Increasing sales, improving conversion rates and delighting customers is now only really possible for those embracing change and making smart investment decisions.
One of the latest approaches to ecommerce is known as headless commerce, which involves separating the backend (where inventory and customer data is handled) from the frontend (the interface web visitors interact with to browse and purchase).
This approach can be extremely useful when it comes to not only satisfying search engines, but delighting users, too. Fresh content, a fast experience and personalised elements all go a long way to making an ecommerce business successful in today’s online space.
Here, we’ll cover more about headless commerce, and how it can make a real impact on the customer experience as a whole.
What is headless commerce?
As mentioned, a headless commerce architecture consists of separating the storefront (what users interact with) from the store management tool (e.g. Shopify), and from the content management system (e.g. Sanity).
Doing this gives businesses ultimate flexibility, meaning they can create unique designs instead of relying on predefined themes, integrate the storefront with any 3rd party tool or API, create custom features like store locators, and reach top page speeds to improve conversion rates.
Since the traditional commerce setup generates the UI, the benefits listed above can be difficult to reach, if not impossible. A headless commerce setup, on the other hand, is usually handled by a professional agency with years of experience offering headless commerce web development.
By decoupling the storefront from the backend systems, agencies like Tinloof are able to choose the best tools for each purpose, instead of relying on one store platform and its existing plugins.
5 benefits of headless commerce architecture
Headless commerce comes with multiple benefits, and below, we’ll cover five that we deem most important:
- Tailored design unique to your brand
Instead of relying on predefined or customized themes, with headless commerce you have full control of what the interface looks like.
This means you can make your online store completely unique, and also means your users are more likely to remember your brand and feel the need to interact with it.
- Top-tier content management system
Out-of-the-box CMS that a commerce platform offers will often be rigid, and not built with best practices in mind. Instead, you can integrate with the leading CMS, Sanity, to control the layout of your pages, keep content up to date, and reference products from blog posts.
- Fast page speed
Both users and browsers get frustrated when page speed is slow. In fact, every single second added to load time can drop your conversion rates by 2-4%, depending on the store.
Google also publicly announced several years ago that speed is a ranking factor. So, the faster your speed, the more likely your site will be positioned favorably by search engines. With full control of the frontend, a headless commerce agency will be able to optimize your site’s performance.
- Picking the best tools for each job
There are dozens of tools needed today to operate an online store, including A/B testing, abandoned carts, automated translations, analytics, store finders, and more. So, instead of relying on the plugin limitations of a commerce platform, you can connect with 3rd party tools and APIs, and develop a custom tech stack.
- Expand to new markets in no time
With the right CMS localization setup, it is possible to launch to new markets and internationalize the website in a matter of minutes. Instead of spinning up a new domain and planning how to launch in another geography across several months, with the right architecture, it is possible to not only automatically inform search engines about the different locales, but also launch new pages faster than ever.
Who uses headless commerce?
Known brands like Rolex, Nike, Under Armour, Hasbro and HP already leverage headless commerce solutions to deliver the best digital experiences with a multi-channel approach.
However, this architecture is not limited to large brands only. Small stores looking for a competitive advantage are also encouraged to try out this solution.
Final Thoughts
As the years go by, headless commerce architectures will no longer be a trend, but a norm.
With competition becoming increasingly fierce, brands can no longer risk showcasing their products on templated styles and having poor page speeds. Every single second counts when it comes to generating interest in your site and your offering.