So first, let’s look at what a headless CMS is. With a traditional CMS, the Content Management Systems controls both the backend and the frontend. If you, for example, are using Drupal as a CMS the platform has complete control over the presentation and data layers. When you choose for a headless approach, the CMS has control over the data layers but has no responsibility for how the data is presented. In a headless approach, the frontend is decoupled from the backend.
Now the headless CMS trend is here to stay, and it actually resulted in a new trend: headless commerce. Headless e-commerce means that the frontend of the commerce platform is decoupled from the backend. This means that the e-commerce platform is only used for its commerce possibilities. The backend will be used to store all files, content, inventory, functionality, and folders. This means that a headless commerce platform is only responsible for the e-commerce side of the business and another platform like a CMS or DXP is responsible for creating and publishing the content of your platform. Because of this, you can create much better customer experiences.
What we have seen over the last couple of years is that no platform offers it all. So, because of this, you need to combine different platforms, and thanks to a headless environment this is a lot easier than before. For example, you need and want an e-commerce platform with great catalogs options and an easy check-out system. But, because you also want to offer your customer the best experience possible, you want to publish content via a Content Management System. Thanks to the headless e-commerce solution you can combine both Magento (e-commerce platform) and Drupal (CMS), for example, and make your platform a brilliant mix of e-commerce and a great user experience.