11 Best Headless Commerce Examples for 2024

If you’re looking for more flexibility, increased agility, and omnichannel power, you may have come across headless commerce. It’s a hot topic these days: In just one study of the retail industry, 85% of respondents have plans to implement it or already have.

So what’s all the buzz about? What is an example of a headless website anyway? Read on for 11 of the best headless commerce examples on the market today.

1. Chronext

Chronext is an eCommerce company that sells, trades, and buys luxury watches around the world. They originally worked with a purely web-based system but found challenges that curbed their abilities. They wanted to surpass limitations and deliver non-web experiences in a way that was easy for all their teams.

After switching to Storyblok’s headless CMS, Chronext developed a mobile application prototype in just 7 weeks. They can now adapt and update content easily without redeploying for each addition. The result is customized user journeys, which in turn tripled app session times as compared to 2 minutes on their website.

2. Oatly

This next headless website example comes from a leading global oat milk distributor: Oatly. Before headless, Oatly found their business growing faster than their WordPress and Apostrophe CMS could support.

Switching to Storyblok resulted in a more streamlined development workflow, which made it easier to work on collaborative projects. These included the all-important localized regional catalogs and content. After choosing headless, Oatly was able to create 16 global websites in just 2 months.

3. Flybondi

Argentina’s leading low-cost airline, Flybondi, has been serving customers since 2016. They opted for headless in the past, however, not all headless systems are built equally: Flybondi’s original system provided a poor UX for the marketing team, making them overly dependent on developers for even simple changes.

So they switched to Storyblok. The result was the freedom to expand into new markets and languages, grow without worrying about technical limits, and perform high-quality tasks for loyal audiences.

4. Xlash

Swedish makeup and skincare brand Xlash is a key headless commerce example for those interested in boosting their traffic. Xlash was looking to scale their offerings into new regions and languages. Originally, they maintained 8 separate WordPress stores to do so. This led to an inability to streamline for different markets and an overwhelming workload.

However, after switching to headless, they were able to manage all content from one place for all languages and sites. They also gained the freedom to choose exactly the technology they needed. Xlash’s outcomes speak for themselves: organic traffic nearly doubled, with 90% of visitors coming through mobile.

5. Mindvalley

Mindvalley is a subscription-based learning platform offering courses and content to develop personal skills. Technologically, offering this high-quality product to over 20 million students proved challenging. Mindvalley tried monolithic systems, a custom-built one, and even an in-house headless CMS. However, they all posed issues ranging from poor usability to heavy maintenance requirements just for day-to-day work.

Changing to headless had a serious impact. With user-friendly development, easy internationalization, and highly customizable components, Mindvalley was better equipped to provide tailored user journeys.

6. Claro

As Brazil and South America’s biggest broadband and telecommunications company, Claro needs a system that provides customized content to a huge audience. Rich, personalized experiences that could thrive under heavy traffic were a must.

Storyblok was the key headless choice for Claro. With this technology, Claro built 4 unique websites for over 70 million users in just 3 months. Headless also allowed for better scaling, best-of-breed technology, countless API integrations, and better collaboration between backend users.

7. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is a company that leverages the power of modern technology by providing AI-powered writing assistance, coaching, and learning resources for their users. This headless website example came from a custom-built setup initially. However, it lacked the capacity for scaling and forced marketers to rely on developers for changes.

Switching to headless was the key to supporting their ambitions for growth: they saw a 30% increase in organic traffic in 3 months thanks to things like the ability to A/B test and better overall capacity.

8. Spendesk

For a B2B SaaS headless commerce example, take a look at Spendesk. This company offers software for finance teams to track and understand spending, streamlining the spending process for all involved. It’s also another story of how the right headless CMS is important. On their original headless system, Spendesk struggled with long page creation times, slow development, and technical restrictions that prevented them from adding new components without redoing the entire system.

With Storyblok, it was a different story. They saw marketer independence and autonomy for faster, smoother production. It also gave them more control over crafting consistent customer experiences as well as easier use of their multiple language sites.

9. Ollie

Ollie is a leading provider of healthy pet food. They discovered a need to save time on their content production, striving to be more efficient while also providing better user experiences.

Storyblok’s headless CMS was the answer. It empowered their marketers to work independently of developers, streamlining their operations and helping all teams focus where they could be most effective. It also provided reusable components for universal branding on campaigns, not to mention an increase in their technical velocity.

10. Nodecraft

Launched in 2012, Nodecraft makes it easy for all gamers to create their own server – on any game, on any platform. With headless CMS, the team is able to create multi-level customer experiences for this journey across their website, application, and more.

Switching to headless also allowed for behind-the-scenes improvements, including user roles for coordinated campaign releases, the freedom to use their preferred Vue framework, and a 50% cut in turnaround time. Plus, they were able to create over 100 different content types, leading to highly personalized and interlinked content for their audiences.

11. Panini

Global reach is a must for a company like Panini, the leading authority in the collectibles world. The team started with a traditional PHP-based CMS. However, they found it only caused complications. The Kubernetes-based infrastructure meant projects only got more complicated to manage as time went on. Moreover, the old code base meant content editors had to rely heavily on developers. This complicated backend work and handicapped Panini’s abilities to create the stellar experiences they strived for.

That’s why they brought on headless CMS. Storyblok helps them manage their several product and corporate landing pages that span both different languages and regions around the world. This headless commerce example is a showcase of how this infrastructure can help you scale: Thanks to the streamlining, Panini can provide the customized content necessary to sell across 120 countries with less time, fewer resources, and improved collaboration.