What is headless commerce?
Headless commerce separates the storefront a customer sees, the head, from the commerce engine that handles products, carts, and orders behind it. The two talk through APIs, so you can change the look without touching the machinery.
The storefront a customer sees is separated from the engine that handles products, carts and orders.
Change the look without touching the machinery.
Redesign the experience or sell in a new channel without rebuilding the engine.
A simple store may not need the extra flexibility.
The payoff is speed and flexibility. You can redesign the customer experience, or sell in a new channel, without rebuilding the engine underneath.
Sthenos builds tailored stores; see the customized ecommerce platform for a clothing and accessories brand NeoSOFT delivered. A proof of concept is a common first step. Explore our ecommerce solutions.
Headless commerce architecture
Traditional platforms fuse the front and back together, which makes the storefront hard to customize. Going headless frees the design team to build any experience, web, app, kiosk, social, all powered by the same commerce core.
Figure 1. Many heads, one commerce engine
Each storefront, the head, talks to the same commerce core through APIs, so a new look or a new channel leaves the engine untouched. From the definitions in this post; structure, not data.
Traditional platform
Front and back fused- Fuses the front and back together
- Makes the storefront hard to customize
Headless commerce platform
Head and engine apart- The head and the engine talk through APIs
- Build any experience: web, app, kiosk, social
- Redesign or add a channel without rebuilding the engine
Is headless commerce right for every store?
Not always. It shines when you need a highly custom or multi channel experience. A simple store may not need the extra flexibility.
Related services: Magento development.
Related reading
Related terms: social commerce, order management system (OMS), subscription commerce.
