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How headless commerce answers many retail tech issues 

We live in an era where everything is online. If before the global pandemic we can say that the world was not so highly technologized, nowadays things have changed. We spend most of our time online. Whether it is for communication with friends and family, checking your emails, or ordering food or other products, the online universe is constantly expanding.

And, of course, it creates perfect opportunities for many businesses to emerge or people to pursue their hobbies and passions. The domain of e-commerce is expanding too, along with the internet and people’s wish to find everything online.

In 2020, e-commerce accounted for about 18% of global retail sales. The percentage is constantly rising, which makes technology develop at a faster pace. Online stores need a lot of tools and technology to function properly, so developers work on delivering them. This is how headless e-commerce began to gain momentum among online stores. So, what is headless e-commerce and how can it answer many retail issues?

Headless Commerce

Before diving into the answers this technology is offering to retail tech issues, it would be helpful to discuss its particularities. Over two billion people in the world purchased one or more products online in the past year.

This means that online stores have probably noticed an increase in the organic traffic on their websites and stores. As more and more online stores and businesses are founded, the competition between them is increasing too. So, to turn your visitors into customers and to keep them loyal, you need to offer a pleasant virtual experience in your shop. But the more visitors you have, the more challenging it will be to manage the website and make sure that both the front-end and back-end are carefully designed.

We can say that this might have been the moment when headless commerce was coined. Traditional commerce relies on a simple thing: you have a website with an online store. You need the back-end, meaning the code, and front-end, the user interface to function properly.

But it is not only about this. As your online store will grow, you will integrate a lot of other functionalities. For example, you may have a CRM system for analyzing the analytics and other marketing aspects. You may want to add security systems or payment processing options. And these only make the back-end and code writing part more demanding.

On the other hand, you may want to develop your user experience too. You may want to add a blog where you publish articles about your products. You may want to add a form and ask visitors and customers for feedback. If you make these changes on a traditional commerce website, it will be difficult to keep the short loading time on your website.

Headless Commerce is separating these two sides: front-end and back-end and they communicate through APIs. But what are APIs? Well, you can see APIs as a bridge between the front-end and back-end parts. The data that circulates between them has a standard format and it gives flexibility to developers and owners. Any online business should base its online store on headless commerce.

Benefits of Headless E-commerce

Implementing headless e-commerce to your online business comes with a lot of benefits. Here are just some of them you can enjoy.

Implementing New Technologies

One of the biggest benefits of headless e-commerce is that it offers you the flexibility and ease to implement new technologies. As this domain is constantly expanding and developing, new technological solutions appear on the market.

Even though not all are designed for e-commerce businesses, a lot of them are. Considering that this domain is only expanding and sales are only increasing, it becomes tremendously important to offer your customers the best online shopping experience.

If you use headless e-commerce architecture for your online store, implementing new technologies will be very easy. This is because the back-end and front-end parts are communicating through APIs, so making changes without affecting one or another is facile.

Updating Systems

Working on your online store and making it user-friendly is a work that will be constantly undergoing. We all know that some websites cannot be accessed while systems are updated or changes are made. However, with headless e-commerce, you can easily do this. Making your online store unavailable, even if it will be for just a few hours, will affect the experience of the users. They might choose to buy from your competitors and you might lose a part of your customers.

High Personalization

In traditional e-commerce, to change the front-end or user interface, you need to change the code. In headless e-commerce, changes can be made smoother and easier. You have a lot of flexibility to make whatever changes you want. And today, with the help of progressive web apps, you can offer your customers and visitors a seamless online experience.

A progressive web app is a web app that does not require separate coding or building. It is a web app that effectively assists visitors in their online journey. They can add it to their home screen or access it on their desktops easily. Which makes the degrees of personalization possible high, giving e-commerce more development opportunities.

Final Thoughts

The world of online orders has developed a lot during the last years, especially the pandemic ones. Ordering food, clothes, shoes, furniture, or other products online has become the norm. It is easier to do it from the comfort of your home, on your laptop or mobile phone, instead of going to the store and looking for your desired products.

And so, the universe of e-commerce has expanded considerably, with over two billion people purchasing products online yearly. And the numbers are just rising. Headless architecture has entered this domain, answering many retail tech issues.

If you are struggling with making changes to your front-end or adding new features to your website, you should replace traditional commerce with a headless one. It gives you greater flexibility, you can easily personalize your store and implement new technologies. As the front-end and back-end parts communicate through APIs, offering a seamless experience to your customers will be smooth.

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About the author: Access Publishing

Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Paso Robles Daily News on Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog.