Don’t get left behind with an outdated store. To stay relevant and compete in the ever-changing market, Ecommerce merchants need to be able to integrate new technologies quickly and efficiently. Headless commerce has become a buzzword over the last couple of years. Headless is a vital advancement in ecommerce technology that enables merchants to continually evolve with the latest technologies and future-proof their stores. This article will explore what headless commerce is exactly and five ways it can help your ecommerce business grow.
What is Headless Commerce?
Headless commerce refers to the separation of the front-end ecommerce layer from the back-end. The front-end presentation layer includes all the visible elements that consumers interact with: images, page design, buttons etc. While the back-end is responsible for pricing, security, order fulfilment and other administrative functionality. Separating the two layers allows both to be updated and changed independently of one another. This makes integrating new tools or removing outdated ones much easier and more efficient.
Uncoupling the front and back end of your system makes it far simpler for developers to add updates, without starting from the ground up. This allows you to react quickly to ecommerce trends, such as shoppable instagram galleries. Differentiating from your competitors and giving your customers the experience they expect every time.
How can Headless Commerce help your ecommerce business?
1. Flexibility in Technological Integration
It’s essential that your ecommerce business stays at the forefront of technology. Online shoppers expect a seamless and modern-feeling experience. 81% of consumers will think less of your business if your ecommerce store is out of date. Traditional ecommerce platforms can make integrating and consolidating new technology complex and time-consuming. This is because a change to one part of the store could mean a complex series of changes are required throughout the code structure.
With headless commerce, the separation of the front-end and back-end of the store means you can easily make adjustments and updates to either part without having to worry how it might affect the other.
2. Improved Customer Experience
Customer experience is key to a successful ecommerce store. Enhancing your customer experience will give you an edge in a highly competitive market. According to clutch “Almost everyone (94%) says easy navigation is the most important website feature”. And studies show that 38% of people will simply leave your site if your content and layout are unappealing or unattractive.Headless ecommerce makes it easy for merchants to edit their storefronts. Allowing you to provide an effortless, modern and attractive customer experience.
Additionally, being removed from the admin processes or the back-end, dramatically increases the speed of your store’s front-end. Faster page load times will reduce your bounce rate, increase customer satisfaction and can have a marked increase on conversion rates.
3. Future-proofing Your Site
Staying ahead of trends is key, and integrating those trends into your site is vital. Headless ecommerce allows developers to use all the latest tools and API’S to add functionality without having to redesign your website from scratch and easily update functionalities as your site grows.
Uncoupling the front and back end of your store gives you the freedom to edit and update your store to a far greater extent and will help to prevent outdated and legacy systems from holding your business back. This will also protect your store from the need to re-platform as outdated and cumbersome elements can be removed instead of rebuilding the whole store.
4. Support Omnichannel Strategies
In a post-pandemic world, consumer habits have changed. Shoppers use a mix of brick-and-mortar, ecommerce stores, apps, social commerce and online marketplaces to find and buy their products. So it is vital to reach your customers through multiple channels, wherever they want to be.
A headless ecommerce store allows you to manage your stock levels and order fulfilment for multiple channels through one, consolidated back office platform. This gives you the flexibility to sell across channels to match your customer’s shopping habits.
5. Localise User Experiences for International Customers
Headless commerce enables you to run multiple storefronts from the same back-end. This means you can create a fully localised experience for your customers in different countries. Check out our blog about multilingual stores to learn more about the benefits of multi-storefront on BigCommerce.
Each storefront can be customised with the local language, weights and measures, taxes, shopping trends, etc. While you manage your business in one place with consolidated data. This also means you can create different storefronts for different audiences, for example, if you sell to both B2B and B2C clients, you can provide each with the experience they expect.
Do You Need Headless Commerce?
The advantages of headless commerce are clear. The agility afforded by a headless storefront is invaluable in today’s ecommerce market. Headless allows you to choose the front-end platform that best fits your business needs. And you don’t have to compromise because the desired functionality just isn’t present or comprehensive enough in the ecommerce platform you have chosen for your back-end.
Customers want an engaging and exciting experience. They expect the same high standards across channels and they will reward a good experience with sales and returning business. To keep your customers happy and coming back for more, your ecommerce store needs to stay agile and up to date. Headless commerce gives you that capability.
How Can We Help?
Calashock was awarded BigCommerce EMEA Headless Partner of the year in 2021. With 13 years’ experience specialising in BigCommerce and helping merchants grow their online businesses. Our expert team will help you work out exactly what your unique business needs are and build a bespoke solution. If you are ready to transform your ecommerce business, or if you just want to talk to an expert for advice, get in touch.
