How to create a Headless Marketplace using Magento 2 NextJS & React?

Headless terms represent something that is separated from its upper part. Headless is an approach in content management systems to separate the frontend of a website from its backend.

These days the headless technique is getting famous due to its exciting features. 

In headless Adobe Commerce development, Magento marketplace website is developed as the front end and back end of it remain decoupled and it is connected through APIs. 

We use NextJS or ReactJS for Magento 2 headless marketplace development as it has some major advantages for headless development.

Next.js is an open-source React framework for creating server-side rendered apps and static websites.

It enables dynamic website development, which means it can deploy on a Node-enabled platform.

In NextJs based Magento marketplace development, it is crucial to have knowledge about the drawbacks of Adobe Commerce. 

During Magento marketplace development with NextJs, it’s important to clearly understand the potential drawbacks of Adobe Commerce.

It is important to know why there is a requirement to develop a headless Magento marketplace using React NextJS. Below are the respective reasons:

In Adobe Commerce, theme development is a challenge. For making a theme on Magento, a developer should have complete knowledge of Magento development.

Also, theme development is time-consuming. The same applies in case new changes are required in the theme.

Magento 2 developer can face some issues during Adobe Commerce theme creation as it is a large system and requires deep knowledge of Magento’s inner workings. 

As Magento provides frequent updates that is why there is a need to update the theme every time.

Magento depends on Varnish for efficient page response and enhanced server-side rendering. Without Varnish, rendering issues occur, which significantly reduce overall performance indicators.

Magento default is very slow due to which it provides varnish support for full-page caching(FPC).

However, the requirement for varnish should not be there for a platform specifically when there is low traffic. 

React or Next.js helps resolve the issues mentioned above in Adobe Commerce and also allows you to use the added features available in Magento 2 NextJS.

Anyone with knowledge of React/NextJS can develop the headless theme and make changes to it. Webkul is also an official partner of NextJS.

Moreover, there is no need to update the front end every time when development is with Magento 2 NextJS/ReactJS.

Anyone can develop

With the upcoming technological challenges, headless can be efficiently developed using NextJS due to its unique features.

When it comes to Magento headless, NextJS can be a wonderful choice. Magento 2 NextJS has various benefits in headless development.

NextJS Performance Matrix 

Next.JS uses advanced strategies such as Lazy load, and TTFB to boost the website performance. Lazy loading is an excellent method for preventing unnecessary content rendering on a page.

You can use it to reduce the initial load time of the page because the child components will render only on user demand.

Time to first byte (TTFB) is a metric that indicates how responsive a web server or other network resource is.

The time it takes the user or client to make an HTTP request to the first byte of the page being received by the client’s browser is measured by TTFB.

Thus, Magento 2 NextJS uses the strategies and increases the website performance.

Extracts the Magento benefits

Magento by default provides GraphQL APIs which can be integrated into headless and it is relatively faster than Rest APIs.

GraphQL provides a detailed and easy-to-understand description of the data in your API.  GraphQL is all about visualizing your data as a graph and then querying it.

It allows you to precisely define the schema of the data you are making available before providing you with a powerful query interface to navigate, traverse, and discover what you require.

Moreover, when it takes advantage of NextJS the headless development will be convenient. 

Speed & Image Optimization 

Next.JS optimizes the speed and images as it has a feature of Server-Side Rendering. Next.JS is popular due to its excellence in server-side rendering.

It employs the Hydration process by constructing the HTML page during the build process. When the browser loads the page, it serves the pre-rendered page from the server in minimal javascript code.

As a result, the key component that has made Next.js one of the most popular in the programming world. 

It uses the built-in Image Optimization API the default loader for Next. js applications, which optimizes images from anywhere on the web and then serves them directly from the Next.

Hence, NextJS provides ultra-fast speed due to server-side rendering and excellent image optimization as well.

 We have already leveraged the power of headless architecture to deliver exceptional performance, security, and flexibility in Magento 2 Multi Vendor NextJS Theme.

Microservices Integration

Next.JS is a very good fit for microservice integration as it is event-based. Next.JS would be a good choice for microservices due to streams and real-time capabilities.

Due to its headless CMS structure, it is easy to integrate the microservices. 

For instance; On an e-commerce website displays multiple pieces of information on the product page. It is possible to get page information from different platforms with the help of microservices.

For Eg; 

• The browser can collect tax information from tax management software(Avalara/Taxjar)
• PIM(Product Information Management) like – Akeneo and Pimcore uses to gather Product content information.
• We can extract price and inventory information from Adobe Commerce.

Core Web Vitals

Google provides Web Vitals as a resource for identifying quality signals that require to provide a better web user experience.

Core Web Vitals are subsets of web vitals that applies to all web pages. It recommends that every site owner use Core Web Vitals because it audits the user experience thoroughly.

It assesses the user experience using loading, interactivity, and visual stability.

Next.JS uses Lighthouse, automatically optimizes images, dynamically imports libraries and components to reduce the JS bundle, and pre-connects to third-party scripts.

It also optimizes web font loading by default, optimizing the loading of any third-party scripts to improve the core web vitals.

As a result, by utilizing Core Web Vitals, Next.js provides an excellent Google Page experience.

Cost Efficiency

Headless development is not cheap but it is a one-time investment in theme development.

However, in long run, it becomes cost-effective because there is no need to update the front end every time Magento updates. 

Every business has a concern about the operational cost whether it is large or small. Cost-effectiveness is always on the top. 

Next.JS not only offers a good response time and web vitals but also reduces the operational cost of the development. 

Given the foregoing, Next.js is recommended as the best framework for the Magento headless marketplace development.

That’s all Headless Magento Marketplace Development using React Next.

If you still have any issues feel free to add a ticket and let us know your views to make the module better contact us at our Webkul Support System.