Headless CMS for E-commerce: More sales than with traditional CMSs?

Content management systems tools have been essential for online stores for a long time. They allow you to add products, manage web pages, and process orders without needing to change code every time. However, as businesses grow, many find that traditional CMS platforms can be too slow or not flexible enough. That’s where a headless CMS for e-commerce comes into play.

A headless CMS separates the way content is managed (the “body”) from how it is displayed (the “head”). This means the same content can be used on websites, mobile apps, online marketplaces, or even smart devices. More brands are moving to headless solutions because they improve speed, make updates easier, and help reach customers in more places. So, which type helps drive more sales: a traditional CMS or a headless CMS for e-commerce?

Traditional CMS vs. Headless CMS: Key Differences for E-commerce

A traditional ecommerce platforms combine content management and display in one system. It includes an editor, themes, plugins, and checkout features all in one package. This is great for quick setups and small online stores.

On the other hand, a headless architecture only manages and stores content using APIs. You create the front end separately using any framework or programming language you like. The front end then retrieves data from the CMS as needed.

The impact of CMS choice on e-commerce sales

Here are the top 4 things that you need to take into consideration when choosing headless ecommerce platforms:

Speed & Performance:

Faster websites keep shoppers interested. Google’s Core Web Vitals show that a delay of just 0.1 seconds can reduce sales by 8%. With a headless CMS for online stores, you can make each page load faster by only downloading what you really need. This more efficient setup usually results in quicker loading times and better scores on Web Vitals.

User experience (UX):

When you have complete control over the front end, you can design layouts, animations, and checkout processes without being limited by a theme. A better UX leads to longer browsing sessions and more items added to carts. Brands using headless systems often see an increase in engagement by up to 20%.

SEO:

Traditional platforms can have trouble with changing content and metadata. A headless platforms allow you to prepare pages in advance or manage metadata during your build process. This can improve how often search engines crawl your site and how well your pages are indexed, which can lead to more organic traffic.

Omnichannel content capabilities:

Today’s shoppers easily switch between apps, social media stores, and voice assistants. A headless CMS lets you update your content once and share it everywhere. You can send new product information to a mobile app and a kiosk display at the same time.

Best Headless CMS for E-commerce in 2025: A feature-by-feature comparison

Selecting the best headless ecommerce CMS isn't just about choosing the one with the most features. It's important to find one that matches the way your store operates, expands, and develops.

Let's take a closer look at three of the most popular choices in 2025 which is BCMS, Contentful, Strapi and discover why BCMS is becoming the top choice for e-commerce brands.

What to expect from each option as an ecommerce CMS

Key benefits of headless commerce architecture for an ecommerce website:

Ease of use

If you want something that works right away, BCMS and Contentful are great choices. Their user interfaces are easy to understand, making them good for beginners. Strapi is more aimed at developers and takes a little longer to set up, but it gives you more flexibility.

Scalability

BCMS is designed to automatically grow as your store gets more visitors. Contentful has a strong system that big companies trust. Strapi for e-commerce lets you control how your store expands, but you'll need to handle that on your own.

Developer Experience

All three options support REST and GraphQL. BCMS offers extra help with prebuilt components, e-commerce templates, and starter projects, so developers can launch stores quickly. Strapi and Contentful have good documentation, but they require more hands-on setup.

Pricing

BCMS has a good free plan and only starts charging when your usage increases. Contentful has a traditional pricing plan with limits on users and content. Strapi is free if you host it yourself, but using cloud hosting will cost more.

Why BCMS is a great headless CMS for e-commerce

BCMS is becoming one of the top options for e-commerce CMSs because it focuses on being both fast and easy to use. Here are some of its key features:

It has built-in support for managing products, categories, and orders.
There are ready-made templates and tools designed specifically for e-commerce.
It comes with easy integration for payment systems like Stripe and PayPal.
It offers fast APIs, built-in image optimization, and support for content delivery networks (CDNs).
Live preview and inline editing allow your team to work more efficiently.

BCMS is perfect for startups or mid-sized businesses that want the speed of a large company without the complicated setup. Developers appreciate the flexibility, marketers enjoy the live preview feature, and founders like the affordable pricing.

How to build a high-performance e-commerce store with a Headless CMS

If you want to create a quick and easy online store, using a headless CMS like BCMS is a smart option. BCMS provides a pre-made e-commerce template that makes the setup easier. Here’s how you can begin:

Create your project with the BCMS e-commerce starter

Use this tool to quickly set up a Next.js plus BCMS online shop in just a few seconds. It provides you with ready-to-use products, categories, order models, and a functioning front-end.

npx @thebcms/cli create next e-commerce && cd e-commerce && npm install && npm run dev

Improving Performance

Once you've customized the starter templates to suit your style, it's important to make your online store run efficiently. You can do this by pre-loading all product pages while building the site, and then updating them in the background so that old pages refresh automatically. Using a headless setup with Static Site Generation (SSG) and Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) can reduce the time it takes for the main content to load by about 50%. This helps improve your website's performance and can lead to more sales.

// pages/index.js
export const getStaticProps = async () => {
  const { data } = await bcms.graphql(`query { allProduct { title price images { url } } }`);
  return { props: { products: data.allProduct }, revalidate: 60 };
};

Manage the cache for each route so that returning visitors can quickly connect to the CDN edges, while editors can see updates right away. This approach reduces load times and keeps the content up-to-date without needing to rebuild everything from scratch.

// next.config.js
module.exports = {
   async headers() {
      return [
         {
             source: '/(.*)',
             headers: [{ key: 'Cache-Control', value: 'public, max-age=0, s-maxage=60' }], 
         }
      ];
   },
};

Publish your site on Vercel or Netlify so that your static pages and media hosted on BCMS are delivered through a global Content Delivery Network (CDN). This means that images and JavaScript files will load in under 100 milliseconds no matter where people are in the world.

Security hardening

Only your API endpoints are visible on the internet, your admin interface is kept on a private network. By separating these areas, you can reduce common security risks in CMSs by up to 70% and lower the chances of DDoS attacks.

Make sure to use JWT or OAuth for every API request and always require HTTPS. Headless CMSs typically use TLS and token-based authentication, which helps keep your data safe while it's being sent and stored. Here’s a simple example of Next.js middleware to protect your /api/ routes:

// middleware.ts
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
import { verifyJWT } from '@/lib/auth';

export function middleware(req) {
   const token = req.cookies['auth_token'];
   if (!token || !verifyJWT(token)) {
      return NextResponse.redirect('/login');
   }
   return NextResponse.next();
}

Serverless checkout function

You can add any payment option, like Stripe, PayPal, or local payment systems, by using a BCMS Function in the pages/api/checkout.js file.

// pages/api/checkout.js
import Stripe from 'stripe';

const stripe = new Stripe(process.env.STRIPE_KEY);

export default async function handler(req, res) {
   const items = JSON.parse(req.body);
   const session = await stripe.checkout.sessions.create({
      payment_method_types: ["card"],
      line_items: items.map((i) => ({
         price_data: {
            currency: "USD",
            product_data: { name: i.name },
            unit_amount: i.price * 100,
         },
         quantity: i.quantity,
      })),
      success_url: `${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_URL}/success`,
      cancel_url: `${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_URL}/cancel`,
   });

   res.status(200).json({ url: session.url });
}

Headless checkout systems, which include options like guest checkout, saving your information, and one-click payment, help reduce cart abandonment and increase the number of completed purchases.

With this headless CMS setup, you get super-fast web pages because of Static Site Generation (SSG) and Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR), smart caching, and global Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).

The backend is secure, meaning only APIs are visible to the public, and every call is protected with OAuth/JWT and TLS. Plus, you have full control over the checkout process, which means you can easily test different layouts, add new payment options, and place “Buy Now” buttons anywhere on your site. In simple terms, headless technology isn’t just a trendy term, it’s a way to create an online store that is quick, secure, and fully customizable.

Conclusion: Which ecommerce solution drives more sales?

A headless implementation usually performs better than traditional systems in important areas like speed, scalability, and flexibility. By separating how content is delivered from how it looks, you can choose faster front-end frameworks. This leads to quicker page loading times and better Core Web Vitals, which are important for increasing conversion rates.

Its API-first design allows you to grow your content setup without worrying about traffic spikes, so you can expand without slowing down. Plus, since you have full control over the front end, you can create unique designs and user experiences that keep shoppers interested and reduce the chances of them leaving your site.

However, traditional commerce solutions, like all-in-one solutions, can work well for small or simple online stores. For example, Shopify is great for startups and small businesses that want a ready-to-go store without needing a lot of customization. Similarly, WooCommerce on WordPress makes it easy to set up basic product catalogs. If you only have a few products and are fine with standard themes, using a headless CMS might complicate things unnecessarily.

For any store that wants to grow, improve performance, and have complete freedom in design, using a headless CMS is a smarter choice.

Check out BCMS’s E-Commerce Starter, which helps you set up your store quickly with ready-made templates for products, categories, and orders—all within a customizable Next.js structure. Developers enjoy its user-friendly interface and API SDKs that speed up building time, while content teams like the live previews and easy content management.

Try BCMS for your next project and see improvements in speed, security, and sales.

Find out why BCMS is the best CMS for ecommerce website.

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