Online shopping has migrated to a whole new experience. Shoppers prefer to feel they have total control of their experience in the store, and business owners want more flexibility for their stores. Everything comes down to modern-day trends. Fall behind, and the business may not last the competition of others.
With the increase in technological innovation, several models for use on eCommerce platforms have emerged. This has given much acceptance to access an online store from any gadget or technology, whether a mobile app, IoT, chatbots, voice assistants, or websites. These are among the many features of headless commerce.
Many people may have heard of the headless commerce tactic but are unaware of its usefulness. Several blogs and resources have been about it, but the headless commerce benefits have not been touched on, nor have the challenges some business owners experience. It is essential to discuss these crucial areas, ensuring sufficient information for those willing to switch from legacy systems.
Benefits of a Migration to Headless Commerce
Several businesses online have experienced stunted growth using a monolithic model. It reduces the chances of good flexibility by changing the frontend without touching the backend. Here’s how headless architecture has influenced the growth and brought relevance.
Only Work with Tools that Improve the Business
Headless commerce allows entrepreneurs to leverage all tools together to build the ideal platform for their customers to shop with ease. In particular, it offers to integrate all relevant services for the backend and frontend through an API with third-party solutions that further enhance their services.
In the past, traditional commerce only allowed one suite of services without interaction with other external tools. While this worked for several companies that offered traditional services, the digital expansion suffered a lack of growth.
With headless commerce, it is now possible to continue with traditional services but bring on external tools that further add value to the product, enabling content management to meet international standards.
Offer of a Beautiful Frontend Experience
With the headless architecture, an online business store can afford to bring new experiences to its customers in all aspects. Since it is possible to make changes to the frontend without touching the code for the backend, recent technological advances can enrich a customer’s experience.
The benefits here are almost endless since customers can comfortably enjoy tools like IoT, chatbots, etc., while maintaining the business’s core values. A business that moves to the headless commerce platform can introduce programs that deepen customer relationships. Customization, reward offers, and AR assistance are all benefits of this model. There are endless opportunities as it gives a client a comprehensive package.
Continuously Meet Customers’ Expectations
As the market continues to increase, the demands of customers continue to grow, and situations like more reliable payment methods, and affordable delivery options, are among the exciting aspects a customer seeks improvement.
Traditional commerce is limited in this aspect. While several companies running the legacy system tried to upscale, it became a matter of increasing budgets for maintenance, as it was certain to crash often. Hence, reducing the optimal customer experience.
Using the headless architecture, it is possible to integrate new tools without causing a crash in the entire structure. This model makes it easy for developers to use a new plug-in, theme, etc., to enhance new projects quickly while still delivering excellent services and introducing new methods that upgrade customer relationships.
Challenges of a Migration to a Headless Architecture eCommerce
There have been several challenges experienced with a move towards headless commerce. While they are solvable, it is important to note them out.
Friction Between Teams
While it is possible to make changes to either frontend or backend, there could be bottlenecks between teams since demand may be high. For example, the marketing team may push for the speedy implementation and integration of a new tool that meets market demands. However, continuous asking may lead to a face-to-face confrontation with the engineering team, since they might become overworked trying to meet deadlines.
This could become a considerable challenge, as it will be important that the new tool does not cause damage to the already existing structure.
High Budget due to Start from Scratch
Implementing a flexible change that separates the frontend from backend requires good funding. The design of a total headless architecture migration from monolithic systems often does not include frontend tools. This is not limited to finance alone.
For some eCommerce sites, tooling for the frontend or UI side will require time and a budget above previous expectations. This could lead to slow implementation. In addition, headless commerce requires an out-of-the-box solution to catch customers’ attention.
If there is a limit in finance, it may be challenging to meet these new expectations or projections to take over the market. Furthermore, a time limit may be seen if there is a shortage of developers that may be able to implement these solutions.
Inability to Collate and create a Connection to all Data
It is possible to get enough data with the headless commerce model. This will be possible due to the various integration with reliable third-party tools that further improve customer relationships. That means extra data collated from other ends to make updates to the system additionally.
However, there’s a complexity when there is a need to make a valuable connection between the different data collated to make valid interpretations for further implementation. This means more funding to include data analysts and engineers and more time needed to make accurate interpretations that may not be available.
Conclusion
The possibilities that headless commerce creates are almost endless. It allows for a better customer experience, becoming consistent over time. It also improves internal customer communication between employees since modern tools are implemented to aid in a smooth workflow.
There are challenges, as expected, with every move to a new system. Problems with potential bottlenecks, increased funding, and budgets can spell doom for a business lacking financing. However, the chances of growing to higher levels with a headless architecture make the challenges worth it. Getting an in-depth understanding of the company’s process and making a good decision is essential for a smooth transition.
