無(wú)頭電商指南（英）-KIBO

Headlesscommerceisnolongerthepreserveoftechenthusiastsandcoders.Fromtinyonlinestorestothebiggestretailenterprises,itseemseveryonewantstogoheadless.Andwithgoodreason-headlesscommerceoffersonlineretailersseveralbenefits.Tonameafew:

Fastersites

Greaterdesignflexibility

Lesshostinganddevelopmentheadaches,and,mostimportantly,

Richerdigitalexperiencesforyourcustomers

Thislastpointiscrucial.AccordingtoPWC,oneinthreeconsumerswillwalkawayfromabrandafterjustonebadcustomerexperience.

Implementedproperly,headlesscantransformyouronlinebusinessandhelpdefineyourbrand’sfuture.

Butwhilethereisnodoubtthatheadlesscommercemarksamajorbreakthroughintheworldofonlineretail,fortheuninitiated,gettingyourhead(excusethepun)aroundthetechnologycanfeellikeahugechallenge.

Ifyou’relookingintoheadlesscommerceforthefirsttimeyouprobablyhaveahostofquestions:

Whatdoallthetechnicaltermsactuallymean?

Howwillgoingheadlessbenefitmybusiness?

HowdoIevaluatedifferentheadlesssolutions?

What’sinvolvedinmigratingtoaheadlessplatform?

We’veproducedthisguidetoanswerthesequestionsandmore.Itwillgiveyouaclearunderstandingofwhat’sinvolvedinheadlesscommerce,theknowledgeyouneedtoevaluatedifferentheadlessoptions,andwillhelpyoudecideifheadlessisrightforyourbusiness.

1EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

EverythingYouEver

WantedtoKnowAbout

HeadlessCommerce

...butwereafraidtoask

Introduction3

Definitions

4

ABriefHistoryofeCommerce(or,WhyHeadlessistheFuture)

6

TheRoleofAPIs

9

TheBusinessCaseforHeadless

11

HowtoEvaluateHeadlesseCommercePlatforms

13

HowtoImplementaHeadlessSolution(astep-by-stepguide)

17

Tableof

Contents

Conclusion20

2EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Headlesscommerceisnolongerthepreserveoftechenthusiastsandcoders.Fromtinyonlinestorestothebiggestretailenterprises,itseemseveryonewantstogoheadless.Andwithgoodreason-headlesscommerceoffersonlineretailersseveralbenefits.Tonameafew:

FASTERSITES

GREATERDESIGNFLEXIBILITY

LESSHOSTINGANDDEVELOPMENTHEADACHES,and,mostimportantly,

RICHERDIGITALEXPERIENCESFORYOURCUSTOMERS

Thislastpointiscrucial.Accordingto

PWC

,oneinthreeconsumerswillwalkawayfromabrandafterjustonebadcustomerexperience.

Implementedproperly,headlesscantransformyouronlinebusinessandhelpdefineyourbrand’sfuture.

Butwhilethereisnodoubtthatheadlesscommercemarksamajorbreakthroughintheworldofonlineretail,fortheuninitiated,gettingyourhead(excusethepun)aroundthetechnologycanfeellikeahugechallenge.

Introduction

Ifyou’relookingintoheadlesscommerceforthefirsttimeyouprobablyhaveahostofquestions:

WHATDOALLTHETECHNICALTERMSACTUALLYMEAN?

HOWWILLGOINGHEADLESSBENEFITMYBUSINESS?

HOWDOIEVALUATEDIFFERENTHEADLESSSOLUTIONS?

WHAT’SINVOLVEDINMIGRATINGTOAHEADLESSPLATFORM?

We’veproducedthisguidetoanswerthesequestionsandmore.Itwillgiveyouaclearunderstandingofwhat’sinvolvedinheadlesscommerce,theknowledgeyouneedtoevaluatedifferentheadlessoptions,andwillhelpyoudecideifheadlessisrightforyourbusiness.

3EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Theworldofheadlesscommercecanseemdauntingwithtechnicallanguage.Butonceyouhaveanunderstandingofwhatthewordsandphrasesmean,theconceptsarealoteasiertogetyourheadaround.

Herearesomedefinitionsofkeyterms:

BACKENDAllthebehind-the-scenesfunctionsthatareneededtomakeyoursiteorstorefrontrunsmoothly:cart,productinformation,inventory,etc.

FRONTENDThepartofyouronlinebusinessthatyourcustomersinteractwith.Notjustyoursite,butthewholedigitalexperience:mobileapp,in-storekiosks,IoTdevices,etc.

HEADLESSHeadlesscommercereferstothepracticeofseparatingthefrontendandbackendpartsofyoureCommerceoperation.Thebackendfunctionsarehandledbyanentirelyseparatelayerfromthecustomerexperiencefrontend.Asthetwolayersareseparated,thebackendiswithoutafrontend‘head’.

API(APPLICATIONPROGRAMMINGINTERFACE)Ifyouhavetwoprogramswrittenindifferentlanguages(forexample,yourstorefrontandthebackendeCommerceplatform),theywon’thaveacommonframeofreferenceandsoareunabletointeractwitheachother.APIsbridgethegap,providingastandardinwhichbothprogramscan‘talk’toeachother.Inthisway,APIscanrelaymessagesfromoneprogramtoanother,withthemessagescontaininginstructionsonhowtoamend,update,ordeletedata.

VUE.JS,ANGULARJS,ANDREACT.JSJavaScriptisaprogramminglanguagethatworkswithHTMLandCSS(thelanguagesthatallwebsitesarewrittenin).ProgrammersuseJavaScripttomakepagesmoreresponsivetousersasitgivesdevelopersmoreflexibilitytocreateinteractivecomponentsofasite.It’sthisflexibilitythathasmadeJavaScriptlanguagespopularwithfrontenddevelopers.

Vue.js,AngularJS,andReact.jsareJavaScriptframeworks.Thatis,theyarecollectionsofbundledJavaScriptcodethatdeveloperscanuseasprogramming‘shortcuts’thatprovideafoundationonwhichtomakefast,responsiveandinteractivefront-endapplications.

SOFTWAREARCHITECTURELiketheelementsofdesignthatareusedtobuildphysicalstructures,softwarearchitecturereferstothelayoutofasystemandtheprinciplesunderpinningitsconstruction.Thereareseveraldifferentwaystoconfigureacomplexsoftwaresystemlikeheadless.Howitperformsindifferentscenarioswilldependonhowthesystemisarchitected.

Definitions

4EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

MONOLITHICECOMMERCEAneCommercesolutionwithnoseparationbetweenthefrontendandbackend.Inamonolithicarchitecture,thedifferentfunctionsandservicesarehardcodedtogether,makingthemhardtodisentangle.

MODULARSomeheadlessplatformsofferservicesonastandalonebasis,meaningyoucantakeoneormoreserviceswithoutbeingtiedintoahugesoftwaredeployment.Itbringsextraflexibilityasamodularplatformdoesn’thavetobeimplementedwholesale,butcanbedoneinstages,accordingtoyourneeds.

MICROSERVICESThebuildingblocksofalltheeCommerceservicesyoursitehas.Microservicesaremodulesbrokendowntothesmallestunitoffunctionality.UsinganAPItoexposeamicroservicetoyourfrontendenvironmentmeansthatyouonlytakethespecificfunctionalityyouneedfromthebackend.

COMPOSABLEInadditiontoseparatingthefrontendfromthebackend,headlessallowsseparationofbackendservicessotheycanbeusedindependentlyofeachother.Ifyou’retakingthisapproachtobuildingyourtechstack,you’renotlimitedtooneprovider,language,orframeworkandsocan‘compose’yourowneCommercesolutionoutofdisparateelements.

CORECOMMERCEAccordingto

Gartner

,thesearethefunctionsthatalleCommercebusinesseswillneedtohaveinplacetobeabletooperate,andeverycommerceplatformshouldprovide.Makingsureyourheadlesscommercesolutionhasanoutstandingcatalog,search,basket,promotions,payment,andcustomeraccountisessentialtotheevaluationprocess.

CMS(CONTENTMANAGEMENTSYSTEM)This,asthenamesuggests,isarepositoryforstoring,organizing,tagging,andarrangingallthecontentyouneedforyoursite(plusyourmobilesite,devices,in-storekiosks,etc).AlthoughCMSsprovideabackendfunction,theyareoftenaccessedandmanagedviaaWYSIWYG(WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet)pageeditororbuilder.MoresophisticatedCMSswillcomewiththeirownbuilder,butmanyCMSsarestandaloneandwillrequireintegrationwithanother3rd-partybuilder.

5EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

ABrief

Historyof

eCommerce

Toproperlyexplainthesignificanceofheadlesscommerceandwhyitmakessensefortoday’sonlineretailers,weneedtotakealookathoweCommercehasdeveloped.Onlineretailinghasgonefromarelativelystraightforwardextensionofbrickandmortarstoresintothedynamic,multichanneldriverofbrandidentityandimmersivedigitalexperiencethatitisnow.

Alongtimeago,aroundtheyear2000,retailerswerewakinguptothepossibilitiesofsellingtheirproductsonline.Inthisdistantpast,thewaycompaniesthoughtaboutonlineretailwassimplisticbytoday’sstandards.

EarlyeCommerceproviderscateredtobusinesseswhosoldtheirproductsthroughadesktopsitewithadedicatedwarehouseattachedtoit.Assuch,theyweremonolithicindesign,gearedtowardssupportingasinglewebsite,andfocusedonthelogisticsofasimple‘warehouseA’to‘consumerB’fulfillmentmodel.

DigitalexperienceandtheriseofeCommerceplatforms

20yearslater,andtheonlineretaillandscapehaschangedalmostbeyondrecognition.

Asbrandsandretailershavesoughttomeetanonlinegenerationwheretheyspendmostoftheirtime,andtechnologicalinnovationhascontinuedapace,therehasbeenaproliferationofchannels.Frommobileappstoin-storekiosks,brandsnowexistinanomnichannelworldwithapremiumonprovidingoutstandingdigitalexperiencesacrosstouchpoints.

Thelinearmodelthatsawacustomerlandingonasiteandclickingthroughthestepstoeventuallymakeapurchasehasbeenreplacedbyadesiretoprovidecustomerswitharich,cross-channeldigitalexperience.

Theseexperiencesinvolveeverythingfrompersonalizedproductrecommendationstovideoguidestotargetedreminders.And,increasingly,theboundariesbetweenonlineandofflinearebecomingblurred,withcustomersexpectingserviceslikeclick-and-collectasstandard.OnereportestimatesthatUSshoppersspent$72.46billiononclick-and-collectin2020.

AnewbreedofeCommerceprovidershassprunguptocatertothisomnichannelworldwherethefrontendrequirementsaregettingincreasinglycomplex.

6EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Frontenddevelopershaveadoptedawiderangeofprogramminglanguagestomeetdigitalexperiencechallenges.Whetherit’sVue,React,orAngular,alltheselanguageshavetheirownecosystemofdevelopers,requirements,andstandards.

Itnowmatterswhatlanguageyourfrontendexperienceisbuilton.

Enterheadlesscommerce

TheoldgenerationofmonolithiceCommerceplatformsweredesignedwithafrontendandbackendthatwerecompletelydependentononeanother.Asthefrontendlayerwashardcodedtogetherwiththebackend,itwasdifficulttoseparatethem.

Astheneedsofonlineretailhaveevolvedtoaccommodatedifferentfrontendlanguages,monolithicprovidershavetriedtoadaptby‘sawingoff’thetoplayerandbuildingAPIs(moreontheselater)toconnecttheirbackend

withwhateverfrontendframeworktheircustomersareusing.

Butbehind-the-scenes,theservicesthattheseprovidersofferarestillintertwinedwitheachotherinwaysthatcanbedifficulttountangle.ItmeansthatevenifyouonlywantoneservicefromaneCommerceprovider,theymayhavetodeploytheirwholeplatform.

Thisisaproblemforbrandslookingtoheadlesstoprovidethemwithamoreagile,composabletechstack.

Luckily,thenewbreedofeCommerceplatformsaredesignedwithaheadlessarchitecture,providingeCommerceservicesthataredesignedfromtheirinceptiontobeagnosticaboutthelanguagethefrontendsiteisbuilton.

Thebackendisacompletelyseparatelayerfromthefrontend,andthetwocommunicateviaAPIs.

Thebestoftheseplatformsaremicroservices-based,meaningtheycanofferretailersarangeofservicesonastandalonebasis.ThesemicroservicesarelinkedtoeachotherandtothefrontendbyAPIs,simplifyingthearchitectureofyouroveralleCommercesolution.

7EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Keydifferencesbetweenheadlessandtraditionalcommerce

Headlesscommerceemergedtomeetthechangingneedsofanincreasinglycomplexonlineretailenvironment.Assuch,headlesssolutionsaremoreflexible,faster,andmoreagilethantraditionalcommerce.

Asanintroductoryrule,therearethreemajordifferencesbetweenheadlesscommerceandatraditional,monolithiceCommercesolution:

HeadlessCommerce

Backendmanagementandfrontenddeliveryareseparated

TraditionalCommerce

Backendandfrontendarehardcodedtogetherandcannotbeseparated

Oftenofferedonamicroservicesbasis

Servicesarebundledandcan’tbeofferedseparately

CommunicationviaAPIs

Asthewholesystemishardcodedtogether,APIsarenotused

8EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

APIsareakeycomponentofheadless.Theircapacitytolettwoseparatepiecesofsoftware,built-indifferentprogramminglanguages,talktoeachotheriswhatallowsthetwoelementsofaneCommercesolutiontoworktogethereventhoughthefrontendandthebackendareseparated.

ThefrontendlayercanrequestdataortriggeractionsbymakinganAPIcalltothebackend,whichisthenabletoprocesstherequestandsendtherelevantinformationback.

Let’stakeanexample:

CustomerA

ThesitesendsanAPIcallto

thebackendeCommerceplatform

wherethecartishosted

addsanitemtotheircartonyoursite

receivesthecall,

understandsthatCustomerAhasaddedanitemtotheircart,andsoperformsthisaction

9EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Thebackendplatformsends

theinformationbacktothe

frontenddisplay,wherethe

customerwillseetheitemin

theircartonscreen

Roles

ofAPIs

Thebackendplatform

Thisisasimplifiedexample,intheactualworkingsofamicroservices-basedplatform(seethechapteronHowtoEvaluateHeadlesseCommercePlatforms),thecartfunctioncanalsosendAPIcallstootherbackendservices,suchascatalogandpromotions.

Itmeansthatservicesareseparatedfromeachotherandcanbeimplementedonamodularbasis,butcanworktogetherbehindthescenes.

ItmakesitmucheasiertomakechangestoonepartofyourtechstackwithoutaffectingthewholeofyoureCommerceoperation.

BecauseAPIsallowprogramsbuiltindifferentlanguagestotalktoeachother,itmeansyoucandesignyourdigitalexperienceinyourCMSandpushitouttoyourvariouschannelssimultaneously,regardlessofwhatlanguagethey’rebuilton.

Howthisimpactscustomerexperience:

INSTANTUPDATESAllcustomersexperiencechangesimmediately,ratherthansome(maybeusingyourmobilesiteorotherdevice)havingtowaithoursfortheupdatetofilterthroughtothem.

HIGH-QUALITYDIGITALEXPERIENCEUpdatingyourchannelsviaAPIsfreesyourmarketingteamsfromtheworrythatsomefrontendframeworkswon’tsupportchanges.Theycanbemoreinventiveandexperimentalwithcontentideas,resultinginanenrichedexperienceforyourcustomers.

10EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

The

Business

Casefor

Headless

Withallthetechnicaldetailstoconsider,it’seasytolosesightofthereasonyou’reconsideringgoingheadless-thatitmakesbusinesssense.

There’sacompellingbusinesscaseforaneCommercesolutionbuilttomeettheneedsofanomnichannelworldandcapableofintegratingwithalmostanyfrontendenvironment.A

comprehensivesurvey

of46,000shoppersfoundthatomnichannelcustomers“spentanaverageof4%moreoneveryshoppingoccasioninthestoreand10%moreonlinethansingle-channelcustomers.”

Advantagesofheadlesscommerce-andanoteofcaution

Advantages

FASTERSITESPEEDThefrontendcanaccessdataandservicesasneededfromacentralstoragehub,

reducingloadtimesanddeliveringcontenttothecustomersignificantlyquickerthanmonolithiccommerce.

FASTERTIMETOVALUEYoucanmakechangesquicklyandrealizebusinessgainsfaster.Regional

variableslikelanguageandcurrencyareeasytoupdatewhilestillmaintainingconsistencyofdigitalexperience.

Builtforomnichannel:Deliversfastandconsistentdigitalexperiencesregardlessofchannelordevice.Thisisespeciallyimportantonmobile,whereloadtimesarestillslow,

makingvisitorsmorelikelytobounce

.

MOREAGILESeparatingfunctionalitymakesheadlesssolutionsmoreflexibleandadaptabletothe

needsofonlinebrands.Itmeansthatupdatesareeasiertoimplementanddon’trequirecodingchangesorre-deployments.

SIMPLERTOMANAGEAseparatebackendcanbehostedbyyoureCommerceplatformprovider,soyou

don’thavetomanagescalingcapacitytodealwithsuddensurgesoftrafficaroundholidaysandpromotions.

LOWERCUSTOMERACQUISITIONCOSTSANDHIGHERCONVERSIONRATESThere’sapremiumon

creatinguniquecustomerexperiencesthatarecapableofdrivingorganictraffictoyourchannelsandforgingadurablerelationshipwithyourcustomers.Accordingto

PWC

,73%ofconsumerssayCXisanimportantfactorinmakingpurchasingdecisions

11EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

GREATERCONTROLAPIsallowyoutoorchestrateservicessothatyouhaveend-to-endcontroloverall

aspectsofyoursaleschannel-fromwhatcustomersseewhentheyarriveonyoursite,towhatfulfillmentcentertheirorderisroutedthrough,towhenandhowitisshippedtothem.

LOWERTOTALCOSTOFOWNERSHIP(TCO)Asthebackendhosting(withalltheattendantspace,

energy,andlaborrequirements)istakenoffyourhands,movingtoa3rd-partySaaSproviderreducestheoverallcostofmaintainingyourtechstack.

BEST-IN-CLASSCAPABILITIESFasterfeatureinnovationsandtheabilitytochoosebest-of-breedsolutions.

Cautions

HEADLESSCANBECOMPLICATED,evenwithaplatformproviderdoingsomeoftheworkforyou.

Makesureyoupickavendorthatisabletodeliverservicesout-of-the-boxandprovideongoingsupport.

LOTSOFHYPEAROUNDTHETECHNOLOGY,soitcanbehardtoknowwhataspectsaregenuinely

beneficial.

DIFFERENTMODELSONTHEMARKET,allwithdifferentarchitectures.Itcanbehardtoknowwhat

therightoneisforyourbrand.

Aslongasyou’reawareofthesenotesofcautionandarmyourselfwiththerightknowledge,youcaneasilyleveragethemanybenefitsofheadlesscommerce.

12EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Thesheervolumeandtechnicaldensityoftheliteraturewrittenonthesubjectofheadlesscanbeintimidatingtothenon-technicalexpert.

Inthissectionwe’lltakealookatthemechanicsofheadlesscommerceplatforms,helpingorientateyouasyounavigatethroughthevariousoptions.

Itmighthelptocirclebacktothedefinitionsatthestartofthisguideforarefresheronsomeofthespecialisttermsused.

Thingstolookforinaheadlesssolution

Becauseoftheirsuperiorperformanceandmodulararchitecture,thefirstspecificationthatmanyonlinebrandslookforintheirprospectiveheadlesssolutionisthatitismicroservices-based.

FRONTEND

API

Howto

EvaluateHeadlesseCommercePlatforms

BACKENDECOMMERCEPLATFORM

MicroserviceAPIMicroserviceAPIMicroservice

13EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Theseplatformshavebeenconceivedandbuilttomeetcurrentuse-cases.Assuch,theytakeAPIsasastartingpointfortheirwholedesign.Theseplatformsaresometimesreferredtoas‘API-first’orhavingamicroservices

architecture.Witharepurposedlegacyenterpriseplatform,youmayhavetodisentangleseveralauxiliarybackendfunctionsthatyoudon’tnecessarilywant,butneedtobedeployedbehindthescenestomakeitwork.

Havingthosemonolithicfunctionspresentbehindthescenescanhaveperformanceimplications.Theycanalsoaffectthedegreetowhichyourheadlessarchitectureisfuture-proofed.Youmaynotwantorneedabest-of-breedmodularapproachacrossallbusinessfunctionsrightaway,buthavingacomposablearchitecturewillallowyoutopainlesslyswapoutservicesasyourbusinessandthetechnologyevolves.Amodularapproachequalsmoreflexibility.

Butevenifyoudooptforamodularapproach,you’llstillhavetodecidewhetheryouwantacommerceplatformthatcomesprettymuchinonepiece,thatyoucanthenadapttoyourbusinessneeds,orwhethertousemodularofferingstocreateyourownbespokesolution.Asarecent

Forresterreport

argued,“‘Customizeorcompose’isthenew‘buildversusbuy’”.

Again,flexibilityandspeedareimprovedwithacomposablesolution.Youcaneasilyextendservicesasyouneedthemwithoutcreatingadragonyoursiteperformance(seethebelowsectiononextensibilityformore).

AnotherbigthingtolookoutforiswhetheryoureCommercesolutioncomespackagedwithaheadlessCMS.SomeretailersprefertobuildtheirtechstackthemselvesanduseoneofthemanypowerfulheadlessCMSsnowavailable(Contentstack,Contentful,Amplience,etc).

Othersprefertousetheirplatformprovider’s‘in-house’CMS.Doingsocansimplifyyourarchitectureandreducehostingandmanagementcosts.Ifyou’rethinkingofgoingthisroute,makesureyoureCommerceplatformoffers

aheadlessCMSandintegratedbuilderthatprovidesasinglepointofaccessforyourteams.Buttheseareonlythefirststeps.

Whenevaluatingmicroservices-basedsolutions,youshouldevaluatethe:

DEPTHOFMICROSERVICES

WIDTHOFMICROSERVICES

EXTENSIBILITY

14EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Out-of-the-boxshouldnotmeanrigidandcookie-cutter

It’scompletelypossibleforaheadless

platformtoprovidehostingand

maintenanceforarangeofservicesand

stillallowyoutomakecustomizations

tothemtoserveyouruniqueneeds.

Depth

Theprocessofconstructingyourtechstackisalittlelikebuildingahouse.Yourheadlessplatformneedstoprovideyouwithasolidfoundation.Butinsteadoftimberandstone,thefoundationconsistsofthebasicservicesneededtomakeyoursiterunsmoothlyandtomaintainanexcellentdigitalexperience.

Muchofthebackendarchitectureneededtomaketheseservicesworkquickly,smoothly,andatscaleistime-consumingtoconstructandcostlytomaintain.

Sowhencomparingheadlessplatforms,lookatwhatservicesareprovided‘out-of-the-box.’ThisisacommonlyusedtermineCommerceanditreferstothoseservicesandfeaturesthatcanbeusedassoonasyoudeploythesoftware.

Anyservicesthatareprovidedout-of-the-boxareonesthatyourdevelopmentteamsdon’thavetobuildforthemselves.Youcanletthe3rd-partyeCommerceplatformhostandmaintainthemwhileyoufocusonthethingsyoudobest-creatingbreathtakingcontentandgettingfeaturestoyourcustomersfaster.

Customizeout-of-the-boxservices

Eventhoughyoushouldlookforservices

thatarealreadyreadytogo,withaslittle

blood,sweat,andtearsspilledoverbackend

considerationsaspossible,youshouldstill

makesureyouhavetheabilitytocustomize

thesefunctionsifyouneedto.

Breadth

Aswellasprovidingserviceswitharobustfoundation,headlessplatformsneedtoprovideawiderangeofservices.Comparethebreadthofservicesonofferfromeachplatformandmakesuretheyhavewhatyouneed.

Butplatformsthatofferawiderangeofservicesalsoneedtogetthebasicsright.

GartnerrankedKiboCommerce

highestforcorecommercecapabilitiesintheir2021CriticalCapabilitiesforDigitalCommercereport,meaning

theywerethebestrankedforprovidingthecorefunctionsof“catalog,search,basket,promotions,payment,

customeraccount.”

15EVERYTHINGYOUEVERWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTHEADLESSCOMMERCE

Extensibility

eCommerceplatformsarebuilttoservearangeofuse-cases,andheadlessplatformsarenodifferent.3rd-partyproviderswanttoserveasmuchofthemarketaspossible-youwon’tcomeacrossavendorthatmakescommerceplatformssolelyforfarmingmachinerymanufacturers,forexample.

Assuch,theseplatformsneedtodesignandbuildtheirservicessothattheycanbeusedbymanydifferenttypesofonlinebusinesses,whoseneedsdiffertoagreaterorlesserextent.

Thatapproachworksgreatforthemostpart-everycompanythatsellsonlinewillhaveacartfunction,regardlessofwhetherthey’reaB2BmicrochipmanufactureroraDTCfashionbrand.

Butthatmaybewherethesimilaritiesend.OurB2Bsellermightrequireauniquecartfunctionthatdisplaystheirproduct’stechnicalspecs,ornotifiesthecustomeriftwoproductsthey’veaddedtotheircartarenotcompatiblewitheachother.

Thisisaspecialistfunctionthatwouldn’tbenecessaryforthefashionbrand(thoughtheymighthaveother,equallyuniquerequirements)anditwouldbefruitlessforthebusinesstolookforthisfunctionasastandardfeatureofaneCommerceplatform.

Thisiswhereextensibilitycomesin.

Headlessplatformsshouldhaveanextensibilitylayerthatcantakethecorefunctionalityandmodify,orextendit,totheuniquerequirementsofyourbusiness.

Whenevaluatingheadlessvendors,lookformanagedextensibility.Thismeanstheplatformwillhostandmanagetheextension.

Managedextensibilityhasseveralbenefits:

NOEXTRACOSTThehostingandmanagingshouldcomeaspartofthepackage.

ofthebackend,thereisnolatencyasinformationpassesfromyourhostingenvironmenttothe

eCommerceplatform.

IMPROVEDSITEPERFORMANCEAstheextensionishostedinthesameplaceastherest

NONEEDTOWORRYABOUTMANAGINGANDSCALI