Headless Ecommerce & Low-Code

Interplay is the first low-code headless ecommerce platform. Interplay Commerce brings all the flexibility and expansive functionality of a headless architecture as well as the speed, integration consistency, and cohesive development environment of low-code. This article explains why that’s revolutionary.

Ecommerce platforms continue to evolve at an ever-increasing rate. To keep pace with such rapid innovation, platforms are moving away from monolithic all-in-one applications and moving toward a ‘headless’ model where the front-end interface is separated from the back-end management applications. In 2020, 61% of retailers said they would leverage headless commerce, and that number will continue to rise -- for good reason. Simultaneously, low-code is revolutionizing how applications are developed. Interplay Commerce (IPC) combines Headless and Low-code to provide a revolutionary platform for ecommerce.

The Strength of Headless ecommerce

Headless ecommerce architectures separate the front-end and back-end of an ecommerce platform, with the front-end interface management applications being controlled by a separate CSS and javascript management application while the back-end systems (order management, product management, inventory levels, etc.) are handled by the ecommerce application.

Headless ecommerce is better:

• Faster Deployment: headless systems can be deployed quickly, as each function (e.g. pricing, inventory management, payment gateways) is independent, deployment is not a ‘waterfall’ project, it can be agile as each function is ready.
• Greater Flexibility: because headless systems exist as a network of interconnected APIs and segmented function-specific applications, those applications can be upgraded, modified, or extended as needed without having to change/upgrade the entire system. This brings flexibility to each function as needs of the enterprise evolve.
• Better UX: A creative design team can use the tools that are best suited to their workflow, regardless of what is powering the backend operations of the ecommerce platform, while back-end developers don’t need to sweat the details on how interfaces may look to the end customer. Designers and developers don’t fight over tools. Everybody’s happier. At the end of 2020, customer experience was stated as the #1 key brand differentiator, overtaking both price and product. An ecommerce platform which greets consumers with a positive and customized experience leads to more purchases and conversions, so excellent UX design is key.

Risks and Challenges with Headless Architecture

There are several headless ecommerce platforms available. Our platform, Interplay, is also a headless architecture. It’s also Low-code drag-and-drop, which is a very powerful combination.

Typical headless systems are abstracted API systems created to be flexible to adapt to the retailer's needs. This also means functionality and features have to be custom added and often missing functionality for advanced commerce operations leaving the specific implementation to the retailers development team. Due to its micro services and API driven architecture headless commerce systems get over engineered. This makes headless commerce implementations over budget and miss timelines creating uncertainty for retailers. There needs to be a coordinated middleware and out of the box functionality. That’s where low-code comes into play.