The challenge of being in several nations with multiple channels and a single system

Headless is the starting point

We have seen a lot of trends that have shaped the growth of Headless, directly and indirectly, both in CMS and e-Commerce, as well as platforms:

• Device multiplication, including those linked to the IoT, has triggered the creation of many user interfaces for different channels.
• The Composable term embraces the web architecture approach where modular components are merged into a cohesive unit, leveraging the cloud, microservices, and API-integrated technologies.
• API-First is now a leading approach. New integration and service proposals are created from scratch using APIs to communicate. In addition to transferring data and organizing it, it allows further experience customization.
• CMS headless adoption simplifies scaling for large brands and increases flexibility when creating and managing pages.
• There is increased adoption of GraphQL to manage queries from trading platforms.

Composable platforms are primarily based on embracing a headless architecture, which compiles contextual and personalized user experiences, regardless of channels and geographic location. In fact, composable architecture is the main category in the evolution of e-Commerce.

What is omnichannel, and why is composable architecture ideal for incorporating it?

Omnichannel is a commercial strategy to satisfy the customer's needs at every touchpoint along the buyer's journey. Thus, it puts the user at the center of the commercial platform and aligns each platform component with the customer's experience.

It differs from multichannel because it does more than just being available on all channels, platforms, and devices used by the customer or prospect when interacting with the brand. Instead, it unifies them and allows for developing a single strategy that gives a consistent experience in any channel, without fissures, information silos, or discrepancies. The goal is to have a personalized, comprehensive relationship in real-time, despite the channel and geographic location.

This type of strategy allows us to:

• Expand the regional and global reach of the brand.
• Increase sales across devices, platforms, and applications.
• Optimize the customer experience by boosting experience consistency at any touchpoint.

Composable technology allows us to develop by integrating functionalities from the client-side, through APIs, without affecting the backend or putting the system at risk and letting us dispense unnecessary features that monolithic solutions used to have. It gives us the possibility to adopt a customer-centric strategy, providing services that truly improve the customer’s experience.

From Headless to Composable: A better digital visibility at any scale

Headless is the foundation for any composable architecture. This approach derives from the ability to combine modular components in an independent but interoperable way. Composable commerce consists of modular platforms based on Packaged Business Capabilities that communicate via APIs to operate.

The official definition of these functionalities (PBCs) is:

“Software components represent a well-defined business competency, recognizable as such by a business user. A PBC is technically a limited collection of a data schema and a set of services, APIs, and channel events. Correctly implemented, PBCs are functionally self-contained to ensure autonomy (no critical external dependencies, no need for direct external access to your data). PBCs are intended to be used as building blocks for application product sets and custom assembled application experiences.”

They offer us a chance to create a best-in-class commerce solution because they are prepared to scale as business dynamics demand. In general, they adapt to the standards and needs of each country where they operate.

If the goal is using the best headless CMS, choose Contentful

Implementing a Headless CMS, such as Contentful, is a great first step. Besides simplifying workflows for content creators, it has high-value capabilities for omnichannel strategy, helping you tell your brand story everywhere:

• The content is distributed through the API explicitly created for this function - CDA (Content Delivery API). It allows it to be placed in any channel or site where our brand has visibility since the way it reaches the customer is from a content distribution network (CDN).
• Enables the generation of content models for each brand, standardizing the components and increasing the platform’s consistency, regardless of the channel.
• Content is unified in a single workspace and distributed through APIs for each channel.

All in all, Contentful centralizes all your content in one place and distributes it to the channels, devices, and platforms that people use to reach the brand.

What is the value of having a global content delivery network (CDN)?

Generally speaking, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers across several data centers around the world that temporarily stores a copy of your website or content. It is perfect for delivering content fast, seamlessly, and 24/7 on sites with high traffic volumes due to its unique features:

• A CDN is a network of interconnected nodes that don’t depend on a central server, keeping the network active even when one node (or more) goes down.
• These nodes’ cache stores the content, so it doesn’t need to be loaded again and again when requested.
• The nodes are spread geographically worldwide, and the content is delivered under the proximity criterion (closest). If the nearest node is not available, the closest one will deliver the content. Thus, it reduces response latency.

At Reign, we specialize in designing and creating platforms that evolve alongside the brand in a context of increasing digitalization. Aside from being a Gold Partner of Contentful, we are also allies of the best exponents of API services; Algolia, Elastic Path, BigCommerce, Commerce Layer, and others, which gives us all the support and knowledge needed to take your platform to the desired level.