Your headless ecommerce storefront, designed to convert from day one
Most headless builds ship technically solid storefronts that buyers don't trust. Redefine designs the layer between your API and your customer: storefront pages, component library, and CMS integration your marketing team can actually use.
Next.js
React storefront
Shopify+
Commerce API
CMS
Contentful or Sanity
The architecture is headless. The conversion rate still has to be real.
No one owns the storefront experience.
Engineers handle API routing. Buyers care about trust signals, visual hierarchy, and a checkout that doesn't feel abandoned. When those aren't designed upfront, you ship a fast page that still doesn't sell.
The component library has no design behind it.
Components built without a design system pass data but fail buyers. Every sprint adds new components. No one agrees on spacing, states, or visual language. The store looks inconsistent six months in.
Your CMS is connected. Your marketing team still needs a developer.
The headless CMS is live, but content entry requires an engineering ticket. That kills the business case for headless faster than any technical problem.
Performance passes in dev. It fails in production.
Core Web Vitals look good in the test environment. Then real traffic hits. Image sizes, ISR config, and edge caching weren't planned upfront. They become a QA budget line.
Storefront design comes before the first API route.
Buyer journey mapping and conversion hierarchy are set in Figma first. Developers build what buyers need to see, not what's easiest to route.
Every component has a design spec and a usage rule.
The Figma component library defines visual language, states, spacing, and placement. Engineers build to spec, not to assumption.
CMS content models are built for your marketing team, not your developer.
Content modeling is a design problem. We define fields, entry flows, and relationships so your team publishes without submitting tickets.
Performance targets go into the design spec before the build starts.
Image dimensions, lazy-load boundaries, ISR strategies, and render priorities are documented upfront. The build passes Core Web Vitals from launch, not after.
Headless ecommerce design services built for how your business sells
Every headless build is different. The right architecture depends on your buyers, your team's workflows, and the limits your current platform has already hit. Choose your model below.
Direct-to-Consumer Brand · fashion, beauty, lifestyle
Your brand is bigger than your theme. Build outside it.
A theme caps what your store can look and feel like. Headless removes that cap. You get exactly the shopping experience your buyers expect, built from your visual identity up, not from a template down.
- Custom Figma-to-React component library: every interaction designed, specified, and ready for your engineers to build
- Your commerce platform stays yours: Shopify Storefront API or BigCommerce GraphQL connects behind any front-end
- Sub-1-second page load target: image prioritization and ISR strategy are in the design spec, not left to QA
- Marketing team owns content: CMS integration designed so your team publishes without a developer ticket
Component library: Sprint 2 delivery
LCP target: 0.9s · Shopify Storefront API · Next.js 14
B2B Company · industrial, wholesale, manufacturing
B2B purchasing is complex. Your platform was built for B2C.
Approval workflows, contract pricing, PunchOut catalogs, and multi-location accounts are not theme customizations. They need architecture designed for them from the start.
- B2B buyer portal: account hierarchy, approval routing, and contract pricing designed for the buyer, not the admin
- Live ERP inventory: pricing and stock levels pulled directly from your system of record, no manual syncing
- Headless auth with role control: SSO, buyer group segmentation, and access rules built into the front-end design
- PunchOut and EDI-ready catalog: procurement integration in the design spec before the first line of code
Approval queue: Acme Industrial Supply
Submitted by: J. Torres · $4,320 · contract pricing applied
Approved by: M. Reyes · $1,740 · dispatched to ERP
12,400 SKUs · net 30 pricing · PunchOut enabled
Mid-Market Retailer · established brand, multiple channels
Your editorial team and your store should work from one system.
Mid-market retailers lose time to engineering tickets for content updates. A headless architecture gives your editorial team and commerce operations one connected system they both control.
- Unified content and commerce schema: editorial and product content structured in a single CMS model
- Multi-locale support: language, currency, and content variants designed in from the start
- Personalization built in: product recommendations and content targeting designed as first-class features
- Live editor preview: your team sees exactly how content renders before publishing, on every surface
Spring 2025 lookbook entry
Live preview renders across all 3 locales
Redefine designs every layer of the headless stack, not just the storefront
Most design agencies stop at visual design. Every layer from CDN delivery to ERP data sync affects what your buyer sees and trusts. Select a layer to see what we design at each point.
Browser + CDN
Edge delivery
Next.js / Remix
React front-end
Commerce API
Shopify / BigCommerce
Headless CMS
Contentful / Sanity
ERP and PIM
Data systems
Choose a layer above to see what Redefine designs there.
Most design agencies stop at visual design. Every layer from CDN delivery to ERP data sync affects what your buyer sees and trusts. Select a layer to see what we design at each point.
Six design phases that produce a headless storefront ready to sell on day one
We choose the right architecture before the first design file opens
Your commerce platform, CMS, and front-end framework are selected based on your team's capacity and your buyers' behavior. Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, or commercetools. Contentful, Sanity, or Prismic. Next.js, Remix, or Astro. The decision is documented with rationale, not assumption.
What this phase produces
- Architecture decision document with rationale for every choice
- Integration map: API connections, data flows, and auth patterns
- Sprint plan with design phases and stakeholder review gates
Every page your buyer visits gets a conversion-first Figma design
Conversion hierarchy and CTA placement come from behavioral data, not convention. We design every page template your buyers navigate: homepage, collection, product detail, cart, checkout, account, and any custom flows your platform requires.
Deliverable
Homepage
Hero, featured collections, editorial strip, trust signals
Product Detail Page
Gallery, trust badges, variant selector, add-to-cart, cross-sell
Cart and Checkout
Drawer cart, headless checkout flow, confirmation state
Component library: designed, named, and ready for your developers to build
A Figma component library with full interaction states, responsive variants, spacing tokens, and usage rules. Each component name matches the engineering implementation. Design-to-code handoff is exact. Your design system scales as your team adds to it.
Component library coverage
CMS content modeling built for your marketing team, not your engineers
Content modeling is a design problem, not a developer config task. We define field types, content relationships, and editorial entry flows in your CMS. Your marketing team publishes without tickets. Editors see exactly how content renders before it goes live.
Content management system integration coverage
Page builder fields
Modular page assembly without developer tickets
Product and content linking
Reference product entries directly from editorial content
Live preview
See exactly how published content renders before going live
Core Web Vitals targets are in the design spec, not discovered in QA
Image dimensions, lazy-load boundaries, above-fold render priority, ISR strategy, and edge caching rules are documented before the build starts. Engineers work to a defined performance contract, not to "make it fast" instructions. The store passes Core Web Vitals from launch, not after months of fixes.
Performance contract (sample)
At handoff, you own everything. No dependency on us to extend it.
You receive the complete Figma source file, annotated component library, architecture documentation, CMS content model export, and design system usage rules. Your engineers extend it. Your designers add to it. Neither team needs to call us to understand what they inherited.
What you own at close
- Complete Figma source files: no license dependency
- Architecture decision records for all integration choices
- Content management system content model documentation: extend without us
- Design system usage rules: add components without breaking it
DrivingI replaced a failing monolith with a B2B headless platform. Approval flows, live ERP inventory, and a catalog that works under real traffic.
DrivingI
Automotive parts · Headless Ecommerce · ERP Integration · UX DesignDrivingI supplies automotive parts to commercial fleets and trade accounts. Their monolithic platform couldn't handle B2B purchase authorization, ERP inventory sync, or large SKU catalogs at production traffic. We rebuilt the platform headless from the ground up.
What broke on the old platform
Buyers ordered out-of-stock parts. Approval routing was manual. Catalog pages timed out under fleet account traffic. The ops team stopped trusting the platform's data.
- Buyers ordered out-of-stock items: inventory sync was unreliable
- No built-in approval routing: every B2B purchase authorization was handled manually
- Catalog failed under real traffic: large SKU volume degraded page performance
What the headless rebuild delivered
0
One complete rebuild. Built to handle the B2B workflows the old platform never could.
- Live ERP inventory sync: buyers see accurate stock before they order
- Approval flows designed into the UI: purchase authorization no longer requires a manual step
- Catalog performance rebuilt for fleet account volume: pages that load, even under real traffic
- Ops team has accurate system data: confidence in what the platform reports
Redefine covers what most headless agencies leave to your team after the contract is signed
Storefront design (full Figma)
All page templates, states, and interactions
Design work is often returned to the client's design team or excluded from scope entirely.
Every page, every state, every responsive breakpoint
Component library with design system
Named, documented, and specced for developer handoff
Components are built in code without design specs. Visual inconsistencies accumulate sprint by sprint.
Figma component library with all states, usage rules, and developer specs
Content management system content modeling
Designed for the editorial team, not just the developer
CMS is connected technically. Editorial workflow isn't considered. Every content update requires a developer ticket.
Field design, entry flow, and preview configuration for non-technical editors
Performance spec in the design
Core Web Vitals targets and ISR strategy documented before build
Core Web Vitals issues discovered in QA and billed as additional work
LCP targets, ISR strategy, and image dimension specs documented in the design brief
B2B workflow design
Approval flows, account hierarchy, and role-based access
B2B flows treated as custom scope additions after contract
B2B portal design, approval user interface, and account management scoped in the proposal
Straight answers about headless ecommerce design services
Shopify Plus (Storefront API), BigCommerce (GraphQL Storefront API), commercetools, and custom API-first backends. Front-end frameworks include Next.js and Remix, and we can spec for any React or Vue stack. CMS integrations include Contentful, Sanity, Prismic, and Dato.
Both options are available. Design-only engagements deliver Figma files, the component library, and the architecture spec to your engineering team. Full design-and-build engagements include front-end development by Redefine. Tell us which model fits your team when you submit your brief.
Design-only runs 8 to 12 weeks. Full design-and-build runs 16 to 24 weeks, depending on front-end complexity, integration scope, and the number of custom B2B workflows. The timeline is fixed in the proposal. It does not change without a written amendment.
Not always. Headless adds engineering overhead. It makes sense when your UX requirements exceed what theme customization can deliver, when your marketing team needs an editorial CMS they control independently, or when B2B workflows need architecture your platform's standard front-end wasn't built for. If none of those apply, a well-built Shopify or BigCommerce theme is faster and cheaper. Submit a brief and we'll tell you which route fits your situation.
Fixed-scope pricing. The proposal covers your platform choice, front-end complexity, page template count, and integration requirements, line by line. No hourly billing. No scope creep charges without a written amendment. Submit a brief for a proposal with no obligation.
Get a scoped headless ecommerce design proposal in 3 business days
Tell us your current platform. Tell us what it can't do. Tell us if you have a front-end engineering team. We scope the engagement and return a line-by-line proposal in 3 business days.
Call within 48 hours
A senior designer reviews your brief and calls to understand your architecture needs
Scoped proposal in 3 days
Platform, CMS, component scope, and timeline, broken down line by line. No hourly estimates.
Sprint 1 within 1 week of sign-off
Architecture audit and platform strategy begin the week you approve
Submit a brief. Get a headless design proposal. No commitment. No pitch.
Tell us your current platform and what it can't do. Tell us what your buyers need to experience. We scope the project line by line and return a proposal in 3 days.