If you look deeper at any modern eCommerce brand’s technology stack, you will likely find a complex web of moving parts. 

An eCommerce platform acts as the centerpiece enabling merchants to build their digital stores and generate sales. For many enterprises, this platform is accompanied by a CMS, procurement solution, PIM system, order management system, cart & checkout, analytics tool, marketing automation solution, and the list goes on. 

In many cases, this assortment of tools that make up the modern tech ecosystem is only scratching the surface as organizations worldwide use an average of 130 SaaS applications, a number that increases year over year. 

Unfortunately, these tools designed to optimize performance often inadvertently lead to compartmentalization and disjointed workflows. Silos emerge, impeding collaboration, hindering knowledge flow, and ultimately diluting the effectiveness of each solution. 

What’s more, as IT infrastructure expands, this assortment of systems makes it challenging to deliver a consistent user experience. The problem becomes further exasperated for larger enterprises with multiple brands and websites under their umbrella. 

Organizations need to focus on unifying the frontend to solve these challenges and give themselves the flexibility to expand their business. By unifying the frontend stack, enterprises can achieve a more maintainable, scalable, and efficient development process, deliver a consistent customer experience, and improve overall efficiency.  

In this playbook, we will take a look at the following:

• The challenges of a disjointed frontend stack
• How organizations can go from fragmented to integrated with frontend unification
• How to select technologies to unite the frontend and recommended tools
• The benefits of frontend unification

#Challenges of working with a disjointed frontend stack

For eCommerce companies seeking to elevate above their competitors, appeal to customers on multiple channels, and ultimately generate more revenue, integrating various tools on the backend to help them is often necessary. 

However, without proper consideration of the architecture involved and the requirements of different business sectors, this can lead to a messy and complex frontend. Brands that suffer from a disjointed frontend struggle with numerous challenges that impact the user experience internally and externally. 

User experience 

The most glaring impact of a disjointed frontend can be seen in the user experience. For customers, it feels like they’re shopping with a different brand every time they go to another channel. That lack of consistency results in customers turning to your competition because they are able to deliver a better user experience. 

Internally, this makes it harder for marketing teams to track customer movements across channels, inhibiting their ability to make the best data-driven decisions on what to do next. Additionally, it makes creating campaigns in the first place even harder to accomplish as more time and resources need to be spent trying to improve brand consistency.

Team collaboration & efficiency

Content teams at multi-brand companies need to spend time creating similar campaigns for each website because they lack the infrastructure to provide multi-tenant and multi-site management. This might also mean employing multiple teams to accomplish repetitive tasks for businesses. 

Without a unified frontend, teams find it harder to collaborate on key campaigns, and speed and efficiency suffer. Rigid processes and structures limit how developers and marketers work together, leading to slower handoffs and less time to focus on innovative or revenue-generating tasks.

Poor performance

Performance dips are the biggest hurdles that most brands need to climb over when solving frontend unification challenges. On the one hand, performance issues force IT teams to spend most of their time solving maintenance or security problems that appear, pulling them away from other tasks. On the other hand, the user experience can take a further hit. 

Brands that don’t have a unified architecture may also see performance negatively impacting page and site speed, affecting conversion rates for eCommerce brands. Many organizations might believe that their current website loading times are sufficient, but the reality is that if a website isn’t loading at blazing-fast speeds, the impact can be felt. Sites that load in 1 second or less have a conversion rate that is 2.5x higher than websites that take up to 5 seconds to load. 

Moreover, the lack of a unified and consistent structure across companies managing multiple sites can result in lost traffic and SEO rankings due to poor indexing. 

Complex tech stack

Having multiple technologies within the tech stack makes things messy, particularly on the frontend, as it often results in the lack of a cohesive experience. ECommerce companies leverage tools like PIM software, CRM systems, CMS solutions, and analytics tools. However, on the frontend, this leads to a mix of different programming languages, frameworks, and libraries. 

These elements struggle to work together as companies have to recreate the user experience from scratch and need to update and maintain not only different backends but separate frontends as well.

From fragmented to integrated: Introducing frontend unification

Instead of continuing to struggle with the plethora of challenges impacting the frontend experience, brands need to move toward frontend unification instead.

What is frontend unification?

Unifying the frontend stack refers to the process of standardizing and consolidating the technologies and tools used in the frontend development of a software project or application. In other words, it’s about using a consistent set of programming languages, frameworks, libraries, and build tools across the entire frontend codebase.

Frontend unification makes it easier for developers to create consistent and engaging digital experiences. Instead of building a new frontend from scratch, they are given a standardized set of tools that the organization has already vetted and decided upon. This streamlines the build process and simplifies collaboration and data sharing across frontend applications. 

Why should brands focus on unifying the frontend?

While a disjointed frontend can see brands suffer from numerous challenges, an inconsistent user experience and inefficient team are the most affected. When applications are built using disparate technologies, it leads to inconsistencies in design elements and how users interact on the frontend. 

For example, imagine a potential customer finding a product they were looking for via a Google search. After reaching the product page, they’re excited and ready to make the purchase. However, as they toggle to the checkout page, it feels like they’ve just been transported to a different brand, as the design elements and button placements are no longer consistent. 

An experience like this caused by a disjointed frontend could see a potential customer join the 70% of customers who abandon their shopping cart. However, by unifying the frontend, brands can take what was once a fragmented user experience and build a cohesive digital ecosystem that offers a consistent experience that fosters innovation, enabling speed and flexibility and the ability to adapt to new challenges and integrate with new technologies as necessary. 

When development teams work with a standardized set of tools and libraries, they can avoid the overhead of learning and adapting to multiple frameworks. This, in turn, accelerates the development cycle, reduces errors, and facilitates code reuse. Maintenance also becomes less taxing as updates, bug fixes, and improvements can be applied uniformly across the codebase.

Factors restricting frontend unification

To achieve frontend unification, your frontend provider, usually a CMS, must allow your development and design teams to create a new frontend interface by pulling existing & duplicated content into the right places. That provider must also guarantee a high level of performance in the areas of display speed and UX freedom.

Unfortunately, frontend unification remains an unrealized dream for many brands due to several limitations.

Traditional frontend tools

Businesses that rely on traditional frontend tools on the backend may not be able to unify their frontend. For example, if they’re simply connecting their eCommerce platform backend to WordPress or relying on the built-in CMS that comes with a platform like Shopify. Tools such as these restrict their ability to embrace modern web technologies such as Jamstack and bring about other challenges on the frontend that negatively impact the user experience.

Outdated legacy systems

Some companies struggle to unify their frontend because legacy systems and vendor lock-in limit them. With this monolithic architecture, it is difficult to integrate with modern tools, leading to further inconsistencies on the frontend, leaving the only solution to the frontend unification problem to replatform to another system. 

Lack of strategic direction

Most telling, companies that can’t embrace frontend unification may also suffer from a lack of strategic direction. Internally, developers and other key IT personnel could be resistant to undergo the necessary changes or there could be a lack of stakeholder buy-in among different departments. 

#Differences between unified and non-unified Stacks

The type of tech stack that an organization uses plays a big role in the types of applications developers can build and the type of experience they can deliver to customers. For eCommerce companies, the differences between unified and non-unified tech stacks can be felt in the user experience and in what development teams can achieve regarding efficiency and scalability.

Data unification

There is very little data sharing between applications and software systems when using a disparate frontend stack. Instead, each system operates independently, which leads to silo formation and makes it harder for teams to pull content and data from other systems to deliver the best customer experience. For example, eCommerce companies may struggle to gather relevant data related to inventory levels, customer data, and more to create personalized experiences on the frontend for multiple audiences. 

On the other hand, with a unified architecture, the problems caused by silos disappear. Instead, businesses can get a comprehensive view of everything within their tech stack, share that data between systems, and use it to deliver tailored and relevant customer experiences. 

Efficiency

Tech stacks that aren’t unified lead to inefficient processes and excessive work for teams. For instance, without a unified frontend where the same programming languages and codebases are used across the board, developers will have to spend their time building new experiences from scratch. A shopping experience for a desktop can’t be easily replicated on a mobile device or another channel, leading to unrealized campaigns and less revenue.

With a unified frontend tech stack, developers can save time and resources by leveraging the same languages across every frontend. By applying similar logic and copying existing codebases that have already been accepted throughout the organization, team efficiency and collaboration increase tremendously. 

Security

A disparate frontend stack is more likely to be susceptible to security issues. Without standardized protocols, brands likely struggle to keep attackers at bay. In eCommerce companies, the effects can be seen with increased DDoS attacks that lead to longer downtime. 

Alternatively, a unified tech stack ensures higher security standards across the board, as the same protocols and policies can be applied across multiple websites under the same umbrella. Additionally, with code stored in a centralized location, security patches and access rights can be rolled out more easily across the business. 

Scalability 

Working with a unified frontend architecture enables teams to increase scalability. Instead of managing multiple technologies, codebases, and libraries across every site under the brand, consistency enables organizations to scale as required. New websites can be launched using the same tools allowing eCommerce companies to sell their products in new markets and regions.

However, in disparate systems with frontend interfaces coded using different languages and technologies, developers can encounter compatibility issues that make scaling impossible. 

Maintenance requirements

Disparate frontend stacks are more susceptible to security vulnerabilities as well as require more time and other resources to update. It takes infinitely longer if teams need to integrate additional tools and technologies or add new features because developers must update each frontend separately. However, a unified frontend that relies on standardized protocols enables IT teams to roll out updates and handle maintenance more efficiently. 

User experience

When a non-unified frontend stack greets users, it often lacks consistency. Customers may feel like they’re interacting with a different brand as they move from their desktop to a mobile app or go from the homepage to an eCommerce product page. Different design elements and other inconsistencies can create a user experience that sees potential customers turn away and toward the competition instead. 

With a unified frontend, however, the user experience is cohesive and often intuitive, requiring little to no guessing and facilitating a smooth experience. Every page, from product listings to the shopping cart, follows the same protocols and standards. This creates a seamless flow for users, boosting their confidence in navigating the store and encouraging them to convert.

#How to build a unified frontend stack

Unifying the frontend stack is a strategic approach that can lead to a more maintainable, scalable, and efficient development process. However, it’s essential to carefully evaluate the requirements and constraints of your specific project to select the most suitable technologies and approaches.

Assess organizational goals

The first step in building a unified frontend stack is determining what your business hopes to achieve in the coming years. For a small business enterprise, a unified frontend stack would yield some benefits. But, if expanding to new markets and scaling exponentially isn’t a target, then undergoing the infrastructure changes required to unify the frontend (if not already using the right technologies) might be unnecessary.

For larger enterprises with goals of team growth, rapid expansion to sell products in new regions and global markets, reducing costs, and increasing revenue, a unified frontend stack will be more effective. Matching the objectives of the frontend stack unification project to those of the broader organization ensures that everything is aligned, and the investment made in building a unified frontend would be worthwhile. 

Consult with stakeholders

The next step in frontend unification is to consult the key stakeholders who will be involved in the project. For an enterprise-level eCommerce company, this would include executive leadership, marketing and design teams, operations teams, IT staff, and engineers. By consulting with these stakeholders, companies can ensure that everyone is on the same page, buy-in from the most relevant personnel is achieved beforehand, and that the tools and processes are in alignment with their needs. 

Select core technologies

Enterprises need to ask themselves what the main technologies involved in unifying a frontend will be and which ones are lacking from their organizations. This could include software from CMS, personalization and design solutions to DevOps tools, code and API testing tools, and other web development technologies such as package managers, build and bundling, and version control systems. 

Additionally, companies must determine which JavaScript frameworks they might want to use on the frontend. While making all these decisions, they must consider factors such as the impact on SEO. For example, technologies that enable static site generation, server-side rendering, or building single-page applications can all impact SEO and the overall web experience. 

Standardize protocols

Along with technology selection, organizations must decide on the standardized protocols that will be followed throughout the enterprise to unify the frontend. This will include standardizing design systems, coding standards and guidelines, code review processes, building a component library and repository, and setting accessibility standards, as well as guidelines for testing and quality assurance. 

#Selecting the right architecture and tools

A critical part of frontend unification is having standardized tools and technologies used throughout the organization. However, these tools and technologies shouldn’t be outdated as it could see businesses run into the same problems they did without a unified frontend.

Composable architecture

The most apt analogy for composable architecture is the popular children’s toys by Meccano. Since each piece of the toy is built from similar machine pieces of metal, they can be joined in different configurations to make anything from a crane to a helicopter with the same set of pieces.

Instead of tools forcing users to adapt their workflows to its design, you can expect the tools be adaptable to work within your workflows. Having a composable architecture is key to unifying your stack for the following reasons: 

Flexibility in component integration: Composable architectures allow companies to break down their applications into smaller, modular components. These components can be developed independently and are designed to work seamlessly together. This modularity makes it easier to integrate different frontend technologies, frameworks, or libraries as needed. For example, a company might have parts of its frontend built in React, while others use Vue.js or Angular. With a composable architecture, these different technologies can coexist within the same application.

Reuse of components: Composable architectures promote the reuse of components across different parts of an application. When companies build reusable components, they can use them consistently throughout the frontend stack. This not only ensures a consistent look and feel but also streamlines development efforts. Changes or updates to a component can be propagated across the entire application, reducing redundancy and maintenance overhead.

Scalability and performance: Composable architectures are often designed to be scalable and performant. When dealing with a unified frontend stack, especially in large applications, performance can become a concern. Composable architectures can help by allowing companies to optimize individual components for performance and scalability, ensuring a smooth user experience.

Adaptability to technology trends: The frontend landscape is constantly evolving, with new technologies and frameworks emerging regularly. Composable architectures make it easier for companies to adopt and experiment with new frontend technologies as they become available. This adaptability ensures that the frontend stack remains up-to-date and competitive.

Developer productivity: Composable architectures can improve developer productivity. When developers have the flexibility to choose the right tool or technology for a specific task, they can work more efficiently. This can lead to faster development cycles and quicker time-to-market for new features and updates.

A composable architecture provides the foundation for a unified frontend stack by offering flexibility, component reusability, scalability, adaptability to new technologies, and improved developer productivity. With a composable CMS like Hygraph, companies can build a frontend stack that is both cohesive and capable of integrating diverse technologies when needed.

Content Federation

Content Federation is an enabler to help companies replatform and unify the frontend stack. By aggregating data from different sources with a single API, companies can orchestrate their content in one unified layer and migrate their system piece by piece.

Hygraph offers Content Federation, allowing enterprises to consolidate their stack into a singular API, simplifying the architecture, eliminating duplicate data instances, and eliminating the need for costly custom middleware code that links your services.

#Benefits of a frontend stack unification

After achieving frontend stack unification, there are several benefits that eCommerce companies are able to realize:

Consistency

Frontend unification enables companies to achieve consistency internally and externally. Standardization of tools and technologies helps development teams operate more efficiently. 

That standardization also provides design consistency, which resonates with consumers and makes it easier for them to trust your brand. Customers shopping on an eCommerce website will be encouraged by the common visual themes that greet them as they transition between products, categories, and pages. This can be translated into a revenue increase since the likelihood of converting sales is 75% higher when consumers recognize a brand's identity.

Smooth customer experience

The customer experience with brands that unify their frontend stacks is smoother and with far less friction. Customers don’t have to suffer through confusing navigation experiences. They are greeted by intuitive interfaces allowing them to go from browsing to placing an item in their cart and checking out easily.

Manageable maintenance

Frontend unification simplifies maintenance by consolidating design patterns, codebase components, and resources. Developers can focus on refining a single codebase rather than managing multiple fragmented ones. This approach reduces overhead, minimizes the risk of errors, and streamlines the implementation of updates and improvements.

Lower costs

Consistent frameworks, libraries, and coding practices streamlines development, reducing the learning curve for developers and shortening the time required to implement new features. Development costs can be significantly reduced, and other resources, such as time and human resources, can be more efficiently allocated.

Collaboration

According to McKinsey, tools and organization culture impact developer velocity the most, with collaboration and knowledge sharing high on the importance for both categories.Teams find it easier to collaborate when they share a common technology stack. This cohesion reduces miscommunication, ensures consistent implementation of features, and facilitates the exchange of ideas and feedback.

Scalability

A unified stack makes it easier to scale the application since the development team can focus on optimizing and improving a single set of technologies. As ecommerce companies expand, their frontend must accommodate increased user traffic and evolving business needs. According to BCG, the ability to scale digital solutions results in a 15-20% increase in revenue growth. 

Frontend unification simplifies scalability by providing a structured foundation. New features, updates, and enhancements can be integrated consistently, allowing the platform to grow without compromising performance or user experience. 

Future-Proofing

Frontend unification separates business logic from the technologies that enable it. By choosing popular and well-supported technologies, you reduce the risk of your frontend stack becoming outdated or unsupported in the future. The frontend is modular and adaptable, allowing companies to integrate new technologies as they appear without undergoing a complete overhaul every few years. 

How AutoWeb unified its frontend stack

When AutoWeb discovered that its existing stack wasn’t sufficient to deliver the modern digital experience that customers desired, they decided to upgrade to increase velocity and flexibility. That upgrade meant migrating from a custom-built CMS to a modern content platform that supported Jamstack.

To increase its presence as a digital retailer, AutoWeb needed a solution that would allow them to customize the content as needed and boost organic traffic performance. They also needed to increase publishing speed to update content and experiment with new features and technologies. 

Hygraph was the CMS chosen by AutoWeb to modernize and unify its frontend stack. The auto retailer chose the headless CMS due to its ability to change the schemas and the level of customization available. Hygraph also allows them to roll out content strategies, namely for text, metadata, and other content-related tasks. The user experience can be easily modified, and new sites can be launched in 50% less time than before. The company also saves money on technical resources and has achieved 20% higher monetization on the website since migrating.

#Executing a frontend unification strategy 

Frontend unification can help transform eCommerce businesses by helping them escape the challenges of a complex and disjointed IT infrastructure, limited collaboration, and inefficient processes. 

With a unified frontend stack, companies can deliver a smoother user experience and increase scalability and security while future-proofing their business against new and unknown technologies. However, to accomplish frontend unification, selecting the core technologies and having the right supporting architecture is paramount. 

Hygraph offers a federated content management platform that can help make frontend unification a reality. Instead of continuing with monolithic or legacy architecture, migrating to a headless CMS like Hygraph can shift frontend experiences from fragmented to integrated as well as support modern approaches such as Jamstack.

#About Hygraph

Hygraph is the first GraphQL-native Headless Content Platform, enabling teams across the world to rapidly build and deliver tomorrow’s multi-channel digital experiences at scale.

It was designed for removing traditional content management pain points by using the power of GraphQL, and take the idea of a Headless CMS to the next level. Hygraph integrates with any frontend technology, such as React, Vue and Svelte.

Get started with Hygraph by creating a free account, learn how our customers are solving real-world problems, gather information about next-generation CMS from our resources or academy, or learn more about the applications of Hygraph.

To discuss how Hygraph can help you transform your digital projects, reach out to us.