Understanding a Headless E-commerce Platform

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March 10, 2022 Business

Increasing demand for more convenient ways to shop has led to the introduction of e-commerce. As new technologies are constantly developed, the field is getting bigger and better. Consumers, as well as business owners, are now making purchases through different touchpoints, some of which have greatly evolved. This has left some of the earliest e-commerce platforms having a hard time keeping up with ever-changing customer demands.

While some businesses have not yet fully embraced the idea of doing business through e-commerce platforms, many consumers have. E-commerce platforms have incorporated features such as smart voice assistants and in-store interfaces to create a great overall shopping experience for their customers. Customers can now visit an e-commerce platform, get information about a product, make a purchase and leave reviews.

E-commerce platforms incorporating these features and other useful tools are really doing well while others are stagnating or failing. However, turning your platform into a headless e-commerce through headless content management can quickly get you back into the game.

What is a headless e-commerce platform?

A headless e-commerce platform is an e-commerce page that performs all the functions of storing, managing, and delivering content without requiring a frontend delivery layer. In other words, the head or the frontend has been done away with, with only the backend remaining.

In a headless e-commerce platform, developers utilize application programming interfaces to ensure that crucial information on products and blog content, as well as customer reviews, can be shared with any device. This means that product information and content management can be done programmatically. Important information can be delivered to devices such as smartwatches, vending machines, desktop browsers, etc. unlike in traditional e-commerce platforms where data is delivered to specific devices.

How does a headless e-commerce platform function?

A headless e-commerce platform uses application programming interfaces to send requests from the presentation layer to the application layers. The passing of requests between these two layers allows customers to seamlessly place an order.

If for example, a customer selects buy now on their desktop, an application user interface call is made from the presentation layer, directed to the application layer allowing the order to be made. When the customer queries the order status, now the application layer will share the data to the presentation layer which will then be shown on the customer’s device.

How is headless e-commerce different from traditional e-commerce?

Headless e-commerce platforms are different from traditional e-commerce sites in several ways. For starters, a traditional e-commerce site contains both the front and the backends which are both difficult to make changes to. Updating information on traditional e-commerce sites is difficult and limited as well.

On the other hand, a headless e-commerce platform eliminates the need for having a frontend with only the backend remaining. Instead, these platforms have frontend developers who are responsible for creating a consumer experience that meets the customers’ needs. On top of that, customization and personalization are limited in traditional e-commerce as the user experience is predefined. This is not the case with headless e-commerce platforms as it allows frontend developers to build a user experience that is not predefined.

Why a headless e-commerce platform?

There are several benefits of using e-commerce platforms in general—but the benefits are even greater when you choose a headless e-commerce platform. It is an agile way of marketing while also helping several businesses to be competitive. These systems can also be used to create a bespoke customer experience.