Decoupling for Success: Introducing Headless eCommerce

The speed at which eCommerce businesses are migrating from monolithic to headless architectures looks like the California Gold Rush from the 1840s. And you could prescribe this to the fact that there are billions to be made or lost, too, so it’s perfectly warranted.

In the world of eCommerce, decoupling is trending. By decoupling your eCommerce platform, you can take advantage of best-of-breed solutions, improve time to market, and future-proof your business. But what exactly is headless eCommerce? Keep reading to find out.

By changing to a headless frontend, your business will make it or break in a fast-paced industry. The Temkin Group found that companies that earn $1 billion annually can earn an additional $700 million within three years of investing in CX. That’s a 70% increase in revenue. 

So, what is it that makes headless commerce so effective? Today we’ll answer: what is headless e-commerce and explain the architecture behind it.

What exactly is headless eCommerce?

Headless eCommerce is a decoupled architecture that separates the front end from the back end of your eCommerce platform. This separation allows you to use any number of technologies for your front end—including JavaScript frameworks like React and Angular—and any number of technologies for your back end—including PHP, .NET, and Java.

In a traditional, monolithic eCommerce system, the frontend and backend are tightly coupled. This can make it difficult to change the frontend without affecting the backend and vice versa. A headless eCommerce system decouples these two layers, making it much easier to change either without affecting the other.

One of the most significant benefits of headless eCommerce is that it helps you take advantage of best-of-breed solutions. Rather than being locked into a single vendor solution, you can mix and match the technologies that work best for you. This approach also allows you to make changes quickly and easily without rebuilding your entire stack.

Another significant benefit of headless eCommerce is that it can help you improve the time to market. By decoupling your front end from your back end, you can make changes to your front end without having to wait for your back-end developers to finish their work. This approach can shorten development cycles and help you get new features and products to market faster.

And last but not least, headless eCommerce can help you future-proof your business. Because you’re not locked into a single vendor solution, you can easily change your technology stack as new technologies emerge. This approach ensures that your eCommerce platform will always be up-to-date, relevant, and capable of meeting the needs of your business—now and in the future. 

Headless eCommerce is a decoupling of the front end from the backend in an eCommerce system. This means that the presentation layer (the “head”) is separated from the database and business logic (the “body”). This separation has many advantages, chief among them being greater flexibility and easier integration with third-party systems.

Building a headless eCommerce Stack

A headless e-commerce stack is a collection of software that enables businesses to sell products and services online. The stack typically consists of an e-commerce platform, a content management system (CMS), and a payment gateway. In this section, we will break down the individual components of a headless e-commerce stack and explain how they work together to power an online store.

Frontend UI and API orchestration layer

A frontend UI and API orchestration layer is an essential component of headless commerce. This layer manages the communication between the various backend systems and the frontend interface. It ensures that data is formatted correctly and delivered to the appropriate frontend component on time. 

Additionally, this layer provides a consistent interface for interacting with the backend systems, regardless of the underlying technology. This allows businesses to adopt headless commerce without rewriting their entire frontend codebase. Ultimately, the frontend UI and API orchestration layer help to simplify the process of developing and deploying headless commerce applications.

E-Commerce Platform

The e-commerce platform is the foundation of the headless e-commerce stack. It handles the crucial tasks of managing product inventory, processing orders, and tracking customer data. Popular e-commerce platforms include Shopify, Magento, and PrestaShop.

Content Management System

The CMS is responsible for managing the website’s content. This includes creating and editing pages, adding images and videos, and publishing blog posts. WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, but many other options are available, such as Drupal and Joomla.

Payment Gateway

The payment gateway enables businesses to accept online payments from customers. PayPal is the most popular payment gateway, but others are available, such as Stripe and Authorize.net.

Advantages of Headless eCommerce

There are some advantages to using a headless eCommerce system. Chief among them being: 

• Improves CX: In a traditional ecommerce setup, the website’s frontend or “head” is connected to the backend or “body” through a series of APIs. This can lead to several problems, including slow loading times, missed opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, and difficulty making changes to the site without incurring significant development costs. Headless commerce decouples the frontend from the backend, allowing you to build a fast, flexible, and customer-centric ecommerce experience. 
• With headless commerce, you can quickly make changes to your site without having to rely on developers, and you can take advantage of new technologies as they emerge. In addition, headless commerce makes it easy to personalize the customer experience and provide a truly omnichannel experience. 
• Greater Flexibility: A headless eCommerce system is much more flexible than a traditional, monolithic system. This is because the frontend and backend are decoupled, meaning that changes to one do not affect the other. This makes it much easier to make changes to either the frontend or backend without having to worry about breaking something in the other. 
• Easier Integration with Third-Party Systems: A headless eCommerce system is also much easier to integrate with third-party systems. This is because the frontend and backend are decoupled, meaning that there is no need for complex integration between the two. 

A headless eCommerce system offers a number of advantages over a traditional, monolithic eCommerce system. These advantages include greater flexibility, easier integration with third-party systems, and improved performance. If you are considering using a headless eCommerce system for your business, contact Metric Marketing today to learn more about our headless eCommerce solution.

Conclusion

A headless e-commerce stack is a collection of software that enables businesses to sell products and services online. It typically consists of a frontend UI, an eCommerce platform, a content management system (CMS), and a payment gateway. In this blog post, we have broken down the individual components of a headless e-commerce stack and explained how they work together to power an online store.

If you’re looking for a flexible, scalable architecture for your eCommerce platform, look no further than headless eCommerce. Decoupling the front end from the back end allows you to mix and match technologies, improve time to market, and future-proof your business. Contact us today.