Are you thinking of ‘going headless’ with your e-commerce store? Perhaps you’re wondering what can be achieved by choosing a headless set up? Well, below, we’ve set out some of the best looking examples of headless e-commerce sites out there right now…
What is headless e-commerce?
Before we dive in, however, it’s perhaps best defining exactly what we mean by ‘headless e-commerce’.
It does have a rather grotesque ring to it after all…
The reality, however, has little to do with decapitation, but instead focuses on how the front and back ends of websites function. Here’s what we mean we talk about front and back ‘ends’:
- Front end - this is the part of the website that your customers see and interact with.
- Back end - as the name suggests, this is the part of the website your customers don’t see. Think of it as being the ‘engine’ that powers the e-commerce functionality of the website, holding databases of inventory and managing data etc.
In more traditional setups, the front end and back end of a website are intrinsically linked. This could sometimes result in website owners having to make compromises e.g. choose a powerful back end, but have some limits to what you can do to the front end (and vice versa).
With a ‘headless e-commerce’ website, you can pretty much build a website without compromise. In other words, designers can have complete creative freedom over the look and feel of the front end of a website, whilst back end developers can build bespoke e-commerce experiences with the tech stack of their choice.
It’s a win, win! Which is why more and more e-commerce brands are choosing to build headless websites.
So, below, we’ve curated a list of the most impressive headless e-commerce websites for you to draw some inspiration from for your own project.
1. Victoria Beckham Beauty
British fashion and beauty entrepreneur (and pop icon!) Victoria Beckham launched Victoria Beckham Beauty in 2019, with the site using a headless CMS powered by Shopify. This headless arrangement has resulted in a site that not only looks incredible - merchandising products in a truly eye-catching way - but one that has a sleek and powerful e-commerce functionality.
2. Allbirds
New Zealand sustainable shoe brand Allbirds has utilised a headless Shopify-powered set up to provide an at once visually-appealing, yet technically powerful website.
It’s clearly an arrangement that works, with Allbirds reporting a revenue of over $297m in 2022!
3. Inkbox
Retailer of semi-permanent tattoos, Toronto-based Inkbox really demonstrates the possibilities of a headless e-commerce website.
One of the stand out features of the Inkbox website is their ‘Custom Tattoos’ designer, which allows customers to easily create a unique semi-permanent tattoo assisted by the power of an AI-design tool.
4. KOTN
Sustainable fashion brand KOTN has wielded the power of headless to create a media rich and eye-catching website that also performs well from a UX and speed perspective. What’s more, the site has a fantastic page rendering performance given how media ‘heavy’ it is.
5. Verishop
Thanks to the use of a headless Contentful CMS, Verishop is able to provide customers with a quick, effective and content rich experience.
Like other headless e-commerce stores of its ilk, it performs excellently in speed and rendering tests and has an excellent load performance profile.
6. Bols
Billing themselves as the ‘World’s first cocktail brand’, Bols really show what’s possible with a headless e-commerce arrangement.
This is particularly evident in their product landing pages which combine traditional written media with interactive rich content such as videos and animations.
7. The Feed
Clearly, when you’re a brand like The Feed that sells performance-related products, you want a high-performance site. That’s exactly what this Shopify-powered headless website delivers.
Above all, this website is fast. Stylesheet requests, server latency, page rendering and overall page performance are exceptional.
8. Seedlip
Another Shopify-powered store that demonstrates the advantages of headless e-commerce is Seedlip; a premium non-alcoholic beverage brand.
It’s clearly a winning formula, as global drinks giant Diageo has taken a majority shareholding in Seedlip, propelling it to global drinks prominence.
9. Augustinus Bader
The best pick the best. Professor Augustinus Bader is considered to be one of the world’s leading experts in regenerative medicine.
So, it makes sense that when he (and his team) wanted a high-performance e-commerce website, they chose a headless arrangement.
10. Paul Valentine
Launching only in 2015, Paul Valentine has risen to quickly become a globally-recognised brand.
Part of this success (we’d like to think) is down to the brand’s Shopify-powered headless website…
11. Bonlook
We just love the look of Bonlook, another headless e-commerce store that’s powered by Shopify.
It’s not all about looks though. The Bonlook site has one of the most impressive page performance profiles we’ve seen in a long time. Everything from first render performance through to compressed and minimised CSS resources is impeccable.
12. Bamford
Founded by Lady Carole Bamford, Bamford is a somewhat all-encompassing e-commerce brand, selling its own brand botanical products, beauty products, clothing and home accessories.
Given the sheer diversity of Bamford’s product range, it’s no surprise to see them embrace a headless setup, which allows them to provide a content-rich, easy-to-use consumer experience.
13. Chilly’s
Chilly’s has become synonymous with the reusable water bottle. Established with the aim of reducing the amount of disposable water bottles purchased, Chilly’s has quickly become a globally-recognised name.
The website’s headless setup allows Chilly’s to integrate some innovative features, particularly their ‘co-brand’ section.
14. FIGS
Who said surgical scrubs had to be boring? Certainly not Figs, the provider of premium healthcare apparel.
With its headless CMS Contentful, the Figs website is a joy to use - with the speed of the site being particularly noticeable.
15. Sharper Image
Offering a truly staggering range of products, Sharper Image uses a headless CMS to provide a sleek, smooth and effective online shopping experience.
Elements that can affect key ranking signals such as cumulative layout shift all perform excellently thanks to the headless setup.
16. Debenhams
Once a doyen of the British high street, Debenhams has since transitioned to become an online-only retailer.
However, doing so raised some significant challenges - particularly around conversion rates and user drop off. This was countered by shifting the website to a headless setup built around React PWA.
17. Recess
Another alcohol-free beverage brand to grace this list is Recess - a bright, bold and beautiful brand that aims to ‘can feelings’.
Their website is certainly reflective of their mission, featuring elegant animations and adaptive rich content - whilst also being a technically high-performing website.
How have they achieved this? Yes, you’ve guessed it, they went ‘headless’!
18. Staples
UK office supplies retailer Staples has a truly vast inventory of products. Such, that updating the inventory could be a time consuming and complex task; particularly given that many individual categories had dependencies upon others.
The answer was to go headless!
19. Yoga Girl
Don’t think that headless is restricted to more traditional forms of e-commerce. A great example of this is Yoga Girl, a brand that has fostered an online community, offering a range of online learning materials and courses.
Given that this is such a ‘content heavy’ website, it’s no surprise to see that they’ve adopted a headless CMS specifically.
20. Grassroots Coop
Aiming to promote the work (and produce!) of America’s regenerative farmers, Grass Roots uses a Shopify-powered website, with a headless front end built around the backbone.js framework to great effect.
In our tests, it came out with an overall performance score of 85%. Another win for headless e-commerce!
21. Rothy’s
Rothy’s believes in ‘doing things differently’, producing sustainable, long-lasting products. And, that ethos clearly extends to their website, where they use a Shopify-powered headless setup to deliver a premium browning experience.
22. StriVectin
Skincare brand StriVectin uses its headless website to provide a content-rich experience to explain a fairly complex product.
23. Rue De Miles
A headless CMS allows jewellery brand, Rue De Miles, to showcase their products in the highest possible fidelity whilst maintaining a fast, browsable website.
In our tests, overall page performance was excellent with fast rendering and practically zero layout shift.
24. Blume
Powered by Shopify, Blume’s headless website has allowed this innovative skincare brand to become a global sensation.
25. McLaren Formula 1
A headless build has allowed a super fast brand to deploy a super fast website that allows fans of the McLaren Formula 1 team to purchase an array of merchandise.
Conclusion
Headless e-commerce’s benefits are undeniable, especially when you consider the above brand examples.
Each headless store is super fast, frictionless and innovative, and that’s just from a user perspective. With that being said, headless commerce isn’t for everyone.
Before you make the decision to switch, do your research. Deep dive into your customer data, your competitors and your current site’s performance. Try to derive insights on what kind of experience your customers expect from your brand, and whether headless commerce will add value.
If you need help weighing up your options, or just want to hear more about headless commerce and how to make the move, speak to our ecommerce experts today!
