Hello Team, So far we got the awesome replies that are giving us the clue of what we can achieve through the Headless capabilities. Headless Commerce plugin will definitely provide the high flexibility to use the existing eCommerce business functions in the form of APIs. There could be certain challenges while developing the APIs. Some of them are indicated by Mridul and Deepak regarding ShoppingCart use that needs to be worked upon. There could be many more but I am sure some of us (in OFBiz community) already worked on a similar kind of solution and they will be having much to share and guide this effort.
I propose to have a meeting to discuss this further, it will be great if everyone interested could be part of the discussion. Please find below the hangout meet details – Date: 25th August 2020 6:00 PM IST, 8:30 AM EST, 1:30 PM GMT Join Hangout Meet: meet.google.com/pca-mitq-cgs Join By Phone: +1 860-391-6148 PIN: 206 921 601# Thanks & Regards Arpit Mor On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal < chandan.khandel...@hotwaxsystems.com> wrote: > Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless > commerce plugin. > > Kind Regards, > Chandan Khandelwal > > > > On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak < > mridul.pat...@hotwaxsystems.com> wrote: > >> +1. This is a great suggestion. >> >> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere >> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t make >> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application development. It >> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever >> changing world of technology. >> >> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed >> to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the long >> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business processes and >> objects, for example shopping cart. >> >> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat >> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach and >> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and >> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business >> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to >> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin would >> play a major role in this journey. >> >> Thanks. >> Mridul Pathak >> >> >> > On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <dee...@apache.org> wrote: >> > >> > Hi Arpit, >> > >> > Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of >> headless >> > commerce. >> > >> > I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current >> > implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart. >> > All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and >> OFBiz >> > use session to maintain shoppingCart. >> > >> > >> > >> > Thanks & Regards >> > -- >> > Deepak Dixit >> > ofbiz.apache.org >> > >> > >> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <arpit....@hotwaxsystems.com> >> > wrote: >> > >> >> Hi Devs, >> >> >> >> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic >> >> >> >> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first >> >> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what >> headless >> >> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour. >> >> >> >> What is Headless Commerce? >> >> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the >> >> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that >> both >> >> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by >> using >> >> APIs to expose core backend functionalities. >> >> >> >> Why Headless Commerce? >> >> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and >> >> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to >> visit a >> >> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of >> >> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT >> >> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile >> apps, >> >> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more. >> >> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce, >> >> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated >> individually, >> >> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate >> frontend >> >> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the >> >> background. >> >> >> >> Benefits of Headless Commerce >> >> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce, >> >> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, >> economical, >> >> and quick. >> >> >> >> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic >> >> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a >> front >> >> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the >> >> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience, >> >> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes >> to >> >> the backend. >> >> >> >> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes >> providing >> >> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between >> >> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This >> will >> >> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance. >> >> >> >> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to >> respond >> >> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new >> features. >> >> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another >> >> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce >> different >> >> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component >> easy >> >> without having to worry about changes to other components. >> >> >> >> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce >> >> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing >> >> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs >> (The >> >> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently). >> >> >> >> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback. >> >> >> >> Thanks & Regards >> >> Arpit Mor >> >> >> >> -- Kind Regards, Arpit Mor Enterprise Quality Engineer *HotWax Systems* *Enterprise open source experts* cell: +91-9098005893 office: 0731-409-3684 http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
