Headless commerce

Headless commerce separates your store's front end from the platform behind it. Learn when headless Shopify pays off, and when a Liquid theme is the smarter call.

By Wout BlockxUpdated October 17, 2026

Headless commerce is a setup in which the front end of your store, what the visitor sees, is separate from the commerce platform behind it, which manages products, stock, cart and checkout. The two talk to each other through an API.

How headless works

In a classic Shopify store, Shopify renders the pages itself, with a theme written in Liquid. In a headless setup you build the front end separately, for example in Next.js or with Shopify Hydrogen, and fetch product data through Shopify's Storefront API. Content often comes from a separate CMS, such as Sanity or Contentful. Checkout usually stays Shopify's.

Composable commerce goes one step further: every part, such as search, content, reviews and payments, is a separate service you pick and connect yourself.

Advantages

Full freedom in design and interaction. No theme limits.

Content and commerce together. Long stories, lookbooks and products in one experience, managed in a strong CMS.

One front end for several systems. Useful when you bring together data from Shopify, a PIM and an ERP.

Disadvantages

Higher build and maintenance cost. You run your own application, hosting and deploys.

Less plug and play. Many Shopify apps only work in a Liquid theme. Headless, you integrate them yourself.

Your marketing team depends more on developers, unless the CMS is set up well.

SEO needs extra care. Server-side rendering, sitemaps, canonicals and structured data are yours to handle.

Headless or Liquid?

For most stores, a well-built Liquid theme is faster, cheaper and easier to run. Headless pays off when content is a large part of your brand, when you bring several systems into one front end, or when your experience truly does not fit a theme. Also read what your CMS choice means for SEO in WordPress vs Shopify vs headless.

How 6th Man works with headless

We build both: custom Liquid themes and headless Shopify with Next.js and Sanity. Which route fits, we decide together at the start of your custom Shopify store, based on your team, your content and your budget.