What is headless trading and why it matters

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The next stage in the evolution of e-commerce has been in the works for several years. As businesses look to meet omnichannel demands, they're probably reading more and more about "headless commerce" and its benefits. Companies should be aware of several aspects of this type of architecture when deciding if headless commerce is right for them.

Let's dive in: what is headless architecture? Essentially, this is where the front-end presentation layer is decoupled from one of the backend systems. All back-end systems become "headless", with the front-end presentation layer becoming the "head". You can have multiple heads: a website, a mobile app, a monitoring app, a kiosk in a store.

All use the same backend systems in the same way. Backend systems include commerce, content management, product information management, and order management, to name a few. The key for these backend systems to be able to work in this architecture is that they have powerful application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow you to do anything the application can do.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Headless Trading

Adopting a headless architecture has several advantages. These include greater flexibility, faster release of new features, seamless experience across all channels, security, and scalability. Summary of these benefits and how they work:

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look here System Exchanges: Some systems or platforms will improve over time, others will not. These will either become unsupported or reach “end of life”. Some may require improvements or upgrades as the business grows. Greater agility: If a new system is needed, it can be added easily via API connections and placed in the head. An example would be a loyalty program added to an e-commerce business. Add the system once and connect it from each head as needed. More Robust: Separating the front-end layout from the back-end logic makes the system more robust, as changes to the front-end won't affect your back-end logic. Each system is robust, which makes the complete system more reliable.

While a headless architecture has several advantages, there are also potential challenges that need to be addressed:

Cost: The separation of frontend and backend systems means that each will require its own maintenance and hosting. Having good partners or an already strong in-house IT department helps mitigate this cost, but it can still be higher than a single system. Complexity: Managing systems independently of each other means understanding bugs in two different systems or hardening the security of two different systems. Each team will have a learning curve as they develop and implement the separate front and rear parts.

Getting their systems into a state where the benefits become a reality can be a challenge for many companies. The benefits of headless commerce really shine when most systems in the organization (or at least the systems in a domain) have become headless and decoupled. As an organization progresses towards this state, it will find itself in a hybrid world where it mixes the old with the new, striving to overcome these challenges. Businesses should be fully aware that the headless transition process can be difficult and time-consuming. This might leave a bad taste for those involved in the process until the entire system or a specific area has been transferred and...