What are the benefits and drawbacks of using a e-commerce CMS API?

Question

I'm currently using Next.js for my front-end framework. I've been considering on using another javascript framework for my back-end, however it occured that me that existing CMS solutions like BigCommerce and Shopify exists.

I'm aware they have their own API reserved for developers, but from what I can see these are API usually made to develop tools and themes for other users on the platform itself. Is it possible that I can somehow leverage the power of these ecommerce CMS on my Next.js website? I don't know how these work because I've always seen them as softwares for non tech-specialists to build e-commerce without having the need to code. To know that an API for software exists is quite extraordinary

There's a lot that goes into building an e-commerce website, mainly the things that I am looking for is inventory management and supply chain management. Building these on top of a fullstack e-commerce website would take me too much time and goes beyond the constraint of the project. Do these API let you leverage their technology? But most importantly , do you have to pay a subscription fee to use their API as well as other features such as inventory management?

I am particularly interested in BigCommerce, because the Next.js commerce starter kit comes with BigCommerce integration out of the box (I'm not sure why they chose BigCommerce, as opposed to other CMS such as Shopify). Answers directly referring to BigCommerce are greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

The benefits and drawbacks of using an eCommerce CMS API can be pretty subjective. I have a large amount of experience with BigCommerce, and I can clarify with you that the BigCommerce API is used for much more than just building tools or themes for other BigCommerce users. I mostly see it used for custom integrations and extending the platform functionality.

Combining the API with your own back-end services can really give you unlimited possibilities in terms of functionality with the platform, especially where the platform may fall short in its native functionality. For example, if you feel like the store-credit system is lackluster natively - guess what? There are plenty of APIs that give you the potential to make your own store credit system and integration that suits your needs better.

To answer these questions:

• Do these API let you leverage their technology?
  • The BigCommerce API has quite a bit of freedom in terms of which technologies you get to leverage. Pretty much every aspect of the platform has an API that can be used for your own needs.
• Do you have to pay a subscription fee to use their API as well as other features such as inventory management?
  • There isn't any sort of subscription fee to use the BigCommerce API, and inventory management comes natively in the platform, as well as an API to manage your product inventory. There is also a large community of developers that have built apps for the platform that offer more advanced inventory management as well.

Whether or not you want to use the native BigCommerce functionality instead of a NextJS headless storefront all depends on your personal preference and goals. Using the built-in BigCommerce storefront is more simplistic and requires less development experience (if any at all), whereas if you wanted a headless storefront with BigCommerce using NextJS, this would ultimately give you more control, but would also require more coding/development knowledge.