Sometimes the commerce platform is fine and the storefront is the problem. Pages are slow, the theme is hard to change, content is locked into templates and every campaign needs a developer. A full replatform would fix the front end, but it would also force you to move data, integrations and processes that already work.
Headless replatforming takes the narrower path. We keep your commerce engine, whether that is Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Saleor or Adobe Commerce, and replace the front end with a headless storefront that talks to it through its APIs.
Why brands choose this route
- Lower risk. Orders, customers, ERP connections and checkout keep running on the platform your team knows.
- Faster pages. A modern front end, usually NextJS, rendered and cached close to shoppers.
- Content freedom. A headless CMS so marketing can build pages without theme limits.
- Options later. With the front end decoupled, changing the commerce engine in future becomes a smaller project.
How we roll it out
You do not have to switch everything at once. A common approach routes traffic by section, launching landing pages or category pages on the new front end first while the rest of the site stays on the existing theme. Checkout usually stays on the platform throughout. Each section goes live when it matches or beats the old one on speed and conversion.
Along the way we deal with the details that make or break a headless launch. Redirects and canonical URLs, analytics and consent, structured data, preview for editors and the apps that assumed a theme all get worked through before each release, not after.
Hosting and operations
We usually deploy on Vercel, with a preview environment for every change so merchandisers and stakeholders can review before anything goes live. Monitoring, error tracking and a clear release process keep the front end healthy once the project team steps back.
When a full replatform is the better call
If the commerce engine itself is the bottleneck, a new front end will not fix it. Unsupported versions, missing B2B features or a data model that fights your business are signs you need to move the back end too. We will tell you which situation you are in before recommending either.
Headless replatforms are delivered through our ecommerce replatforming service. For Shopify specifically, see headless Shopify Plus builds, and for the build itself, headless storefront development.
