerce Platforms
Wish to arrange your personal business website for headless ecommerce? The excellent news is you don’t must construct your personal website from scratch to do so. The only technique to get arrange is to use an ecommerce platform that makes headless ecommerce easy.
A headless ecommerce platform allows business owners to customize their online store while not having to be website design or coding experts.
If you don’t know where to start, we’ve compiled a list of a few of the best headless ecommerce platforms. Listed here are a few of the best platforms that supply headless functionality.
Commercetools
Commercetools is a headless ecommerce platform with omnichannel functionality. This implies it can easily be integrated across multiple platforms for a seamless user and brand experience. Commercetools is an effective platform for each B2B and B2C corporations, as it offers a range of useful features for each. It’s also relatively easy to use with very adaptive APIs (Application Programming Interface).
There are several highlights to using CommerceTools as your headless ecommerce platform. Considered one of the platform’s most notable features is its point of sales functionality. The platform has a robust offering of POS features that make the customer experience simpler and streamlined on any platform. Commercetools also has the whole lot an ecommerce business needs for inventory management and data flow management. As far as headless ecommerce platforms go, Commercetools is considered one of the more
Nevertheless, there are a couple of potential issues that users must be aware of. The primary is that Commercetools is lacking in dedicated customer support. Users don’t have any access to phone support or live chat support, so any help requests have to be handled via email. Second is that Commercetools’ pricing plans are
Adobe Commerce (Magento)
Adobe Commerce, formerly often called Magento, is a headless ecommerce platform from considered one of the most trusted names in business software. As one might expect from a brand like Adobe, Adobe Commerce has a lot to offer. Adobe Commerce is extremely customizable, making it considered one of the more flexible ecommerce options available. Nevertheless, profiting from this customizability requires a little bit of knowledge and expertise. But for those that can manage it, the options available to Adobe users are virtually countless. Adobe Commerce offers excellent data and inventory management, seamless
Adobe Commerce also offers reliable customer support, including advanced guidelines for how one can use all of the available features. For specific inquiries, users may also schedule an appointment for live support.
Adobe Commerce’s interface might be fairly overwhelming at first as a consequence of the high volume of available tools. Nevertheless, it is a fairly
Adobe Commerce is good for B2B and B2C corporations alike. And while it offers a lot, that extensive offering also comes with a steep price tag. Like Commercetools, Adobe’s pricing plans are only available upon request. This may make it difficult to predict exact costs, but it surely does mean your payment plan might be highly customized. Nevertheless, the more features you would like, the dearer the service gets.
Nacelle
Nacelle is a headless ecommerce platform that provides seamless migration for existing businesses. This makes it a superb option for corporations who need to upgrade over their existing ecommerce infrastructure. Nacelle is excellent at gathering data across other platforms your small business might use, like Shopify or Salesforce. Nacelle can then easily integrate that data across all channels to show you how to grow your small business.
Except for adaptability, Nacelle has all of the essential tools that companies require from an ecommerce platform. POS and payment processing functionality, inventory management, and content management are all strengths of the platform.
Nacelle uses easily workable design templates with moderate customizability features. While it is not quite as customizable as other headless ecommerce platforms, it is still fairly flexible.
Nacelle is lacking in live customer support. Nevertheless, the platform does offer loads of support features in the type of blog posts, user guides, and FAQ pages. Users can contact Nacelle via email for specific inquiries if needed.
Nacelle offers a free demo to start, which is a nice offering for recent users. Nevertheless, once the demo expires, pricing is based on the amount of items your organization sells per 30 days. Whether or not this pricing system is higher or worse for you depends upon the volume of your sales. The upper your sales, the dearer the platform becomes. Nevertheless, that is not a bad problem to have if it means your small business is successful.
Ecwid
What makes Ecwid unique amongst other ecommerce platforms is the availability of totally free features. For brand new businesses just starting out, Ecwid represents the best free headless ecommerce platform. Unlike most platforms, which only offer
Ecwid’s free plan allows users to create product listings for five products plus arrange shipping and payment processes. Users may also access Ecwid’s
Of course, for users who want access to more advanced settings, Ecwid also offers
Ecwid’s Enterprise plan lets users list up to 100 items and sell across multiple platforms. Additionally they receive access to features like mobile support and more extensive store management apps.
Ecwid’s Unlimited plan allows users to access the whole lot Ecwid offers, including their very own branded app for selling.
See the full plans overview and prices on the Ecwid pricing page.
No matter which payment plan you select, Ecwid is designed to be a flexible,
Ecwid & Next.js Commerce
Furthermore, if you’re using Next.js Commerce, a
Once you use Ecwid as your headless ecommerce provider on Next.js Commerce, you get to design your storefront just the way you wish it.
As a developer, listed below are the perks you’ll love about this integration:
- Faster page loading times. Next.js Commerce combines
server-side rendering and static site generation topre-render pages either during construct time oron-demand, guaranteeing a swift user experience. - True headless approach. Managing your online store and the way it looks are totally separate things.
- Extensive customization. You’ll have a super flexible storefront sporting a fresh, modern look you could tweak to suit your needs.
- Easy online selling. You’re all set with a
ready-made template to kickstart online sales in a snap.
Are you curious to see what this power combo looks like in real life? Take a look at this demo store.
Find the whole lot it is advisable find out about adding Ecwid as your ecommerce provider on Next.js Commerce in our Help Center.
Headless Ecommerce Advantages
Higher flexibility
The choice to headless ecommerce architecture is often called monolithic ecommerce. In this method, each the frontend and backend are depending on each other. This makes it harder for corporations to make changes to their website. If you desire to implement recent code on the backend, it could disrupt the visual display on the front end. Likewise, if you desire to update the look of your page, it is advisable work across the backend code.
But headless ecommerce solutions eliminate this delicate balancing act. As a result, you may implement as many changes as you wish without nearly as much concern a few conflict. This implies more freedom to implement changes or adapt to involve newer, advanced technologies in your website.
More sophistication
Continuing off the last point, headless ecommerce architecture also allows businesses to construct more sophisticated web sites than ever before. This lets you accomplish rather more in your ecommerce space. Dynamic pricing for your store page, advanced graphics, interactive demos, and more are all made easier with headless ecommerce solutions.
Faster turnaround times
Perhaps the most notable advantage of headless ecommerce is how quickly corporations could make changes to their website. With the right headless CMS for ecommerce, it’s as easy as plugging in a recent piece of software and letting it go to work. In a previous age, major changes would have required weeks or months of backend programming to implement. But now, adapting to changes on the fly is possible. This enables business owners to capitalize on trends and remain focused on other areas of their business.
Cost savings
An extension of the faster turnaround times afforded by headless ecommerce solutions is added cost savings. Backend development might be an arduous, costly, and
Improved website performance
We have mentioned higher technology being available through headless ecommerce solutions a few times now. Well, that advanced technology may also improve your website performance. Because headless programs are centrally stored, using an API to stay connected, they permit web sites to deliver information at rapid speeds. When it involves search engine optimisation and user experience, that is a major profit. Slow loading times are considered one of the biggest, and most avoidable, causes of high bounce rates for web sites. Simply put, the faster your pages load, and the easier they’re to interact with, the higher.
Marketing opportunities
That’s right, headless ecommerce may even help together with your marketing, each directly and not directly. That is more to do with giving your marketing team more tools to work with than the rest. For instance, social media sharing is an option that’s made much easier by headless ecommerce solutions. Headless ecommerce architecture also makes it easier to save and store customer shopping carts, which presents opportunities for customer outreach. Likewise, that is made easier through headless solutions. These are only a few common examples of what headless ecommerce solutions can do to grow your organization’s online presence.
When implementing the latest solutions to your website, the opportunities are limitless. Throughout the next yr, recent trends and technologies may emerge which create entirely recent marketing opportunities. And the easiest technique to stay on top of those trends is by adopting a headless ecommerce structure.
