Back

Headless commerce

Complete decoupling of the front end

Schedule a call Go to contact section View our results Go to case studies
author
Tim Sol
Business Consultant

Three situations we encounter daily with growing online stores.

Why Your Frontend Is Holding You Back

  • You can’t make any changes without a developer

    Every change on the store side affects your platform, so a developer stands between you and a banner. With a separate front end, your marketing team manages the content, and the commerce engine remains untouched.

  • You maintain multiple stores separately

    Two brands or three countries now mean three separate online stores, each requiring its own maintenance. A single backend with multiple frontends eliminates that duplicate work, and your product data is stored in just one place.

  • Your content is locked into your platform

    Your content is locked into your online store, so the same text and images also appear in your app and on your landing pages. With content from a single source, you can serve every channel without having to copy it.

When headless commerce pays off

Headless commerce means that the layer your visitor sees is separate from the system that manages your orders, prices, and inventory. They communicate with each other via an API. This allows you to revamp your website or launch a second brand without touching your commerce engine.

That freedom is real, and it doesn’t come for free. You’ll need to maintain two layers instead of one, and your platform’s standard features may sometimes require extra work. It pays off when you have multiple brands or operate in multiple countries, when you frequently update your front end, or when content and commerce are managed by different teams. If you have a single online store with a single target audience, we’d say it probably won’t be worth it for you.

You’ll be working with Paul van der Meijs, Head of Engineering at Redkiwi, along with Tim Sol and Jasper. We’ve been building online stores since 2004, and those 22 years of customer insight are the foundation of every piece of advice we give.

  • 22+ year experience
  • 9,3 customer care
  • 55+ Kiwi specialists

What does a headless project entail?

Four layers. The trade-off: whether separating these layers will benefit your situation, and what the maintenance costs will be. The front end: the layer your visitors see, built to remain fast and update frequently. Content management: a single source for text and images that powers your online store, your app, and your landing pages. And the integrations: prices, inventory, orders, and customers that flow between the two layers, with a single source system for each piece of data.

From a Single Entity to Two Layers

A headless project rarely fails due to technical issues; it often fails because of management challenges. That’s why we define upfront who makes which changes: which modifications your marketing team handles directly in the content system, and which require a developer. Then we build in phases: first, we go live with one front end featuring the integrations you need, followed by the second brand or the next country. This way, you can see whether the flexibility is actually being utilized before you roll it out across your entire platform.

Three services that enable a decoupled frontend.

What headless entails

Decoupling a frontend only works if your integrations are correct and your content and product data come from a single source. Otherwise, you’re just shifting the management problem instead of solving it.

From evaluation to expansion in five steps.

Here’s how we approach a headless project

  • 1. Evaluate

    We assess whether the separation will benefit you. If the answer is no, we’ll tell you so and look for a less invasive solution.

  • 2. Defining roles and sources

    For each piece of data, we document which system is the source and who can make which changes. This prevents most future frustrations.

  • 3. Building the front end

    The layer that your visitors see, built to remain lightweight and to be populated by your own team.

  • 4. Integration and Monitoring

    Prices, inventory, orders, and customer data flow between both layers, with monitoring in place so you’ll know when an integration fails.

  • 5. Expanding by Brand or Country

    Once the first front end is up and running, the next brand or country can be added. This way, you only pay for the flexibility once you actually use it.

Three organizations for which we set up separate frontends and content management systems.

Projects with a separate frontend

  • Life Outdoor Living

    The perfect synergy between the online environment and physical stores. 40% growth in revenue.

  • Althen

    Creating two new websites to generate increased traffic and prospects in the B2B market.

View all our case studies View all our case studies

Independent advice, no bias.

What we use to build frontends and content

Headless content with an editor that empowers your editorial team to publish

A content model that fits your organization, rather than a template

A React framework for building SEO-friendly and interactive web apps

Business applications that will still be maintainable in five years

Magento Commerce

A PHP framework that creates stylish and low-maintenance web applications.
View all our partners View all our partners

Let's discuss your growth opportunity

In one hour, we’ll review your brands, your markets, and your content management, and let you know whether a headless approach is worth it for you—even if the answer is no. It takes just one hour and doesn’t commit you to anything.

Please enter your email so we can get in touch.

Please enter your comments.

Agreement 

Meet your specialists

Tim Sol
Business Consultant
Paul van der Meijs
Head of Technology
Meet the whole team Meet the whole team

How much does a headless e-commerce site cost?

More than just an integrated platform, because you’re building and maintaining two layers instead of one. The final cost in your case depends on the number of front ends, your integrations, and how much you want to be able to manage yourself.

What you always get: a fair assessment before anyone starts building, a clear definition of who can make which changes on their own, phased development so you only pay for the flexibility you actually use, and a recommendation for a lighter solution if that’s sufficient.

Want to know if this works for you? Schedule a meeting, and we’ll work through the details together.

Schedule a meeting Go to the contact form

Frequently Asked Questions About Headless Commerce

01/ What is headless commerce?
An architecture in which the layer that your visitors see is separate from the system that manages your orders and inventory. They communicate with each other via an API. This allows you to revamp your website or launch a second brand without touching your commerce engine.
02/ When is headless commerce worth it?
If you have multiple brands or countries on a single backend, if you frequently want to update your frontend, or if you have different teams managing content and commerce. If you have a single online store with a single target audience, it usually adds complexity without delivering any benefits.
03/ Is a headless online store faster?
Often, yes, but not automatically. A standalone frontend can be lighter than a standard theme, while poorly configured integrations can actually slow things down. If you just want to improve speed on Magento, a lightweight frontend like Hyvä is usually cheaper and ready faster.
04/ What are the drawbacks of headless commerce?
You have to maintain two layers, so you’ll often need a developer to make changes on the store side. Even your platform’s standard features don’t always work without extra effort. If that freedom doesn’t outweigh the maintenance required, we don’t recommend it.
05/ How much does a headless online store cost?
More than a connected platform, because you’re building and maintaining two layers instead of one. That pays off if you actually take advantage of that freedom. Every project is custom-built, so we won’t quote a price until it’s clear what you plan to do with it.