In today’s dynamic marketplace, where trends shift, business demands fluctuate, and customer expectations soar, staying ahead is non-negotiable for online marketing for small businesses and corporate giants. With the relentless procession of AI technology, the pressure is on companies to do more with less. So, how does one swiftly adapt and expand their brand to meet the ever-changing landscape? Enter headless e-commerce, the ultimate game-changer. It offers outstanding agility and flexibility to unlock new opportunities and ensure brands stay at the vanguard of innovation.
Level up your e-commerce game in 2024 and beyond with Headless Commerce!
What Is Headless Commerce?
Headless e-commerce separates the front end (storefront and user experience) from the back end (data and business logic layers) of an e-commerce application. This means changes on one end are exclusive of the other, giving brands the freedom to customize limitlessly and improve the user experience.
In e-commerce, keeping up with new channels and customer behaviors is tough, and often requires lots of coffee! Traditional e-commerce or digital marketing for small businesses and big brands needs mutually exclusive updates to both front and back ends for new features, causing great hustle for even smaller projects. That’s where the flexibility and agility of headless e-commerce come in to change the conventional game.
Traditional e-Commerce v/s Headless e-Commerce
Top 5 Best Headless eCommerce Platforms
Shopify has long been a go-to choice for business owners worldwide, evolving from a conventional e-commerce platform to include headless commerce functionality through Shopify Plus.
Shopify Plus empowers business owners to gain full control over their storefront’s appearance while the platform handles backend operations.
Catering to businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, Shopify Plus offers a range of features to facilitate growth.
Its versatility allows users to customize storefronts with or without coding, making it accessible to beginners and experienced developers.
Image: Shopify
Key Features
- A wide array of seamless third-party integrations with CRM, ERP, PIM, and CMS tools.
- Robust GraphQL API resources enable effortless storefront customization and other headless commerce functionalities.
- Integration compatibility with various tools including Wave, Slack, Airtable, Google Sheets, and Stocky, as well as third-party marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon.
- Access to the Shopify Plus academy offering online training for e-commerce best practices.
- Guaranteed 99.99% online store uptime, along with URL customization for enhanced SEO and greater visibility on Google SERPs.
- Customizable templates and themes for various aspects like inventory management, discounts, checkout processes, and more.
Pricing
Shopify Plus pricing starts at $2,500/month for a 1-year term and $2,500/month for a 3-year term, or a variable platform fee for more complex business structures.
Tool Level
- Intermediate
Usability
- Easy to use
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce also stands out as a leading e-commerce platform that caters to all sizes of businesses with its comprehensive suite of solutions.
As a SaaS platform, it equips small businesses with the tools needed for their online marketing, launch, and scale their e-commerce operations seamlessly.
A key highlight of BigCommerce for headless commerce is its API-driven architecture that facilitates easy integration with multiple third-party platforms like eBay, Amazon, Stripe, and Drupal.
Unlike some other headless e-commerce platforms, BigCommerce does not impose API call throttling, ensuring timely responses regardless of website traffic volume.
Image: BigCommerce
Key Features
- Uses PayPal as the main payment option and works with 48+ other payment gateways like Stripe and Apple Pay.
- Handles different currencies and connects with apps that support multiple languages.
- Comes with basic features like managing products, inventory, and orders.
- Allow users to change the look and feel of their e-store with 12 free designs and 120 paid ones.
- Help users to track how customers behave and generate reports for marketing.
- Manages multiple stores and supports headless commerce through its API.
Pricing
BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial with four paid plans with various add-on benefits based on the tier.
- Standard: $29 per month
- Plus: $79 per month
- Pro: $299 per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Tool Level
- Beginner
Usability
- Easy to use
3. Spryker
Spryker, headquartered in Berlin, is a leading headless e-commerce platform that caters to B2B and B2C businesses.
With an extensive array of approximately 900 API modules, Spryker enables businesses to decouple the front end of their e-commerce applications from the back end seamlessly.
It offers dependable cloud-based services to empower businesses to customize their storefronts without technical constraints. Also, it streamlines business operations with features such as inventory management, product catalogs, and discount management.
Spryker emphasizes seamless integration with third-party applications like RatePay, Nitrobox, PayPal, Adyen, and Paysafe.
Image: Spryker
Key Features
- Offers customizable templates for the online store’s look and layout.
- Help businesses keep track of how customers behave and see sales data easily.
- Provides training through videos and guides to help set up smoothly.
- Includes features like order tracking and inventory management to run the business smoothly.
- Customizable as business needs.
- Allows developers to add more features using modules and plugins.
Pricing
Spryker offers a free demo version and custom pricing on request.
Tool Level
- Intermediate
Usability
- Moderately easy to use
4. Salesforce Commerce Cloud
It is driven by the powerhouse CRM software provider Salesforce and stands out as one of the best headless e-commerce platforms available in 2024. Its user-friendly features make it easy to create and customize unique storefronts tailored to your business needs, with the added advantage of swift site launches thanks to its cloud-based capabilities.
What sets this platform apart is its innovative AI-powered commerce capabilities. Through generative AI, it conducts predictive analysis and delivers personalized content recommendations to customers, ensuring high satisfaction levels and keeping you ahead of the competition.
Image: Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Key Features
- Supports multi-site coverage and localization to allow customization of storefronts as per business’s operating country.
- Offers integration with various third-party platforms including LinkedIn, Twitter, Slack, Amazon, NetSuite, and others.
- Seamlessly integrates with Salesforce’s CRM software for enhanced customization options.
- Provides a unified commerce experience, offering tools for customer acquisition, reporting and analytics, order management, and payments.
- Streamlines order processing through automation, ensuring quick and efficient service.
- Integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing businesses to accept payments in over 130 currencies.
Pricing
Image: Salesforce commerce cloud
Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers tailored pricing plans based on your business transaction volume. It provides four paid plans:
- Standard Success Plan: Custom pricing
- Premier Success Plan: Custom pricing
- Signature Success Plan: Custom pricing
- Professional Services Plan: Custom pricing
Tool Level
- Intermediate
Usability
- Easy to use
5. Commercetools
It offers a comprehensive business solution, merging an API-first approach with microservices features and cloud-native architecture to deliver efficient headless e-commerce infrastructure globally.
As a SaaS platform, it empowers business owners to create and tailor unique digital storefronts across various consumer touchpoints, be it websites, VR applications, voice assistants, or social networks.
Featuring over 300 API endpoints, Commercetools provides robust headless services for both B2B and B2C companies. Its APIs are versatile enough to eliminate the need for further customization using SQL.
Image: Commercetools
Key Features
- Includes tools for managing product information efficiently.
- Allows integration with various applications like Adyen, Frontastic, Bloomreach, and others.
- Offers customer support via live chat, email, help desks, FAQs, and calls.
- Features a Merchant Center for managing retail operations and tracking orders.
- Provides training through webinars and live videos for onboarding.
- Uses multiple cloud providers like AWS, GCP, and Azure for reliable point-of-sale services.
Pricing
Commercetools provides personalized pricing plans tailored to your business requirements and additional microservices.
Tool Level
- Intermediate
Usability
- Slightly difficult to use for beginners
Wrap Up
Going headless isn’t just an afterthought — it makes sharing content easier, prevents vendor lock-in, delights developers, enables personalized customer experiences, and more. With options for every budget, there’s something for everyone.
