Imagine crafting a beautiful online store, tailored perfectly to your brand experience. But, of course, pre-built platforms come with a few limitations. That’s where headless commerce comes in.
Traditional monolithic platforms bundle the frontend design with the backend functionality. But headless commerce platforms separate these elements to help you curate exceptional customer experiences across all touchpoints.
But which is the best headless commerce platform? Well, it’s difficult to term one as the “best”, but the professional eCommerce development services choose from a few top headless platforms for their projects. We will talk about these platforms in this blog. But first, let’s see what a headless eCommerce platform is.
What is a Headless Commerce Platform?
A headless commerce platform is essentially the backend engine of your online store, minus the pre-designed storefront. It handles all the crucial tasks like product management, inventory control, order processing, and secure payments.
But unlike traditional eCommerce platforms that come with a fixed storefront design, you can choose your own frontend design. This separation is achieved through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
Here are the key components of headless eCommerce platforms:
Backend (headless commerce platform)
This acts as the engine of your online store, managing product data, inventory, order processing, payments, and other core functionalities. It exposes its capabilities through APIs. They act as messengers, relaying data and instructions between the frontend and backend.
Frontend (separate platform)
This is where you design the visual experience of your store. You can choose an eCommerce CMS you’re familiar with, a custom development framework, or even a Progressive Web App (PWA) builder.
The frontend leverages the APIs provided by the headless platform to fetch product information and display it on the storefront. And it handles user interactions like adding items to the cart.
By separating these elements, headless commerce platforms offer greater flexibility and scalability. The eCommerce developers use this approach to build a truly unique and engaging shopping experience for the customers.
Why Use Headless eCommerce Platforms?
Nowadays, since there is so much competition in the eCommerce space, everyone wants a captivating and frictionless customer experience on their site. But traditional, monolithic eCommerce platforms, while convenient, can restrict your ability to achieve this.
On the other hand, the headless platforms offer a few key benefits to take your site to the next level.
Craft Unmatched Customer Experiences
Headless commerce grants you complete control over the front-end design. This translates to a storefront that seamlessly reflects your brand identity and caters to your specific customer needs. It can help you create customized experiences across all touchpoints.
Future-proof Your Business
With a headless platform, you’re not locked into a single vendor’s roadmap. The decoupled architecture allows you to integrate the latest technologies and functionalities with ease. So you will always stay ahead of the curve.
Boost Agility and Development Speed
Headless systems empower your development team to work independently on the front-end. They can leverage their preferred tools and frameworks, leading to faster development cycles and more efficient implementation of new features.
Omnichannel Commerce Made Easy
Headless commerce helps deliver a consistent shopping experience across all channels for better customer satisfaction. Headless commerce excels in this area. It lets you centralize the product data and functionalities in the backend, so you can create a unified experience for your customers.
Overall, our eCommerce development company often chooses headless platforms to create truly unified, future-proof eStores.
Top Headless Commerce Platforms
Headless commerce platforms are revolutionizing the way online stores are built and managed. But which platform would be best for you? Well, here are the top options. You can choose from them based on your required features, preferences and expertise.
Shopify Plus goes beyond its user-friendly interface and extensive app store by offering the Storefront API. This GraphQL API empowers developers to build custom storefronts using their preferred frameworks like React, Vue.js, or Next.js.
Additionally, Shopify Plus integrates with tools like Hydrogen and Oxygen, which streamline the development process by providing pre-built components and functionalities specifically designed for headless storefronts on Shopify Plus. This reduces development time and ensures a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints.
Strengths: User-friendly interface, vast app store overflowing with extensions, built-in headless capabilities with Shopify Plus subscription.
While Magento Commerce boasts open-source flexibility and scalability for large businesses, its true strength in headless development lies in its robust APIs. It offers both REST and GraphQL APIs, giving developers the power to create custom storefronts independent of the Magento front-end.
It grants a high degree of control and customization, ideal for building complex and feature-rich headless experiences. However, Magento Commerce’s open-source nature necessitates a more technical development team compared to Shopify Plus’s managed approach.
Strengths: Open-source nature grants extensive customization, highly scalable to accommodate the needs of large businesses, and a feature-rich platform.
BigCommerce offers a Headless GraphQL API and a Stencil framework specifically designed for building custom storefronts. Stencil acts as a time-saving tool by offering pre-built components and templates, simplifying the development process for those new to headless commerce.
BigCommerce strikes a good balance between user-friendliness and headless functionality, making it an attractive option for businesses seeking a relatively easy headless setup without sacrificing core features.
Strengths: User-friendly SaaS platform that gets you up and running quickly, out-of-the-box features to streamline common eCommerce functionalities, headless capabilities for those seeking a more customized approach.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers a powerful suite of APIs (REST, SOAP, and GraphQL) that empower developers to craft custom storefronts and integrate with various third-party systems. This level of API access unlocks a high degree of flexibility, but it comes at a cost.
This platform’s complexity and higher price tag make it a better fit for large businesses with dedicated development teams. They can leverage its extensive capabilities.
Strengths: Enterprise-grade platform built to handle demanding workloads, extensive features catering to complex business needs, seamless integration with other solutions within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Elastic Path is built with a MACH architecture (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless). That makes it an ideal platform for headless development. Its robust API allows for seamless integration with various front-end frameworks and third-party systems, fostering a truly custom headless experience.
However, the emphasis on API-first functionality necessitates a more technically proficient development team to fully utilize Elastic Path’s potential.
Strengths: API-first, cloud-native architecture ensures high scalability and future-proofing, highly flexible integrations with diverse technologies.
Commercetools provides a comprehensive suite of APIs (REST and GraphQL) designed specifically for headless commerce. Its developer-centric approach offers a high degree of flexibility and control over the front-end development process.
Similar to Elastic Path, Commercetools is a strong choice for businesses with a team that possesses solid development expertise to fully unlock the platform’s potential.
Strengths: MACH architecture ensures agility and scalability, developer-centric approach empowers advanced customization, well-suited for businesses requiring a high degree of control over the shopping experience.
Snipcart offers a headless shopping cart solution that can be easily embedded into any existing website or static site. It provides basic headless functionality with core features like product management, checkout, and payment processing. While convenient for its simplicity, Snipcart lacks the advanced features and customization options found in other platforms on this list. It’s best suited for businesses with simpler needs or those taking their first steps into headless commerce.
Strengths: Easy integration process with minimal technical know-how required, suitable for smaller businesses and startups looking to add basic eCommerce functionality to an existing website.
These are the top headless commerce platforms. But how do you choose between them? Well, you can opt for our eCommerce consulting services. We will analyze your requirements and help you create the best eCommerce websites accordingly.
Or you can refer to the next section.
How to Choose the Best Headless eCommerce Platform?
Selecting the ideal headless commerce platform for your online store requires careful consideration of your specific needs and resources. Here are the factors you need to consider:
- Store Size and Complexity: Are you a startup with a limited product range, or a large enterprise with a vast catalog and global reach? The platform’s scalability and ability to handle your product volume are crucial factors.
- Desired Customer Experience: Envision the kind of shopping experience you want to create. Do you require a highly customized and unique storefront, or is a more standard yet feature-rich experience sufficient?
- Development Expertise: Evaluate your in-house development team’s skills and experience with headless architecture. Some platforms offer pre-built tools and user-friendly interfaces, while others require more technical expertise for customization.
- Integration Needs: Consider how well the platform integrates with your existing tech stack, CRM systems, marketing automation tools, and chosen front-end framework. Seamless integration streamlines operations and ensures a unified customer experience.
- Feature Set: Review each platform’s core functionalities, including product management, inventory control, order processing, payment gateways, marketing tools, and security features. Ensure the platform offers the features you need to operate your store effectively.
- Headless Capabilities: Deep dive into each platform’s headless functionalities. Explore the APIs (REST, GraphQL) they provide and assess their flexibility for integrating with your chosen front-end framework. Consider the level of customization each platform allows for the storefront design.
- Support: Evaluate the level of support offered by each platform. Consider factors like response times, available resources (documentation, tutorials), and the support channels (phone, email, live chat) offered.
- Scalability: If future growth is a major concern, prioritize platforms known for their scalability and ability to handle increasing traffic and product volumes.
- Flexibility and Customization: If a unique and highly customized storefront experience is essential, platforms offering robust APIs and extensive customization options might be better choices.
- Ease of Use: If your development team is less experienced with headless architectures, consider platforms that provide user-friendly interfaces, pre-built tools, and managed services to simplify the development process.
- Total Cost of Ownership: Go beyond the platform’s base price and consider the total cost of ownership. Factor in development costs, ongoing maintenance fees, and any additional expenses associated with integrations and customizations.
Consider seeking guidance from expert eCommerce developers who specialize in headless commerce platforms.
FAQs on Best Headless Commerce Platforms
Q1. Are there any downsides to using headless commerce platforms?
One potential downside of using headless commerce platforms is the increased complexity and technical knowledge required to set up and maintain them. They may also be more expensive.
Q2. Can headless commerce platforms be integrated with other systems?
Yes, headless commerce platforms can be easily integrated with other systems and devices, making it easier to create a seamless omnichannel experience for customers.
Q3. Is headless commerce right for my business?
Headless commerce is a good fit for businesses seeking:
- A high degree of customization and control over the customer experience.
- The ability to integrate with various third-party systems and tools.
- A future-proof solution that can adapt to changing eCommerce trends.
However, if you have a small, simple store and limited technical expertise, a traditional monolithic platform might be sufficient.
Conclusion
Headless commerce decouples the front-end presentation layer from the back-end functionalities. That helps you craft a unique and engaging shopping experience that seamlessly aligns with your brand identity.
The best headless commerce platforms include Shopify Plus, Magneto, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, etc. Remember, the ideal platform selection hinges on a comprehensive evaluation of your business requirements, technical expertise, and budget.If you need help with creating the best customized eCommerce website, consult with our experts today!
