BigCommerce has recently unveiled Catalyst Headless Storefront, a new technology designed to speed up the launch of composable eCommerce experiences. As the Engineering Director at Trellis, I am thrilled by this announcement. It reinforces our future direction in headless eCommerce technology.
The introduction of Catalyst by BigCommerce marks a significant milestone in the development of the SaaS platform. Completely open-sourced, Catalyst aims to provide an optimized starting point for developing storefronts with a composable architecture. This move puts BigCommerce back at the forefront of headless technology, especially after Shopify unveiled Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Embracing Catalyst Headless Storefront Experience
Headless commerce separates the frontend (the storefront) from the backend (the commerce functionality). It allows for more flexibility, faster iterations, and personalized customer experiences. With a heavy focus on performance, Catalyst promises perfect Google Lighthouse scores out-of-the-box. This approach makes the storefront stand out to customers through its performance. Moreover, it optimizes for conversion rates, a crucial metric for all online retailers.
Native Makeswift Integration
BigCommerce has recently acquired the company behind the drag-and-drop visual editor CMS. So it’s no surprise that Catalyst comes pre-wired with Makeshift. The Makeswift integration makes it easier for developers and retailers to inject CMS content into their Catalyst sites. Additionally, it signals the beginning of a tighter integration between BigCommerce and their newly acquired platform.
Advantages of a Boilerplate Headless Storefront
Just like Next.js Commerce and Shopify Hydrogen, Catalyst is a boilerplate (“starter kit”) storefront. This concept saves a significant amount of time when developing headless storefronts. In general, all of the basic functionalities are pre-built in an open-source project. So developers just need copy and customize them to their liking. Instead of reinventing the wheel, developers start from a clean slate which already encapsulates best practices and optimal performance in a single package.
Impact on Developer Experience and Time-to-Market
One of the most notable aspects of Catalyst is its focus on improving the developer experience and reducing time-to-market. By providing fully customizable storefront components and a streamlined API client optimized for Next.js and React Server Components, Catalyst empowers developers to create high-quality storefronts more efficiently. This not only accelerates the development process but also lowers the barrier to entry for creating competitive, state-of-the-art online stores.
Conclusion
The launch of Catalyst is a game-changer for BigCommerce, and is especially important for agencies like Trellis that specialize in headless commerce solutions. It underscores the importance of flexibility, performance, and user experience in today’s competitive online retail environment. As the industry continues to evolve, embracing technologies like Catalyst will be crucial for brands looking to innovate and go beyond the cookie-cutter eCommerce experience. With now more options than ever for open-source starter kit storefronts, the release of Catalyst only confirms that headless is here to stay.
For a detailed look at Catalyst’s features and the future it promises for eCommerce, read BigCommerce’s press release or play around with the Catalyst demo storefront.
If you’re looking to harness the power of headless commerce and need a partner who can translate this architecture into tangible business success, reach out to Trellis. Let’s start a project today.