Headless commerce means a custom shop front on top of your commerce engine. We build Next.js storefronts on Shopify and other engines, for stores that have outgrown a theme. If a well-built theme would do the job for less, the proposal says so.
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Brands our teams have delivered for
PixelCrayons builds headless commerce storefronts: Next.js front ends on Shopify and other commerce engines. A senior team builds the storefront to score well on Core Web Vitals, Google's speed checks. When headless would be more than you need, the proposal says so and prices the simpler option. We work direct for brands and white-label for agencies.
Headless is a way of building, not a goal in itself. Before we write any code, we work out what it would really gain your store. Perhaps you need a design your theme can't handle, publishing your platform blocks, or speed you can't reach. We also work out the running cost: two systems, test sites and developers your team doesn't have today. We never add complexity before it is needed, and that matters most here.
Headless is only faster if the front end is built with care. We build pages on the server and store copies close to each visitor, tuned for each page type. Images and scripts have size limits, and a release can't go out if it breaks them. We measure Core Web Vitals at every release instead of promising them in a pitch. A headless store slower than its old theme has failed.
The quieter benefit of headless is easier publishing. Your marketers publish landing pages, campaigns and stories through a CMS built for them. Carts, prices and checkout stay on the commerce engine that already does them well. We connect the two so each does what it is best at. Checkout stays on the platform, because rebuilding payments from scratch adds risk with no gain.
A headless store is only as good as the links between its parts. We build those links to the commerce engine, the CMS, search and analytics. We add caching, fallbacks and monitoring, so a slow outside service affects one part instead of taking the store down. Our API and integrations service does the same work on its own. Here it matters most, because an outage costs orders every minute.
Stores rarely go headless in one leap, and they shouldn't. We move in stages, often starting with one important part of the site. That proves the gain before the rest of the catalogue follows. We map every ranking web address and add redirects at each step, so your search rankings survive. If the first stage shows the rest isn't worth it, stopping there is a good result.
We sign an NDA and look at your platform, your theme, your traffic and what holds you back today. We ask first if headless fits, so you don't pay for a setup you don't need.
We confirm the date your proposal arrives. It gives our recommended setup and its running cost, or the simpler option. It lists what you get and for how much.
You confirm the scope, the payment and the access we need. Nothing starts before this.
Our developers set up the code and test sites in your accounts. They check the commerce engine's connections work with real data.
A working part of the store on live product data, on a test address. We show it to you on a call and check it against its speed targets. Then regular work begins.
Prism is the client workspace where your requests, approvals, tasks and weekly reviews live.
Some engagements include Prism, our client workspace, and your proposal says whether yours does. Where it does, your build runs in a workspace you log into: requests, approvals, the task list and the weekly review, beside the repository your team already owns.
One queue, beside the repository your team owns.
Every task has one owner and a date.
Each decision recorded, with the expectation attached.
Real projects for real clients, with results we can show.
Product names and marks are trademarks of their owners. Naming a technology means our teams build with it. It does not mean a partnership, certification or endorsement.
Al Majed for Oud asked the question this page answers. The answer was a sound new platform, not headless. We mapped every record and ranking web address first and moved with zero data loss. Then we ran search and ads on the faster site. Revenue grew 340% in seven months. We test headless the same way: we build it only if it brings in more business.
Headless is one good option among several. If your question is about the platform, the move or the speed, these related services can help.
A headless store is a well-built front end plus reliable links to your other systems, kept fast. Each is a service of its own here: front-end development, API and integration work, and speed checks at every release.
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Full termsYour materials remain yours. Bespoke deliverable rights, licences and handover are agreed before work starts.
All engagements.
Full termsKnow who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue.
All engagements. Roles may be combined and vary with your engagement.
Full termsEvery delivery is reviewed before release by QA, your Project or Account Manager and a senior delivery lead, and you then review it against the acceptance criteria agreed at the start. Our specialists use AI to support delivery, with people responsible for reviewing the work. Applicable development work includes 30 days of corrective maintenance after production launch.
Your materials, data and accounts remain yours, and we prefer to work in advertising and analytics accounts you own, with access delegated to our team. Agreed ownership rights in bespoke deliverables transfer under the engagement terms and applicable payment; third-party software and assets keep their licences. We do not withhold customer-owned data or accounts over a payment dispute.
Cancellation, notice and any renewal terms are written into your proposal or statement of work before you accept it. If an engagement ends early, we hand over completed, paid-for work and list any unfinished work separately. For an eligible specialist trial, you can stop within the trial window and pay nothing for eligible trial hours.
Before work starts we agree how often you get updates, what the reports cover and who sends them. You know who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue. For hourly and retainer work, time is recorded in Workstatus, so you can see the time records behind your invoice.
How we handle claims, credentials and your data: group credentials, dated ratings, how case figures are signed off, client permissions and data handling.
Stores rarely go headless in one leap, and they should not. This is the order we work in. You decide at a set point whether the rest of the catalogue follows.
The proposal lists the running costs next to the build: front-end hosting, and developers for changes your team cannot make in a CMS.
For most stores, not yet. If a well-built theme can deliver your designs and pass Core Web Vitals, headless adds cost without adding sales. You would run two systems and depend on developers. It pays off for designs your theme can't handle and publishing at large scale. It also suits very high traffic, or several front ends on one engine. Our fit check tells you which applies.
You gain three things when headless fits. First, control: the front end becomes ordinary code, free of the theme's limits. Second, speed: pages built on the server and stored near visitors can pass Core Web Vitals where heavy themes struggle. Third, easier publishing: marketers use a CMS while the shop stays on its platform. The cost is more systems to run.
Usually Next.js and React for the storefront, with pages built on the server and stored for each page type. Headless Shopify through its Storefront API is the most common setup. Otherwise we build on the platform you run, with a CMS and search that suit your team and catalogue. Checkout stays on the platform, and all the code sits in accounts you own.
Done properly, it helps, with pages built on the server, faster templates and clean structured data. The risk is the move itself. Web addresses change, and a badly built headless store can show search engines empty pages. Our builds render on the server by default and carry structured data. We map every ranking web address before the switch, with redirects at each stage.
It takes longer and costs more than a theme build. Once we have a complete brief, we confirm when your proposal arrives. Plan for running costs too: front-end hosting, and developers for changes your team can't make in a CMS. The proposal lists those next to the build, because a setup you can't afford to run is a burden.
Yes. Headless builds are hard to staff, so they suit white-label work well. You keep your tools and client calls, and our developers work behind the scenes. An NDA covers it. We don't approach the clients you introduce to us for direct business, through the work and for twelve months after the last assignment for that client ends, and it's written into the agreement.
Headless means your shop front is built apart from the store platform behind it. We offer a trial build where the fit is unclear, a fixed quote for the storefront, and a retainer for the two systems you then run. For most stores, our honest advice is to keep the theme.
Indicative: every figure is refined into an itemised proposal.INR figures shown excl. GST.
Tell us what the storefront can't do today. Once we have a complete brief, we confirm the date you will receive your itemised proposal: headless if it earns its keep, the simpler route priced if it doesn't.
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