Custom storefronts

When brands first started selling online, desktop browsers were the dominant way that customers interacted with the web and purchase paths were relatively simple. Retailers used an integrated technology approach, where the back-end ecommerce platform and website front-end were coupled.

However, trends change as fast as the technology that powers them. With Custom Storefronts, Shopify gives your development team the freedom to create an architecture where the front-end and back-end operate independently from each other. Typical use cases are multiple localized websites linked to one Shopify checkout, mobile apps, and highly customized front-end experiences.

And for most retailers, an integrated approach will continue to be the best approach. A headless storefront will make sense for:

• Greater customization and personalization of the customer journey
• Greater flexibility for development teams to work on front and backend systems in parallel in any programming language
• Delivering content and trying new approaches to engage customers across multiple sales channels

A headless approach can mean added customizability, flexibility and control. But first, you need to determine whether you should move to a headless architecture at all.

Is Headless the right choice for you?

It can be easy to think of headless as the perfect solution to increase speed or conversions. There are many reasons you may be considering a headless implementation, but there are also reasons why it may not be the right decision for your business.

Building a headless storefront is a bit like building your entire house from scratch. Do you have the expertise to do that? The time? Is it necessary? You may not experience the return on investment by going headless compared to the added cost, technical requirements, and complexity that comes with it.

Going headless doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario. Some retailers might start with an out-of-the-box integrated ecommerce platform and move into headless commerce to address emerging business needs over time. For example, a mobile app could run on a headless architecture while the rest of your platform remains fully integrated.

If you believe that a headless storefront is the right solution for you, developers can build it using their chosen software solution and the Shopify Storefront API to access product information, create orders, and check out purchases programmatically.