Headless vs. Composable Commerce: And the eCommerce Oscar Goes To...

Do you still remember the headless-commerce-hype? Well, I certainly do. You can lose your head trying to define it - literally!

So, let me try to break it down for you, or it’s more accurate to say cut it, in the gentlest and simplest way. Here it goes.

As soon as you separate (cut) the front from the back-end side (functionality) of your eCommerce website (platform), you’re in the headless commerce zone. Now, why in the world would you do it? Three magic business words: Improving Customers Experience.

It’s easier said than done, that’s for sure.

On the one (front) side, you have to take care of more than just your eCommerce website the customers first see and interact with. I’m talking about the “whole package,” such as social media, all kinds of apps, and let’s not forget IoT (Internet of Things). On the other (back) side, all the tech-related stuff runs in the background, so the commerce business can function in the first place. Yup, I’m talking about all merchandising, processing, integrating, processing, data storing, and similar, we don’t see and take for granted.

Is it worth all the trouble? Apparently, it is because traditional commerce has proven itself to be rigid over and over again. So, if flexibility is on your eCommerce to-do list then you know what needs to be done:

So, what about composable commerce? Is it just another eCommerce buzzword or something else?

Composable Commerce Is Headless Commerce On Steroids

Once you start slicing and dicing the traditional commerce concepts, there’s no way back. Faster. Better. Stronger. And, above all, more profitable. So, it makes sense to question the headless concept itself.

The next thing you know you’re already adopting modular technologies and playing with various components. You are stepping out of the headless commerce territory into the world of MACH Architecture. What in the eCommerce world is that?

Yup, the good old Maverick’s need for speed. Joke aside, MACH Architecture is a serious acronym:

Microservices-Based

API-First

Cloud-Native

Headless

Now, each of these MACH Architecture components can be a stand-alone story. Being in the middle of the Oscars season, we can discuss franchising and story sequels, but let’s wrap it up before we got lost.

As you can see headless commerce is one of the MACH Architecture components of the more complex composable structure. It’s no coincidence that I avoid using “just” while mentioning the headless part. It’d be unfair to diminish the importance of headless commerce by saying, oh you know, that’s a MACH component, which is at the core of composable commerce. Headless commerce paved the way for composable commerce.

You can stay in the (safe) headless commerce zone and your eCommerce business would do just fine. Or, you can decide to take it to the next level with composable commerce. The (trouble) catch is that you will have to play with many more moving parts and get into new business specifics.

Don’t think big, but rather small, quantum small, like:

It’s easy to get lost and stuck if you don’t know what you’re doing. Just ask Michelle Pfeiffer, who portrayed Janet Van Dyne in “Ant-Man,” not only that the time is relative in both composable commerce and the quantum realm, but…

Also, make sure you stay out of the tardigrade fields. They're cute but they'll eat you.

The same applies to MACH Architecture components, which are also cute but can eat so much of your time and resources if not careful.

So, Do We Have An eCommerce Winner Here, Or Not?

After all said and done by countless eCommerce businesses out there, it makes more sense to use “AND” instead of “VERSUS” when comparing headless and composable commerce, doesn’t it?

Look, if you want to stick to the basics, meaning, traditional commerce, that’s OK. If you want to “cut” and bite headless commerce, that’s OK too. Finally, if you want to “compose” something special for your eCommerce business with the help of modular technology (MACH) - Kudos!

Fortune favors the bold. Pick new over old. Or, so I’m told.