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Top 8 headless ecommerce platforms in 2023

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedApr 20233 min read

It’s a retail trend with no sign of slowing. Global online retail sales are expected to exceed $7 trillion by 2025, with ecommerce making up nearly a quarter of all transactions worldwide. The challenge for any ecommerce business is to remain competitive in such a rapidly growing space. This starts with your platform. Are you able to make changes to your storefront easily and remain adaptable? If not, headless ecommerce platforms can help. Here’s a closer look at eight of the best to help you get started.

What is a headless ecommerce platform?

Before diving into the best headless ecommerce platforms, it helps to clearly define what this term means. So, what is a headless ecommerce platform? It’s any system that separates the front and back ends of an ecommerce store. The front end is the customer-facing storefront or app where shoppers interact with your brand. The back end includes all the technical elements needed to keep the store running, such as the shopping cart, payment processor, customer relationship management systems, and more.

By separating the front and back ends of the ecommerce site using connective APIs, you can change your product pages and customer-facing interface without any corresponding action in the back end. Templates, themes, and social media channels are separated from the infrastructure that powers the ecommerce store. This improves the user experience and functionality.

The best headless ecommerce platforms

The following platforms offer the best headless ecommerce examples out there, blending user-friendly interfaces with comprehensive integrations.

1. Shopify Plus

We’ll start the list with Shopify, which is one of the world’s best-known ecommerce platforms. While basic Shopify still operates as a traditional ecommerce platform – with front and back ends linked – its newer Shopify Plus platform is headless. This uses the GraphQL API to increase the number of available integrations and give your business full creative control across multiple channels. Integrate with apps like Slack and Mailchimp as well as third-party marketplaces like Amazon and eBay to increase sales. You’ll also be able to fully customize your themes, products, checkout pages and payments process.

2. Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento)

Formerly known as Magento, Adobe Commerce is another example of the best headless ecommerce platforms. It allows web developers to fully customize the shopping experience to better serve customer needs. One of the key features is a linked-up inventory management system that lets you track stock across multiple locations with real-time updates. There are also extensive analytics to help you improve performance.

3. Salesforce

Salesforce is known for its CRM solutions, but it’s now branched out into headless ecommerce with its Salesforce Commerce Cloud solution. This agile headless ecommerce software is designed to grow with businesses as they scale up. It integrates with numerous third-party apps and marketplaces, while using automation where possible to streamline your workflow. It’s also user-friendly in comparison to some other options that require in-depth developer expertise.

4. BigCommerce

Another big name in headless ecommerce is BigCommerce. Decouple the back end from the user interface to run numerous apps and storefronts from a single location. It’s a great choice for larger enterprises that provide an omnichannel experience to their customers, suitable for both B2C and B2B industries. Like others on this list, it integrates with popular third-party services including Amazon marketplace, Mailchimp, Google, and more.

5. Infosys Equinox

If you want a more personalized touch, Infosys Equinox could be a great option. Equinox aims to unify branding across multiple touchpoints, focusing on the marketing end of the ecommerce equation. It integrates with messengers, chatbots, virtual reality, and wearables to help create this multichannel user experience. The interface is clean and easy to use, which is good as there’s no dedicated live customer service available.

6. LogiCommerce

Choose from a front-end solution or build your own from scratch with LogiCommerce’s headless ecommerce platform. It’s best for SaaS businesses, integrating with numerous plug-ins to offer multi-currency payments, invoicing and SEO content. In addition to tools for editing your front end, LogiCommerce also offers a BackOffice feature that lets you manage everyday operations from a single dashboard.

7. Swell

Swell is one of the best headless ecommerce platforms for small or medium-size businesses. However, its comprehensive features are also suitable for larger enterprises. One of the things that make it stand apart from the rest is its user-friendliness. If you’re new to ecommerce, it makes it easy to build and customize your own website. Change product descriptions and themes without any need for coding.

8. OroCommerce

Built by the same team behind Magento, OroCommerce was designed for B2B industries. However, it offers enough customization features to make it suitable for B2C businesses. Like Magento, it’s notable for its inventory management capabilities. You’ll be able to manage product listings and prices in real time.

How to choose the best headless ecommerce solution

With no shortage of options to choose from, how can you select the right headless ecommerce platform for your business? Here are a few factors to consider for comparison:

Is the interface user-friendly? Is it clean and intuitive? The front and back ends should be equally easy to use.
Can you customize your website? One of the major benefits of headless ecommerce is the ability to personalize your front end.
Does headless ecommerce software offer tutorials? You’ll need to learn how to make necessary adjustments – ideally there will be a dedicated knowledge base with videos and FAQs.
Does the platform connect with your preferred integrations? Think not only about your customer relationship management and product information management tools, but also your payment systems and inventory. Does it work with subscription management?

GoCardless integrates with over 300 partners to help streamline your ecommerce payment workflow. We help businesses collect both recurring and one-off payments directly from customer bank accounts. Choose from a selection of high converting payment pages to improve the ecommerce checkout experience, whether you’re looking for hosted pages or fully customizable integrations.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.