In the dynamic and ever-competitive eCommerce universe, offering personalized and integrated shopping experiences is crucial. Customer expectations also change every day. This is why brands should consider adopting headless architecture.
But what is headless architecture, you ask? Headless architecture borders backend and frontend services within a content management system (CMS). These are independent services, but they communicate and share information via an API.
Headless architecture efficiently embeds commerce functionality into every touchpoint within your network. This is what many businesses or brands are gravitating towards these days. However, online shoppers enjoy more personalized, faster, and consistent experiences whenever and wherever they engage.
Several new possibilities arise as a result of emerging headless technologies. Here is a handful of them:
Setting a new standard in web development
Over 60 percent of organizations are currently implementing headless architecture. However, the transition period is still in play as several platforms evolve to keep up with the need for additional flexible solutions. This is a trend that many businesses are sure to follow.
Consistent user experience
The needs of your customers continually change along their individual buyer journey. However, they should receive and enjoy highly consistent experiences across every touchpoint, irrespective of when or how they interact with your brand.
Decoupling the customer experience and commerce puts every customer experience piece – i.e., UX features, interface, URLs, etc. – in the control of the CMS.
This enables your digital creative specialists to express your brand’s values and qualities. Marketing can also present new offers and efficiently manage content without disrupting the eCommerce system.
Personalizing customer experiences
Most online shoppers purchase goods or services from brands that fully understand their personal needs. They also love doing business with companies that clearly demonstrate such understanding across every touchpoint.
Backend eCommerce systems know precisely what a customer has purchased, irrespective of how the purchases were made. This action fuels the innovative customization engines that power mobile applications, CMS, and social channels, including POS.
The customers will start getting custom offers suitable for them. Marketing can design cutting-edge customer experiences without altering the backend. It will also not require a team of software developers and lots of time and resources.
Agile marketing
Marketing takes the driver’s seat when the frontend CMS system is separated from the backend eCommerce. Marketing can publish several websites across divisions, brands, geographies, and portfolios.
For instance, when entering brand-new geography, a new website can be set up within days, not weeks or months. Enterprises can theme the CMS only once, and it will handle all the publishing. This possibility allows you to dynamically and efficiently alter every strategy based on market trends and opportunities.
Organizations with a complex customer and content requirements can use headless technologies to deliver personalized, innovative, and consistent customer experiences fast.
Support for emerging technologies
The headless architecture will get support from new and emerging technologies. This is crucial, especially when creating or designing new customer experiences. Big data analytics and personalization engines behind the scenes – i.e., on the backend – can efficiently integrate with the commerce system to render unique customer experiences.
Get more conversions from cold and warm traffic
Research shows that the average web visit by cold or warm traffic lasts less than one minute. This means you have less than one minute to make a positive impression on new customers. Potential problems – such as difficult-to-navigate interface or slow page load speeds – which can easily discourage shoppers must be eliminated.
An eCommerce business that adopts headless technology will avoid all of these issues. Such integrations ensure and boost customer satisfaction long before a purchase is made.
Moreover, these changes can be rapidly implemented since advanced coding is not duly required. This makes it possible for your eCommerce site to respond instantly to any change within the market and be highly responsive to product recalls, customer complaints, etc.
Guarantees user-friendliness
Online shoppers currently assess the web via a wide range of devices. They order groceries, clothing, electronics, etc., from tablets, smartphones, TVs, and smart home devices like an Alexa-enabled refrigerator or Google Home.
However, businesses must ensure their eCommerce store is highly optimized. This is to efficiently accommodate numerous customers using various devices to make purchases.
But this can be challenging for traditional eCommerce solutions. Designers will need to rationalize responsive design across every type of device. Otherwise, several elements of the eCommerce store will not display properly or disappear on some devices, even though they appear perfectly on others.
In many cases, designers must build specific versions of the online store for every device. This results in a much bigger investment or resources. Complications may also arise when making changes to your online store or during updates.
However, adopting and implementing headless technology ensures all versions of your eCommerce store are user-friendly, irrespective of the type of device your customers shop from.
Creates adequate space for content management
Traditional eCommerce stores usually lack content beyond the storefront. Successful small businesses use blogs, games, news, and other content to attract visitors and introduce numerous products.
But headless eCommerce makes it possible and easy to add, edit, and publish content on a website without affecting the overall functionality of the online store’s transactional side.
Features like search engine optimization, advice columns, news or stories, etc., can be implemented to boost search engine ranking. This helps businesses build reputations as authorities in their respective fields.
Increased security
Most online shoppers assume that the eCommerce stores they patronize have done their part in protecting their security. A cybersecurity attack can lead to the theft of customer information as well as financial data, which can cripple any business.
However, headless eCommerce architecture provides multiple options for boosting security. It allows you to roll out several security updates swiftly in response to problems or threats while allowing for greater PCI compliance.
Online store owners will also possess additional capabilities for tracking inventory, fraud, and threat management. This enables better protection of buyer data or purchases, resulting in a better and seamless user experience and improved customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
There’s no end to the new possibilities that come with emerging headless technologies. Brands that adopt headless architecture will enjoy limitless options for customer interaction.
This boosts the chances of driving increased conversion and creating loyal customers over time. But you need to thoroughly understand the costs – and the opportunities – that adopting headless technology offers.
If adopting the headless approach will enable your organization to achieve its numerous objectives, by all means, go for it.
