What Is Headless eCommerce?

So, what is headless B2B eCommerce?

In simple terms, headless commerce is an open, API-driven eCommerce solution that stores, manages, and delivers content without a front-end presentation layer.

But what does that look like in practice? In a headless eCommerce platform, the front end, or “head” — usually a template or theme — is detached and removed, leaving only the back end. All the functional elements of the platform, such as blogs and product banners, can then be managed programmatically, including the creation and management of different content components. Think of it like a car made up of an engine (the back end) and the car’s body (the front end). With a headless solution, you get the full engine of your eCommerce solution and everything you need at your fingertips for customization through APIs.

Because the user experience is decoupled from the back end, you don’t have to worry about making the integration work.

The biggest result of separating the front and back ends is that your ability to slice, change, and experiment with the platform increases dramatically, because every change requires far less development work.

That’s a sharp contrast with the traditional, rigid, monolithic eCommerce platform, where the head is firmly bolted on. In that case, the platform is limited to delivering content in the form of websites and, in some cases, native mobile apps.

Headless commerce: 7 key benefits

With a headless approach, you get more freedom and flexibility to slice, change, and be as creative as you want with the customer-facing side of your business.

B2B eCommerce businesses will be blown away by the new capabilities they gain with a headless solution. Cutting-edge tools such as APIs (application programming interfaces) let you create, test, and deploy new, innovative approaches quickly and easily. You can also easily manage customer-specific pricing, order and cart management, catalog management, and order flows without disrupting the back-end system. These capabilities, and many more, make headless eCommerce a powerful option for B2B companies.

1. Headless creates omnichannel opportunities

With a headless commerce platform, you can distribute your content across multiple channels quickly and easily, since there’s no need to build a new back end for each one. That’s what we call omnichannel commerce.

With an omnichannel strategy in place, customers no longer need to open a website to browse or buy a product. Instead, they can use their Alexa device — or the built-in screen on their fridge or smart car — while still getting the same quality and personalization across every device and platform.

2. Instant updates

Tasks that once took days of valuable time and resources, such as updating the front end of your online store to keep up with constantly changing customer needs, now take just a few hours.

Amazon, the king of eCommerce, uses a headless commerce solution that lets it deploy updates every 11.7 seconds — a factor that has contributed to its success.

3. It’s future-proof

New technologies such as the Internet of Things and progressive web apps are just around the corner, so it’s important to make the right adjustments now to ensure your platform is ready for future breakthrough technologies.

4. Agile marketing and seamless integrations

Without the burden of a heavy back-end workload, marketing teams equipped with a headless commerce system can make major changes to your site in days instead of months.

What’s more, by definition, a headless commerce solution must have an API, which makes it easier to integrate and communicate with other platforms. That means you can bring your brand to any new device, expanding your reach and helping you connect with more customers at the same time.

If that doesn’t sound like agile marketing, we don’t know what does.

5. Consistent customer experience

With a headless approach, as your B2B customers change over time, you can quickly and easily adapt your site to their new needs and requirements. All while making sure your brand style and tone stay consistent across every channel, even as new ones are added.

Because you’re not tied to a single platform and your front-end and back-end processes are separate, you have endless opportunities to keep up with digital marketing trends without waiting months or triggering unwanted changes in the back end.

That means you have endless possibilities when it comes to customizing your content and user interface, while making sure your style and tone stay consistent across every channel.

6. Better conversion optimization

Because it’s so easy to make adjustments to your online stores with headless eCommerce, you have endless room to try and test different models and approaches until you find the one that works best for you.

That lets you run continuous testing and optimization cycles, giving you a better understanding of your customers than competitors who aren’t equipped with headless commerce.

7. Speed matters

Without headless commerce, building and scaling an omnichannel retail experience is a long and expensive process. But because headless commerce is centrally hosted and delivered anywhere through an API, your time to market is dramatically reduced. That means you can adopt new channels and enter new regions at lightning speed.

Does headless commerce have any drawbacks?

Because headless eCommerce relies on a back-end-based structure with no single front end, you now have multiple vendors and technologies on your plate. The added complexity means you’ll need a skilled development team to build and maintain it.

That means the incredible speed, customization, and optimization of your platform will inevitably cost more money and resources.  

Headless commerce can mean losing native eCommerce functionality.

Depending on your existing eCommerce platform, you may lose some native front-end eCommerce features when you separate it from the back end. For example, there’s no preview, which means you won’t be able to see changes before they go live.

The decision to go headless will undoubtedly have major consequences for your business. Overall, they’ll be positive, but it’s worth carefully considering your resources and your ability to scale to headless before you take the leap.

There is, however, a simple way to address these drawbacks. Front-end-as-a-service uses cloud microservices to provide developers with all the modules they need. That means instead of having to build every different component of your eCommerce platform individually, from your shopping cart to your chatbot, you can select the best components already made available by the front-end-as-a-service platform.

Conclusion

The more you know about B2B headless commerce, the more obvious it becomes that you need to start implementing it. Especially if you want your business to keep pace with digital trends and evolving B2B customer expectations.

Whether you like it or not, the direction of B2B eCommerce is omnichannel, and trying to adapt your business to every platform without a headless approach will only cost you more in the long run.

In short, it’s not a question of “if.” It’s a question of “when.”