The eCommerce landscape is rapidly evolving, with innovation and adaptability becoming the cornerstones of a successful online business. By 2025, eCommerce is projected to constitute an impressive 24.5% of total global retail sales. To stay competitive in this dynamic environment, businesses must select flexible and scalable platforms. The solution lies in adopting headless eCommerce platforms.
These unique systems decouple the front-end user interface from the back-end infrastructure, offering unparalleled freedom to make changes as your business needs evolve. This article explores the 6 best headless eCommerce platforms in 2024, guiding you toward making an informed decision for your business.
What is a Headless Commerce Platform?
A headless commerce platform is a modern eCommerce solution that separates the front-end presentation layer from the back-end functionality. In a traditional eCommerce model, the front and back ends are inherently linked, meaning changes in one often require modifications in the other.
However, the two ends operate independently in a headless structure, communicating through APIs. This decoupling provides businesses with increased flexibility and control over their eCommerce operations.
The front end, or the “head,” can be changed, customized, or completely redesigned without affecting the back-end operations like inventory management, order processing, and customer data handling. This translates into a more fluid user experience and allows businesses to adapt quickly and efficiently to market trends or customer preferences.
The headless approach is thus a game-changer in the eCommerce space, equipping businesses with the agility they need to stay competitive in the digital age. Adapting to this model can yield significant benefits that drive growth and success.
What to Look for in a Headless Commerce Platform?
As you navigate the world of headless commerce platforms, you must be aware of key attributes that could make or break your eCommerce business’s success. Let’s delve into five major aspects of choosing a headless commerce platform.
User Interface
An intuitive user interface (UI) is paramount in a headless commerce platform. A well-designed UI makes it easier for your team to manage products, orders, and customer data and ensures a seamless shopping experience for your customers. A complex, confusing UI can lead to inefficiencies and, in turn, may affect sales and customer satisfaction.
Available Integrations
The ability to integrate with various systems and applications is a significant advantage of headless commerce platforms. Check for integrations with CRM systems, payment gateways, marketing tools, social media platforms, and more. These integrations can streamline operations, automate processes, and drive efficiency.
Learning Curve
Given their technical nature, headless commerce platforms may come with a steep learning curve. Consider the technical abilities of your team and the kind of training the platform provider offers. A platform that is easy to learn and implement can shorten the time it takes for your business to benefit from going headless.
Customizability
One of the major benefits of headless commerce is its high degree of customizability. Look for a platform that allows you to tailor the front end to match your brand’s identity and cater to your customers’ needs. A customizable platform will enable you to adapt quickly to changing market trends and customer preferences.
Good Customer Support
Even the most advanced headless commerce platform can present challenges. Reliable customer support is crucial to solve any issues that arise promptly. Ensure your chosen platform offers strong customer service, including comprehensive resources, live help, and quick response times.
Top 6 Best Headless Commerce Platforms
As we delve into the top 6 headless eCommerce platforms in 2024, it’s important to remember that each platform has unique features and benefits. Choosing the most suitable platform for your business depends on your unique requirements and goals. Now, let’s dive deeper into each platform, exploring their individual features and benefits:
Shopify
Shopify is one of the most popular choices in the eCommerce platform market and for a good reason. It’s a regular eCommerce platform and a powerful headless commerce solution. Shopify’s robust APIs and SDKs make it possible to decouple the front and back ends, allowing businesses to create highly customized shopping experiences without compromising on the platform’s core eCommerce functionality.
Shopify offers various integration options, including CRM systems, marketing tools, and social media platforms, enhancing operational efficiency and automation. Its intuitive user interface simplifies the management of products, orders, and customer data. Shopify also offers a wealth of resources for learning and excellent customer support. Its scalable infrastructure makes it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises.
Magento (Adobe Commerce)
Magento, now Adobe Commerce, comes second to our top headless commerce platforms list. It’s an open-source platform owned by Adobe that provides a flexible, secure, and customizable eCommerce solution. As a headless commerce platform, Magento offers the power to design unique, engaging digital shopping experiences tailored to your brand and clientele.
The separation of the front-end and back-end systems through APIs allows businesses to freely control user experiences without worrying about interrupting back-end processes. Magento’s vast ecosystem of extensions and capacity to integrate with various systems—including CRM, ERP, and PIM—further boost its appeal.
Moreover, Magento is renowned for its scalability, making it a favored choice among businesses aiming for growth. It supports the management of large product catalogs, complex configurations, and high-traffic loads without compromising performance.
However, it’s worth noting that Magento requires more technical expertise to fully leverage its capabilities. Therefore, it may not be the best fit for those lacking technical knowledge unless they’re willing to invest in development resources or training. But, for those who can harness its power, Magento brings unparalleled customization and control in the eCommerce arena.
BigCommerce
Next in line is BigCommerce, a robust headless commerce platform that delivers flexibility and scalability. BigCommerce provides an open SaaS solution that allows businesses to decouple the front-end presentation layer from the back-end commerce functionality. This separation will enable you to engineer unique, brand-specific experiences across various channels and touchpoints while leveraging BigCommerce’s reliable eCommerce capabilities.
The platform offers a comprehensive suite of APIs, facilitating seamless integration with many applications, including CRM, ERP, and marketing tools. This allows for streamlined operations, automated processes, and efficient eCommerce business management.
BigCommerce stands out with an intuitive interface that simplifies handling product data, order processing, and customer management. Moreover, it offers excellent customer support, rich educational resources, and a supportive community, ensuring you never feel left out in the face of technical challenges.
Although BigCommerce is suitable for businesses of all sizes, it particularly shines when catering to high-volume businesses and B2B companies, given its advanced features designed to support complex selling scenarios. Its emphasis on scalability means it can effectively handle traffic spikes and extensive product catalogs without affecting performance. This makes BigCommerce a worthy contender in the headless commerce landscape.
Commercetools
Commercetools is a next-generation headless commerce platform that offers a truly API-first, cloud-native solution. It empowers businesses to build unique, highly customizable ecommerce experiences across various channels. The platform stands distinct in its microservices-based architecture, modularizing functionalities like product information management, order management, and payment processing. This design allows you to choose only the needed services, reducing complexity and increasing flexibility.
Commercetools’ robust APIs facilitate seamless integration with many systems and applications. This allows businesses to devise and implement their ecommerce strategies without being constrained by the platform.
The platform also excels in scalability, supporting businesses of all sizes and effortlessly accommodating growth and high traffic loads. It ensures high performance and reliability, a critical factor for ecommerce businesses.
Moreover, Commercetools offers comprehensive documentation, training resources, and dedicated customer support to help businesses maximize the benefits of going headless. However, it’s worth noting that Commercetools requires technical expertise to fully exploit its capabilities. But for those with the necessary skills or resources, Commercetools offers exceptional freedom and control in the ecommerce landscape.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce Commerce Cloud ranks among the top headless commerce platforms, renowned for its customer-centric approach to eCommerce. This platform empowers businesses to deliver personalized, seamless shopping experiences across all customer touchpoints—web, mobile, social, and in-store. As a headless commerce platform, Salesforce Commerce Cloud decouples the front-end user experience from the back-end business operations, granting businesses the utmost flexibility in tailoring customer experiences.
The platform’s robust APIs enable seamless integration with various systems, including CRM, ERP, and marketing tools. This ensures a unified, automated operation across different aspects of your business. Salesforce’s AI-powered capabilities also stand out – with the integration of Einstein AI, businesses can leverage data-driven insights for personalized product recommendations, pricing, and promotions.
The platform excels in scalability and can manage high-traffic periods and large product catalogs without compromising performance. It offers a user-friendly interface, comprehensive educational resources, and reliable customer support. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is particularly suited for businesses aiming to leverage customer data for personalized, omni-channel commerce experiences. While it requires some technical proficiency, its wide-ranging capabilities make it a strong contender in the headless commerce space.
Spryker
Spryker is a dynamic headless commerce platform that prioritizes flexibility and business agility. It delivers a modular, API-driven system that allows businesses to independently manage and design their front-end experiences while relying on Spryker’s robust back-end commerce functionalities. This decoupling enables businesses to create distinctive, tailor-made customer experiences across multiple touchpoints without being limited by their back-end operations.
Spryker’s platform features a comprehensive suite of APIs, facilitating seamless integration with various systems and applications, including CRM, ERP, and marketing tools. This ensures efficient, automated operations across all aspects of your eCommerce business.
Spryker excels in scalability, handling traffic surges, and offering expansive product catalogs without sacrificing performance. This makes it ideal for enterprises and fast-growing businesses with high-volume needs.
Despite requiring a moderate level of technical expertise, Spryker offers extensive support and resources for users. It boasts a user-friendly interface, in-depth educational resources, and dedicated customer support to help businesses make the most of their headless commerce journey.
Why Use ReliaBills?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to headless ecommerce platforms. Each business has unique needs and goals, and the choice of platform should align with these factors. Despite that, the one common thing among companies is the need to set up solid billing and payment processing systems. That’s where ReliaBills comes in handy.
ReliaBills is a cloud-based invoicing and billing software designed to automate payment processes, reduce administrative overhead, and streamline payment processing duties. ReliaBills’ payment processing features include automated recurring billing, payment tracking, payment reminders, online payment processing, and much more!
It also provides valuable tools that help manage customer information, monitor payment records, and create proper billing and collection reports. As a result, invoice and billing management are simple and convenient. You also get access to active customer support, ready to assist you whenever you need help.
Get started with ReliaBills for free today! And if you want more features, you can upgrade your account to ReliaBills PLUS for only $24.95 monthly! Subscribing to ReliaBills PLUS will give you access to advanced features such as automatic payment recovery, SMS notifications, custom invoice creation, advanced reporting, and more!
With ReliaBills, you have an all-in-one solution to your invoicing and payment processing needs. Our convenient solutions will enable you to focus more on running and growing your business. Get started today!
Wrapping Up
The future of ecommerce is undoubtedly headless. It offers unparalleled flexibility, empowering businesses to create unique, customer-focused experiences tailored to their brand and market. As technology continues to evolve, companies need to adapt and innovate. Investing in a headless ecommerce platform can be a game-changer, propelling your ecommerce business to new heights.
A reliable invoicing and payment processing system like ReliaBills can ensure smooth business operations. So, embrace the change, headless, and position your business at the forefront of ecommerce innovation.
