Headless architectures: what are the benefits for an e-commerce site?

During the Web’s very first decades, content was essentially circulated via search engines in the form of web pages, ideal for reading on a computer. Yet every year, new connected devices are designed, with different formats and uses: smartphones, virtual reality headsets, voice assistants, etc. Headless architectures are there to meet this evolution, by making it possible to easily create and manage content, then circulate it on these countless interfaces.

By separating a CMS’s back-end functionalities (creation, management, storage) from its front-end functionalities (presentation, circulation), a headless architecture presents many advantages for e-commerce websites :

1. Headless architectures make it easier to adopt an omni-channel approach. Thanks to their API-focused approach, all the website’s functionalities relying on an application-based interface (catalogue, basket, orders, recommendations) can be used via different channels. This flexibility enables developers to focus on content creation. In addition, activating new environments (such as mobile apps or marketplaces) is made much easier.
2. Marketing new products is much quicker. All the e-commerce site’s updates are circulated throughout all the digital properties. User experience can be verified and controlled from a practical back-office, using the same content.
3. A dual architecture that is both more agile and more scalable. Separating the front-office and back-office means they can each evolve at their own pace, independently from one another. User experience can be modified and optimised on the short-term to meet brand needs, without triggering a general update and without jeopardising work and management areas.
4. User experience that can be customised even further. With separate front- and back-ends, a joint API can be elaborated for creation, management and storage functions. Simultaneously, a unique experience will be designed in terms of presentation and circulation for each brand and for each country the site is available in.
5. Reinforced security against DDoS attacks. As the content publication platform is not accessible via the CMS database, the risk of denial of service attacks is considerably lower.