DEV Community

Cover image for How Does Headless Commerce Dominate Traditional Commerce?
Elsner Technologies
Elsner Technologies

Posted on

How Does Headless Commerce Dominate Traditional Commerce?

Snippet: Do you want to create a unique user experience with your Commerce development platform? If yes, you have come to the right place.

During this last decade, we have seen tremendous growth in the eCommerce world. It has increased the usage of mobile commerce, social media energized commerce, eCommerce giant Amazon has dominated the market, and constantly changing customer experience and behaviors.

If you want to keep up with the latest trends, it is crucial to hire an eCommerce development company that can help you fulfill the ever-changing demand of today’s customers.

As per the study, by the end of 2024, global eCommerce market will reach $6.3 trillion. So, if you want your business to stand out from the crowd, you must opt for eCommerce development services. Hire eCommerce developers that have in-depth knowledge of headless commerce.

Now, one question will pop into your mind – what is headless commerce, and how is it different from traditional commerce? Don’t worry! This blog will highlight everything you need to know about headless commerce.

What is Headless Commerce?

Let us explain to you in simple terms. Headless commerce means an API-led approach in which the backend system is not dependent on the frontend system. It means both methods will work independently.

In headless commerce, the front-end and back-end will be interlined via APIs. The main two concepts of headless commerce are head and body:

Head = frontend – A corresponding application that consumers can use for online shopping. It incorporates websites, social media, live chat, apps, voice e-browsing, etc.
Body = backend – In this, crucial business logic and services reside. It integrates third-party systems such as Payment Gateways, CRM, Marketing Systems, etc.

The best thing about headless commerce is that it lets merchants personalize their storefronts to become the backbone of the consumer’s unique online journey. Usually, we feel that having one system that carries out all functions can be less complicated. However, here you are mistaken. Such systems can be more complex and limiting.

For example, when you have a single system for the front end and back end, changes to the front end site are impossible without updating the back end. It means updates to the websites will take more time.

These days, customers use more devices, and that’s why your website needs to be omnichannel. In short, you should hire an eCommerce development company that helps in developing a website that is user-friendly, easy to navigate, fast, and offer a personalized experience on any platform. All these requirements can be easily fulfilled by headless commerce.

What are the Pros and Cons Of Headless Commerce?
Pros of Headless Commerce:

1. Omnichannel Experience

API drives headless commerce, and that’s why it naturally unifies multiple channels. With headless commerce, customers get a seamless and consistent user experience on whatever device they choose. The API pushes the data and other content from the backend systems to all other independent channels.

As frontend and backend systems are not dependent on each other, you can do it easily whenever you want to add any features or functions in the frontend or backend system. This multiple touchpoint experience is the future of eCommerce.

2. Improved Customization and Flexibility

As headless commerce follows decoupled architecture, it offers excellent customization and flexibility to developers and designers. A developer can do this easily whenever a merchant wants to implement any update to one part of the system. It will not affect the entire system’s functions.

Such flexibility is quite beneficial in today’s competitive environment and gives an edge over the traditional structure. Headless commerce front and backend are not connected, opening endless customization opportunities.

3. Less Time-To-Market

Headless commerce provides new frontend experiences fast. Besides that, headless commerce can easily and quickly adapt to the latest market trends, and that is with cost-effective backend development. In short, it will reduce time to market and ultimately contribute to sales.

Cons of Headless Commerce:

1. Need To Learn Additional Skills

Headless commerce includes more than one development team. So, the overall project budget, resource usage, and timeline will affect the planning stage. Therefore, to effectively manage the whole eCommerce website development project, you need to learn additional skills or hire an expert eCommerce development company from a reliable resource.

2. High Operational Cost

As headless commerce follows decoupled architecture, frontend and backend both may require hosting and maintenance. It will increase the operational cost.

Headless Commerce Vs. Traditional Commerce

In traditional commerce, the frontend system is connected to the backend. That’s why customization is quite difficult. Whenever merchants want to include a new channel, many changes to the backend system need to be made.

In traditional , any changes or updates are not seamless and hassle-free because of the tight connection between the front end and the backend. Traditional commerce platforms do not need additional setup costs and are quite easy to deploy. In it, components such as frameworks, scripts, and templates can be easily applied, limiting the seamless digital experience.

A few years ago, eCommerce website development was built via this approach. A monolithic architecture was being supported by desktop computers earlier. However, in today’s digital and mobile-driven era, if merchants still like to maintain this approach, they will not be able to meet their consumers’ expectations.

All Set To Go Headless?

In summary, headless commerce is not a good-to-have feature but a must for eCommerce businesses. Headless commerce helps businesses to become more creative and engaging by providing a rich user experience through agility.

Therefore, if you want to enjoy flexible, personalized, and competitive eCommerce development services and a unified customer experience, you should leverage headless commerce.

Some of the excellent eCommerce development have highly skilled and seasoned eCommerce developers. So, hire eCommerce developers to guide you about Headless Commerce development.

Top comments (0)