Headless Ecommerce & Low-Code

Interplay is the first low-code headless ecommerce platform. Interplay Commerce brings all the flexibility and expansive functionality of a headless architecture as well as the speed, integration consistency, and cohesive development environment of low-code. 

Ecommerce platforms continue to evolve at an ever-increasing rate. To keep pace with such rapid innovation, platforms are moving away from monolithic all-in-one applications and moving toward a ‘headless’ model where the front-end interface is separated from the back-end management applications. In 2020, 61% of retailers said they would leverage headless commerce, and that number will continue to rise -- for good reason. Simultaneously, low-code is revolutionizing how applications are developed. Interplay Commerce (IPC) combines Headless and Low-code to provide a revolutionary platform for ecommerce.

Headless ecommerce architectures separate the front-end and back-end of an ecommerce platform, with the front-end interface management applications being controlled by a separate CSS and javascript management application while the back-end systems (order management, product management, inventory levels, etc.) are handled by the ecommerce application.

Headless ecommerce is better:

• Faster Deployment: headless systems can be deployed quickly, as each function (e.g. pricing, inventory management, payment gateways) is independent, deployment is not a ‘waterfall’ project, it can be agile as each function is ready.
• Greater Flexibility: because headless systems exist as a network of interconnected APIs and segmented function-specific applications, those applications can be upgraded, modified, or extended as needed without having to change/upgrade the entire system. This brings flexibility to each function as needs of the enterprise evolve.
• Better UX: A creative design team can use the tools that are best suited to their workflow, regardless of what is powering the backend operations of the ecommerce platform, while back-end developers don’t need to sweat the details on how interfaces may look to the end customer. Designers and developers don’t fight over tools. Everybody’s happier. At the end of 2020, customer experience was stated as the #1 key brand differentiator, overtaking both price and product. An ecommerce platform which greets consumers with a positive and customized experience leads to more purchases and conversions, so excellent UX design is key.

Risks and Challenges with Headless Architecture

There are several headless ecommerce platforms available. Our platform, Interplay, is also a headless architecture. It’s also Low-code drag-and-drop, which is a very powerful combination.

Typical headless systems are abstracted API systems created to be flexible to adapt to the retailer's needs. This also means functionality and features have to be custom added and often missing functionality for advanced commerce operations leaving the specific implementation to the retailers development team. Due to its micro services and API driven architecture headless commerce systems get over engineered. This makes headless commerce implementations over budget and miss timelines creating uncertainty for retailers. There needs to be a coordinated middleware and out of the box functionality. That’s where low-code comes into play.

Low-code development environments place as many functions or code as possible into discrete modules or containers. Developers can then connect these modules together in a drag-n-drop visual environment, which then connects those modules together with appropriate data connections.

Low-code development is better:

• Faster development: using Interplay, our team developed a fully-functional production-ready ecommerce platform in just 17 days. This includes price books for several hundred store locations, full inventory and order management, as well as several payment gateways.
• Democratized Development: not everyone can write command-line code. Now, not everyone has to. Basic modules have default configurations set and API connections already in place. A low-code developer simply needs to enter the required API keys for 3rd party apps, and adjust specific configurations via the browser interface. It’s estimated that 450M of apps will be built with low-code in the next five years.
• Flexibility and Security: with discrete modules put into separate containers, modules can be swapped fairly easily. Moreover, the containerized structure greatly increases the security layers: each module is treated as a secure isolated piece of code.

Interplay is both Headless and Low-Code

Interplay combines the benefits of headless ecommerce architecture with low-code development to provide a uniquely powerful and fast deployable platform.

Interplay Commerce (IPC) is best:

• All core e-commerce functions: IPC comes with consumer application REACT templates, headless APIs, order management associate templates, merchant center, pricing controls, and complete inventory management. That’s all before hooking into any of the myriad 3rd party nodes also available.
• 475+ existing nodes: Interplay has existing modules for inventory management, order management, payment gateways, legacy databases, and 3rd party martech providers, along with several leading AI engines, IoT connections, and data analysis tools.
• Speed of development: flows can be created in just hours with pre-built schema. You just need to bring your API keys. Development for a full-fledged ecommerce platform can be completed within 2-3 weeks. Yeah, really.
• Complication made simple: Interplay brings all connections and 3rd party modules into containers within a unified python environment. All modules can be customized, but often are good to go right from first connection.
• Flexible and Secure: IPC has security built in at each module, and then has an overall security layer throughout. We process thousands of transactions securely every day for publicly-traded retailers

Low-code development offers many advantages, but the most important is speed. With Interplay, developers can code well, and they can code fast. When low-code is coupled with headless ecommerce through Interplay, a business can get all of the benefits of headless ecommerce along with absolutely none of the risk.