Recently, the Magento PWA Studio takes a new method of building unique front-end experiences with storefront applications.
To help you have an idea of what a Magento PWA storefront is, we come up with this blog. Let’s clarify things together!
Headless Architecture
Before moving to the main part, we would like to clarify the meaning of “headless architecture” which is a common term in the Magento PWA world.
The idea of isolating the presentation layer from the data and business logic layer is known as headless architecture. It is devoid of a front end, allowing you to push data or content practically anywhere via APIs while maintaining control over where your information is presented or appears.
In other words, installing a headless architecture necessitates decoupling the presentation layer from the backend, which houses most of the major e-commerce activities, such as the shopping cart, product catalog, and so on. Developers can leverage an API layer to deliver personalized user experiences to any device now because the presentation layer is no longer bound by the limits of the e-commerce application.
Magento has spent a lot of time and money developing full APIs that enable genuine headless commerce.
Magento PWA Storefront
The storefront is the front-end application in technical terms while Magento is the connected headless back-end service.
Although the storefront still maintains a connection with Magento’s core application, they are not closely linked.
The reason is that instead of using Magento’s frontend theme resources, it creates its own frontend files and sends and requests data via Magento’s GraphQL and REST APIs.
After the conversion into PWA, a PWA storefront connecting with the Magento backend via APIs will replace the website’s frontend.
Venia Storefront – Things you need to know
Venia Storefront is a demo of Magento PWA Storefront. It visualizes the results of converting an e-commerce website into a PWA by using Magento PWA Studio.
Design
The Venia storefront’s design looks basic on both mobile and desktop devices. Some pages have poor and unattractive layouts with big-size images.
More importantly, its design is not customized for desktop use, leading to a demand for display customization on large screens.
For these reasons, the PWA Studio demo is not up-to-date in terms of an e-commerce web design.
Function
Overall, the Venia storefront offers enough key features of a progressive web app. However, several features of a Magento e-commerce website disappeared. This is a significant disadvantage.
Tips To Build A Magento PWA Storefront
Taking into account the fact that building a good Magento PWA storefront will do good for an e-commerce website, we would like to mention here some tips for this.
1/ Build from Venia Storefront
As the website is built on the Magento platform, the Venia storefront will be one of the most appropriate options.
First thing first, there will be no accidental coding discrepancies between Magento core functionalities and the Venia storefront as it is Magento’s product.
Secondly, having a large number of contributors from all around the world makes Magento’s community strong and vibrant. This means that it’s easier to look for support from this network.
2/ Use Magento PWA themes
Rather than using the Venia storefront, store owners may make ready-made Magento Progressive Web App themes their choice.
It’s definitely a great solution due to various factors. Which, ready-to-use storefront designs for multi-purpose use are the most outstanding ones.
To ensure the quality of the final work, it’s highly recommended to choose premium PWA templates that are built based on Magento PWA Studio.
Tigren’s Magento PWA Theme & Custom Magento PWA Development
Meeting all the requirements of a high-quality Magento PWA theme, TigrenPWA deserves more attention. In terms of PWA technology, it’s a combination of the three most advanced in the market (Magento 2 PWA Studio, React.js, and GraphQL). Regarding the design, TigrenPWA is able to satisfy merchants with a library full of artistic storefronts.
3/ Use other headless solutions
Besides the above two solutions, there are other frontend platforms for Magento PWA storefront development that merchants can consider.
However, there are many things that merchants need to be cautious about. Firstly, most of them are not for Magento use only. This means that unexpected code conflicts between the Magento core functions and the frontend platforms may occur.
Give Magento PWA Storefront A Try
Progressive Web App brings tremendous benefits to many e-commerce businesses all over the world including renowned names such as Alibaba and Adidas.
Why don’t you make your Magento website sign its name in the list with a Magento PWA storefront?
Believe us, it’s worth a try!
