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Technology is developing tremendously and at a very fast pace. If many people thought that due to the pandemic, the evolution of technology would stagnate, this didn’t happen at all. Why? Because technology will only go up. Its development and evolution are bound to happen no matter the context or the environment.
Technology helps businesses to function properly. It helps them to build their brand awareness, to catch the attention of prospective customers, and why not, turn them into loyal ones. The global pandemic showed the importance of having a business website or shop. People started spending more time online.
And, of course, they started ordering more things online, as the shops are permanently open. The universe of e-commerce is continuously expanding, creating new opportunities for business owners and new options for customers. Many types of e-commerce websites are successfully holding on to their position in the market. But what did they do to be so successful?
Well, if you go beyond how a website looks, you will end up in a universe of coding, strategies, and techniques. A universe that is constantly expanding and where new terms and innovations are happening daily. And headless commerce is one of these things you need to be aware of. The benefits of headless commerce are incredible, especially for businesses that want to advance their progress in the market. So, let’s see what headless commerce means and which are the main advantages of implementing it are.
What Is Headless Commerce?
When you think about a website and how it is built, you can surely identify some patterns, layers, or techniques used. Usually, tech developers make the clear difference between distinct parts of a website. For example, you have the user interface, meaning the first thing you see when you access the site. It is also called the front-end and it’s exactly what you see.
But there is a part of the website you can’t see when you access it: the backend. In the backend, you will find the code that created the front end. You will find the code that makes the website function in a certain way, to have buttons, pages, and many other things. In a traditional approach to web development, these two parts would be deeply intertwined. This means that if you want to make a change in the front end, you need to change the backend too.
But what is headless commerce? Well, between the frontend and the backend parts, there is a new one called API. in headless commerce, the things or layers that perform certain actions are differentiated. This means that you can make a change in your user interface without changing the backend or source code. Each layer or unit communicates with the other ones through APIs. And this allows you to have multiple layers, such as CMS (for content), analytical tools, and so on.
For now, it just seems that headless commerce is something that makes the entire task of having a website for your business even more challenging. This strategy sees the website, not as an entire unit, but as made of separate units. So, which are the key benefits of headless commerce?
Key Benefits of Headless Commerce
Let’s see which are the main advantages of having headless commerce.
Freedom of Customization
The first key benefit and maybe one of the most crucial ones is the freedom of customization. In headless commerce, compared with the traditional approach, you can customize your website however you want. You can choose from a wide diversity of options. And the best thing is that you don’t have to think about the backend part anymore. You can choose whatever theme for your website and then apply it. The UI and UX can easily and freely be customized, which is one of the key benefits of headless commerce.
Backend and Frontend Not Coupled
For some, it might be challenging to imagine how the frontend and backend can be decoupled. But this is what happens in headless commerce and it seems that is one of the most appreciated benefits. This grants you immense freedom to build the website however you want. On top of this, it gives you the freedom to choose what elements you want without worrying that you need to change a lot of layers in the website. If the backend and frontend are not coupled, you have endless flexibility. Which is something devs were looking for.
Using Microservices
Well, another key benefit of headless commerce is that it can rely on microservices to function. If you take a look at traditional commerce, you can easily spot the difference. Relying only on one vendor that supplies you with services might be comfortable for the moment. But as the behavior and needs of customers change permanently in the commerce domain, you need to adapt to them. And having access to many microservices and having the possibility to get what you need from multiple vendors is incredible. You can customize the website however you want and you can use many services that come from different sources. It seems that the customization of a website has just become way easier.
Better Customer Experience
However, if you think about why someone would want all these possibilities, options, and freedom, the answer is obvious: for customers. Their needs and desires change all the time. The entire world and environment are changing at a very fast pace. And to have a successful business, you need to keep up the pace with all these changes. Headless commerce allows you to offer your customers a more pleasant customer experience as you can freely customize and change everything on the website.
Final Thoughts
Headless commerce is a rather new term in the world of devs. So, it’s important to get accustomed to it and its meaning because it will become more and more used. Headless commerce comes with a lot of benefits. It allows you to freely customize the website however you want and make changes in the UI or UX without changing the backend. Because the backend is not coupled with the frontend, you can use microservices too. Which is only improving the customers’ experience.
