Headless Commerce with Salesforce (2024)

FAQs

Is Salesforce commerce headless? ›

Salesforce Commerce Cloud can be utilized within a headless commerce architecture to provide back-end eCommerce functionality while allowing for flexibility and customization in the front-end presentation layer.

Shopify is a headless ecommerce platform. Merchants can use third-party applications to build the front-end presentation layer and pull data from Shopify via the GraphQL Storefront API.

How does Salesforce work for B2C Commerce? The Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform helps customers create seamless, personalised customer experiences everywhere, from shopping, to fulfillment, to customer service and beyond.

Often, headless adds unnecessary complexity and cost. All that said, headless can be a good investment for certain businesses, especially those with extensive large-scale operations or complex product catalogs. It decouples the website's front-end from the backend logistics, offering more flexibility.

#1 – More Complexity = More Room For Error

And, any downtime or store bugs because of the technical complexity of headless can hurt user experience. Ultimately costing your business sales.

One of the primary drawbacks of using a headless CMS is the absence of a “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor. Traditional CMS platforms, such as HubSpot CMS, provide users with an intuitive interface to create and format content, making it accessible to non-technical users.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud has a multi-store architecture that allows for assigning specific products to specific stores, different manually set pricing, different merchandising, different themes etc. In Shopify, this can be achieved, but each instance would be independent in its current state.

The price of Salesforce Commerce Cloud is 1% of gross merchandise value plus the cost for various add-ons. This starter solution will help you launch and grow the ecommerce business faster.

Founded in 2004, Demandware was acquired by Salesforce in 2016 for $2.8B. The company was subsequently renamed Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

Since headless e-commerce often involves integrating various services and systems (like CMS, CRM, ERP, etc.), businesses may become dependent on multiple vendors. This dependency can lead to challenges in managing relationships, contracts, and SLAs (Service Level Agreements) with multiple parties.

What is the difference between headless commerce and headless CMS? ›

A headless CMS is part of a headless commerce approach, which deals specifically with e-commerce operations, separating the backend commerce processes from the frontend user interfaces. This provides flexibility in designing unique customer experiences for online shopping.

The Global Headless Commerce Market was valued USD 751.6 Million in 2022 and projected to reach USD 3,811.3 Million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 22.5% during the forecast period of 2023-2030.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud allows you to switch between traditional, hybrid, and headless architectures easily. With Commerce cloud, you can choose between: A monolithic digital asset where the front and back-end systems are connected.

Because the front and back ends interact through API layers, headless commerce is often called API-first. Unlike traditional commerce, where the front end and back end are tightly integrated, custom storefronts provide more flexibility and control over the user interface and user experience.

Key strengths of Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Although I've already talked quite a lot about this, the main difference really is that the SFCC model is based on companies using the platform for most things, whereas Shopify would usually rely on 10-20 third parties as part of an average tech stack.

Composable solutions offer more flexibility in adapting to changing market trends and technology advancements. Headless ecommerce, while also providing flexibility, may be more suitable for businesses with stable requirements or those that have already made significant investments in specific platforms.