Headless vs Hosted Ecommerce: Picking the Perfect Platform for Your Business

Staff WritersPrivacy and RegulationsSales & MarketingSales Engagement

By STS Staff Writer On Aug 8, 2024

The hunt for the best e-commerce platforms is endless. While we have only two options to choose from, we are still dubious on which one will turn out to be the most suitable for our online store.

What are these two commonly used e-commerce platforms? Let us dive deep into these here.

When you are trying to start your own digital store, you will be asked to choose the type of platform on which your website will lay its foundation. The two platforms are hosted e-commerce and headless e-commerce.

The information about these platforms is aplenty, and both of these platforms come with their own share of pros and cons. We do not mean to confuse you, and we will try to give you as many details as possible about using headless and hosted e-commerce platforms. Let’s start now.

Hosted E-commerce Models

Hosted e-commerce, aka traditional e-commerce, is a system relying on a monolithic architecture. It combines the front and back ends of a website. The website works on a default set-up in a pre-set content management system because managing both the front and backend of a website together is easier.

But hosted e-commerce limits the ability of store owners to make changes to the frontend as per their desires. Even a small change in the front end will demand huge adjustments at the backend.

Because you cannot make changes by yourself to the front end of your website made on a hosted platform, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Hosted e-commerce also enjoys certain benefits over its modern counterparts.

Benefits of Hosted E-Commerce

Someone else takes the responsibility. One of the biggest advantages of a hosted e-commerce platform is that it is cost-effective. You do not need to build any infrastructure that you need for self-hosting. You have a service provider, and it is the one to shoulder the financial burden of all the website developments.
Security: When you are working from a hosted e-commerce site, it offers you peace of mind. Hosted platforms come with robust security. The coders, developers, engineers, and other IT professionals are the ones specializing in eCommerce.
Easier to setup and implement: For start-ups and small-scale companies who want to launch their website immediately, hosted e-commerce offers a unique solution. It comes to pre-built templates and integrations that help brands launch basic online stores within weeks.

Headless e-commerce models

Headless e-commerce, aka decoupled eCommerce, keeps the frontend and backend of a website separate from each other. It means you can edit and adjust the front end of your e-commerce store without the hassle of changing any codes at the backend.

In headless e-commerce, the front end focuses only on the visual representation and user experience. Headless e-commerce lays its foundation on modern web development frameworks such as Angular, React, and more. The back end is home to the business data, APIs, and core business logic.

Some of the popular headless back-end options are BigCommerce, Elastic Path, and commercetools.

Benefits of Headless Ecommerce

Faster to act upon: Using a headless commerce platform, you can launch your front-end experiences quickly. Your team can easily adapt to the new market trends without burdening the development team with making changes at the back end. As you can update your storefront quickly, it gives your business a competitive edge.
Added efficiency of the dev and IT teams: Since all the required changes to the front end are done without any need for backend development, the developers can also save time on the user interface changes. Do you know only 26% of IT teams can support all the development requests from a business? Given this fact, headless commerce stands out as a great alternative. With several templates and partner solutions, developers only require a few clicks or some light coding to launch the website or app.
Right tools for the job: Headless e-commerce provides your brand with the right tools to build custom experiences that users and shoppers cannot get anywhere else. APIs present at the backend ensure well-coordinated and brand-consistent experiences across channels.
Cost-savings: Using headless eCommerce, there is no need to wait for the arduous development to take place at the backend for every minor or major storefront change. It means that you save on the huge expenses involved in changing the backend codes.

Which one is the most suitable for your brand?

The answer depends. Hosted eCommerce is a conventional technique to build your websites and apps, whereas headless eCommerce is a relatively modern system. Both systems enjoy the benefits that we already stated above. Whether you need a hosted or headless eCommerce platform depends on the time, customization needed, and resources available.

If your brand is short on time and resources, you can choose a hosted solution to launch your eCommerce store quickly. Nevertheless, if your company has specific customization requirements or you want to control the front end of your website, the headless approach will be the best for you.