Recently, I wrote about my local supermarkets using WhatsApp for Conversational Commerce. What I failed to realise, is that WhatsApp is actually a ‘Headless’ solution for Ecommerce. OK… stick with me.
Everything in digital goes in cycles, but each time things come around again they are given different names so that they appear to be new ideas. While the theory might not be new, advances in technology may enable the idea to be implemented in a more effective way. ‘Headless’ architecture is one of those ideas.
In essence, it means that the presentation layer or the front-end of the solution is decoupled (think carriage being decoupled from a train) from the back-end. Most Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress or Ecommerce platforms like Magento have traditionally come as a package.
You needed to use a Magento theme for the view that is seen by the customer and you need to use the Magneto back-end to create content. The content sits in a database formatted for Magento.
In a headless implementation, the front end, seen by the customer could be a Progressive Web App, which talks to the Magento engine and database via API. This means that the content could be re-purposed for an in-store kiosk or a smartwatch without having to have multiple CMS systems. Incidentally, Magento 2 can be used in this way.
A headless architecture also offers the flexibility of being able to swap out the back-end solution with no impact on the user experience.
Which brings me to my local supermarket – Sun and Moon. Like many supermarkets around here, you can have a WhatsApp conversation with them to order your groceries and have them delivered. Yesterday, I ordered as normal and the items arrived 10 minutes later. later in the day I was walking past the store and it was gone. A sign on the door said:
“To all our customers, we would like to inform you that we have moved to a different location and shall continue to serve you even better. For deliveries kindly WhatsApp us on… Happy Shopping.”
Unknown to me, the store, the back-end if you like, had been swapped out, moved, changed over for another, but the customer experience through the chosen interface was uninterrupted.
So the headline of this blog is a bit misleading. This is a very manual process. The API in this case is a human being who fills in for the disconnect between the presentation layer and the fulfilment, but it serves as a nice analogy to explain a trend that is gaining a lot of ground – especially in the CMS and Ecommerce solution space.