Headless eCommerce Solution For Magento 2 - how to make the right choice?

Headless architecture sparked a revolution in eCommerce in the mid-2010s. This move allows companies to improve their IT solutions without compromising their existing systems. Besides faster content publishing and scaling, it has numerous advantages, improved performance, increased flexibility, and more control.

by Serhii Kushch

The central concept of this approach is to separate the website's frontend and backend. This means businesses can update or modify each part of the website without affecting the others. The headless approach is future-proof, meaning businesses can adapt their website or application as new technologies emerge and consumer and customer expectations change. This saves time and resources and ensures the website remains competitive and up-to-date.

If you have already decided to use a headless ecommerce system, it is crucial to clearly understand the advantages and disadvantages of each option before making a decision. No single solution is universally beneficial, so evaluating the project's specific needs and requirements is necessary to make an informed choice. This article will discuss the solutions for the front end while developing on Magento 2 eCommerce platform and compare them to the specific business needs. We will consider cost-effective ones like Scandi and less cost-effective options like Venia and observe the importance of considering other vital criteria while choosing the right solution for your business.

Key features of headless software architecture

The approach is becoming popular among forward-thinking organizations as it offers outstanding benefits. Companies like Apple, Amazon, Nike, Walmart, Netflix, and many others have already jumped on board; more businesses realize their worth every day. So, why to chose a headless approach?

Decoupled frontend and backend

This allows developers to work separately on each layer, employing different technologies and frameworks that best suit the project's requirements.

API-driven communication

The frontend and backend layers exchange information via custom API solutions like REST or GraphQL, simplifying third-party service and system integrations.

Frontend tools

Developers can utilize cutting-edge JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js, resulting in superior performance and maintainability.

Backend systems

It could be an eCommerce platform, a headless content management system, or a custom-built data storage, processing, and business logic solution.

Server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG)

These techniques enhance performance, loading times, and search engine indexing by generating HTML on the server or during the build process.

Scalability and flexibility

The independent nature of frontend and backend components enables efficient scaling and easy updates, reducing the influence on other layers.

Magento 2 and headless commerce

Using Magento 2, both Commerce and Open Source, can help fully utilize the potential of a headless architecture.

In headless architecture, Magento 2 acts as the backend system. At the same time, frontend developers can use modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js to build the user interface and user experience independently. The frontend communicates with the Magento 2 backend via APIs, allowing for a flexible, high-performance, and easily scalable eCommerce platform.

For those interested in trying out Magento headless commerce solutions or ecommerce functionality solutions with Magento 2 as their backend system, various integration solutions are accessible. For example, the Hyvä Magento theme is designed for e-commerce websites that run on the Magento platform offering the benefits of headless commerce storefront solutions built on Magento 2. It has advantages over traditional Magento 2 themes, including better ecommerce store performance.

Many existing frontend development solutions are also available for building a headless website instead of building it from scratch. Let's consider popular solutions for successful integration.

Popular solutions for headless E-commerce platforms on Magento 2

A successful website launch depends on selecting the best headless commerce solution with sufficient flexibility and customization possibilities. This will help your business stand out from competitors.

React JS

The framework offers various tools and libraries that enable developers to create unique, engaging user experiences across different channels. Moreover, the frame simplifies integrating third-party services into digital experience platforms, allowing companies to keep up with modern tools, native mobile apps, and technologies effortlessly. With its component-based design, developers can generate reusable UI elements usable on various pages, mobile apps, or programs, saving time and energy.

Using React to build headless websites with Magento 2 offers several benefits, including improved performance, an easy learning curve, high reusability, and a large developer community. Efficient data handling makes it a fast and reliable choice for building high-performance web applications. Framework has a vast and active developer community, making finding resources, tutorials, and third-party libraries easy.

Pros:

React JS has a large and active developer community, which makes finding resources, tutorials, and third-party libraries easy.
React JS's component-based architecture promotes code reusability, making it simpler to maintain and scale projects.
React JS offers more flexibility and possibilities for expansion and customization, making it suitable for businesses requiring a complex and unique solution.

Cons:

Developing with React JS may cost more than other solutions like Vue Storefront because it requires developers to be proficient in a specific syntax.
React JS has fewer pre-built components and modules than other solutions in this review, so developers must create their own or use third-party libraries, increasing the development cost.
Creating a React-based headless storefront may be time-consuming because of the setup needed for libraries and tools, which may not be suitable for businesses requiring fast delivery.

Vue Storefront

Vue Storefront is an open-source, headless Progressive Web App (PWA) and headless eCommerce solution that effortlessly helps developers create an online store. It provides developers tools and libraries to create fast, scalable, and SEO-friendly headless eCommerce websites. It can already be integrated with various headless eCommerce platforms, including Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce. It uses Vue.js as its core technology, which allows for creating reusable components and makes the framework easy to learn for developers already familiar with Vue.js.

Vue Storefront provides the commerce functionality of a traditional ecommerce platform with considerable customization and flexibility. It has a user interface, and various pre-built modules can be easily reused, making it a suitable option for businesses seeking a quickly-developed and customizable solution. However, Vue Storefront may not be the best choice for businesses with complex requirements or extensive customization since initial setup could be time-consuming.

Pros:

It can be integrated with various eCommerce platforms
It uses Vue.js, making it easy to learn for developers already familiar with Vue.js
Flexible and extensible architecture that allows developers to customize and add new features easily
An active community that utilizes a dedicated

Cons:

Expenses for Vue Storefront development may increase if a project needs substantial customization or unique features
Setting it up initially can be more time-consuming as it requires configuring various tools and libraries

Scandi PWA

A cutting-edge, open-source frontend platform that utilizes the latest web technologies such as React, Redux, GraphQL, and Apollo. It is specifically designed to work with Magento 2 eCommerce platform and provides online shoppers with a fast, mobile-first experience. With React JS at its core and pre-built integrations for Magento 2, this solution offers traditional ecommerce platforms and other ecommerce brands the perfect combination of convenience and scalability to their digital experience platform to ensure businesses can make the most of headless architecture.

By offering mobile responsivity and offline support, Scandi PWA ensures a seamless customer experience across different devices, channels, and environments. Furthermore, its modular architecture allows for effortless customization with various payment gateways and shipping providers.

It was designed to integrate easily with Magento 2, saving businesses time and money on development.

Scandi PWA is a suitable solution for projects with a shorter implementation time frame, but it may not be the ideal option for projects that demand extensive customization.

Pros:

Scandi PWA is designed to integrate easily with Magento 2, saving businesses time and money on development.
Scandi PWA provides a storefront that is already set up and can be easily installed and tailored, which can be very helpful in reducing development times.
Scandi PWA is developed to be speedy and effective, prioritizing performance optimization techniques.

Cons:

Scandi PWA may not be ideal for projects that require extensive customization.
Development costs might increase if customizations are needed beyond what pre-built components offer.
Compared to Vue Storefront and React JS, Scandi PWA has a smaller community that continues to grow.

Venia PWA

Venia PWA is Magento's official headless commerce platform. It is designed to provide a flexible and customizable headless solution tailored to a business's needs. It was designed with a headless architecture. It is also highly customizable and modular, allowing developers to quickly add or remove features as needed.

It is a user-friendly solution that requires minimal development resources to set up and use. It enables a platform to be built quickly, offering almost everything an e-commerce business needs for a successful launch. It's also easy to scale up as your business expands, becoming a perfect solution for beginners.

However, it may take time to find professional developers for this solution. They should have experience in frontend development using JavaScript and React. Additionally, knowledge of Magento 2 is important as the platform is integrated.

Pros:

User-friendly and requires minimal development resources to set up and use
Designed to showcase the capabilities of Magento PWA Studio
Supported by Adobe, which provides regular updates and support
Uses advanced architecture and optimization techniques to enhance website speed

Cons:

Requires professional developers with experience in frontend development using JavaScript and React, as well as knowledge of Magento 2
Smaller and less active community compared to other solutions, with limited resources and documentation available
Documentation can confuse developers unfamiliar with the Magento ecosystem.

Choosing the Right Headless Solution for your Magento 2 Store

Development Cost

Opting for a cost-efficient solution can assist businesses in saving both time and money. The saved funds could be utilized in other business growth areas, such as product development or marketing. Moreover, reduced project costs can result in a faster ROI ( return on investment), ultimately making the project more financially sustainable in the long run.

Determining the most cost-effective development solution can be difficult due to various factors that impact development costs, such as project size and complexity, team expertise and experience, project timeline, and availability of pre-existing components and modules.

Let's compare React JS and Vue Storefront. Developing with React JS may cost slightly more than with Vue Storefront because it requires developers to be proficient in a specific syntax. Moreover, React JS doesn't come with pre-built components and modules, so developers need to create their own or use third-party libraries, which increases the development cost.

Vue Storefront has a modular architecture, pre-built components, and precise documentation, making development quicker and less expensive. However, if a project needs substantial customization or unique features, expenses for Vue Storefront development may increase.

Using Scandi PWA or Venia PWA can lower development costs because they come with pre-built modules and components. However, ‌development costs might increase if customizations are needed beyond what these pre-built components offer. Moreover, the development team's experience and skill level can significantly impact the cost, as more experienced developers might be able to finish tasks faster and with fewer errors.

The most cost-effective development solution will vary based on the project's unique needs and requirements and the development team's expertise. It's crucial to consider all factors affecting development costs and select a solution that suits the project's requirements and budget.

That being said, it's essential to consider the long-term costs of maintaining and updating the solution and the potential benefits of a higher upfront investment in development. A solution with a higher initial development cost may save money in the long run by being more efficient and easier to maintain.

Time for development

Developing a traditional ecommerce platform in less time is important for gaining a competitive edge in the industry. This allows traditional ecommerce websites and ecommerce businesses to launch their platform sooner, start making profits, and have an advantage over their competitors.

Despite React JS being known for its fast development due to its simple syntax and extensive developer community, creating a React-based headless storefront may be time-consuming because of the setup needed for libraries and tools. Specialized solutions for eCommerce may be faster to implement than starting from scratch with React JS. However, if the project is more complex and requires customization, React JS may offer more flexibility and possibilities for expansion.
Vue Storefront enables rapid development and customization of features. It also provides many pre-built modules that can reduce development time. However, setting it up initially can be more time-consuming as it requires configuring various tools and libraries.
Scandi PWA provides a storefront that is already set up and can be easily installed and tailored. This can be very helpful in reducing development time, especially for smaller projects. However, it may not be the best choice for more significant or intricate projects requiring more extensive customization.
Venia PWA's modular structure enables easy customization by adding or removing features. It also provides pre-built UI components, which can help to save development time. However, setting up and configuring the required libraries and tools for a Venia PWA storefront can be time-consuming.

Based solely on the comparison of development time, the best solution for fast delivery would depend on the specific needs and requirements of the business.

Developer experience

Businesses can improve their development process and productivity by selecting a headless solution with a developer-friendly architecture and comprehensive documentation. Developers can focus on creating high-quality code and implementing new features quickly and efficiently, reducing development delays and maintenance costs. Selecting an easy-to-work-with solution ensures that the result meets the business's needs.

React JS is a widely used framework for frontend development with comprehensive documentation and a large developer community, making it accessible to developers with varying levels of expertise. Its component-based architecture and unidirectional data flow pattern encourage code reuse, making it simpler to maintain and scale projects.
Vue Storefront is an easily accessible option for developers, thanks to its clear and concise documentation and active community. Additionally, Vue Storefront provides useful developer tools to enhance the development experience.
Scandi PWA's flexible architecture and developer-friendly tools, such as Hot Module Replacement, make it an easy-to-use option for developers. Scandi PWA also offers a growing community and a comprehensive knowledge base to help developers build and maintain their applications.
Venia PWA's is a reference storefront built by Magento to showcase the capabilities of Magento PWA Studio. Its modular architecture and developer-friendly tools make it easy for developers to customize and extend the storefront. However, its documentation can confuse developers unfamiliar with the Magento ecosystem.

Thanks to their well-documented framework and a dynamic community of developers, Vue Storefront and React JS makes it easier for developers at any level to pick up and use the technology while accessing tutorials, resources, and third-party libraries.

Community support

Being a part of a solid and involved community has numerous benefits. It provides developers access to a range of information, documentation, and assistance in resolving problems they may have while developing.

As a plus, an active community offers chances for networking, collaboration, and keeping up with the most recent developments and trends in the sector.

React JS framework has a supportive and extensive developer community that offers a variety of resources, documentation, and third-party libraries. Facebook maintains the framework and provides regular updates and support.
Vue Storefront platform boasts a thriving and expanding community that utilizes a dedicated Slack channel, documentation, and a marketplace to showcase modules and third-party integrations. Additionally, the open-source platform offers a transparent development process that welcomes community inputs and feedback.
Scandi PWA has an active and helpful community and documentation available. The platform is open-source and encourages community contributions and feedback. Compared to Vue Storefront, it has a smaller community that continues growing.
Venia PWA's has a smaller and less active community compared to the other solutions, with limited resources and documentation available. However, the platform is supported by the Adobe Commerce team, which provides regular updates and support.

React JS and Vue Storefront communities are the largest and most active ones, and many resources, tutorials, marketing tools, and third-party libraries are available. From the point of view of support, Scandi PWA and Venia PWA just evolved.

Speed of scripts

Speed execution directly impacts the performance of the website or application. Slow script speed can lead to slower page load times, negatively impacting the user experience and ultimately losing customers. In addition, search engines like Google take website performance into account when determining search rankings. A slow website with poor performance can lower search engine rankings, making it harder for potential customers to find your website.

React JS enhances website performance. Its unidirectional data flow pattern reduces needless re-rendering of components, thus making page load times faster.
Vue Storefront utilizes a progressive web app (PWA) strategy that enhances website speed and responsiveness. Besides, it has server-side rendering functionalities that can further enhance page loading times.
Scandi PWA is developed to be speedy and effective, prioritizing performance optimization techniques such as code splitting and caching. Additionally, it can perform server-side rendering to enhance the speed of loading pages.
Venia PWA's uses advanced architecture and optimization techniques, including lazy loading and code splitting, to enhance website speed. Additionally, it has server-side rendering capabilities to improve page load times.

It's important to note that the speed of scripts can also depend on the specific implementation and configuration of the platform, as well as factors such as server hardware and network conditions. Therefore, it's recommended to test and benchmark the performance of the chosen platform in a real-world scenario before making a final decision.

Customization

Every business has unique requirements and workflows, and the ability to customize extensions helps ensure the platform can handle those requirements. This customization could include adding or modifying new features to align with specific business processes.

Having the flexibility to customize extensions can also help businesses avoid vendor lock-in. If a platform doesn't provide the customization options needed, businesses may have to rely on third-party solutions or workarounds, which can be time-consuming and expensive.

If your business requires a complex and unique solution, React JS may be the best choice as it offers more possibilities for expansion and customization. While other solutions may provide more pre-built features, they may not be sufficient for more intricate projects that require comprehensive customization. With React JS, developers can create a solution tailored to the business's needs, ensuring optimal performance and functionality.

Comparison Table

Criteria	React JS	Vue Storefront	Scandi PWA	Venia PWA
Community Support	Large	Large	Medium	Medium
Development Costs	Medium	Medium	Low	Low
Time for Development	Long	Medium	Short	Short
Developer Experience	Good	Good	Medium	Medium
Speed of a scripts	Good	Excellent	Excellent	Medium
Customization	Excellent	Good	Good	Good

It is important to remember that choosing a headless solution depends on various factors, including project complexity, required features, customer experience, existing infrastructure, and budget. Consulting with professional development (including frontend developers) and the marketing team is crucial to making an informed decision. Adapting to changing technology and consumer expectations over time is essential.

Conclusion

When choosing a headless solution, it's essential to consider various factors like community support, development expenses, time, developer familiarity, customization, and performance. Although headless CMS and APIs Venia PWA and Scandi PWA are made to work with Magento 2, they may not be suitable for every project.

React JS and Vue Storefront are excellent choices for complex and unique projects as they offer more possibilities for expansion. Vue Storefront provides ready-made solutions and an extensive knowledge base, making integrating new features and finding employees easier. On the other hand, React JS has a large developer community and simple syntax, which makes development faster.

Consulting with an experienced development team can help determine the best solution for a project since each project has unique requirements. Experts can also help identify potential pitfalls, recommend modifications to improve performance, and provide guidance on the best practices for headless solutions. The chosen solution should be tailored to meet the project's needs and goals.

Regardless of the chosen solution, it's important to remember that a headless solution requires commitment from both developers and the company. Choosing a headless solution should be done with careful consideration and planning, as it has the potential to improve a project's performance considerably. With proper implementation, a headless solution can provide long-term development time and cost savings.

Key features of headless software architecture

Decoupled frontend and backend

API-driven communication

Frontend tools

Backend systems

Server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG)

Scalability and flexibility

Magento 2 and headless commerce

Popular solutions for headless E-commerce platforms on Magento 2

React JS

Vue Storefront

Scandi PWA

Venia PWA