What is headless commerce and how does it differ from traditional eCommerce architectures?
Headless commerce separates the frontend (presentation layer) from the backend (eCommerce functionality), allowing teams to use best-of-breed tools to build custom architectures. Unlike traditional monolithic eCommerce systems, where frontend and backend are tightly coupled, headless commerce enables greater flexibility, faster adaptation to consumer trends, and easier integration with other tools via APIs. Note: Headless commerce may require more initial setup and integration work compared to simple monolithic solutions. [Source]
What are the main advantages of adopting a headless commerce architecture?
Key advantages include faster website performance, easier omnichannel presence, greater control over individual parts of the architecture, seamless integration with other tools and services via APIs, and future-proofing your tech stack. For example, headless architectures allow teams to quickly launch new channels or update frontend experiences without costly backend migrations. Note: Modular architectures can still require development resources for integration and scaling. [Source]
What are common misconceptions about headless commerce?
Common misconceptions include the belief that headless architectures are bad for SEO or inherently more complex. Modern static site generators (SSGs) and pre-rendering techniques address SEO concerns, while modular architectures can actually simplify workflows by allowing teams to choose the best tools for each function. However, integrating multiple systems may introduce complexity if not managed carefully. [Source]
Hygraph & Headless Commerce
How does Hygraph enable headless commerce for eCommerce teams?
Hygraph acts as a headless CMS that integrates with headless commerce platforms via APIs, allowing content and marketing teams to manage product copy, campaigns, and landing pages independently. Features like Rich Text editing, scheduled publishing, and remote fields enable seamless data flow between Hygraph and commerce platforms, ensuring content consistency and editor-friendly workflows. Note: For organizations seeking a single-system solution, custom UI extensions can be built, but this may require additional development. [Source]
What integrations does Hygraph offer for headless commerce architectures?
Hygraph provides integrations with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems (e.g., Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Imgix, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot), hosting and deployment platforms (Netlify, Vercel), Product Information Management (Akeneo), commerce solutions (BigCommerce), translation/localization (EasyTranslate), and more. For a full list, visit the Hygraph Marketplace. Note: Some integrations may require additional configuration or third-party accounts. [Source]
What APIs does Hygraph provide for developers building headless commerce solutions?
Hygraph offers a GraphQL Content API for querying and manipulating content, a Management API for handling project structure, an Asset Upload API for managing digital assets, and an MCP Server API for secure communication with AI assistants. These APIs are optimized for high performance and low latency. Detailed documentation is available in the API Reference. Note: API usage may be subject to rate limits or plan restrictions. [Source]
Performance, Security & Compliance
How does Hygraph ensure high performance for content delivery in headless commerce?
Hygraph has optimized its endpoints for low latency and high read-throughput, including a read-only cache endpoint that delivers 3-5x latency improvement. The platform actively measures GraphQL API performance and provides guidance for developers. For more details, see the performance improvements blog and GraphQL Report 2024. Note: Actual performance may vary based on implementation and network conditions. [Source]
What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3rd, 2022), ISO 27001 certified for its hosting infrastructure, and GDPR compliant. Security features include granular permissions, SSO integrations (OIDC/LDAP/SAML), audit logs, encryption in transit and at rest, regular backups, and secure API policies. For more, see the Secure Features page. Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics. [Source]
Use Cases & Customer Success
What are some real-world examples of companies using Hygraph for headless commerce?
Burrow used BigCommerce and Hygraph to manage over 20,000 product variations, achieving a 7X increase in content velocity. Prym revamped its eCommerce presence with a headless stack, cutting content time-to-market in half. Other customers include Samsung (15% engagement improvement), Komax (3X faster time-to-market), and AutoWeb (20% increase in website monetization). For more, see the case studies page. Note: Results may vary by implementation. [Source]
Which industries are represented in Hygraph's headless commerce case studies?
Industries include SaaS, marketplace, education technology, media and publication, healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, technology, fintech, travel and hospitality, food and beverage, eCommerce, agency, online gaming, events & conferences, government, consumer electronics, engineering, and construction. [Source]
What business impact can companies expect from using Hygraph in headless commerce?
Companies have reported faster time-to-market (e.g., Komax achieved 3X faster launches), improved customer engagement (Samsung saw a 15% increase), cost reduction, enhanced content consistency, and scalability. For example, Voi scaled multilingual content across 12 countries and 10 languages, and AutoWeb increased website monetization by 20%. Note: Impact depends on project scope and execution. [Source]
Implementation & Ease of Use
How long does it take to implement Hygraph for headless commerce?
Implementation timelines vary: Top Villas launched a new project within 2 months, and Voi migrated from WordPress to Hygraph in 1-2 months. Si Vale met aggressive deadlines in their initial phase. Hygraph offers structured onboarding, starter projects, and extensive documentation to accelerate adoption. Note: Complex integrations or customizations may extend timelines. [Source]
How easy is Hygraph to use for non-technical users?
Customers report that Hygraph's interface is intuitive and accessible for both technical and non-technical users. Features like instant content preview, granular roles and permissions, and user-friendly setup are frequently praised. For example, Charissa K. described it as "fast to comprehend and localizeable CMS," and Aldona Martynenka highlighted the granular permissions. Note: Some advanced features may require technical setup. [Source]
Competition & Alternatives
How does Hygraph compare to other headless commerce platforms like BigCommerce, commercetools, and Commerce Layer?
Hygraph is a headless CMS that complements headless commerce platforms such as BigCommerce, commercetools, and Commerce Layer by providing advanced content management, content federation, and editor-friendly workflows. For example, Burrow combined BigCommerce and Hygraph to manage complex product data and marketing content. Hygraph's strengths include GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, and proven ROI (e.g., 3X faster time-to-market for Komax). Note: Hygraph is not a transactional commerce engine; it is best used alongside dedicated commerce platforms. [Source]
Technical Documentation & Support
Where can I find technical documentation and resources for implementing Hygraph in headless commerce?
Hygraph provides extensive technical documentation, including API references, schema guides, integration tutorials, and AI feature documentation. Key resources include the API Reference, Getting Started guides, and integration docs for platforms like Mux, Akeneo, and Auth0. Community support is available via Slack at slack.hygraph.com. Note: Some documentation is specific to Hygraph Classic or advanced features. [Source]
In this post, we will break down why teams should consider a headless approach to their commerce architectures, the benefits, and some common misconceptions around headless commerce architectures.
Headless Commerce is when the frontend or the presentation layer is separated from the backend. It follows similar principles to a headless CMS in that by separating the frontend, or presentation layer, from the backend, or eCommerce functionality, teams are able to be more flexible and performant. Headless commerce follows a modular approach to site architectures where teams rely on existing best-of-breed tooling to build a custom architecture. We’ll take a closer look at all of the whys and hows of headless commerce in this piece.
When taking a headless approach to eCommerce, companies are opting for an architecture that enables them to build a powerful backend full of the necessary eCommerce functionality that will grow with them over time. Creating a data-rich PIM, managing shopping carts and orders, is just some of the functionality that is relevant and necessary to building a modern eCommerce site on the backend. On the frontend, it is critical that eCommerce players provide a modern user experience that reflects the latest consumer trends.
Consumer trends in eCommerce, and their expectations for a seamless user experience demonstrate how dynamic and flexible frontend systems must be. While the backend must focus on performance and reliability of data, frontend systems are responsible for setting the tone in terms of brand and user experience. When teams implement a headless commerce architecture, it becomes easy to be on the cutting edge of consumer trends, without costly workarounds or time-intensive data migrations.
Those embarking on building an eCommerce shop can choose between two broad approaches to architecture. Within these two approaches there are a variety of things to consider from additional tooling that may be necessary to staffing requirements based on the approach.
Traditional eCommerce Architecture
Traditional eCommerce architectures, also known as monolith eCommerce architectures, were the market standard solution to eCommerce when online interactions were limited to the web browser. Monolith architectures offer a single platform where frontend and backend logic are handled in one single system.
While these systems can be powerful for large sets of data, they often come with additional functionality which may add unnecessary complexity to the system. From a user perspective, people were limited to predetermined templates or developers who were able to create time consuming custom experiences.
The benefits of the systems are that they are easy to set up for simple use cases, such as a browser based eCommerce shop. All of the data being in a single system means that teams do not have to worry about data silos but the data is not very flexible. Those wanting to expand beyond a browser-based eCommerce shop will likely run into costly data migrations and long project lead times. The rise of omnichannel eCommerce experiences and the advent of specialized best-of-breed has led to people reconsidering what the best approach to architecture is and if there is a better approach beyond the monolith.
Headless eCommerce Architecture
Headless eCommerce Architectures are modular architectures that are built of separate frontend and backend systems connected via API. In their simplest form, they can consist of a backend eCommerce platform and a single frontend presentation layer. Headless eCommerce platforms can handle everything from Product Information Management (PIM) to order management, to Cart structuring.
While the approach to headless commerce architecture without a CMS will do the job for simple use cases, brands wanting to lead with a memorable user experience will often combine the use of a headless commerce system in tandem with a content management system and other tooling. These tools will be connected via API and will bring more functionality and flexibility into the stack.
Adding a CMS to the stack enables the marketing organizations to have more control over content on the site, enabling them to quickly create marketing campaigns without the need of developers. Because a headless commerce approach relies on APIs to connect the various systems, teams are empowered to implement the best tooling that is relevant to their use case without having unnecessary weight in the system.
To better understand why companies would invest the time in adopting a new headless commerce approach, let’s take a look at the advantages of implementing a headless commerce architecture.
Faster Websites
With a headless approach, organizations can bring together performant modern tooling to build fast websites to match. In using tools and technologies that prioritize performance at every level, teams are able to build faster websites than their monolith counterparts.
The frontend world is quickly evolving and there are always new ways to increase performance using modern frontend tooling. Developers and Marketers are able to take advantage of testing these new technologies to find the most performant stack without disrupting the backend.
From a backend perspective, the most important consideration is that the headless commerce and CMS systems have a highly performant API. Because most of the content will likely be housed in these two systems, ensuring that the tooling is up to the task is key. Indicators that can be helpful include, high API call volumes, fast API response times, and strong emphasis on developer experience.
Easier to Build an Omnichannel Presence
An omnichannel experience is key for many brands. Consumers may see something on an app, try it on in the store, but buy it online. With the advent of IOT technologies, the variety of different available channels is unending. Headless architectures enable an omnichannel approach because the central backend system remains consistent throughout the various channels.
Frontend teams are able to test and launch new channels using existing data from the headless commerce platform and present it in a new way via a previously unexplored channel. If existing channels become obsolete, it is easy to phase them out, without disrupting other channels.
This enables organizations to be more flexible and experimental. Companies are no longer tied to long and costly migrations which leave them risk averse. By being able to use existing backend data, teams can shape their approaches on building a powerful user experience in each channel that they occupy.
Greater Control over Individual Parts of the Architecture
Because teams have implemented a modular architecture, it also enables them to have more control over individual elements of the architecture. Modular architectures allow organizations to choose the technologies that work best for their specific use case and personnel capabilities.
As companies grow and their needs change, they may need to add or remove elements of their architecture. With a modular architecture, this is much easier to do than with a traditional approach to eCommerce; however, this process can still require development resources and so it is important to consider tools that will serve their purpose well in the long run.
When choosing elements of the architecture, it is important to not only consider how they will affect current project requirements but also how they will continue to scale in the future. Choosing technologies that offer pricing and functionality at a scalable rate without compromising on performance in the long run are essential to the long term health of the architecture. This is most critical for the headless commerce system and the CMS, where most of the data rich content will be stored.
Seamless Integration with Other Tools and Services
Because APIs are used to connect each of the modular tools, there is a lot of possibility for seamless integrations with other tools and services. Not only can data flow seamlessly between the various tools via API, teams can build integrations between the various tools in order to create more efficient workflows.
With traditional eCommerce systems, integrations can be built as a workaround or are reliant on the monolith’s company to build. If these integrations do not already exist, the investment it can require can be costly and time intensive. With headless architecture, building new integrations are easy because of the flexible nature of the architecture.
Hygraph enables this possibility via Remote Fields where data can be sourced from external systems and enables this data to be usable within the CMS. In creating a seamless data stream from a PIM to Hygraph, it is easy to ensure that data is properly maintained.
Future Proofing Your Tech Stack
With a headless architecture, companies can build a more resilient stack for the future. The innate flexibility present within the stack allows people to make adjustments as the project matures and the needs change. As omnichannel approaches change or as the team grows, the supplemental tooling for a particular project may change; however, the data rich backend of a headless commerce platform and CMS working in tandem will allow those changes to occur quickly.
#Common Misconceptions about Headless Architectures
There are some common misconceptions around adopting a headless architecture and the drawbacks of implementation. Let’s address some of these:
It’s Bad for SEO
With many modular, headless architectures, the frontend framework of choice is JavaScript. There is an understanding that by using JavaScript websites are harder to crawl by Search Engines because they need to first put the pages in the rendering queue. With the advent of modern static site generators, however, this problem no longer exists. With SSGs, teams are able pre-render the pages and server html to the browser.
Additionally, using a modern SSG helps improve website loading speed, further helping SEO because Core Web Vitals (CWV) are becoming an important ranking factor. A truly modular, headless approach adopts a broad set of tooling that enables organizations to reap the benefits of tools that are built to match the standards of today which focus on performance and SEO.
Headless = More Complexity
There is a common misconception that with a headless architecture, significantly more complexity is introduced to architecture and workflows. A headless architecture in its simplest form means providing a single backend for all of the possible ways to deliver a shopping experience. Teams are able to serve content to multiple platforms by simply connecting the frontend presentation layer to your headless commerce solution.
Modern ways of engaging with customers almost require brands to think differently and take new approaches to capturing customers attention, but this is almost always more reliant on the way that the data is presented more so than requiring a complex architecture in the backend. It is often the case that tools can integrate with each other to bring more functionality into a single tool, shortening the workflow and creating a more unified user experience while still benefiting from a modular workflow.
There are several leading headless commerce platforms which are leading the way in terms of flexibility, offering a high quality user experience, and perform at scale to provide modern user experiences. Here we will only look at native headless solutions; however, there are many traditional solutions that offer headless solutions as well to varying degrees of success.
commercetools
commercetools is a digital commerce platform founded in 2006 that allows you to create powerful, highly customizable commerce experiences. Customers include big names like Audi, Bang & Olufson, and Danone.
Commerce Layer
Commerce Layer is a transactional commerce API enabling organizations to build websites and customer touch points with ease. It emphasizes a high quality developer experience and is trusted by brands like sumup, Big Green Egg, and Thommen Medical.
Big Commerce
Big Commerce enables companies to build a custom platform that meets their needs. With powerful APIs and the ability to integrate external services into their platform, they are trusted by a wide range of customers, from Skull Candy to Ben and Jerrys.
Swell
Swell is a new player in the field offering a customizable flexible headless commerce platform to bring unique commerce experiences to end customers that can perform at scale. With big names like Save the Children being early adopters of the brand, it’s sure that impressive things are to come.
Instant Commerce
Instant Commerce enables eCommerce brands to build headless webshops in a matter of days instead of months. With its no-code frontend as a service platform, they are enabling merchants of any size to go headless. While the platform has only been around for a short period, clients include leading eCommerce brands from ID&T to Philips and Ekster.
Agile e-commerce company, Burrow, created a headless commerce stack using BigCommerce’ headless functionality and Hygraph to supplement marketing content. They manage over 20,000 product variations using this stack and have noticed a 7X increase in content velocity. Read more about how they built their stack in our full case study.
Prym
Prym is one of the oldest family-run companies in Germany founded in 1530. In wanting to increase its competitiveness in the eCommerce market, Prym decided to revamp their eCommerce presence to create a future proof stack using headless commerce platforms. As a result, the team cut the content time to market in half. Read more about their stack and why they chose the MACH approach in the full case study.
Enabling the content and marketing teams to work within a headless CMS to manage product copy, marketing campaigns, and landing pages gives them the tools that they are familiar with. Creating copy in Rich Text, scheduling campaigns to go live and end at specific times, and planning new landing pages for a growing line of products, can all be done in an editor-friendly (no coding required), straightforward workflow.
Working with the two systems in parallel does not mean that editors will have to make changes twice or that there will be a risk of data inconsistencies. Because data can stream between the two systems seamlessly, due to the remote fields and API extensions available in Hygraph, it is easy to ensure that data remains consistent across their stack and that only the most up to data information is displayed to their end users. For organizations wishing to further simplify their workflows into a single system, it is possible to build custom UI Extensions, to bring functionality specific to your use case into Hygraph.
Headless commerce platforms and Hygraph can work together to bring end customers the high quality, performant experience that they expect and create workflows using modern tooling that your team will love. Building a performant, flexible backend stack prepares organizations to make adjustments to their offerings in the future without costly migrations or replatforming.
To learn more about how Hygraph can work together with a headless commerce platform to build a performant solution, reach out to us.
Blog Author
Emily Nielsen
Emily manages content and SEO at Hygraph. In her free time, she's a restaurant lover and oat milk skeptic.
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In this post, we will break down why teams should consider a headless approach to their commerce architectures, the benefits, and some common misconceptions around headless commerce architectures.
Headless Commerce is when the frontend or the presentation layer is separated from the backend. It follows similar principles to a headless CMS in that by separating the frontend, or presentation layer, from the backend, or eCommerce functionality, teams are able to be more flexible and performant. Headless commerce follows a modular approach to site architectures where teams rely on existing best-of-breed tooling to build a custom architecture. We’ll take a closer look at all of the whys and hows of headless commerce in this piece.
When taking a headless approach to eCommerce, companies are opting for an architecture that enables them to build a powerful backend full of the necessary eCommerce functionality that will grow with them over time. Creating a data-rich PIM, managing shopping carts and orders, is just some of the functionality that is relevant and necessary to building a modern eCommerce site on the backend. On the frontend, it is critical that eCommerce players provide a modern user experience that reflects the latest consumer trends.
Consumer trends in eCommerce, and their expectations for a seamless user experience demonstrate how dynamic and flexible frontend systems must be. While the backend must focus on performance and reliability of data, frontend systems are responsible for setting the tone in terms of brand and user experience. When teams implement a headless commerce architecture, it becomes easy to be on the cutting edge of consumer trends, without costly workarounds or time-intensive data migrations.
Those embarking on building an eCommerce shop can choose between two broad approaches to architecture. Within these two approaches there are a variety of things to consider from additional tooling that may be necessary to staffing requirements based on the approach.
Traditional eCommerce Architecture
Traditional eCommerce architectures, also known as monolith eCommerce architectures, were the market standard solution to eCommerce when online interactions were limited to the web browser. Monolith architectures offer a single platform where frontend and backend logic are handled in one single system.
While these systems can be powerful for large sets of data, they often come with additional functionality which may add unnecessary complexity to the system. From a user perspective, people were limited to predetermined templates or developers who were able to create time consuming custom experiences.
The benefits of the systems are that they are easy to set up for simple use cases, such as a browser based eCommerce shop. All of the data being in a single system means that teams do not have to worry about data silos but the data is not very flexible. Those wanting to expand beyond a browser-based eCommerce shop will likely run into costly data migrations and long project lead times. The rise of omnichannel eCommerce experiences and the advent of specialized best-of-breed has led to people reconsidering what the best approach to architecture is and if there is a better approach beyond the monolith.
Headless eCommerce Architecture
Headless eCommerce Architectures are modular architectures that are built of separate frontend and backend systems connected via API. In their simplest form, they can consist of a backend eCommerce platform and a single frontend presentation layer. Headless eCommerce platforms can handle everything from Product Information Management (PIM) to order management, to Cart structuring.
While the approach to headless commerce architecture without a CMS will do the job for simple use cases, brands wanting to lead with a memorable user experience will often combine the use of a headless commerce system in tandem with a content management system and other tooling. These tools will be connected via API and will bring more functionality and flexibility into the stack.
Adding a CMS to the stack enables the marketing organizations to have more control over content on the site, enabling them to quickly create marketing campaigns without the need of developers. Because a headless commerce approach relies on APIs to connect the various systems, teams are empowered to implement the best tooling that is relevant to their use case without having unnecessary weight in the system.
To better understand why companies would invest the time in adopting a new headless commerce approach, let’s take a look at the advantages of implementing a headless commerce architecture.
Faster Websites
With a headless approach, organizations can bring together performant modern tooling to build fast websites to match. In using tools and technologies that prioritize performance at every level, teams are able to build faster websites than their monolith counterparts.
The frontend world is quickly evolving and there are always new ways to increase performance using modern frontend tooling. Developers and Marketers are able to take advantage of testing these new technologies to find the most performant stack without disrupting the backend.
From a backend perspective, the most important consideration is that the headless commerce and CMS systems have a highly performant API. Because most of the content will likely be housed in these two systems, ensuring that the tooling is up to the task is key. Indicators that can be helpful include, high API call volumes, fast API response times, and strong emphasis on developer experience.
Easier to Build an Omnichannel Presence
An omnichannel experience is key for many brands. Consumers may see something on an app, try it on in the store, but buy it online. With the advent of IOT technologies, the variety of different available channels is unending. Headless architectures enable an omnichannel approach because the central backend system remains consistent throughout the various channels.
Frontend teams are able to test and launch new channels using existing data from the headless commerce platform and present it in a new way via a previously unexplored channel. If existing channels become obsolete, it is easy to phase them out, without disrupting other channels.
This enables organizations to be more flexible and experimental. Companies are no longer tied to long and costly migrations which leave them risk averse. By being able to use existing backend data, teams can shape their approaches on building a powerful user experience in each channel that they occupy.
Greater Control over Individual Parts of the Architecture
Because teams have implemented a modular architecture, it also enables them to have more control over individual elements of the architecture. Modular architectures allow organizations to choose the technologies that work best for their specific use case and personnel capabilities.
As companies grow and their needs change, they may need to add or remove elements of their architecture. With a modular architecture, this is much easier to do than with a traditional approach to eCommerce; however, this process can still require development resources and so it is important to consider tools that will serve their purpose well in the long run.
When choosing elements of the architecture, it is important to not only consider how they will affect current project requirements but also how they will continue to scale in the future. Choosing technologies that offer pricing and functionality at a scalable rate without compromising on performance in the long run are essential to the long term health of the architecture. This is most critical for the headless commerce system and the CMS, where most of the data rich content will be stored.
Seamless Integration with Other Tools and Services
Because APIs are used to connect each of the modular tools, there is a lot of possibility for seamless integrations with other tools and services. Not only can data flow seamlessly between the various tools via API, teams can build integrations between the various tools in order to create more efficient workflows.
With traditional eCommerce systems, integrations can be built as a workaround or are reliant on the monolith’s company to build. If these integrations do not already exist, the investment it can require can be costly and time intensive. With headless architecture, building new integrations are easy because of the flexible nature of the architecture.
Hygraph enables this possibility via Remote Fields where data can be sourced from external systems and enables this data to be usable within the CMS. In creating a seamless data stream from a PIM to Hygraph, it is easy to ensure that data is properly maintained.
Future Proofing Your Tech Stack
With a headless architecture, companies can build a more resilient stack for the future. The innate flexibility present within the stack allows people to make adjustments as the project matures and the needs change. As omnichannel approaches change or as the team grows, the supplemental tooling for a particular project may change; however, the data rich backend of a headless commerce platform and CMS working in tandem will allow those changes to occur quickly.
#Common Misconceptions about Headless Architectures
There are some common misconceptions around adopting a headless architecture and the drawbacks of implementation. Let’s address some of these:
It’s Bad for SEO
With many modular, headless architectures, the frontend framework of choice is JavaScript. There is an understanding that by using JavaScript websites are harder to crawl by Search Engines because they need to first put the pages in the rendering queue. With the advent of modern static site generators, however, this problem no longer exists. With SSGs, teams are able pre-render the pages and server html to the browser.
Additionally, using a modern SSG helps improve website loading speed, further helping SEO because Core Web Vitals (CWV) are becoming an important ranking factor. A truly modular, headless approach adopts a broad set of tooling that enables organizations to reap the benefits of tools that are built to match the standards of today which focus on performance and SEO.
Headless = More Complexity
There is a common misconception that with a headless architecture, significantly more complexity is introduced to architecture and workflows. A headless architecture in its simplest form means providing a single backend for all of the possible ways to deliver a shopping experience. Teams are able to serve content to multiple platforms by simply connecting the frontend presentation layer to your headless commerce solution.
Modern ways of engaging with customers almost require brands to think differently and take new approaches to capturing customers attention, but this is almost always more reliant on the way that the data is presented more so than requiring a complex architecture in the backend. It is often the case that tools can integrate with each other to bring more functionality into a single tool, shortening the workflow and creating a more unified user experience while still benefiting from a modular workflow.
There are several leading headless commerce platforms which are leading the way in terms of flexibility, offering a high quality user experience, and perform at scale to provide modern user experiences. Here we will only look at native headless solutions; however, there are many traditional solutions that offer headless solutions as well to varying degrees of success.
commercetools
commercetools is a digital commerce platform founded in 2006 that allows you to create powerful, highly customizable commerce experiences. Customers include big names like Audi, Bang & Olufson, and Danone.
Commerce Layer
Commerce Layer is a transactional commerce API enabling organizations to build websites and customer touch points with ease. It emphasizes a high quality developer experience and is trusted by brands like sumup, Big Green Egg, and Thommen Medical.
Big Commerce
Big Commerce enables companies to build a custom platform that meets their needs. With powerful APIs and the ability to integrate external services into their platform, they are trusted by a wide range of customers, from Skull Candy to Ben and Jerrys.
Swell
Swell is a new player in the field offering a customizable flexible headless commerce platform to bring unique commerce experiences to end customers that can perform at scale. With big names like Save the Children being early adopters of the brand, it’s sure that impressive things are to come.
Instant Commerce
Instant Commerce enables eCommerce brands to build headless webshops in a matter of days instead of months. With its no-code frontend as a service platform, they are enabling merchants of any size to go headless. While the platform has only been around for a short period, clients include leading eCommerce brands from ID&T to Philips and Ekster.
Agile e-commerce company, Burrow, created a headless commerce stack using BigCommerce’ headless functionality and Hygraph to supplement marketing content. They manage over 20,000 product variations using this stack and have noticed a 7X increase in content velocity. Read more about how they built their stack in our full case study.
Prym
Prym is one of the oldest family-run companies in Germany founded in 1530. In wanting to increase its competitiveness in the eCommerce market, Prym decided to revamp their eCommerce presence to create a future proof stack using headless commerce platforms. As a result, the team cut the content time to market in half. Read more about their stack and why they chose the MACH approach in the full case study.
Enabling the content and marketing teams to work within a headless CMS to manage product copy, marketing campaigns, and landing pages gives them the tools that they are familiar with. Creating copy in Rich Text, scheduling campaigns to go live and end at specific times, and planning new landing pages for a growing line of products, can all be done in an editor-friendly (no coding required), straightforward workflow.
Working with the two systems in parallel does not mean that editors will have to make changes twice or that there will be a risk of data inconsistencies. Because data can stream between the two systems seamlessly, due to the remote fields and API extensions available in Hygraph, it is easy to ensure that data remains consistent across their stack and that only the most up to data information is displayed to their end users. For organizations wishing to further simplify their workflows into a single system, it is possible to build custom UI Extensions, to bring functionality specific to your use case into Hygraph.
Headless commerce platforms and Hygraph can work together to bring end customers the high quality, performant experience that they expect and create workflows using modern tooling that your team will love. Building a performant, flexible backend stack prepares organizations to make adjustments to their offerings in the future without costly migrations or replatforming.
To learn more about how Hygraph can work together with a headless commerce platform to build a performant solution, reach out to us.
Blog Author
Emily Nielsen
Emily manages content and SEO at Hygraph. In her free time, she's a restaurant lover and oat milk skeptic.
Share with others
Sign up for our newsletter!
Be the first to know about releases and industry news and insights.