Ecommerce businesses have changed how we shop, but many people do not realize that these businesses are also changing all the time. The tough competition in this space has forced businesses to adapt to be better than their competitors. Headless ecommerce and microservices architectures are gaining popularity as a way to stay ahead. Both these options rely on APIs that allow communication between all the elements in the architecture. So, what benefits are making ecommerce businesses build their architectures on technologies that rely on APIs?
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Reduced Costs
APIs allow developers to reduce the amount of code they write. Whether they write an API themselves or are relying on a third-party provider to make one available, the code is already written, and the developer has to only consume the data and services it exposes.
There is also standardization which enables synergy between different elements. This means developers know they can use an API on an ecommerce platform without having to worry about testing the API because that work has already been done for them.
Better Performance
Monolithic architectures in the ecommerce space used to be the best way to build robust ecommerce platforms. The main problem with these architectures is that they offered subpar performance because it was difficult for all services and different parts of the architecture to talk to each other.
There has been a shift to microservice architectures where developers build smaller features that are tied together and communicate through APIs. Each of these smaller parts of the whole can request only the data they need, and this improves performance across the board.
The use of microservices is one of the ways businesses, including ecommerce ones, are moving to API First business models. The improved performance that comes from turning to APIs can make a significant difference, especially in businesses where seconds matter, such as in the ecommerce space.
Faster Updates
Want to add a new feature to an ecommerce website? Want it to consume different data? Update the API! APIs have removed the need to create new solutions from scratch every time you would like to change an ecommerce website.
Available third-party solutions make it easy to integrate changes and features into a website. Developers can roll out these changes any time they like, and visitors get to benefit from receiving them as soon as they become available.
Smoother Collaborations and Integration
Ecommerce has become very dynamic in the last decade or so. Businesses are moving away from a single store with a large product selection to multiple stores with access to their product catalog. This is enabled by integrations and collaborations made possible by APIs.
All a business has to do is connect another platform’s API to their store category, and they now have different stores that have access to the same product data. Businesses can also take advantage of other services such as social media sign-ups and integrations that allow reviews and product displays on third-party websites.
Every ecommerce website should use APIs that make things easier. Fortunately, building an API is much easier than ever before and the cost and money it takes to expose your data through an API will benefit your business in the long run.
