Headless eCommerce vs. Traditional eCommerce

If you’ve ever set up an online store for your business, then you’re probably very familiar with the traditional e-commerce model. As simple as traditional e-commerce platforms appear to be at first, they often pose challenges further down the line when a business’s e-commerce strategy develops and customers begin to demand more store features and functionalities. 

The problem with traditional e-commerce platforms is that they often come with pre-defined experiences for both the customer and the website administrator or developer. While this might work for small businesses looking for an out-of-the-box solution, this can pose countless difficulties for agile or complex businesses that need to constantly modify their store-front to meet the endless needs of store visitors.

Traditional e-commerce platforms are often monolithic in nature. What this means is that typically, the front-end (customer-facing layer or storefront) is tightly coupled with the back-end system (where all the functionalities are controlled) and that features cannot be individually customized or changed, since the whole system is working like one gigantic block.

In the early stages of e-commerce, businesses relied on these monolithic architectures as they brought their stores to life but the lack of flexibility with such systems often caused customization complexities and slower iteration cycles. If developers wanted to make improvements to the front-end, they would have to alter the back-end as well. The risk of ruining the entire system confined developers to these all-in-one structures.

For businesses that require basic online stores with less frequent product updates and little to no customization, the traditional e-commerce model works just fine. However, in today’s rapidly changing, consumer-driven world, a headless commerce approach is relevant for businesses that desire to not only scale but scale speedily.

Retail is one industry that has been at the forefront of headless commerce applications. Fashion and food retailers in particular (including marketplace operators) understand how crucial it is to be agile when delivering experiences to customers. For example, in the world of fashion retail, trends are short-lived and consumers are always looking for the next best thing. To capture and retain customers, B2C brands need to constantly create new and engaging experiences.

One of the biggest impacts headless commerce will have on the B2C industry is its ability to support highly personalized experiences. Consumers crave content, especially content that speaks to them personally. According to a study done by Accenture5, a whopping 91% of consumers say that they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them.

A lot of B2C and D2C companies struggle with capturing audience attention and standing out from the competition. Headless commerce’s flexibility makes it easier for brands to get right in front of their customers. As new technologies emerge, businesses can oscillate between several digital storefronts; they can go wherever their consumers choose to go without ever compromising their back-end system. Being flexible enough to move back and forth between channels will help you stay competitive in a very crowded FMCG or CPG market. Furthermore, it could significantly impact brand awareness. The more digital channels your business can be found on, the more visibility you would have.

As we mentioned earlier, headless commerce supports the seamless integration of third-party systems. This is a key benefit for B2C and D2C businesses especially when it comes to payment gateway integrations. Most shoppers want to feel comfortable as they utilize payment features on your website. By presenting them with the best-of-breed payment options, you can guarantee increased customer trust and also heighten the chances of repeat purchases.

The shift in buyer patterns at the start of the pandemic had a massive impact on the B2B industry. A lot of businesses who simply didn’t see the need for an e-commerce platform or solution had a rude awakening as person-to-person contact, logistics, and supply chain activities came to halt. A digital presence is no longer a nice-to-have but in fact a necessity. As B2B buyers evolve, companies must respond to new consumer and commerce trends.

Headless commerce reinforces how important it is for B2B businesses to build a digital presence; building an e-commerce store is the starting point but branching out to other touchpoints could help drive sales for your business and improve customer convenience.

B2B buyers often make purchases in large volumes and sometimes the order approval process can become overwhelming for the distributor. This is one area where we can see headless commerce making a difference. Aside from giving customers an opportunity to purchase products on their platform of choice, a headless approach can also work in reverse by helping businesses approve orders using smart devices such as wearables or voice assistants. For instance, warehouse managers could utilize a smartwatch connected to a Spryker-enabled back-end to approve orders on the go. Similarly, order management can also be done on any device. Unlike with traditional e-commerce systems where employees only had the option of going through orders on a desktop, these days, push notifications can be sent to smartphones and other devices and this greatly accelerates the order fulfillment process. More so, you will be viewed by your customers as a trusted supplier.

Headless Commerce Success Stories

Durst provides retailers with a reliable platform that holistically covers the whole process of delivering beverages, including logistics. Therefore, it is a combination of a marketplace with a multi-interface shop that is user-friendly towards its customers while convenient to maintain by the retailers.

When Durst started planning its product as a greenfield project, the startup knew exactly what it wanted from a commerce solution:

• be mobile-first, to serve as the basis for the customer-centered beverage delivery service
• be a combination of a marketplace and a multi-interface shop system to meet the expectations of both retailers and customers
• serve as the technical base for handling the entire process, including logistics, via a reliable platform

An off-the-shelf solution was not sufficient for these goals. They looked at other shop systems, but Spryker ultimately won them over with its tech-savvy approach, platform development capabilities, and scalable licensing model. 

Durst has realized that customers prefer to order beverages using their smartphones. Regular retailers can easily integrate products on the platform and offer them for sale via a link to the app.

“…Thanks to Spryker‘s flexible and modular headless architecture, we were able to implement the launch and further development using an agile MVP approach. We couldn‘t find any other provider that had the solid API-first approach with the combination of mobile app and merchant platform in this form, and we are excited to be able to now fully dedicate ourselves to Durst‘s growth.”
– Matthias Steinforth, Founder & Managing Director at Durst

The API-first concept means that there is no classic webshop with an inseparable front-end and backend. Various selected front-ends and systems can be flexibly connected to the modular back-end via the API. This way, the transaction is not based on a mere shop solution, but is headless and can be loaded with a multitude of customer interfaces.