Headless WordPress has taken the digital world by storm. This flexible system has proven to be an excellent way to manage content – especially for eCommerce websites. However, knowing how to use it effectively can be a little challenging.
Fortunately, there are plenty of examples that can help. By understanding how certain brands leverage the headless WordPress system, you can start learning how to apply it to your own site.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to the basics of headless WordPress eCommerce sites. We’ll then cover four different examples to help you understand how each brand benefits from this system. Let’s dive right in!
An Introduction to Headless eCommerce in WordPress
Let’s start by introducing headless WordPress. This is a system that separates the front and back end of your site. That way, you have more freedom to manage your content however you wish.
Moreover, this system makes it easier to create a fast, powerful, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly website. This can be particularly beneficial if your run an eCommerce site, such as an online store.
Performance isn’t the only area where headless eCommerce shines. This system can offer several other benefits, such as:
- Multichannel publishing to access new markets
- High-quality security to better protect sensitive customer data
- Scalable options to help your website grow with minimal downtime
We’ll be honest: headless isn’t always the easiest system to use. This is because it occasionally requires some developer knowledge.
However, we believe that the time spent learning how to use headless is well worth it. With more flexibility in design and publishing, you can help your store stand out from the crowd.
4 Examples of Headless WordPress eCommerce Websites
If you’re ready to get started with headless WordPress, you might want to look at a few examples first. Here are four top-tier projects that showcase the potential power of this eCommerce infrastructure.
1. Louise Kennedy
Louise Kennedy is one of the leading luxury lifestyle brands. The company has a global audience, which means that its customers come from a variety of locations with different payment methods.
One of the main ways that Louise Kennedy takes advantage of its headless system is by making sure those payment options are fully integrated with the site. Shoppers can purchase items using Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, traditional credit cards, and more.
Without a headless approach, payment methods typically require a complex setup process. By using the headless eCommerce platform BigCommerce, Louise Kennedy can streamline the sales channels into a single dashboard. That means giving users a variety of options without complicating the back end of the website.
This system offers more security. Since all that information is stored separately, hackers have a harder time getting through to it – even if they manage to breach Louise Kennedy’s front end. As such, there’s a lower chance of those high-spending customers getting scammed.
Additionally, this makes scaling an easy process. Adding new payment gateways can be as simple as a few clicks. That way, Louise Kennedy can focus on expanding the brand without worrying about those roadblocks.
However, try to keep in mind that WordPress isn’t always the best choice for enterprise-level websites. We recommend that you carefully consider the potential limitations before you begin.
2. K2 Sports
Next up is the outdoor equipment store, K2 Sports. Similar to Louise Kennedy, this eCommerce site has an international audience. That means it has to reach a lot of different customers – and it needs the power and flexibility to do so.
One of the ways headless WordPress serves this company is through scalability. Without a headless structure, K2 Sports would have to contend with development issues like low API performance.
If you want to take advantage of this system in a similar way, consider launching your site as a headless platform from the start. That way, there won’t be any need to transfer your data to benefit from the infrastructure.
Even if you’re not at the same scale as K2 Sports yet, it might be wise to give yourself room to evolve. Headless WordPress is just as effective on a small scale, so you won’t have to move up right away.
Another way that K2 Sports relies on headless is through its subdomains. Subdomains are a simple yet effective way to deliver content that is distinct from the main site. However, these sites are usually still related in some way.
This organization manages 16 different sites. This has the potential to be an unwieldy project that ends up requiring more work than is necessary. However, headless allows the developers to share content more easily without worrying about a difficult transfer.
3. Canvas 1839
CBD and hemp products are a booming market. Constantly changing laws on federal and local scales mean the field is growing and changing constantly. Canvas 1839 uses a headless WordPress system to help adapt to these challenges.
Some payment services aren’t willing to process payments for CBD products, due to potential legal complications. For instance, a platform like Shopify can be a bit restrictive in this aspect.
As we mentioned earlier, a headless system makes it very easy to add different payment methods to your site. This enables eCommerce sites such as Canvas 1839 to provide options for a larger audience.
Canvas 1839 relies on a lot of media. High-quality photos are a large part of the site design. This means it will likely require more resources to ensure high performance. Traditional WordPress might not be the best option for this.
On the other hand, headless offers the distinct benefit of doing away with frontend connections. This makes for a lighter and cleaner infrastructure. As such, Canvas 1839 can deliver faster load times and responsive mobile versions – even with tons of media and daily transactions.
4. Beachbody On Demand
Finally, let’s take a look at a less traditional form of eCommerce. Beachbody on Demand is a site that focuses on selling classes rather than physical products.
The main page includes high-resolution videos of the programs on sale. There’s also an extensive blog, covering everything from health tips to recipes. As we mentioned earlier, headless infrastructure is key to serving this content to visitors in a timely manner.
Headless can streamline the way images are served to users. This is particularly important for mobile-friendly versions of the site. Custom formats are automatically applied without the need for frontend editing, as they can connect to every endpoint.
Beachbody On Demand also offers a mobile app. Traditional WordPress would take a lot of tweaking to make that jump. However, because the front and backends are decoupled, it’s just a matter of shifting that content to a new platform.
This eCommerce site demonstrates how important headless WordPress can be if you’re looking to reach a large audience. Users can access the site regardless of their device, and expect top-tier performance at all times.
Conclusion
It’s not always easy to understand the concrete advantages of headless WordPress eCommerce. Fortunately, looking at a few practical examples can help. By analyzing how this system can benefit different sites, you can get a better idea of how it might benefit yours.
In this article, we showed you four examples of headless WordPress eCommerce sites:
- Louise Kennedy, a luxury brand with a need for multiple payment options.
- K2 Sports, a wide-reaching international brand that supports several different sites.
- Canvas 1839, a brand with non-traditional offerings that needs a flexible system.
- Beachbody On Demand, a media-heavy page that extends to multiple different platforms with ease.
Do you have any questions about using headless WordPress for eCommerce? Let us know in the comments section below!
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