Headless Commerce Frontend | Powering Futuristic Web Stores

Today, some eCommerce web-based designers and developers note that Headless Commerce Frontend when it comes to building fronted stores is the new future we have all been waiting for. That said, in this guide, you’ll learn all about that plus how you can use the likes of Experro CMS Platform to deliver inspiring eCommerce experiences to each of your customers.

As eCommerce continues to grow rapidly, the need for more efficient and scalable website development is essential. One solution to this problem is Headless Commerce, a relatively new approach to eCommerce website development that has been gaining popularity in recent years. Thus, in this guide, we’ll try to explore more about what Headless Commerce really entails.

As well as how it works, its main benefits, and why it is the future of eCommerce website development. Whilst, keeping in mind, running eCommerce is becoming progressively a bigger effort. Obviously, it’s because of the rapid changes happening in the societal surrounding, the rise of competition, and the technology that is running an eCommerce marketplace store.

Coupled with the exposing results in search engines towards a futuristic and great user experience. To strive, compete or innovate brands need a headless commerce frontend to be interactive, appealing, and well-performing in rival action. On that note, let’s get started and learn more about what this technology has to offer as well as how to do things right…

What A Headless Commerce Frontend Design Entails

Headless Commerce Frontend is a method of developing eCommerce websites where the front-end and back-end features are decoupled. Whilst, allowing for greater flexibility, scalability, and customization. Technically, the front end is part of the website that users see. It’s separate from the back end which manages the web logic, data processing, and order fulfillment.

Uniquely, it offers a responsive presentation layer that supervises and orchestrates the user side of eCommerce. It gathers the data stored in the eCommerce backend and exposes it in an organized manner with a reduced page load on any device. A proper headless front end can be described as a progressive tech ecosystem that binds together all the components.

It also assures the proper and efficient functioning of the digital storefront. In reality, a headless front end enables quick and smooth deploys. Frontend is all about creating and delivering a functional and engaging customer experience. When talking about headless commerce we have in mind a presentation layer or CX Layer (Customer Experience Layer).

The CX Layer applies to the headless paradigm – decoupled backend and frontend. It is a modern approach, embedded in the technical side of eCommerce (and headless technology ) as a quick response to overcome a huge obstacle, which is an outdated legacy stack. In general, the resolution to monoliths lies in API and is headless as we are going to elaborate on.

Note That Monoliths Lie In API And Are Headless Enabled

For sure, keeping in line with all the updates becomes impossible since the legacy stack becomes a burden. eCommerce platforms that were designed to serve well a couple of years ago are too complex and too locked-in in their own dependencies. This results in limiting freedom of action at a more sophisticated level. The solution is to overcome these limits.

As such, that’s why developers came up with a responsive solution – which is headless and communicates via APIs. Although the headless approach seems to be a very agile and swift response to the eCommerce challenges, at the same time, the headless terminology is very confusing for the non-tech world. Talking about a headless solution, we can ask a few questions.

We can ask ourselves;

why at the very beginning there was a head?
what is the eCommerce head?
or rather, what happened to the head in headless commerce?
and also, what replaced the head?

Starting from the beginning, monoliths – complex eCommerce platforms rose and (for a moment) shone. In a monolithic system, the backend and front end of all services are part of the same code base and communicate directly with each other. All parts are tightly coupled. Historically, here is the head, which was later metaphorically chopped off in a headless approach.

Resource Reference: How Everything We Knew About The Internet Changed

And that head is a frontend, an integral part of complex eCommerce platforms. The act of chopping off the head is decoupling the monolith system. In other words, separating the front end from the back end. As a consequence, developers gain two independent modules that can communicate with each other independently without affecting the entire integrity.

When the initial monolithic head was chopped off, the term headless emerged and set a new approach to creating and running online commerce. With the spread of headless, much buzz came to life. Headless-friendly CMSs have taken over the ideation of headless commerce, casting a shadow over the rest of the headless ecosystem.

When talking about headless commerce, one must be aware that it is all about the efficient composition of the tech stack that orchestrates in symbiosis with the business requirements. And naturally, a headless ecosystem needs a head – a frontend platform for headless commerce. This should be enough to cover the overall headless naming issue.

How To Deliver Inspiring eCommerce Experiences With Experro

Just like we aforementioned, Experro is a great place to focus your Headless Commerce Frontend design and development plan. For one thing, Experro is a marketplace experience tool that is also a fully-composable and fully-managed Digital Experience Platform (DXP) to deliver “WOW” shopping experiences that are fast, personal, and memorable (book a demo).

It also allows you to craft memorable content experiences for your target customers. The built-in Headless CMS empowers your marketing team to quickly create and manage high-performing content in one place and use it across all channels. Suffice it to say, it offers your the best tools to drive engagement and grow sales with AI-powered product discovery (learn more).

It enables all eCommerce brands (B2B, B2C, or D2C) to create fast, memorable, and personalized shopping experiences, bar none. It’s an all-in-one front-end platform that enables your team to compose rich, blazing-fast, and mobile-first storefronts and websites. Build a beautiful and blazing-fast storefront — focus on growth and not on the complex tech stack.

Equally important, you’ll be able to drive engagement and grow sales with product discovery. Through a product search feature that will learn and then earn for your marketplace store business. Basic search is bad business! Leverage the insanely fast and AI-powered search that offers relevant products based on customers’ intent while optimizing for key business KPIs.

The Main Headless Commerce Frontend Design Development Benefits

First of all, a headless commerce frontend design platform such as Experro allows you to curate product displays that inspire actions. So that you can control which products get the spotlight and action. And then, use insightful visual tools to run strategic merchandising campaigns on-demand for increasing checkouts, growing order size, maximizing profits, and more.

The backend is the eCommerce platform, the engine that stores product, customer, and order data and the best headless commerce platforms can offer a wide range of capabilities – from the ease of use like Shopify to pure headless operations granted by commerce tools. A pure headless CMS is also responsible for storing and delivering on-demand content.

More so, to any device via API. When forming their own headless stack, eCommerce can choose between open-source headless CMSs or subscription-based solutions. By the same token, the headless front end enables and secures proper functionality of the eCommerce storefront. It is a separate layer of the headless stack that interacts with the user.

In fact, headless storefronts link together data stored in the backend systems and expose flexible, eye-catching, and user-friendly experiences via API. What’s more, most headless frontends are Progressive Web Applications (PWAs). Based on the best practice web technologies, a Progressive Web Application delivers a silky, swift, app-like experience to users.

Headless frontends based on PWA allow brands to enhance UX with no changes to the backend. But, that’s not all! There are other several benefits of using Headless Commerce Frontend tools for business storefront website development.

Some of these other useful benefits include:

Faster Time to Market: Headless Commerce allows developers to work on different parts of the website simultaneously, leading to faster development and deployment times.
Scalability: As the business grows, so does the website. With Headless Commerce, it’s easier to scale up the website as needed without having to redevelop the entire site.
Agility: Headless Commerce allows for more agile development since developers can easily update the front-end or back-end without affecting the other.
Flexibility: With Headless Commerce, developers can choose the tools and technologies that best suit their needs and customize the website accordingly.
Improved Security: Headless Commerce allows for greater security since the front end is decoupled from the backend, reducing the risk of security breaches.
Greater Personalization: With Headless Commerce, businesses can use customer data to personalize the user experience, increasing engagement and loyalty.
Faster Page Load Times: Headless Commerce allows for faster page load times since the front end only needs to retrieve the necessary data from the backend, reducing the amount of data sent over the network.
Better Performance: Headless Commerce allows for better performance since developers can choose the tools and technologies that best suit their needs, leading to a more optimized website.
Improved Maintenance: Headless Commerce allows for easier maintenance since updates can be made to the front or backend without affecting the other, reducing downtime and costs associated with maintenance.

Overall, Headless Commerce Frontend offers numerous benefits that can help businesses create more efficient, scalable, and engaging eCommerce websites. By adopting this approach, businesses can stay ahead of the curve and meet the changing demands of the eCommerce landscape And, be able to deliver a silky, swift, app-like experience to users with the help of;

1. A Decoupled Architecture With Microservices

The above key elements offer quicker and safer upgrades. Open for customization, headless frontends unlock creative capabilities on the business and the tech side. Thanks to the modular architecture the risk of putting down the entire system doesn’t exist. Hence, the frequent developments and adjustments at the front are not limited by the dependencies.

At all costs, headless commerce frontend technology heavily relies on decoupled architecture and microservices, two closely related concepts. Not to mention, decoupled architecture refers to separating the front end from the back end. While, in the same fashion, microservices refer to breaking down the back end into small, independent services that work together.

The benefits of these two concepts include:

Separation of Concerns: Decoupling the front end from the backend allows developers to work independently on their respective parts of the website without affecting the other.
Modularization: Microservices allow for greater flexibility and scalability since each service can be developed and deployed independently.

2. A Customizable API-First Approach Integration

Another key aspect is the API-First approach, where the API is the primary way of interacting with the backend. Web performance and mobile are very burning issues for all merchants. Since online users browse on various devices, delivering a performant experience is a challenge. According to Outerbox, 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online.

In particular, while using their mobile device in the last 6 months. With that revealed, mobile-first indexing becomes an integral part of any relevant eCommerce strategy. The headless commerce frontend technology is an innovation that enables intuitive adaptation to any device accessing the store. It ensures that the most user-friendly and fast experience is achieved.

The benefits of using an API-First approach include:

Seamless Integration: APIs allow for seamless integration with third-party services, making adding new features and functionality to the website easier.
Customization: APIs allow developers to create custom integrations with other tools and services, providing greater flexibility and customization.

3. A Frontend Separation Powered By Headless CMS

In Headless Commerce, the front end is separated from the back end, allowing developers to use any front-end technology they want. This separation also allows for the use of Headless CMS, a content management system that is decoupled from the front end. Clearly, flexibility is one of the most frequently repeated phrases. But, in some way, it is very true!

To enumerate, the best thing about headless CMS commerce is that once enforced unlocks a different more modifiable approach to running an online store. Business owners are not locked into dependencies and off-the-shelf solutions provided by the vendor. One can leverage the tech stack and compose the most fitting solutions or add some tailor-made ones.

The benefits of using a great Headless CMS include:

Performance: Headless CMS allows for faster load times since the front end only has to retrieve the necessary data from the backend.
SEO: Headless CMS allows for better SEO since developers can create SEO-friendly pages and URLs.
UX/UI: Headless CMS allows for greater flexibility and customization, leading to better user experience and interface design.

4. A Progressive Web Applications (PWA) Plus Omnichannel

Headless Commerce also enables the use of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and Omnichannel. Remarkably, PWAs are web apps that have the same look and feel as native apps. While Omnichannel refers to the ability to provide a consistent experience across all channels. As we mentioned, advanced personalization is just a follow-up to the upgrades.

This means, that instead of adjusting to the layout embedded in platform dependencies, eCommerce owners gain a set of components and an open path for their very own, custom creations. Moreover, integrating necessary 3rd party applications and delivering specific functionalities for business becomes a matter of own preference.

The benefits of using PWA and Omnichannel include:

Better Mobile Experience: PWAs provide a native app-like experience on mobile devices, leading to better engagement and conversion rates.
Increased Sales: Omnichannel allows customers to interact with the website through various channels, including social media, email, and chat, leading to increased sales and revenue.
Improved Customer Experience: Omnichannel also allows for a seamless experience across all channels, leading to a better overall customer experience.

The best front end for headless commerce is the one that best fits the overall business strategy. It should resonate with the technical requirements, and serve as an agile tool in the hands of developers. A front end for headless commerce should also be backed by technology guidance from the vendor. When in search of headless zen keep an open eye on performance.

In addition to things like scalability, customization options, and partnership relations. A proper headless front end reduces the burden previously caused by the complex nature of a monolithic platform. The technical side can implement changes quickly and the business side does not have to worry about a drop in search rankings or a high bounce rate.

Headless Commerce Frontend Features For Web Stores Development

In other words, the eCommerce frontend design is part of an online store that interacts with an online shopper. It’s the outcome of the data stored in the backend (products, prices, order details, customer information) and presented in an appealing way. Hence it is often described as a client-side of eCommerce that engages the user with fonts, colors, image sliders, etc.

As well as responsive shopping carts, interactive search bars, custom drop-down menus, product detail pages, extra tutorial videos, and occasionally advanced add-on features. Any web design that includes the eCommerce frontend design, should be aligned with all the fundamentals of any successful online creation. So as to match the intended storefront needs.

Related Resource: Who Are Citizen Developers? 5 Benefits & Steps To Become One

The 3 aspects (design, UX, and performance) are closely tied together and considered deal-makers or breakers. Above all, a well-optimized eCommerce front end creates a first impression that navigates users through the next stages of the online shopping experience. It’s a blend of informative CTAs, a neat layout (web and mobile), and optimized web components.

In a nutshell, developers gain room for smart implementations and marketers lose the frustration caused by the conservative tactics limited by a standard layout. Basically, Headless Commerce Frontend provides a number of features that make it an attractive option for eCommerce website development. Some that you can opt to integrate into your next strategy.

Some of the key features of headless commerce:

Flexibility: Headless Commerce provides greater website development flexibility by separating the front and backend. This allows developers to use any technology or framework they prefer for front-end development and choose the best tools for their needs.
Scalability: Headless Commerce allows for greater scalability in website development by using microservices and decoupled architecture. This means businesses can add new features and functionality to their eCommerce site without worrying about scaling the entire website.
Customization: Headless Commerce provides greater customization options by allowing businesses to choose their own CMS for content management and create a custom checkout process. This means businesses can create a unique eCommerce site that meets their specific needs.
Enhanced Performance: Headless Commerce uses a PWA (Progressive Web App) approach for better performance. The website can be accessed through any device, providing a seamless user experience. Additionally, Headless Commerce allows for faster page load times by reducing the data sent over the network.
Omnichannel: Headless Commerce allows businesses to create an Omnichannel experience for customers by allowing them to interact with the website through various channels, including social media, email, and chat. This leads to increased engagement and higher conversion rates.
Improved Analytics and Reporting: Headless Commerce allows businesses to gather more detailed analytics and reporting data, providing valuable insights into user behavior and website performance. This data can be used to make informed decisions and optimize the website for better performance.

Overall, incorporating these features into an eCommerce store website can provide numerous benefits for businesses and customers alike. Including greater flexibility, great experience, scalability, customization, and performance.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, headless commerce is the future of eCommerce website development. It provides greater flexibility, scalability, and customization, allowing businesses to create unique and engaging websites that meet their specific needs. While using decoupled architecture, microservices, an API-First approach, Headless CMS, and PWA and Omnichannel.

Thus, businesses can take advantage of all the benefits that Headless Commerce has to offer. Whilst, bearing in mind, as eCommerce continues to evolve, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve. More so, by adopting new technologies like Headless Commerce to remain competitive in the marketplace. Taking the headless direction means a change in your business store.

Other More Related Resource References:

While utilizing new eCommerce functionalities – decoupling dependencies, and switching to more agile implementations. But, gaining the flexibility and usability of the stack typically relies on all three main components. Including the backend system, headless frontend, and headless CMS – though it’s not limited to these parts. That’s why you should research more!

Pure headless frontend solutions in the hands of developers become powerful tools for the agile development of unique user experiences and the creation of efficient purchase paths. Well-orchestrated headless frontends drive performance at a higher level. As well as best-in-class Server-Side-Rendering experience and transform lagging load times into seconds.