Can We Go Headless with Magento?
In the ever-evolving world of eCommerce, businesses are constantly exploring new approaches to enhance their online presence and deliver exceptional customer experiences. One such approach that has gained significant traction is headless commerce. With its potential to revolutionize the way online stores are built and operated, headless commerce has become a topic of interest for many businesses.
Amid that, the Headless Magento platform announcement has triggered discussions about what version of customer-facing store experience customers want to see.
This article sheds light on how Magento was traditionally implemented as monolithic, the advantages of trying to go headless, and how to make that happen.
How Magento Headless and Monolithic Architecture Differ?
We’ve all heard about headless commerce, but what does that mean? In short, headless refers to the fact that frontend (UI) components are decoupled from the backend infrastructure and logical engines.
Headless approaches are often used with other applications to create powerful custom solutions. These customer-facing elements can be created faster, allowing the eCommerce site the luxury of being seen as more responsive to customer demands.
Monolithic architecture refers to a system where all modules are tightly coupled or live within one application. You might think of this as “the old way” of developing software because every piece of functionality is more or less built into one large application.
Benefits of Headless Magento
More than 62% of enterprises in a survey said that headless commerce is a gamechanger to improve engagement and conversions.
Headless Magento is an excellent option for those who want to use their website as an eCommerce platform but don’t require the legacy components of Magento. In other words, Headless Magento is a perfect fit for anyone who wants to build their custom commerce experience on the Magento platform.
To that end, the benefits of Headless Magento include:
- Being able to build a custom commerce experience on top of the Magento platform.
- Removing the overhead and maintenance associated with running a traditional, full-stack system.
- Being able to focus on building the brand, not maintaining the infrastructure.
Why Is Headless A Trend Now?
Also known as API-first or decoupled architecture, a headless web development approach separates the frontend from the backend. The frontend is responsible for displaying the website content, while the backend handles data storage and processing. The frontend can be written in any language, including JavaScript and React. Here’s why it’s the trend of the future:
Omnichannel Support
The decoupled frontend and backend help with integrating multiple channels like web, mobile, and voice. It also allows each channel to have its relevant user interface design, which is essential for omnichannel marketing.
Fewer Technology Integration Barriers
Applications today need to integrate with other technologies such as payment gateways, shipping providers, or email marketing platforms. Magento has built-in integrations with the most popular third-party systems, so businesses don’t have to spend months customizing the system for each integration.
High Flexibility and Limitless Customization
It is feasible to customize almost every aspect of the store using modules and extensions available for free or paid on Magento Marketplace or by hiring professionals who will ensure everything runs smoothly on the website.
Ready to Implement Headless on your Magento Store?
Headless Magento vs. Traditional Magento
Headless Magento and traditional Magento are two different ways to manage the online store. Traditional Magento uses a server-side rendering technology that loads the entire page before sending it to the user’s browser, while headless Magento uses JavaScript to load pages dynamically.
More profoundly, in traditional server-side rendering, the page’s content is loaded into memory before it is sent to the client’s browser. This simply means that even if you have a slow connection (or are on mobile), the page will still load slowly, and you’ll have to wait for all the content to load before you can interact with it.
Contrarily, in headless Magento, pages are loaded asynchronously using JavaScript, which means they’re only partially loaded when you first click on them and then continue loading when you scroll down. This allows users with slow connections or mobile devices to start interacting with the page faster than if it were being rendered server-side.
Here’s how they’re different on other fronts:
Web Speed
When it comes to speed, traditional Magento is seen as the clear winner. Headless Magento has the potential to be faster because it uses a new, more efficient database structure and a REST API. However, at this point in time, Headless Magento still has not reached the speeds of traditional Magento.
Mobile Customer Experience
The mobile customer experience (MCE) is one of the most important aspects of any eCommerce platform and can easily make or break a business if not taken seriously. Traditional Magento offers a fully responsive solution that works well on all devices and screen sizes. Headless Magento only offers partial support for mobile devices at this time.
How to Prepare to Build a Headless Magento Store?
Once you have decided on your headless Magento store, it is essential to ensure you have all the necessary information before starting the build. Here are some of the things to consider:
Time and Budget
Building an eCommerce website can be a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. The good news is that there are many resources to help you get a head start and minimize setup and maintenance costs. To that end, it’s better to opt for headless Magento as it takes less time to set up and is relatively more cost-effective than traditional solutions.
Web Development Companion
In order to create a good website, businesses need the help of a skilled Magento development company. Most importantly, it is important to have a web development company that understands the complexities of Magento and has the necessary skills to build a headless Magento store.
Basic Tech Knowledge
Headless Magento makes it easy for even non-technical users to get started with the platform. However, all businesses need to have basic knowledge about technology to ensure their store’s success.
Conclusion
A headless Magento solution is the future of eCommerce. This not only advances the performance and scalability limits of the Magento ecosystem but also favors modern frontend development technologies. These include HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and robust frameworks such as Angular or React.
