Headless Shopify Solutions
If you’re looking for ultimate flexibility, a custom CMS, lightning fast speeds and the ability to support infinite complexity, we can develop headless ecommerce solutions powered by Shopify that are the perfect fit for your ecommerce business.
Headless Commerce on Shopify
Headless architecture is where you ‘decouple’ the front-end and back-end systems, using APIs to connect the two systems and pass relevant data between them.
With a headless Shopify build, you separate the area where the content is stored from the presentation layer where the content is displayed. By separating these two elements, the front-end display layer of your Shopify site is no longer restricted by the functionality and architecture of your back-end system. This gives you more control over the buyer and developer experiences.
We work with Shopify’s official development stack: Hydrogen and Oxygen, a combination of tools that provides a clear path for building dynamic and performant headless commerce sites on Shopify that can scale infinitely while still taking advantage of all the core technology Shopify has to offer. As one of the original Shopify Plus Partner agencies, we know the platform inside out and can work with you to build your custom storefront.
There are many benefits of headless builds, but whether or not it’s right for your ecommerce business depends on what you’re looking to achieve. Our consultants can talk to you about your goals and understand whether it’s the right path.
The Benefits of Headless Commerce
We have a team of experienced Shopify developers and designers who understand the unique challenges and opportunities that come with headless ecommerce. With over a decade of experience on the Shopify platform, we’re perfectly placed to help businesses looking to deploy a headless solution. From migrating ecommerce businesses to Shopify, to designing and developing stores, managing third party integrations and creating bespoke solutions - when it comes to Shopify and ecommerce, we’ve done it all. Here are some of the reasons why headless solutions can help take your Shopify store to the next level.
Lightning-Fast Site Speed for Better Conversion
Fast is best when it comes to ecommerce, and it’s possible to make Shopify sites faster by decoupling the front and back end - this means your site is statically generated and doesn’t have to do any heavy lifting when serving a page to your visitors.
CMS Flexibility for Full Control and Superb Content Management
Using a headless solution allows you to choose your own content management system such as Contentful or Strapi, which allow greater flexibility than native Shopify. We can build your headless site and connect it with your CMS of choice.
Creative Freedom for Unique Brand Experiences
Headless ecommerce allows merchants to make use of the backend power and features of Shopify like customer, order and product data, while allowing more control and freedom over the frontend. A headless build enables truly bespoke experiences for brands that really want to differentiate from the competition.
Omnichannel Selling For a Unified Brand, Easily Managed
Start selling on all the digital mediums your customers use, while managing everything from a single back end.
Get Started with Headless
If you’d like to discuss headless options and find out if it’s the right route for your business, contact Eastside Co today for a free, objective consultation. We'll discuss your specific needs and develop a tailored strategy to take your ecommerce business to the next level.
Shopify Headless FAQs
We answer some of the most common questions we get about how headless Shopify solutions work.
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What is headless commerce?
Headless commerce is an ecommerce architecture that decouples the front-end experience from back-end operations. Headless commerce is also sometimes referred to as ‘API-first’ because the front and back-end communicate to each other through an API layer. -
What are APIs?
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable an application to expose specific services (such as order management, pricing information or catalogues) to other applications. An API is what allows backend systems to relay information to the front-end. -
Is a headless build more expensive?
The cost of implementing a Shopify headless solution depends on many factors but it makes more sense when a brand reaches a certain size - for example, generating £1 million per annum through its website. Exact pricing will vary based on the details of implementation and your specific business goals, but in addition to your core headless commerce software cost, you will also have to consider any third-party software, the cost to build your front end, and the cost of integrating all these pieces together. This all depends on your goals, timeline, and scope. -
What are the benefits of headless commerce?
More customisation - bespoke experiences to increase sales / Better agility - add new features and tools quickly / Easier to implement an omnichannel experience / Faster site speed / CMS flexibility / Easy troubleshooting and updates / Combining of third-party tools -
Will my Shopify store customers know they’re visiting a headless store?
Most customers won’t necessarily notice a difference between a traditional ecommerce store and a headless experience. What a headless commerce approach does allow is more control of a brand’s customer experience and dramatically speed up the ability to make changes to the site. It also means the site itself will be fast, which improves the customer experience and conversion rates.