Brands invest a lot of money and time to ensure that their offline stores remain fresh and engaging. This can include redesigning the store every day, every week or month. Store design should always be based on the customer. From the entrance to the exit, a strong brand message is displayed. Constant redesigns help keep the brand relevant in the minds of customers.

Brands should invest in their physical stores. If online shopping is as important as offline shopping, then they should also invest in their e-commerce site. They need to replicate the same brand experience online as they do in their physical stores. This is where headless architecture steps in.

What is headless architecture?

Headless architecture refers to the separation of the front-end and back-end of a store. This is often called ‘decoupling’. A store can be powered by a variety of software, each one designed to perform the specific task it is given. This allows you to create a more efficient and advanced online shop.

E-commerce platforms used to be all-in-one. In a so-called “full-stack” or “monolithic” structure, the front and back-ends were seated together in one application.

There are many reasons why this is the case. The main reason being simplicity. Shopify’s greatest strength is its ability to provide everything users need in one place. Without knowing one line of code, they can create a solid ecommerce store. Because of its monolithic structure, this is possible. This way of doing business is no longer the best.

Why be headless?

A headless store offers many benefits, not only the ones we have already mentioned.

1. Performance

The front-end and back-end can be separated so that the teams responsible for each area can work independently. Instead of being restricted by the coding standards provided by the platform, the development team can choose which coding frameworks they use to build the front-end. Frameworks such as React are more performant than HTML and CSS.

2. Flexibility

Design and development teams are empowered with the most modern tools to offer a more diverse experience for customers.

Shoppers shop today on their phones, tablets, and watches. Shop on Facebook, Instagram Snapchat, TikTok, and Snapchat. Voice recognition, interactive mirrors, and augmented reality are all possible. Brands that want to succeed in e-commerce must meet all these touchpoints. This requires flexibility that a monolithic structure doesn’t offer.

3. Innovation

You can adopt the most recent development trends by having the freedom to use any technology at the front-end. This will have a positive effect on your developers and improve their workflow.

Pros and Cons of headless E-Commerce

Although we have already covered many of the advantages of headless architecture, we wanted to give you a quick overview so that you can see them all. While reading, remember that traditional ecommerce architecture can’t achieve any of these benefits. These are the advantages of headless architecture as well as the reasons it is different from full-stack design.

1. It utilizes the most advanced software available

Headless allows you to separate all tasks involved in running an ecommerce store. Developers can assign them to softwares that are specifically designed for this role.

2. Flexible customer experience

Customers can browse on their laptops or scroll through Instagram to reach a checkout via a variety of channels. They will also receive consistent brand experiences.

3. Multi-channel content with one CMS

It simplifies things by keeping all content in one location and dispersing it across all contact points.

4. Future-focused

Every day, new technologies and trends are introduced. These trends can be quickly incorporated by headless stores, keeping brands on the cutting edge.