Gone are the days of legacy monolithic ecommerce architecture and its associated lack of operational flexibility.
The future of ecommerce is here, and it’s called headless commerce. This revolutionary technology is gaining popularity in retail, and for a good reason.
But what exactly is headless commerce, and why is it so promising? Let’s dive in and find out.
At its core, headless commerce provides merchants with numerous benefits, including:
Pre-Made Backend
One of the advantages of using a headless ecommerce approach is that you can leverage a pre-made backend provided by an open SaaS provider such as BigCommerce.
Their ecommerce platform has a wide range of features to handle tasks such as managing orders, product catalogs, hosting, security, and more.
Front-end Creative Freedom
You can choose various front-end frameworks rather than relying on standard store templates. You can connect these frameworks to the pre-made backend.
Working with a certified BigCommerce development company may be necessary to ensure seamless integration.
Simply put, delegating demanding tasks like order processing and dynamic pricing to a specialized commerce system like BigCommerce minimizes the risk of performance problems caused by sharing resources.
Difference Between Headless Commerce And Monolithic Architecture
Monolithic ecommerce platforms’ server-side and display elements are inextricably linked by design.
Because of this rigidity, it is challenging to update user interfaces because doing so may:
- Require backend validation.
- Conflict with platform operations, like the checkout page or shopping cart.
- Need a larger IT team to handle the delivery of new features.
Few retailers were troubled by the rigidity of monolithic systems because most online buying was desktop-based.
Monolith design has become a growth inhibitor, as customers now want excellent UX across numerous channels when shopping.
Advantages Of Headless Architecture
Further motives for brands switching to headless architecture, besides creative flexibility and pre-integrated backend functions, include:
- Enhance customer satisfaction.
- Optimize omnichannel operations.
- Accelerate time to market for goods and services.
- Flexibility to choose best-in-class technologies.
- Stable and reliable operations.
Let’s look at these benefits in further detail:
1.) Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
Providing an exceptional customer experience is a key competitive advantage in the retail industry.
According to Salesforce, a company’s customer satisfaction is valued just as much as its products and services, with 84% of customers agreeing.
Consumers today seek personalized experiences, exceptional customer service, and brands that exceed their expectations.
In fact, a recent survey by McKinsey found that 80% of consumers expect personalization from retailers.
Furthermore, the 2021 PWC report shows that 39% of customers want brands to consistently meet their needs, while 38% expect high-quality customer service.
By adopting a headless architecture, businesses can take their customer experience to the next level by enabling faster design changes with less dependence on development teams.
This approach also allows for a unique user interface tailored to specific markets or marketing campaigns rather than relying on standard page templates. Additionally, it can improve navigation and ensure brand consistency across channels.
2.) Optimized Omnichannel Operations
Currently, most customers (60-70%) prefer to shop through multiple in-store and online channels.
As a result, many large brands are investing in platforms that combine the best of both worlds, like self-service kiosks and live commerce, which has resulted in a 20% increase in younger customers for some companies.
As brands adopt these new channels, they must also maintain a consistent brand identity and deliver a high customer experience at every touchpoint, whether a website or a smart fridge interface. This is where headless architecture can prove to be useful.
By leveraging headless architecture, businesses can ensure design consistency and content optimization personalized to the unique requirements of each channel.
For example, buttons on mobile devices should be larger, while kiosks require shorter texts to prevent long queues.
This approach allows businesses to create a custom, brand-tailored presentation layer for each channel while aggregating and processing retail transactions from multiple channels into a single backend system.
3.) Accelerated Time To Market For Goods And Services
The ecommerce market experienced explosive growth in 2020/21 and showed no signs of slowing down in 2022.
Worldwide ecommerce sales are predicted to surpass $5 trillion this year, so businesses face increasing competition.
Companies must move quickly to beat the competition and dominate a customer segment or new market.
Fortunately, with a headless architecture, businesses can expand their operations to new channels and markets faster. Here’s how it works:
By leveraging headless architecture, businesses can utilize core commerce capabilities provided by their SaaS provider, such as BigCommerce, right out of the box.
This means they only need to develop a custom front-end, which speeds up the development process.
With headless, businesses can select and integrate the best-of-breed front-end tools to gain the additional features they require, such as AR-powered landing pages.
They can also generate designs or employ specific features for each channel’s front-end layer.
Headless also enables marketing teams to create custom content and adjust page designs without relying on IT support. This allows for greater flexibility and faster iteration.
4.) Flexibility To Choose Best-in-Class Technologies
Headless architecture is dependent on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which act as a binding agents to link the backend (ecommerce platform) with various front-end frameworks, Content Management Systems (CMSs), Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs), and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
Traditionally, in monolith systems, developers were limited to using the same programming languages or a set number of supported front-end frameworks to create customized designs. Building from scratch was also a more expensive option.
However, with headless architecture, developers can use modular blocks such as microservices and APIs to select and easily integrate the best-of-breed front-end tools with the needed solutions.
Headless architecture offers the flexibility and agility to increase CX, as at least 75% of customers today want brands to adopt new technology.
5.) Stable And Reliable Operations
The headless architecture allows for separate development and optimization of the front and back ends, which means that changes to one won’t upset the other.
This allows developers to optimize backend operations, such as adding new integrations, improving speed, scaling the application, and enhancing security, without worrying about how it will affect the front end.
Additionally, headless architecture empowers the marketing team to use page builders without involving the IT department.
This lets them quickly react to fluctuating market conditions and personalize promotions to specific customer segments, improving the overall customer experience.
Key Takeaway
The online retail industry is dynamic, with new opportunities to attract and retain customers. The success of a brand depends on its ability to innovate and adapt to these changes.
Companies that can make bold decisions and innovate promptly are the ones that ultimately succeed in the race to win customers.
Hence, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve and be among the front-runners in the industry.
This is where Edvantis, a leading software engineering firm, can help. Their headless architecture and ecommerce development expertise can help businesses streamline operations and improve customer experience. To learn more about Edvantis and its services, visit their website at Edvantis.