What is a headless e-commerce API?

Headless ecommerce is an architecture where the front end (content delivery application) is decoupled from the back end (content management system or digital experience platform). There are several significant advantages to adopting a headless approach compared to the all-in-one traditional ecommerce model, including:

• Headless is far easier, faster, simpler, less expensive, and less risky to make changes to the front-end experiences, as there is no possibility of disrupting or destabilizing the underlying back-end infrastructure, or triggering complex compatibility problems.
• There is no need to allocate excessive time and resources developing comprehensive business logic and back-end services, which is an effort that often costs much more than expected. Research has found that two-thirds of enterprise IT projects run over budget by as much as 100%, and only 1 in 4 manage to reach the final release within 25% of their original budget.
• Headless architecture supports a seamless integration approach for connecting and exposing assets to a presentation layer through application programming interfaces (APIs). In simpler terms: APIs enable the front end (user interface) and the back-end systems to “talk” with each other, which unleashes a whole new level of flexibility, customization, options, and opportunities.

Since APIs are at the center — or we might say, at the heart — of headless e-commerce architecture, the remainder of this article takes a closer look by answering some fundamental questions:

• How does a headless e-commerce API work?
• What are the different API protocols?
• How can you use a headless e-commerce API?
• What are the benefits of a headless e-commerce API?

An API is a set of protocols that enable different applications, systems, and devices to connect, communicate, and transfer information. There are two main components of an API: the API client, and the API server.

The API client creates requests in response to user actions, and sends those requests to an API endpoint. These are Uniform Resource Identifiers (UFIs) that enable access to resources in a database. There are various request methods available, such as:

• GET: Retrieve a resource
• DELETE: Remove a resource
• POST: Create a resource
• PUT: Update or create within an existing resource
• PATCH: Partially modify a resource

The API server receives the request from the API client, checks to ensure that it is valid, and then carries out the designated method (e.g., “retrieve and display all of the products in a store’s catalog”).

A simple, non-technical metaphor can help illustrate the functionality and value of headless API-driven ecommerce. Think of a restaurant with three people: a customer, a waiter, and a cook:

• The customer places a food order, in the same way that a user submits a request (e.g., “show me some social media reviews of this product that I’m interest in”).
• The waiter takes the order from the customer, in the same way that an API receives the user request.
• The cook gets the order and prepares it, in the same way that the back-end systems or microservices get the user request (via the API) and takes action accordingly.
• From there, the cook (back end) gives the prepared food order (requested data or action) to the waiter (API), who then delivers it to the happy customer (endpoint).

It is also important to add that in an API-first headless commerce platform, while workflows behind-the-scenes can get rather complex, the user who initiates a request does not need to be a software engineer or an IT professional. In fact, they do not even need to know — or care — about what APIs are or how they work. They simply indicate what they want (typically by clicking a button or a link at various touchpoints in the user experience).

In some cases, users do not even have to take any action at all. For example, an ecommerce website can be programmed to automatically trigger an API call and display social media reviews next to associated products in a storefront. The customer does not need to realize that this is all thanks to an API.

All that matters is to them — and to the e-commerce business serving them — is that they get what they want or need, which ideally moves them forward along the customer journey.

There are many different API protocol options. Some of the most commonly used include:

• REST: With this protocol type, resources are accessible through endpoints, and operations are performed on using standard HTTP methods (such as those listed above: GET, DELETE, POST, PUT, and PATCH).
• SOAP: This protocol type uses XML to transfer communication between client and server. SOAP is an acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol, and is frequently used in legacy systems and enterprise environments.
• GraphQL: This protocol type enables clients to interact with one API endpoint to retrieve the specific data required, but without linking multiple requests.
• Webhooks: This protocol type is used to implement event-driven architectures, where requests are automatically transmitted per event-based triggers.
• gRPC: This protocol type allows clients to call on a server as if it were a local object, which makes it simpler for distributed apps and systems to communicate. RPC is an acronym for Remote Procedure Call, and gRPC APIs were originated by Google.

There are many different ways to use headless or API-driven ecommerce. Here are some — but certainly by no means all — possibilities:

• Catalog API: This enables e-commerce businesses to build, modify, and manage a product catalog. Updating a massive catalog with thousands of products can happen within minutes, and as we highlighted earlier in this article, there is no risk of “breaking” the back-end systems or microservices infrastructure.
   
  Another innovative use of the Catalog API in headless e-commerce solutions is pulling regionally customized catalogs from existing e-commerce software, and pushing them into a series of new sites, each with new product descriptions.  
• Login API: This enables e-commerce businesses to capture and manage customer IDs. For example, customers can be invited to log in using their social media account. Not only is this convenient and saves time, but some new customers (and existing customers who have not created an account) may feel safer and more confident logging in using a platform that they are familiar with (e.g., Facebook, Google, etc.).
• Cart API: This enables e-commerce businesses to build, view, and manage customers’ shopping carts. For example, shipping costs can be automatically calculated based on factors like distance and weight, and applicable taxes can be added based on a customer’s location.
• Checkout API: This enables e-commerce businesses to customize the checkout process to suit different customer segments or audiences. For example, customizing local currency based on location. Customers in the US will see prices in US dollars and customers in England will see prices in pound sterling.
• Marketing API: This enables e-commerce businesses to add customers to various email lists, and further segment those lists based on relevant variables (e.g., location, purchase, amount spent, order history, etc.).
• Customer API: This enables e-commerce businesses to deliver personalized experiences by leveraging the application logic associated with customer attributes. In the next section of this article, we look closer at the benefits of using APIs in headless e-commerce to optimize personalization and digital customer experience.

Here are some of the areas where headless or API-driven ecommerce makes a game-changing difference:

• Flexibility and integrations: By adding desired integrations like CRM and other popular tools, e-commerce businesses can drive a customized, flexible, efficient, and cost-effective best-of-breed tech stack strategy. Adjusting and evolving the front end is not only possible, but it is encouraged.
• Personalization: E-commerce businesses can leverage API calls to experiment with various content, designs, and interactive elements, in order to attract more traffic, enhance customer experience, and increase conversion rates (including smaller, but nevertheless vital micro-conversions, which are signals that customers are likely heading in the right direction towards a transaction).
• Omnichannel: Real-time API calls ensure that information such as pricing, merchandising, and product availability is always consistent and accurate across multiple channels.
• Reducing go-to-market time: APIs enable content to be delivered anywhere, which cuts down on go-to-market time; especially when entering new regions and implementing new channels, such as online stores, IoT, mobile, etc. This acceleration can make the difference between leading a marketplace and exploiting first-mover advantage, or lagging behind and playing catch-up.
• Scalability and extensibility: APIs enable e-commerce businesses to add to their ecosystem as they grow, or as they adapt to changing customer and marketplace dynamics. This occurs without dealing with the complexity, costs, risks — and in some cases, the practical impossibility — of modifying the underlying back-end infrastructure.
• Reusability: APIs can easily be reused many times across multiple applications and platforms. For example, an API used to retrieve and update product information from a warehouse management system, might also be applied to a mobile app or ERP system.
• Security: E-commerce businesses without the ability to use APIs are often obligated to use plugins, which require constant security patches — if available. Nearly 30% of WordPress plugin bugs never receive a patch. Conversely, API integrations do not need updates after the initial connection is made. What’s more, APIs do not give access to all data. Rather, they only share information as determined by developers.
   
  There are also significant login security advantages. A study has found that hackers account for a whopping 90% of login attempts at online retailers. APIs can help here by deploying an extra layer between an e-commerce business and the entities requesting data.

A blog post by an aspiring developer who encountered the power and impact of APIs summed up his impression in a manner that, while not technical, is certainly authentic: “APIs are magic.”

Of course, APIs are not magical, in the sense that they are not mysterious or beyond the realm of comprehension (at least by mere mortals). Rather, APIs are logical, predictable, and proven. And for e-commerce businesses that want to future-proof their customer experience to thrive — and in the long run survive — in a hyper-competitive, rapidly-changing landscape, APIs are also fundamentally essential and remarkably advantageous.

Learn more about Sitecore OrderCloud

Designed with MACH architecture, Sitecore OrderCloud is a cloud-native, API-first, B2B/B2C/B2X headless e-commerce platform that powers custom ecommerce experiences, order management, and B2B marketplace applications for some of the world’s most well-known brands — processing over 25 million transactions and $5 billion in revenue annually.

Sitecore OrderCloud’s RESTful API was built by developers, for developers. It enables rapid development of custom, secure, and scalable e-commerce solutions. Spin up a fully functional commerce app in minutes and customize it to the limits of your imagination. Next steps:

• Watch a quick and informative demo video of Sitecore OrderCloud
• Check out the Sitecore OrderCloud developer guide and technical documentation
• Request a live guided product tour