Headless ecommerce design services
A headless storefront designed for the people who shop on it
Headless ecommerce gives your developers the technical freedom they need. Redefine adds the design layer that makes it worth building: a storefront your buyers trust, a component system your team can extend, and an architecture that doesn't lock you to a single platform's opinions about user experience.
25+
headless ecommerce buildsDesign-first,
API-ready
Next.js
React storefront
Shopify+
Commerce API
CMS
Contentful/Sanity
The problem with headless design without a
storefront-first team
The architecture is headless. The user experience still has to convert.
What teams run into without a headless design
specialist
Engineers build the platform. No one designs the storefront experience.
Technical teams are excellent at API routing. Buyer user experience and conversion hierarchy are a different discipline. When no one owns the storefront design, you ship a fast blank canvas.
The component library has no design system behind it.
Components are built to pass data, not to guide a buyer's eye. The product detail page loads fast but the purchase flow feels disconnected. Every sprint adds more components without a coherent visual language.
Content management system integration is technical but editorial teams can't use it.
The headless content management system is connected, but content entry requires a developer. Editorial teams submit tickets to publish a blog post. The business case for headless erodes quickly.
Performance is fast in testing. Not in production under real traffic.
Core Web Vitals pass in dev. Image optimization, ISR configuration, and edge caching were design decisions, not afterthoughts. When they're deferred, the Core Web Vitals fail in production.
How Redefine headless design works
instead
Storefront design starts before any API route is written.
Buyer journey mapping, information architecture, and conversion hierarchy are agreed in Figma first. Developers build what buyers need to see, not what is easiest to route.
Every component has a design specification and a use rule.
The Figma component library defines the visual language, states, spacing, and placement rules. The engineering team builds to spec, not to interpretation.
Content management system content models are designed for the editorial team's workflow.
Content modeling is a design problem. We define fields, relationships, and entry flows so your marketing team can operate the content management system without submitting tickets.
Performance constraints are baked into the design spec, not retrofitted.
Image dimensions, lazy load boundaries, component render priorities, and ISR strategies are documented in the design spec so the build passes Core Web Vitals from launch.
Headless ecommerce design by platform type
What Redefine designs for your business model
Headless ecommerce design looks different depending on who your buyer is and what workflows your internal team runs. Select your model.
Direct-to-Consumer Brand · fashion, beauty, lifestyle
Decouple your storefront from your theme's limits
Your brand's visual identity is too strong for a theme. Headless lets you build exactly the shopping experience your buyers expect, without negotiating with a theme developer on every interaction.
- Custom Figma-to-React component library: every interaction designed and specified
- Shopify Storefront API or BigCommerce GraphQL: commerce layer stays your platform
- Sub-1-second LCP target: image prioritization and ISR strategy in the design spec
- Editorial content management system integration: your marketing team updates content without a developer
Component library: Sprint 2 delivery
ProductCard
componentDesign complete
Product detail page image
galleryDesign complete
Cart drawer
In design
Checkout
overlayQueued
LCP target: 0.9s · Shopify Storefront API · Next.js 14
B2B Company · industrial, wholesale, manufacturing
Complex catalogs and approval flows need headless from day one
B2B purchasing is not the same as B2C shopping. Approval workflows, contract pricing, PunchOut catalog support, and multi-location account management are design problems your monolithic platform was not built to solve.
- Custom B2B portal: account hierarchy, approval routing, and contract pricing user interface
- ERP-connected catalog: live inventory and pricing pulled from your system of record
- Headless auth: SSO, user role management, and buyer group segmentation
- PunchOut and EDI-ready catalog: procurement integration designed into the front-end
Approval queue: Acme Industrial Supply
PO-8821 · Hydraulic fittings
x240Pending
manager approval
Submitted by: J. Torres · $4,320 · contract pricing applied
PO-8819 · Safety valves
x60Approved
Approved by: M. Reyes · $1,740 · dispatched to ERP
Live inventory sync
ERP connected
12,400 SKUs · net 30 pricing · PunchOut enabled
Mid-Market Retailer · established brand, multiple channels
Content-driven commerce where your editorial team and store are finally one system
Mid-market retailers need to publish content without engineering tickets and sell product without merchandising delays. A headless content-commerce architecture puts both in one place, designed for the people who run it.
- Headless content management system modeling: editorial and product content in one structured schema
- Multi-locale and multi-region: language, currency, and content variant support
- Personalization layer: product recommendations and content targeting designed in
- Editor preview: see exactly how published content renders across all surface types
Spring 2025 lookbook entry
Hero bannerEditorial, no developer needed
Product inline (linked from
catalog)Commerce API
Rich text story
blockEditorial
Preview localeEN · FR · DE
Live preview renders across all 3 locales
Headless architecture
The decoupled stack Redefine designs for
Every layer is designed, not just routed. Click any node to see what Redefine designs at that layer.
Browser + CDN
Edge delivery
Next.js / Remix
React front-end
Commerce API
Shopify / BigCommerce
Headless CMS
Contentful / Sanity
ERP and PIM
Data systems
Select an architecture layer above to see what Redefine designs at that level
The Redefine headless design engagement covers every layer of the stack, not just the storefront visual layer. Architecture decisions at each point affect the buyer experience and your team's operational efficiency.
Headless ecommerce design process
Six design phases that result in a headless store ready to convert
Platform strategy and architecture audit
Before any design begins, we map your commerce requirements to the right headless architecture. Platform choice (Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, commercetools), content management system selection (Contentful, Sanity, Prismic), and front-end framework (Next.js, Remix, Astro) are resolved at this stage based on your team's capabilities and your buyer's needs.
Platform
selectionContent
management system selectionArchitecture
specIntegration
map
What this phase produces
- Architecture decision document: platform choices with rationale
- Integration map: API connections, data flows, auth patterns
- Sprint plan: design and development phases, stakeholder gates
Storefront design: buyer journey mapped to page templates
High-fidelity Figma designs for every page type your buyers navigate: homepage, collection, product detail page, cart, checkout, account, and any custom flows your platform requires. Conversion hierarchy and call-to-action placement are derived from behavioral data, not convention.
All
page templatesMobile-firstInteractive
prototype
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 developer-ready
A Figma component library with full interactive states, responsive variants, spacing tokens, and usage rules. Each component is named to match the engineering implementation so design-to-code handoff is exact, not interpreted. Your development team builds once; your design system scales.
All
component statesResponsive
variantsDeveloper
specs
Component library coverage
ProductCard
CollectionGrid
ImageGallery
CartDrawer
PriceDisplay
VariantSelector
ReviewStar
SearchInput
Content management system content modeling and integration design
Content modeling is a design problem. We define field types, content relationships, and editorial entry flows in your headless content management system (Contentful, Sanity, or Prismic) so your marketing team can publish without engineering involvement. Preview configuration ensures editorial staff see exactly how content renders before publishing.
Content
model designEditorial
workflowPreview
configuration
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
Performance specification: Core Web Vitals in the design, not the QA
Image dimensions, lazy-load boundaries, above-fold render priority, ISR strategy, and edge caching rules are documented in the design spec. Engineers implement to a defined performance contract, not to ambiguous "make it fast" instructions. The result passes Core Web Vitals on launch, not after.
LCP
targetCLS
budgetISR
strategyEdge
caching rules
Performance contract (sample)
LCP (homepage)Target: 1.2s
LCP (product detail
page)Target: 1.8s
CLS budgetMax: 0.05
ISR
revalidation60s (product) / 3600s
(content)
Launch handoff and design system documentation
At close, you receive the complete Figma file, annotated component library, architecture documentation, content management system content model export, and design system usage rules. Your engineering team can extend the system, your design team can add to it, and neither needs to call us to understand what they have.
Full
Figma fileArchitecture
docsContent
management system model exportUsage
rules
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
Client result
A B2B headless platform that the existing setup couldn't support, designed and shipped
DrivingI
Automotive parts · Headless Ecommerce + ERP + User Experience/User InterfaceDrivingI is a B2B automotive parts supplier that operates complex catalog and purchasing workflows serving commercial fleets and trade accounts, requirements that a monolithic ecommerce platform was not built to handle.
What the legacy setup could not do
The existing monolithic platform couldn't support complex B2B workflows or scale efficiently. Inventory syncing was unreliable, catalogs loaded slowly, customer approval flows were manual, and system data was fragmented across tools. The team lost confidence in the platform's data accuracy and could not grow within it.
- Unreliable inventory sync: buyers ordered out-of-stock items
- Manual approval routing: no platform support for B2B purchase authorization
- Slow catalog loads: large SKU catalog degraded under real traffic
What the headless design and rebuild delivered
0
Complete B2B headless platform redesign and rebuild
- Faster performance and reliable live inventory from the ERP sync
- Smoother B2B purchasing and approval experience: approval flows designed into the user experience
- Architecture supports scalable B2B operations the monolith couldn't reach
- Internal teams regained confidence in system data accuracy
What separates headless design specialists
What Redefine covers that most headless agencies leave to your developers
Capability
Typical headless agency
Redefine
Storefront design (full Figma)
All page templates, states, and interactions
Design-lite
Often handed back to client's design team or skipped
Full Figma
delivery
Every page, every state, every responsive breakpoint
Component library with design system
Named, documented, and specced for developer handoff
Engineering-built
Components built in code without design spec, inconsistencies accumulate
Design-led
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
Technical config
only
Content management system connected, editorial workflow not considered, requires developer for every content update
Editorial-first
modeling
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
Post-build
fix
Core Web Vitals issues discovered in QA and billed as additional work
Spec-first
LCP targets, ISR strategy, and image dimension specs documented in the design brief
B2B workflow design
Approval flows, account hierarchy, and role-based access
Custom
quote
B2B flows treated as custom scope additions after contract
Scoped
upfront
B2B portal design, approval user interface, and account management scoped in the proposal
Common questions
Questions buyers ask about headless ecommerce design services
Shopify Plus (Storefront API), BigCommerce (GraphQL Storefront API), commercetools, and custom API-first backends. For front-end frameworks, we design and spec primarily for Next.js and Remix but can work with any React or Vue-based stack. Content management system integrations include Contentful, Sanity, Prismic, and Dato.
Both. Headless ecommerce design engagements can be design-only (delivering Figma files, component library, and architecture spec to your engineering team) or full design-and-build (Redefine designs and builds the front-end). Submit your brief and tell us which model fits your team.
A design-only engagement (Figma storefront + component library + architecture spec) runs 8 to 12 weeks. A full design-and-build engagement runs 16 to 24 weeks depending on front-end complexity, integration scope, and number of custom B2B workflows. Timeline is agreed in the proposal and does not change without a written amendment.
No. Headless adds engineering overhead and complexity. It makes sense when your user experience requirements exceed what theme customization can deliver, when you need a custom editorial layer your marketing team controls independently, or when B2B workflows (approval routing, account hierarchy, ERP integration) require architecture your platform's standard front-end was not designed for. If none of these apply, a well-built Shopify or BigCommerce theme is a faster and cheaper path. Submit your brief and we will tell you which route fits your situation.
Fixed-scope billing. Scoped to your platform selection, front-end complexity, number of page templates, and integration requirements. Line-by-line proposal in 3 days. No hourly billing and no scope creep charges without a written amendment. Submit a brief and receive a scoped proposal with no obligation.
Is headless ecommerce design right for you?
When a headless ecommerce design agency makes the most sense
Good fit
- Direct-to-consumer brands whose visual identity has outgrown what a theme can deliver
- B2B companies with approval workflows, contract pricing, or ERP inventory that standard platforms can't handle
- Retailers that need editorial content management system and commerce in a single content model
- Teams migrating from a monolith and needing a design-led headless architecture plan from day one
Not a fit
- Early-stage stores with low traffic where a theme is faster and cheaper to launch
- Teams without a dedicated front-end engineering team to maintain the headless application
- Businesses that need to relaunch in under 8 weeks: a theme build is faster for most standard requirements
Not sure if headless is right for you? Tell us your situation and we will be straight with you.
Submit your brief
Get a headless ecommerce design proposal in 3 days
Tell us your current platform, what your theme can't do, and whether you have a front-end engineering team. We scope the headless design engagement and return a proposal in 3 business days.
Call within 48 hours
A senior headless design engineer reviews your brief and calls to assess your architecture situation
Scoped proposal in 3 days
Platform, content management system, component scope, and timeline: line by line
Sprint 1 within 1 week of sign-off
Platform strategy and architecture audit begin the week you sign
Call within 48 hours · proposal in 3 days · Sprint 1 within 1 week of sign-off
Brief received
We will review your headless architecture situation and send a scoped proposal within 3 business days.
Response within 48 hours
Proposal in 3 days
25+
headless builds
Full Figma ownership
Ready when you are
Submit a brief. Get a headless design proposal. No commitment. No pitch.
Tell us your current platform, what it can't do, and what your buyer experience needs to be. We scope the headless design engagement line by line and return a proposal in 3 days.