With so much going on in a single ecosystem, there are several different parties that need to be able to collaborate to ensure the system functions efficiently while still producing the intended end-user experience.
The different parties who must work together inside commerce platforms can be broken into two broad groups: 1) developers who create the foundational structure, update different components, and debug performance and security issues, and 2) business users who need to access the platform to perform functions essential to the business.
Some of the common types of business users include:
Business users do not have the same level of technical skills as developers and often need assistance from the latter when performing different tasks.
The structure of e-commerce platforms plays a big role in determining how different parties work together to perform their specific functions.
A traditional e-commerce architecture functions as a single integrated solution where the backend that contains logic and product information is tethered to the frontend that is responsible for the user interface.
With these setups, content is usually managed by tools that make it easier for non-technical business users to make changes. While these tools help users visualize changes being made, they are very limited in layout options.
If marketers want to customize the frontend experience beyond what is offered by the tool, they must communicate their ideas with developers who can then dive into the platform’s code and make the necessary changes.
A headless e-commerce setup utilizing a microservice architecture decouples the backend functionality from the frontend presentation, enabling developers and marketers to work more efficiently as they are able to make changes independent of each other.
Because there isn’t a single codebase, developers can provide continuous deployment of new features and are able to scale applications without bringing the whole system down.
While a true headless system brings added flexibility, it also comes with added complexity. The typical distributed infrastructure focuses more on performance and scalability and doesn’t provide the same tools for improving ease of use for marketers and other non-technical users.
This makes it harder for marketers to edit and preview content without assistance from a developer. A solution exists for this issue in the form of digital experience platforms (DXP). A DXP like Fabric’s Experience Manager allows marketers to create personalized buying experiences across multiple touchpoints in a headless setup without the help of frontend developers.
The result is a streamlined workflow for both marketers and developers as they are able to work both synergistically and independently at the same time.
Tech advocate and writer @ fabric.