Your Guide To Building A Headless WooCommerce Site

Push the traditional boundaries of the eCommerce solutions and extend your reach to solutions that are the future. Failure to do so will result in irreversible damages to your online store. 

One of the changes you should embrace is to let go of the traditional WooCommerce and opt for a headless WooCommerce approach. A WooCommerce headless site is one whose front end and backend are not combined into a single CMS; rather, they are separate. 

This headless WooCommerce approach brings many benefits, like

• Complete control over the website
• Better website speed and performance
• Website flexibility and scalability 
• Improved SEO
• Better customization
• Improved security

What else would an online store want other than the benefits mentioned above? So, these benefits make opting for a headless WooCommerce site mandatory.

In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of headless WooCommerce and how to build one. So, keep scrolling.

Benefits of a Headless WooCommerce Solution

Improved performance

Having too many plugins integrated into your WooCommerce site can sometimes compromise its performance and security. This is where a headless WooCommerce site helps in maintaining performance standards by relying less on pre-built themes and plugins with a custom front end. 

Greater customizability

You have very little chance of customizing your standard WooCommerce site because of the dependencies created. These dependencies are because of the themes and plugins used. With WooCommerce’s headless architecture, you can build solutions that are tailored to your business’s specific needs. The designs are more flexible with higher customization.

Unified backend for multiple channels

With the headless WooCommerce approach, you have the option to have a single backend for multiple frontends. You do not have to worry about design and performance inconsistencies. The popularity of a WooCommerce headless site is growing for owners running multiple sites with different frontends having the same and consistent functionality. 

Enhanced security

Headless WooCommerce gives you more security than a standard WooCommerce solution. This enhanced security is because of the separate front-end and backend. With a separate backend, the intruder will have a hard time accessing or intruding on it. 

Better SEO Performance

With headless WooCommerce architecture, you can improve your website rankings and position by improving the website's speed and performance. With techniques like server-side rendering and static site regeneration, you can improve the website optimization, ensuring your website is crawlable and quick to load. 

Now that we know the perks the WooCommerce headless approach and architecture could offer, let's explore how to build one.

Steps To Build A Headless WooCommerce Site

Step #1: Install WooCommerce on WordPress

Setting up WooCommerce on your WordPress is the first thing to start with. With this setup of WooCommerce, your website’s backend tasks like data management, product management, and customer data will be handled well. 

To install WooCommerce, follow these steps:

• WordPress installation on your server
• Install the WooCommerce plugin
• Activate the plugin
• Configure the plugin settings

Step #2: Choose The Front-end Framework

After the WooCommerce installation, you have to choose the front-end framework for the headless WooCommerce architecture. 

The frameworks that you can choose for your WooCommerce headless site are as follows:

• React.js: If building a dynamic website that does not compromise on the website speed and its loading time, then choose the React.js framework.
• Next.js: The most popular and in-demand framework for building your website’s front end is Next.js. This is a React-based framework that helps in building static sites with SSR options. 
• Vue.js: If ease of use and flexibility are what you are looking for, then Vue.js is the framework to choose. 
• Gatsby: Choose Gatsby if you want to build performance-effective and optimized static websites.

All these aforementioned frameworks are the best, but the decision you will make in choosing one depends on individual business needs. If you want to have a highly optimized headless WooCommerce store, then Next.js or Gatsby are the right choices.

Step #3: Integration With REST API

Now that you have chosen the front-end framework, it is the right time to connect, or specifically, integrate it with the backend. The sole purpose of this integration is to fetch the required data and ensure the website’s proper functioning. 

To integrate the front-end with the WooCommerce backend, you have this method:

• REST API: This is one of the most practiced and followed methods for fetching and displaying the product, customer, order, and all the website data.

If you do not want to go with this method, you can choose a plugin like GraphQL to integrate the front-end with the back end. 

• Plugin: With a plugin, you will be able to fetch the data efficiently and effortlessly. All you have to do is install and configure the plugin.

To fetch the product data using the API, here is what you need to do:

    import axios from 'axios';

const WooCommerce = axios.create({

  baseURL: 'https://example.com/wp-json/wc/v3',

  auth: {

    username: 'consumer_key',

    password: 'consumer_secret'

  }

});

WooCommerce.get('/products')

  .then(response => {

    console.log(response.data);

  })

  .catch(error => {

    console.log(error);

  });

Step #4: Create Cart and Checkout Functionality

Any WooCommerce store is incomplete and purposeless without a cart and a checkout functionality. With WooCommerce headless architecture, this is one of the crucial tasks to conduct. With headless architecture, you can build this functionality on the front end, and if you find it difficult, you can choose to hire WooCommerce experts.

To add a cart and checkout functionality, you can choose WooCommerce’s API or reuse the WooCommerce blocks. The choice is all yours. 

Step #5: Deploy the WooCommerce Store

Once you have integrated the front-end with the back end and also embedded the cart and checkout functionality, you need to test the site. Check for its speed and optimization, and for that purpose, you will need a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

After testing the headless WooCommerce site for its speed and performance, the next big step is its deployment. Choose a hosting server, preferably Netlify or WPengine, if your front-end framework is Gatsby or Next.js. 

Ready To Build Your Headless WooCommerce solution?

To manage your website’s growing traffic and performance needs, the standard WooCommerce architecture is not sufficient. With the growing demand for improved website speed, even with high traffic, the headless WooCommerce approach is blooming. 

Follow the methods mentioned above to switch to a headless WooCommerce architecture and guarantee optimum website performance, flexibility, and whatnot.

If you are not confident to initiate the process yourself, we have got you covered with our pool of talented and experienced WooCommerce experts. So, reach out to hire one of the experts today!