The 10 Brands That are Using Headless Commerce

In the fast-moving world of online shopping, companies are always seeking new ways to make customers happy and beat their rivals. One way they’re doing this is through something called headless commerce. Today, we’ll talk about what headless commerce means, its good points and bad points, and how ten companies are using it to do better in the market.

What is headless commerce?

Headless commerce is a different way of selling things online. In regular online stores, everything is connected tightly, like the pictures you see and the way you buy stuff. But with headless commerce, these parts are split up. This lets businesses have more freedom in how they show and sell their products to customers. So, instead of everything being stuck together, they can choose how it all works separately.

Think of a regular online store as a big building where everything is connected—the windows, shelves, everything. If you want to change how it looks or where things are, you have to change the whole building. But with headless commerce, it’s like having separate parts for the store and storage. You can change one without affecting the other. This makes it easier to customize and grow your store.

Benefits and downsides of headless commerce

Benefits

• Flexibility: A big advantage of headless commerce is how flexible it is. When the front part and the back part are separate, businesses can make the shopping experience exactly how they want it for their customers. Whether they’re making a phone app, a voice shopping helper, or a virtual reality store, they can get super creative and try out new ideas easily.
• Personalization: Headless commerce helps businesses create better shopping experiences for customers on different platforms. By using data and smart technology like AI, they can suggest products, offer special deals, and show content that’s just right for each shopper. This makes customers happier and more likely to keep coming back.
• Integration: Another good thing about headless commerce is how well it works with other apps and tools. Because the front-end and back-end are separate, it’s easy for businesses to connect with outside systems like payment processors, shipping companies, and marketing tools. This smooth connection helps businesses run more smoothly, work faster, and make shopping even better for customers.

Downsides

• Complexity: Headless commerce gives businesses more freedom, but it can also make things harder. Keeping everything updated and consistent across different channels can be tough. It needs more people and better organization between teams. Without good planning, businesses might find it tricky to keep everything in sync and working well together.
• Technical Expertise: Making changes and looking after a headless commerce system might require more tech know-how than regular platforms. Because developers have to work on and manage the front end separately from the back end, businesses might have to spend more on skilled people and tools to keep everything running smoothly and working well.

10 Examples of Headless Commerce

1. Nike

Nike, a famous clothing brand, uses headless commerce to offer personalized and mobile-friendly shopping to its customers. With headless technology, Nike has improved its online shopping, gaining more customers and making them happier. They have their special headless commerce platform designed just for them. This platform works well with Nike’s other systems and technologies, making everything run smoothly.

2. Amazon

Amazon, the big online shopping site, uses headless architecture to make its merchandising platform flexible and able to handle lots of customers. With headless commerce, Amazon can easily change things to match what customers want and give them a smooth shopping experience on any device. Amazon uses both its solutions and other companies’ headless commerce platforms to run its huge online store, making sure it works well and is reliable.

3. Tesla

Tesla, the car company known for being innovative, uses a headless e-commerce system to let customers customize their car-buying experience. With headless technology, Tesla offers cool features like remote customization and better delivery options. Tesla has a special headless commerce system that works with its car configurator tool, making it easy for customers to customize and order their cars.

4. Staples

The office supplies store switched to a headless commerce system to be more flexible and efficient. With headless architecture, Staples can update its product list easily and make shopping better for customers. Staples uses a popular headless commerce platform like Shopify Plus or BigCommerce, which helps its team handle content and deals separately but still keeps the shopping experience the same on all channels.

5. Disney

Disney, the big entertainment company, uses headless commerce to reach more people and give customers a smooth shopping experience across different channels. They use special tools that connect different marketplaces through APIs. Disney mixes its tools with other headless commerce platforms, so they can quickly add new features and meet what customers want.

6. Target

Target uses headless commerce to make online shopping better and help more people finish buying things. With headless commerce, Target can give customers a smooth experience whether they’re using a computer, a phone, or something else. Target uses a flexible and changeable headless commerce platform, like Commerce Tools or Elastic Path, to work well with its other systems and outside services.

7. McDonald’s

McDonald’s uses headless commerce to give customers personalized experiences with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). With headless technology, McDonald’s offers different ways for customers to shop, like paying with messaging apps like WeChat. McDonald’s uses its own specially made headless commerce system that includes AI and machine learning features. This helps McDonald’s show personalized content to customers in real time, no matter how they’re shopping.

8. Redbox

Redbox uses headless commerce to make things better and more fun for customers. With headless technology, Redbox offers cool and exciting experiences on phones and computers. Redbox uses a modern headless commerce platform like Contentful or Prismic to manage and deliver content easily while connecting smoothly with its online stores.

9. Etsy

Etsy uses special headless technology to make shopping easier and faster for everyone. Their clever setup lets developers work smoothly and gives customers a great shopping experience. Etsy uses a mix of its special tools and other headless commerce platforms to help sellers create cool shops and give shoppers personalized service.

10. Under Armour

Under Armour uses headless commerce to make shopping easier and more personal for customers. Their smart system helps them show the right things to each shopper and makes buying stuff faster. Under Armour uses a flexible headless commerce platform like Commerce Tools or Moltin, so they can create exciting shopping experiences and grow their business.

Headless commerce is here

Headless commerce changes how businesses do online selling. When the front end and back end are separate, companies can make shopping experiences more customized and interesting for customers. Although there are some challenges with headless architecture, the advantages are much bigger. As shown by the examples, headless commerce is changing online selling and helping brands stay competitive.