BigCommerce Headless Commerce

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://www.catalyst.dev/ for Catalyst documentation
2. Web-search site:developer.bigcommerce.com headless for headless guide
3. Web-search site:github.com bigcommerce catalyst for Catalyst source and examples

Headless Architecture

What Headless Means for BigCommerce

Decouple the frontend from BigCommerce:

• BigCommerce serves as the commerce backend — catalog, orders, customers, payments
• Your custom frontend handles presentation — React, Next.js, Vue, etc.
• Communication via APIs — GraphQL Storefront API and REST API
• Checkout via Embedded Checkout or Custom Checkout (Checkout API + Payments API)

Why Headless

• Full frontend control (design, UX, performance)
• Use modern frameworks (Next.js, Remix, Astro)
• Composable architecture — mix BigCommerce with CMS, search, etc.
• Better performance with SSR/SSG/ISR
• Multi-channel frontend from single BigCommerce backend

Catalyst

What It Is

BigCommerce's official Next.js reference storefront:

• Built on Next.js 14+ with App Router
• Uses GraphQL Storefront API for data
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• Full-featured: PLP, PDP, cart, checkout, customer account, search
• Designed as a starting point to fork and customize

Getting Started

npx create-catalyst-storefront@latest my-store

Prompts for:

• BigCommerce store URL
• Channel ID
• Storefront API token

Project Structure

my-store/
├── app/                     # Next.js App Router pages
│   ├── (default)/           # Default locale group
│   │   ├── page.tsx         # Homepage
│   │   ├── product/         # Product pages
│   │   ├── category/        # Category pages
│   │   ├── cart/            # Cart page
│   │   └── account/         # Customer account
│   └── layout.tsx           # Root layout
├── client/                  # BigCommerce API client
│   ├── queries/             # GraphQL queries
│   └── mutations/           # GraphQL mutations
├── components/              # React components
├── lib/                     # Utilities
├── public/                  # Static assets
├── .env.local               # Environment variables
├── next.config.js           # Next.js config
├── tailwind.config.js       # Tailwind config
└── package.json

Key Environment Variables

BIGCOMMERCE_STORE_HASH=your_store_hash
BIGCOMMERCE_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_access_token
BIGCOMMERCE_CHANNEL_ID=1
BIGCOMMERCE_STOREFRONT_TOKEN=your_storefront_token
BIGCOMMERCE_CUSTOMER_IMPERSONATION_TOKEN=your_token

Data Fetching Patterns

Server Components (Recommended)

Fetch data in Next.js Server Components using the GraphQL client:

// app/product/[slug]/page.tsx
async function ProductPage({ params }: { params: { slug: string } }) {
  const product = await getProduct({ path: `/${params.slug}` });
  return <ProductDetail product={product} />;
}

Client-Side Fetching

For interactive features (cart, search-as-you-type):

• Use React hooks with the GraphQL Storefront API
• Storefront API token for unauthenticated requests
• Customer impersonation token for personalized data

Caching Strategy

• Static Generation (SSG) — product and category pages at build time
• Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) — revalidate on interval or on-demand
• Server-Side Rendering (SSR) — cart, checkout, account pages
• Client-Side — search, cart updates, wishlist

Checkout in Headless

Embedded Checkout (Recommended)

Embed BigCommerce's checkout in your headless site:

1. Create cart via API → get redirect_urls.checkout_url
2. Embed using @bigcommerce/checkout-sdk embedCheckout()
3. BigCommerce handles payment processing (no PCI scope)

Custom Checkout

Full API-driven checkout:

1. Cart API → Checkout API → Orders API → Payments API
2. Requires your own checkout UI
3. Payment processing via Payments API (PCI implications if handling raw card data)
4. Use tokenized payment methods to reduce PCI scope

Authentication in Headless

Customer Login

• Use the Customer Login API (JWT-based SSO) to create sessions
• Or implement custom auth and use Customer Impersonation Tokens for API access
• Catalyst includes built-in authentication flows

Session Management

• BigCommerce sessions are cookie-based on the BigCommerce domain
• For headless: use Customer Login API to set the cookie, then redirect to your domain
• Or manage auth entirely on your side and use impersonation tokens

Integration with Other Services

Composable Commerce Stack

BigCommerce + headless enables composable architecture:

• CMS: Contentful, Sanity, Strapi for content
• Search: Algolia, Bloomreach for product search
• Personalization: Dynamic Yield, Nosto for recommendations
• PIM: Akeneo, Salsify for product information
• OMS: for order management

Best Practices

• Start with Catalyst — fork and customize rather than building from scratch
• Use GraphQL Storefront API for frontend data fetching
• Use REST API for server-side operations (order management, catalog sync)
• Use Embedded Checkout to avoid PCI scope
• Implement ISR for product/category pages — balance freshness and performance
• Use customer impersonation tokens for personalized data
• Handle webhook events for real-time data sync
• Set up proper CORS configuration for Storefront API tokens
• Use environment variables for all credentials

Fetch the Catalyst documentation and BigCommerce headless guide for exact setup steps, GraphQL queries, and current best practices before implementing.