Headless Shopify means Shopify keeps running products, stock, orders and payments, while a custom front end, built separately, shows the shop to customers. You manage the shop exactly as before, and the storefront looks and loads however your brand needs.
We built Orlando’s Wines & Spirits this way. Here is what it means in practice, how it compares with a theme or Square, and who it suits.
what headless means
In a normal Shopify store you pick a theme and the platform draws the pages. In a headless store, a custom front end draws the pages and asks Shopify for the data it needs through its Storefront API. Nothing changes in how you add products or fulfil orders.
what you gain
Design freedom is the headline: the store can look and behave however your brand needs, instead of however a theme allows. It can also be very fast, because the front end only loads what each page uses, and it can connect cleanly to other services.
what it costs you
Headless takes more to build than a theme, so it costs more at the start. Some apps from the Shopify app store are built for themes and do not work out of the box, so we plan for that early.
shopify or square
If most of your sales happen in a physical shop and you already use Square, Square Online can share stock and sales in one place. If online is becoming the main way you sell, or you plan to grow, Shopify has more room. Both can be used with a fully custom storefront, and we build on either.
connected to google shopping and your newsletter
A custom store can connect automatically to Google Shopping, so products are found by people already searching to buy, and to your newsletter, so sign-ups are looked after. At Orlando’s, Alan adds a bottle in Shopify and it carries through, with nothing to upload by hand.
who headless suits
It suits independent brands that want a distinctive store, a growing catalogue or a close fit with their other tools. If you only need a simple shop quickly, a good theme may be the better answer, and we will say so.
“After some reluctance to employ media and website help we are very pleased with the work Ace has done for us. Moreover his enthusiasm for our business and his obvious commitment to our success is heartening. He is forthcoming with ideas; a creative and communicative colleague who has the skills necessary to see projects through, and thank goodness, the work ethic too. Glad to have Ace on board.”
headless shopify in plymouth
We are a creative studio in Plymouth building headless storefronts with Next.js, TypeScript and the Shopify Storefront API for clients across the UK. If you are weighing it up, send us your project details and we’ll get back to you within a few days.