Headless Commerce Plugin for OFBiz

[Arpit Mor]

Hi Devs,

Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic

Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what headless
commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.

What is Headless Commerce?
In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
APIs to expose core backend functionalities.

Why Headless Commerce?
Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit a
website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile apps,
smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the background.

Benefits of Headless Commerce
Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, economical,
and quick.

Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a front
and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
the backend.

Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes providing
API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This will
reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.

Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
without having to worry about changes to other components.

I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs (The
REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).

Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.

Thanks & Regards
Arpit Mor

[Ravi Lodhi]

Hello Arpit,

Thanks for bringing this to attention.

I think it's a must-have solution in the eCommerce landscape nowadays and a
very good time to consider as the support to develop REST APIs (through
JAX-RS capabilities OFBIZ-11328
<https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-11328>) is recently added in
OFBiz.

Today's digital landscape is more focused on the consumer than ever before.
People are buying experiences today, not just products, and customer's
expectations are constantly growing with every improved shopping
experience. Here Headless commerce will provide the agility to move faster
to develop more enriched and customized user experiences.  Moreover, with
the increase in the adoption of various channels (like mobile devices,
voice assistants, chatbots, and social commerce), headless commerce becomes
very essential as part of the digital transformation to stay relevant.
Headless commerce can bring a significant advantage and will definitely
increase OFBiz adoption.

+1 for the initiative. I am up for the planning and development effort.

Kind Regards,
--
Ravi Lodhi

On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hi Devs,
>
> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>
> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what headless
> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>
> What is Headless Commerce?
> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>
> Why Headless Commerce?
> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit a
> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile apps,
> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> background.
>
> Benefits of Headless Commerce
> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, economical,
> and quick.
>
> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a front
> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
> the backend.
>
> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes providing
> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This will
> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>
> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>
> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs (The
> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>
> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>
> Thanks & Regards
> Arpit Mor
>

[Mohammad Kathawala-3]

Hello Arpit,

+1 for the initiative.

Headless commerce is indeed the need of an hour. The e-commerce component
of OFBiz is tightly coupled with OFBiz design and technologies. It is
always difficult for a front-end developer to have a freedom of using
his/her preferred front end technologies and design desired UI/UX without
having to learn how to code in OFBiz.

Providing a set of REST APIs which will cover all the eCommerce features,
will make the life of front end developer much easier. This way they will
be able to get advantage of OFBiz’s backend capabilities along with their
own front end.

After having the recent REST API support in OFBiz, this definitely should
be the next step forward.

Thanks for the initiative Arpit. I will be happy to contribute in this
effort.

On Tue, 18 Aug 2020 at 8:52 PM, Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hi Devs,
>
>
>
> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>
>
>
> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
>
> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what headless
>
> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>
>
>
> What is Headless Commerce?
>
> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
>
> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
>
> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
>
> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>
>
>
> Why Headless Commerce?
>
> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
>
> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit a
>
> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
>
> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
>
> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile apps,
>
> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
>
> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
>
> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
>
> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
>
> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> background.
>
>
>
> Benefits of Headless Commerce
>
> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
>
> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, economical,
>
> and quick.
>
>
>
> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
>
> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a front
>
> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
>
> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
>
> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
>
> the backend.
>
>
>
> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes providing
>
> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
>
> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This will
>
> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>
>
>
> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
>
> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
>
> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
>
> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
>
> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
>
> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>
>
>
> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
>
> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
>
> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs (The
>
> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>
>
>
> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>
>
>
> Thanks & Regards
>
> Arpit Mor
>
> --

Kind Regards,
Mohammad Kathawala
Senior Technical Consultant
*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
cell: [phone]
office: 0731-409-3684
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com

[Pritam Kute]

Hello Arpit,

Thanks for bringing this discussion up. Nowadays, customers want their
systems to be capable of integrating with different platforms both at the
frontend and backend side. IMO, Apache OFBiz is mostly adopted by the
retail industries for their operations because of its better ERP
capabilities. As explained by Ravi and Mohammad, I also feel that the OFBiz
e-commerce capabilities are tightly coupled with the backend ERP.

So I think it is a need of the hour to have support in Apache OFBiz to
expose its functionalities using common APIs so that customers will have
flexibility in choosing the peripheral systems such as e-commerce
storefront, PWAs, etc.

+1 for a separate plugin to expose the commonly required APIs.

Kind Regards,
--
Pritam Kute


On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 10:38 PM Mohammad Kathawala <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hello Arpit,
>
> +1 for the initiative.
>
> Headless commerce is indeed the need of an hour. The e-commerce component
> of OFBiz is tightly coupled with OFBiz design and technologies. It is
> always difficult for a front-end developer to have a freedom of using
> his/her preferred front end technologies and design desired UI/UX without
> having to learn how to code in OFBiz.
>
> Providing a set of REST APIs which will cover all the eCommerce features,
> will make the life of front end developer much easier. This way they will
> be able to get advantage of OFBiz’s backend capabilities along with their
> own front end.
>
> After having the recent REST API support in OFBiz, this definitely should
> be the next step forward.
>
> Thanks for the initiative Arpit. I will be happy to contribute in this
> effort.
>
> On Tue, 18 Aug 2020 at 8:52 PM, Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Devs,
> >
> >
> >
> > Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
> >
> >
> >
> > Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
> >
> > commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
> headless
> >
> > commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
> >
> >
> >
> > What is Headless Commerce?
> >
> > In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> >
> > presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
> >
> > are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
> >
> > APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
> >
> >
> >
> > Why Headless Commerce?
> >
> > Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> >
> > touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit
> a
> >
> > website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
> >
> > Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
> >
> > devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile
> apps,
> >
> > smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> >
> > By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
> >
> > mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
> >
> > without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
> >
> > applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> > background.
> >
> >
> >
> > Benefits of Headless Commerce
> >
> > Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
> >
> > integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
> economical,
> >
> > and quick.
> >
> >
> >
> > Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
> >
> > Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a
> front
> >
> > and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> >
> > frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> >
> > personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
> >
> > the backend.
> >
> >
> >
> > Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
> providing
> >
> > API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
> >
> > various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This
> will
> >
> > reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
> >
> >
> >
> > Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
> >
> > quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
> >
> > In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
> >
> > which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
> >
> > components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
> >
> > without having to worry about changes to other components.
> >
> >
> >
> > I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
> >
> > plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
> >
> > technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs
> (The
> >
> > REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
> >
> >
> >
> > Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks & Regards
> >
> > Arpit Mor
> >
> > --
> Kind Regards,
> Mohammad Kathawala
> Senior Technical Consultant
> *HotWax Systems*
> *Enterprise open source experts*
> cell: [phone]
> office: 0731-409-3684
> http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
>

[adityasharma]

+1 Thanks Arpit for bringing this up.

I have some prior experience working on a similar assignment. Please count
me in for the development and planning efforts.

Thanks and regards,
Aditya Sharma


On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hi Devs,
>
> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>
> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what headless
> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>
> What is Headless Commerce?
> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>
> Why Headless Commerce?
> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit a
> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile apps,
> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> background.
>
> Benefits of Headless Commerce
> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, economical,
> and quick.
>
> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a front
> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
> the backend.
>
> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes providing
> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This will
> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>
> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>
> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs (The
> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>
> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>
> Thanks & Regards
> Arpit Mor
>

[Deepak Dixit-5]

Hi Arpit,

Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of headless
commerce.

I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and OFBiz
use session to maintain shoppingCart.



Thanks & Regards
--
Deepak Dixit
ofbiz.apache.org


On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hi Devs,
>
> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>
> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what headless
> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>
> What is Headless Commerce?
> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>
> Why Headless Commerce?
> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit a
> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile apps,
> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> background.
>
> Benefits of Headless Commerce
> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, economical,
> and quick.
>
> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a front
> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
> the backend.
>
> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes providing
> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This will
> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>
> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>
> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs (The
> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>
> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>
> Thanks & Regards
> Arpit Mor
>

[Mridul Pathak-4]

+1. This is a great suggestion.

OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t make it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application development. It definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever changing world of technology.

Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the long needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business processes and objects, for example shopping cart.

It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach and eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin would play a major role in this journey.

Thanks.
Mridul Pathak

> On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Hi Arpit,
>
> Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of headless
> commerce.
>
> I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
> implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
> All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and OFBiz
> use session to maintain shoppingCart.
>
>
>
> Thanks & Regards
> --
> Deepak Dixit
> ofbiz.apache.org
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Devs,
>>
>> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>>
>> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
>> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what headless
>> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>>
>> What is Headless Commerce?
>> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
>> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that both
>> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
>> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>>
>> Why Headless Commerce?
>> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
>> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to visit a
>> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
>> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
>> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile apps,
>> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
>> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
>> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated individually,
>> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
>> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
>> background.
>>
>> Benefits of Headless Commerce
>> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
>> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy, economical,
>> and quick.
>>
>> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
>> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a front
>> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
>> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
>> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes to
>> the backend.
>>
>> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes providing
>> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
>> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This will
>> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>>
>> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to respond
>> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new features.
>> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
>> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
>> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component easy
>> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>>
>> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
>> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
>> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs (The
>> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>>
>> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>>
>> Thanks & Regards
>> Arpit Mor
>>

[Chandan Khandelwal-4]

Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless
commerce plugin.

Kind Regards,
Chandan Khandelwal



On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> +1. This is a great suggestion.
>
> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere
> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t make
> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application development. It
> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever
> changing world of technology.
>
> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed to
> be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the long
> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business processes and
> objects, for example shopping cart.
>
> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat
> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach and
> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and
> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business
> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to
> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin would
> play a major role in this journey.
>
> Thanks.
> Mridul Pathak
>
>
> > On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Arpit,
> >
> > Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of
> headless
> > commerce.
> >
> > I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
> > implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
> > All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and
> OFBiz
> > use session to maintain shoppingCart.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks & Regards
> > --
> > Deepak Dixit
> > ofbiz.apache.org
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Devs,
> >>
> >> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
> >>
> >> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
> >> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
> headless
> >> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
> >>
> >> What is Headless Commerce?
> >> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> >> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that
> both
> >> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by using
> >> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
> >>
> >> Why Headless Commerce?
> >> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> >> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to
> visit a
> >> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
> >> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
> >> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile
> apps,
> >> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> >> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
> >> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated
> individually,
> >> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate frontend
> >> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> >> background.
> >>
> >> Benefits of Headless Commerce
> >> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
> >> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
> economical,
> >> and quick.
> >>
> >> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
> >> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a
> front
> >> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> >> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> >> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes
> to
> >> the backend.
> >>
> >> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
> providing
> >> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
> >> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This
> will
> >> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
> >>
> >> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to
> respond
> >> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new
> features.
> >> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
> >> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce different
> >> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component
> easy
> >> without having to worry about changes to other components.
> >>
> >> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
> >> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
> >> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs
> (The
> >> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
> >>
> >> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
> >>
> >> Thanks & Regards
> >> Arpit Mor
> >>
>
>

[Arpit Mor]

Hello Team,
So far we got the awesome replies that are giving us the clue of what we
can achieve through the Headless capabilities. Headless Commerce plugin
will definitely provide the high flexibility to use the existing eCommerce
business functions in the form of APIs.
There could be certain challenges while developing the APIs. Some of them
are indicated by Mridul and Deepak regarding ShoppingCart use that needs to
be worked upon. There could be many more but I am sure some of us (in OFBiz
community) already worked on a similar kind of solution and they will be
having much to share and guide this effort.

I propose to have a meeting to discuss this further, it will be great if
everyone interested could be part of the discussion. Please find below the
hangout meet details –
Date: 25th August 2020 6:00 PM IST, 8:30 AM EST,  1:30 PM  GMT
Join Hangout Meet: meet.google.com/pca-mitq-cgs
Join By Phone: ‪[phone]‬ PIN: ‪206 921 601#‬

Thanks & Regards
Arpit Mor


On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless
> commerce plugin.
>
> Kind Regards,
> Chandan Khandelwal
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak <
> [hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> +1. This is a great suggestion.
>>
>> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere
>> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t make
>> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application development. It
>> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever
>> changing world of technology.
>>
>> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed
>> to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the long
>> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business processes and
>> objects, for example shopping cart.
>>
>> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat
>> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach and
>> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and
>> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business
>> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to
>> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin would
>> play a major role in this journey.
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Mridul Pathak
>>
>>
>> > On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi Arpit,
>> >
>> > Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of
>> headless
>> > commerce.
>> >
>> > I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
>> > implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
>> > All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and
>> OFBiz
>> > use session to maintain shoppingCart.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Thanks & Regards
>> > --
>> > Deepak Dixit
>> > ofbiz.apache.org
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Devs,
>> >>
>> >> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>> >>
>> >> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
>> >> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
>> headless
>> >> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>> >>
>> >> What is Headless Commerce?
>> >> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
>> >> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that
>> both
>> >> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by
>> using
>> >> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>> >>
>> >> Why Headless Commerce?
>> >> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
>> >> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to
>> visit a
>> >> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet of
>> >> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
>> >> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile
>> apps,
>> >> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
>> >> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
>> >> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated
>> individually,
>> >> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate
>> frontend
>> >> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
>> >> background.
>> >>
>> >> Benefits of Headless Commerce
>> >> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
>> >> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
>> economical,
>> >> and quick.
>> >>
>> >> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
>> >> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a
>> front
>> >> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
>> >> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
>> >> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about changes
>> to
>> >> the backend.
>> >>
>> >> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
>> providing
>> >> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication between
>> >> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs. This
>> will
>> >> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>> >>
>> >> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to
>> respond
>> >> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new
>> features.
>> >> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with another
>> >> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce
>> different
>> >> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component
>> easy
>> >> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>> >>
>> >> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless commerce
>> >> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly changing
>> >> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via APIs
>> (The
>> >> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>> >>
>> >> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks & Regards
>> >> Arpit Mor
>> >>
>>
>>

--
Kind Regards,
Arpit Mor
Enterprise Quality Engineer

*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
cell: [phone]
office: 0731-409-3684
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com

[Arpit Mor]

Hi Devs,

We had a community meeting on 25th August, here is the link for the
recording of the meeting:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RSu998vsUSbnF4q_YL3MSMVpR3vql2SE/view?usp=sharing

Following members participated in the call:
• Aditya Sharma
• Arpit Mor
• Avnindra Sharma
• Mohammad Kathawala
• Mridul Pathak
• Nitish Mishra
• Pawan Verma
• Pranay Pandey
• Pritam Kute
• Ravi Lodhi

Following are the MOM details of the call:
• What is headless commerce: Decoupling of front end and backend using API
to expose core backend functionalities
• Why headless commerce is needed: Increasing number of frontend
touchpoints like apps, voice assistant, social media plugins, IoT Devices,
websites
• Benefits of headless commerce: Integration with frontend application will
be easy, economical and quick, maintenance of presentation layer will be
easy, more focus of user experience, decrease time to market of new features
• Using REST API implementation for headless commerce plugin
• Open source reference for Headless commerce: Vue Storefront, POP Commerce
• Challenges while implementing headless commerce
• Refactoring of ShoppingCart which is maintained in the session in OFBiz
will be needed
• Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as API
• Evaluate order data model approach for working with shopping cart
• Replacing shopping cart with the order data model will be very
complicated as many other backend systems (like order entry workflows,
dropship, etc) depends on the shopping cart
• We can have two implementations of the shopping cart one version will be
object-oriented while the other version will be data-driven. We can enrich
the new data-driven version with time so that is support as many use cases
as object-oriented version
• If we plan to have data-driven version of the shopping cart we can also
have data-driven version of order entry. The user will have two different
versions to choose
• For the initial proposal of headless commerce we can use the OFBiz Wiki
and once we start developing the code we can prepare ASCII doc or use
Swagger UI for API documentation as well
• Prepare a Wiki page for the list of OFBiz eCommerce features that needs
to be exposed using API
• Prepare a Wiki page for defining the list of the API endpoint that needs
to be exposed to support eCommerce features
• Define MPV for headless commerce plugin using API endpoint doc and
Ecommerce feature doc
• Initially plan headless commerce implementation with customer profile
which is simple before jumping on to more complex functionalities like a
shopping cart

Following conclusions were drawn from the meeting:
• Prepare wiki pages for a list of eCommerce feature that OFBiz provides
and list of API endpoints that need to be exposed to achieve these features
• Define MPV using the above documents and initially plan headless commerce
implementation with customer profile
• Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as API
without making many changes to it
• If it’s not possible to expose current shopping cart as API then inform
the community about it and ask their opinion on implementing a new
data-driven version of the cart while keeping object-oriented version as is

If anyone has any suggestions/questions regarding this implementation,
please let us know.

Thanks!!

On Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 12:03 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hello Team,
> So far we got the awesome replies that are giving us the clue of what we
> can achieve through the Headless capabilities. Headless Commerce plugin
> will definitely provide the high flexibility to use the existing eCommerce
> business functions in the form of APIs.
> There could be certain challenges while developing the APIs. Some of them
> are indicated by Mridul and Deepak regarding ShoppingCart use that needs to
> be worked upon. There could be many more but I am sure some of us (in OFBiz
> community) already worked on a similar kind of solution and they will be
> having much to share and guide this effort.
>
> I propose to have a meeting to discuss this further, it will be great if
> everyone interested could be part of the discussion. Please find below the
> hangout meet details –
> Date: 25th August 2020 6:00 PM IST, 8:30 AM EST,  1:30 PM  GMT
> Join Hangout Meet: meet.google.com/pca-mitq-cgs
> Join By Phone: ‪[phone]‬ PIN: ‪206 921 601#‬
>
> Thanks & Regards
> Arpit Mor
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal <
> [hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless
>> commerce plugin.
>>
>> Kind Regards,
>> Chandan Khandelwal
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak <
>> [hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>> +1. This is a great suggestion.
>>>
>>> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere
>>> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t make
>>> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application development. It
>>> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever
>>> changing world of technology.
>>>
>>> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed
>>> to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the long
>>> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business processes and
>>> objects, for example shopping cart.
>>>
>>> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat
>>> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach and
>>> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and
>>> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business
>>> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to
>>> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin would
>>> play a major role in this journey.
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>> Mridul Pathak
>>>
>>>
>>> > On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Hi Arpit,
>>> >
>>> > Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of
>>> headless
>>> > commerce.
>>> >
>>> > I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
>>> > implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
>>> > All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and
>>> OFBiz
>>> > use session to maintain shoppingCart.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Thanks & Regards
>>> > --
>>> > Deepak Dixit
>>> > ofbiz.apache.org
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]
>>> >
>>> > wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Hi Devs,
>>> >>
>>> >> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>>> >>
>>> >> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
>>> >> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
>>> headless
>>> >> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>>> >>
>>> >> What is Headless Commerce?
>>> >> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
>>> >> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that
>>> both
>>> >> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by
>>> using
>>> >> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>>> >>
>>> >> Why Headless Commerce?
>>> >> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
>>> >> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to
>>> visit a
>>> >> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet
>>> of
>>> >> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
>>> >> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile
>>> apps,
>>> >> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
>>> >> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
>>> >> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated
>>> individually,
>>> >> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate
>>> frontend
>>> >> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
>>> >> background.
>>> >>
>>> >> Benefits of Headless Commerce
>>> >> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
>>> >> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
>>> economical,
>>> >> and quick.
>>> >>
>>> >> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
>>> >> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a
>>> front
>>> >> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
>>> >> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
>>> >> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about
>>> changes to
>>> >> the backend.
>>> >>
>>> >> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
>>> providing
>>> >> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication
>>> between
>>> >> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs.
>>> This will
>>> >> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>>> >>
>>> >> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to
>>> respond
>>> >> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new
>>> features.
>>> >> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with
>>> another
>>> >> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce
>>> different
>>> >> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component
>>> easy
>>> >> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>>> >>
>>> >> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless
>>> commerce
>>> >> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly
>>> changing
>>> >> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via
>>> APIs (The
>>> >> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>>> >>
>>> >> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>>> >>
>>> >> Thanks & Regards
>>> >> Arpit Mor
>>> >>
>>>
>>>
>
> --
> Kind Regards,
> Arpit Mor
> Enterprise Quality Engineer
>
> *HotWax Systems*
> *Enterprise open source experts*
> cell: [phone]
> office: 0731-409-3684
> http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
>

--
Kind Regards,
Arpit Mor
Enterprise Quality Engineer

*HotWax Systems*
*Enterprise open source experts*
cell: [phone]
office: 0731-409-3684
http://www.hotwaxsystems.com

[Jacques Le Roux]

Thanks Arpit for this summary, much appreciated!

Jacques

Le 30/08/2020 à 16:41, Arpit Mor a écrit :

> Hi Devs,
>
> We had a community meeting on 25th August, here is the link for the
> recording of the meeting:
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RSu998vsUSbnF4q_YL3MSMVpR3vql2SE/view?usp=sharing
>
> Following members participated in the call:
> • Aditya Sharma
> • Arpit Mor
> • Avnindra Sharma
> • Mohammad Kathawala
> • Mridul Pathak
> • Nitish Mishra
> • Pawan Verma
> • Pranay Pandey
> • Pritam Kute
> • Ravi Lodhi
>
> Following are the MOM details of the call:
> • What is headless commerce: Decoupling of front end and backend using API
> to expose core backend functionalities
> • Why headless commerce is needed: Increasing number of frontend
> touchpoints like apps, voice assistant, social media plugins, IoT Devices,
> websites
> • Benefits of headless commerce: Integration with frontend application will
> be easy, economical and quick, maintenance of presentation layer will be
> easy, more focus of user experience, decrease time to market of new features
> • Using REST API implementation for headless commerce plugin
> • Open source reference for Headless commerce: Vue Storefront, POP Commerce
> • Challenges while implementing headless commerce
> • Refactoring of ShoppingCart which is maintained in the session in OFBiz
> will be needed
> • Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as API
> • Evaluate order data model approach for working with shopping cart
> • Replacing shopping cart with the order data model will be very
> complicated as many other backend systems (like order entry workflows,
> dropship, etc) depends on the shopping cart
> • We can have two implementations of the shopping cart one version will be
> object-oriented while the other version will be data-driven. We can enrich
> the new data-driven version with time so that is support as many use cases
> as object-oriented version
> • If we plan to have data-driven version of the shopping cart we can also
> have data-driven version of order entry. The user will have two different
> versions to choose
> • For the initial proposal of headless commerce we can use the OFBiz Wiki
> and once we start developing the code we can prepare ASCII doc or use
> Swagger UI for API documentation as well
> • Prepare a Wiki page for the list of OFBiz eCommerce features that needs
> to be exposed using API
> • Prepare a Wiki page for defining the list of the API endpoint that needs
> to be exposed to support eCommerce features
> • Define MPV for headless commerce plugin using API endpoint doc and
> Ecommerce feature doc
> • Initially plan headless commerce implementation with customer profile
> which is simple before jumping on to more complex functionalities like a
> shopping cart
>
> Following conclusions were drawn from the meeting:
> • Prepare wiki pages for a list of eCommerce feature that OFBiz provides
> and list of API endpoints that need to be exposed to achieve these features
> • Define MPV using the above documents and initially plan headless commerce
> implementation with customer profile
> • Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as API
> without making many changes to it
> • If it’s not possible to expose current shopping cart as API then inform
> the community about it and ask their opinion on implementing a new
> data-driven version of the cart while keeping object-oriented version as is
>
> If anyone has any suggestions/questions regarding this implementation,
> please let us know.
>
> Thanks!!
>
> On Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 12:03 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello Team,
>> So far we got the awesome replies that are giving us the clue of what we
>> can achieve through the Headless capabilities. Headless Commerce plugin
>> will definitely provide the high flexibility to use the existing eCommerce
>> business functions in the form of APIs.
>> There could be certain challenges while developing the APIs. Some of them
>> are indicated by Mridul and Deepak regarding ShoppingCart use that needs to
>> be worked upon. There could be many more but I am sure some of us (in OFBiz
>> community) already worked on a similar kind of solution and they will be
>> having much to share and guide this effort.
>>
>> I propose to have a meeting to discuss this further, it will be great if
>> everyone interested could be part of the discussion. Please find below the
>> hangout meet details –
>> Date: 25th August 2020 6:00 PM IST, 8:30 AM EST,  1:30 PM  GMT
>> Join Hangout Meet: meet.google.com/pca-mitq-cgs
>> Join By Phone: ‪[phone]‬ PIN: ‪206 921 601#‬
>>
>> Thanks & Regards
>> Arpit Mor
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal <
>> [hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless
>>> commerce plugin.
>>>
>>> Kind Regards,
>>> Chandan Khandelwal
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak <
>>> [hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> +1. This is a great suggestion.
>>>>
>>>> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere
>>>> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t make
>>>> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application development. It
>>>> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever
>>>> changing world of technology.
>>>>
>>>> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed
>>>> to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the long
>>>> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business processes and
>>>> objects, for example shopping cart.
>>>>
>>>> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat
>>>> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach and
>>>> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and
>>>> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business
>>>> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to
>>>> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin would
>>>> play a major role in this journey.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks.
>>>> Mridul Pathak
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Arpit,
>>>>>
>>>>> Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of
>>>> headless
>>>>> commerce.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
>>>>> implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
>>>>> All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and
>>>> OFBiz
>>>>> use session to maintain shoppingCart.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks & Regards
>>>>> --
>>>>> Deepak Dixit
>>>>> ofbiz.apache.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]
>>>>>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Devs,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
>>>>>> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
>>>> headless
>>>>>> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What is Headless Commerce?
>>>>>> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
>>>>>> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that
>>>> both
>>>>>> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by
>>>> using
>>>>>> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why Headless Commerce?
>>>>>> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
>>>>>> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to
>>>> visit a
>>>>>> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet
>>>> of
>>>>>> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
>>>>>> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile
>>>> apps,
>>>>>> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
>>>>>> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social commerce,
>>>>>> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated
>>>> individually,
>>>>>> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate
>>>> frontend
>>>>>> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
>>>>>> background.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Benefits of Headless Commerce
>>>>>> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless Commerce,
>>>>>> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
>>>> economical,
>>>>>> and quick.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
>>>>>> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both a
>>>> front
>>>>>> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
>>>>>> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
>>>>>> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about
>>>> changes to
>>>>>> the backend.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
>>>> providing
>>>>>> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication
>>>> between
>>>>>> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs.
>>>> This will
>>>>>> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to
>>>> respond
>>>>>> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new
>>>> features.
>>>>>> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with
>>>> another
>>>>>> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce
>>>> different
>>>>>> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component
>>>> easy
>>>>>> without having to worry about changes to other components.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless
>>>> commerce
>>>>>> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly
>>>> changing
>>>>>> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via
>>>> APIs (The
>>>>>> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks & Regards
>>>>>> Arpit Mor
>>>>>>
>>>>
>> --
>> Kind Regards,
>> Arpit Mor
>> Enterprise Quality Engineer
>>
>> *HotWax Systems*
>> *Enterprise open source experts*
>> cell: [phone]
>> office: 0731-409-3684
>> http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
>>
>

[Ravi Lodhi]

Hello Team,

As per our last community discussion on headless commerce, we decided to
prepare wiki pages to list down the eCommerce features that OFBiz provides
so that the API roadmap can be defined. I have worked on preparing those
documents. It will be great if we could get these documents reviewed by
more members of the community. Here are the docs-

*1. OOTB OFBiz eCommerce Feature Set*:  This document contains the
eCommerce features that OFBiz provides and will help us to define the API
roadmap and quick-start implementation.

Here is the Wiki Page:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/WIP%3A+OOTB+OFBiz+eCommerce+Feature+Set

*2. Headless Commerce (OFBiz) - API RoadMap: *This document contains the
API endpoints to expose the OOTB eCommerce functionalities.

Here is the Wiki Page:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/WIP%3A+Headless+Commerce+%28OFBiz%29+-+API+Roadmap

*3*. *Headless Commerce Requirement Specifications: *The purpose of this
document is to describe the standard features that a modern eCommerce
system should have. So even if it is not implemented in the OFBiz yet can
be added to this document. At the end of this effort, we can compare the
OOTB eCommerce Feature Set and the Headless Commerce specification document
to identify the gaps. It will help us to identify the new features that we
can plan to introduce in the near future.

Here is the Wiki Page:
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/WIP%3A+Headless+Commerce+Requirement+Specification

These documents are work in progress. Please feel free to share your
feedback and collaborate to further refine these documents.

Kind Regards,
--
Ravi Lodhi


On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 8:12 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hi Devs,
>
> We had a community meeting on 25th August, here is the link for the
> recording of the meeting:
>
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RSu998vsUSbnF4q_YL3MSMVpR3vql2SE/view?usp=sharing
>
> Following members participated in the call:
> • Aditya Sharma
> • Arpit Mor
> • Avnindra Sharma
> • Mohammad Kathawala
> • Mridul Pathak
> • Nitish Mishra
> • Pawan Verma
> • Pranay Pandey
> • Pritam Kute
> • Ravi Lodhi
>
> Following are the MOM details of the call:
> • What is headless commerce: Decoupling of front end and backend using API
> to expose core backend functionalities
> • Why headless commerce is needed: Increasing number of frontend
> touchpoints like apps, voice assistant, social media plugins, IoT Devices,
> websites
> • Benefits of headless commerce: Integration with frontend application will
> be easy, economical and quick, maintenance of presentation layer will be
> easy, more focus of user experience, decrease time to market of new
> features
> • Using REST API implementation for headless commerce plugin
> • Open source reference for Headless commerce: Vue Storefront, POP Commerce
> • Challenges while implementing headless commerce
> • Refactoring of ShoppingCart which is maintained in the session in OFBiz
> will be needed
> • Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as API
> • Evaluate order data model approach for working with shopping cart
> • Replacing shopping cart with the order data model will be very
> complicated as many other backend systems (like order entry workflows,
> dropship, etc) depends on the shopping cart
> • We can have two implementations of the shopping cart one version will be
> object-oriented while the other version will be data-driven. We can enrich
> the new data-driven version with time so that is support as many use cases
> as object-oriented version
> • If we plan to have data-driven version of the shopping cart we can also
> have data-driven version of order entry. The user will have two different
> versions to choose
> • For the initial proposal of headless commerce we can use the OFBiz Wiki
> and once we start developing the code we can prepare ASCII doc or use
> Swagger UI for API documentation as well
> • Prepare a Wiki page for the list of OFBiz eCommerce features that needs
> to be exposed using API
> • Prepare a Wiki page for defining the list of the API endpoint that needs
> to be exposed to support eCommerce features
> • Define MPV for headless commerce plugin using API endpoint doc and
> Ecommerce feature doc
> • Initially plan headless commerce implementation with customer profile
> which is simple before jumping on to more complex functionalities like a
> shopping cart
>
> Following conclusions were drawn from the meeting:
> • Prepare wiki pages for a list of eCommerce feature that OFBiz provides
> and list of API endpoints that need to be exposed to achieve these features
> • Define MPV using the above documents and initially plan headless commerce
> implementation with customer profile
> • Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as API
> without making many changes to it
> • If it’s not possible to expose current shopping cart as API then inform
> the community about it and ask their opinion on implementing a new
> data-driven version of the cart while keeping object-oriented version as is
>
> If anyone has any suggestions/questions regarding this implementation,
> please let us know.
>
> Thanks!!
>
> On Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 12:03 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
> > Hello Team,
> > So far we got the awesome replies that are giving us the clue of what we
> > can achieve through the Headless capabilities. Headless Commerce plugin
> > will definitely provide the high flexibility to use the existing
> eCommerce
> > business functions in the form of APIs.
> > There could be certain challenges while developing the APIs. Some of them
> > are indicated by Mridul and Deepak regarding ShoppingCart use that needs
> to
> > be worked upon. There could be many more but I am sure some of us (in
> OFBiz
> > community) already worked on a similar kind of solution and they will be
> > having much to share and guide this effort.
> >
> > I propose to have a meeting to discuss this further, it will be great if
> > everyone interested could be part of the discussion. Please find below
> the
> > hangout meet details –
> > Date: 25th August 2020 6:00 PM IST, 8:30 AM EST,  1:30 PM  GMT
> > Join Hangout Meet: meet.google.com/pca-mitq-cgs
> > Join By Phone: ‪[phone]‬ PIN: ‪206 921 601#‬
> >
> > Thanks & Regards
> > Arpit Mor
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal <
> > [hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless
> >> commerce plugin.
> >>
> >> Kind Regards,
> >> Chandan Khandelwal
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak <
> >> [hidden email]> wrote:
> >>
> >>> +1. This is a great suggestion.
> >>>
> >>> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere
> >>> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t
> make
> >>> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application
> development. It
> >>> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever
> >>> changing world of technology.
> >>>
> >>> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be addressed
> >>> to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to the
> long
> >>> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business
> processes and
> >>> objects, for example shopping cart.
> >>>
> >>> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat
> >>> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach
> and
> >>> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and
> >>> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business
> >>> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing to
> >>> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin
> would
> >>> play a major role in this journey.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks.
> >>> Mridul Pathak
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> > On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > Hi Arpit,
> >>> >
> >>> > Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of
> >>> headless
> >>> > commerce.
> >>> >
> >>> > I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per current
> >>> > implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
> >>> > All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart and
> >>> OFBiz
> >>> > use session to maintain shoppingCart.
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > Thanks & Regards
> >>> > --
> >>> > Deepak Dixit
> >>> > ofbiz.apache.org
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <
> [hidden email]
> >>> >
> >>> > wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> >> Hi Devs,
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API first
> >>> >> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
> >>> headless
> >>> >> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> What is Headless Commerce?
> >>> >> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> >>> >> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such that
> >>> both
> >>> >> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by
> >>> using
> >>> >> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Why Headless Commerce?
> >>> >> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> >>> >> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to
> >>> visit a
> >>> >> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the Internet
> >>> of
> >>> >> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like IoT
> >>> >> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms, mobile
> >>> apps,
> >>> >> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> >>> >> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social
> commerce,
> >>> >> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated
> >>> individually,
> >>> >> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate
> >>> frontend
> >>> >> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> >>> >> background.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Benefits of Headless Commerce
> >>> >> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless
> Commerce,
> >>> >> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
> >>> economical,
> >>> >> and quick.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional monolithic
> >>> >> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires both
> a
> >>> front
> >>> >> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> >>> >> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> >>> >> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about
> >>> changes to
> >>> >> the backend.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
> >>> providing
> >>> >> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication
> >>> between
> >>> >> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs.
> >>> This will
> >>> >> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to
> >>> respond
> >>> >> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new
> >>> features.
> >>> >> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with
> >>> another
> >>> >> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce
> >>> different
> >>> >> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one component
> >>> easy
> >>> >> without having to worry about changes to other components.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless
> >>> commerce
> >>> >> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly
> >>> changing
> >>> >> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via
> >>> APIs (The
> >>> >> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> Thanks & Regards
> >>> >> Arpit Mor
> >>> >>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> > --
> > Kind Regards,
> > Arpit Mor
> > Enterprise Quality Engineer
> >
> > *HotWax Systems*
> > *Enterprise open source experts*
> > cell: [phone]
> > office: 0731-409-3684
> > http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
> >
>
>
> --
> Kind Regards,
> Arpit Mor
> Enterprise Quality Engineer
>
> *HotWax Systems*
> *Enterprise open source experts*
> cell: [phone]
> office: 0731-409-3684
> http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
>

[Arpit Mor]

Thanks, Ravi for the update. The documents look awesome.

Best Regards
Arpit Mor
ENTERPRISE QUALITY ENGINEER
mobile: [phone]
email: [hidden email]
*www.hotwax.co <http://www.hotwax.co/>*


On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 6:46 PM Ravi Lodhi <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hello Team,
>
> As per our last community discussion on headless commerce, we decided to
> prepare wiki pages to list down the eCommerce features that OFBiz provides
> so that the API roadmap can be defined. I have worked on preparing those
> documents. It will be great if we could get these documents reviewed by
> more members of the community. Here are the docs-
>
> *1. OOTB OFBiz eCommerce Feature Set*:  This document contains the
> eCommerce features that OFBiz provides and will help us to define the API
> roadmap and quick-start implementation.
>
> Here is the Wiki Page:
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/WIP%3A+OOTB+OFBiz+eCommerce+Feature+Set
>
> *2. Headless Commerce (OFBiz) - API RoadMap: *This document contains the
> API endpoints to expose the OOTB eCommerce functionalities.
>
> Here is the Wiki Page:
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/WIP%3A+Headless+Commerce+%28OFBiz%29+-+API+Roadmap
>
> *3*. *Headless Commerce Requirement Specifications: *The purpose of this
> document is to describe the standard features that a modern eCommerce
> system should have. So even if it is not implemented in the OFBiz yet can
> be added to this document. At the end of this effort, we can compare the
> OOTB eCommerce Feature Set and the Headless Commerce specification document
> to identify the gaps. It will help us to identify the new features that we
> can plan to introduce in the near future.
>
> Here is the Wiki Page:
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/WIP%3A+Headless+Commerce+Requirement+Specification
>
> These documents are work in progress. Please feel free to share your
> feedback and collaborate to further refine these documents.
>
> Kind Regards,
> --
> Ravi Lodhi
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 8:12 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Devs,
> >
> > We had a community meeting on 25th August, here is the link for the
> > recording of the meeting:
> >
> >
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RSu998vsUSbnF4q_YL3MSMVpR3vql2SE/view?usp=sharing
> >
> > Following members participated in the call:
> > • Aditya Sharma
> > • Arpit Mor
> > • Avnindra Sharma
> > • Mohammad Kathawala
> > • Mridul Pathak
> > • Nitish Mishra
> > • Pawan Verma
> > • Pranay Pandey
> > • Pritam Kute
> > • Ravi Lodhi
> >
> > Following are the MOM details of the call:
> > • What is headless commerce: Decoupling of front end and backend using
> API
> > to expose core backend functionalities
> > • Why headless commerce is needed: Increasing number of frontend
> > touchpoints like apps, voice assistant, social media plugins, IoT
> Devices,
> > websites
> > • Benefits of headless commerce: Integration with frontend application
> will
> > be easy, economical and quick, maintenance of presentation layer will be
> > easy, more focus of user experience, decrease time to market of new
> > features
> > • Using REST API implementation for headless commerce plugin
> > • Open source reference for Headless commerce: Vue Storefront, POP
> Commerce
> > • Challenges while implementing headless commerce
> > • Refactoring of ShoppingCart which is maintained in the session in OFBiz
> > will be needed
> > • Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as
> API
> > • Evaluate order data model approach for working with shopping cart
> > • Replacing shopping cart with the order data model will be very
> > complicated as many other backend systems (like order entry workflows,
> > dropship, etc) depends on the shopping cart
> > • We can have two implementations of the shopping cart one version will
> be
> > object-oriented while the other version will be data-driven. We can
> enrich
> > the new data-driven version with time so that is support as many use
> cases
> > as object-oriented version
> > • If we plan to have data-driven version of the shopping cart we can also
> > have data-driven version of order entry. The user will have two different
> > versions to choose
> > • For the initial proposal of headless commerce we can use the OFBiz Wiki
> > and once we start developing the code we can prepare ASCII doc or use
> > Swagger UI for API documentation as well
> > • Prepare a Wiki page for the list of OFBiz eCommerce features that needs
> > to be exposed using API
> > • Prepare a Wiki page for defining the list of the API endpoint that
> needs
> > to be exposed to support eCommerce features
> > • Define MPV for headless commerce plugin using API endpoint doc and
> > Ecommerce feature doc
> > • Initially plan headless commerce implementation with customer profile
> > which is simple before jumping on to more complex functionalities like a
> > shopping cart
> >
> > Following conclusions were drawn from the meeting:
> > • Prepare wiki pages for a list of eCommerce feature that OFBiz provides
> > and list of API endpoints that need to be exposed to achieve these
> features
> > • Define MPV using the above documents and initially plan headless
> commerce
> > implementation with customer profile
> > • Explore if there are any ways we can expose current shopping cart as
> API
> > without making many changes to it
> > • If it’s not possible to expose current shopping cart as API then inform
> > the community about it and ask their opinion on implementing a new
> > data-driven version of the cart while keeping object-oriented version as
> is
> >
> > If anyone has any suggestions/questions regarding this implementation,
> > please let us know.
> >
> > Thanks!!
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 12:03 PM Arpit Mor <[hidden email]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hello Team,
> > > So far we got the awesome replies that are giving us the clue of what
> we
> > > can achieve through the Headless capabilities. Headless Commerce plugin
> > > will definitely provide the high flexibility to use the existing
> > eCommerce
> > > business functions in the form of APIs.
> > > There could be certain challenges while developing the APIs. Some of
> them
> > > are indicated by Mridul and Deepak regarding ShoppingCart use that
> needs
> > to
> > > be worked upon. There could be many more but I am sure some of us (in
> > OFBiz
> > > community) already worked on a similar kind of solution and they will
> be
> > > having much to share and guide this effort.
> > >
> > > I propose to have a meeting to discuss this further, it will be great
> if
> > > everyone interested could be part of the discussion. Please find below
> > the
> > > hangout meet details –
> > > Date: 25th August 2020 6:00 PM IST, 8:30 AM EST,  1:30 PM  GMT
> > > Join Hangout Meet: meet.google.com/pca-mitq-cgs
> > > Join By Phone: ‪[phone]‬ PIN: ‪206 921 601#‬
> > >
> > > Thanks & Regards
> > > Arpit Mor
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal <
> > > [hidden email]> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Thanks Arpit for this initiative and +1 for the separate headless
> > >> commerce plugin.
> > >>
> > >> Kind Regards,
> > >> Chandan Khandelwal
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM Mridul Pathak <
> > >> [hidden email]> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> +1. This is a great suggestion.
> > >>>
> > >>> OFBiz has been mainly adopted for its business applications, eCommere
> > >>> being one of the top ones. Though its tightly coupled nature doesn’t
> > make
> > >>> it well suited for the modern day web or mobile application
> > development. It
> > >>> definitely needs to be revamped to make it more relevant in this ever
> > >>> changing world of technology.
> > >>>
> > >>> Of course there will be some challenges that would need to be
> addressed
> > >>> to be able to build a truly REST API but that opens up the path to
> the
> > long
> > >>> needed refactoring/reimplementation of some of these business
> > processes and
> > >>> objects, for example shopping cart.
> > >>>
> > >>> It is high time that we start taking steps to move from somewhat
> > >>> monolithic implementation towards a more micro service based approach
> > and
> > >>> eCommerce would be a great start. Headless capabilities are must and
> > >>> dedicated plugins could be a great way to expose existing business
> > >>> functions as REST APIs in the form of micro services without needing
> to
> > >>> change the core implementation much. The newly introduced REST plugin
> > would
> > >>> play a major role in this journey.
> > >>>
> > >>> Thanks.
> > >>> Mridul Pathak
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> > On 20-Aug-2020, at 12:40 PM, Deepak Dixit <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
> > >>> >
> > >>> > Hi Arpit,
> > >>> >
> > >>> > Sounds like a plan, As now ofbiz supports rest, so we can think of
> > >>> headless
> > >>> > commerce.
> > >>> >
> > >>> > I think you need to work on the B2C ordering process, as per
> current
> > >>> > implementation it's tightly coupled with ShoppingCart.
> > >>> > All the e-commerce related processes are bound with ShoppingCart
> and
> > >>> OFBiz
> > >>> > use session to maintain shoppingCart.
> > >>> >
> > >>> >
> > >>> >
> > >>> > Thanks & Regards
> > >>> > --
> > >>> > Deepak Dixit
> > >>> > ofbiz.apache.org
> > >>> >
> > >>> >
> > >>> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:52 PM Arpit Mor <
> > [hidden email]
> > >>> >
> > >>> > wrote:
> > >>> >
> > >>> >> Hi Devs,
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Hope everyone is safe and healthy amidst Covid-19 pandemic
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Most of you might have heard about “Headless Commerce” or API
> first
> > >>> >> commerce, but in case you haven’t, here is a brief summary of what
> > >>> headless
> > >>> >> commerce is and why it is the need of the hour.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> What is Headless Commerce?
> > >>> >> In its simplest form, headless commerce is the decoupling of the
> > >>> >> presentation layer (frontend) of an eCommerce from backend such
> that
> > >>> both
> > >>> >> are able to function independently. This decoupling is achieved by
> > >>> using
> > >>> >> APIs to expose core backend functionalities.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Why Headless Commerce?
> > >>> >> Today, customers are consuming context from various channels and
> > >>> >> touch-points. Gone are the days when customers primarily needed to
> > >>> visit a
> > >>> >> website to buy online. With the rise of smartphones and the
> Internet
> > >>> of
> > >>> >> Things (IoT), customers can now shop from multiple channels like
> IoT
> > >>> >> devices, progressive web apps (PWAs), social media platforms,
> mobile
> > >>> apps,
> > >>> >> smart assistants, smart TV, kiosks, and many more.
> > >>> >> By decoupling frontend from backend - user interface, social
> > commerce,
> > >>> >> mobile apps, IoT, and many more – can be changed or updated
> > >>> individually,
> > >>> >> without interfering with backend. Data is available to separate
> > >>> frontend
> > >>> >> applications via API calls and the backend runs invisibly in the
> > >>> >> background.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Benefits of Headless Commerce
> > >>> >> Unlimited Channels and Touchpoints: With API first Headless
> > Commerce,
> > >>> >> integration with the new channels and touchpoints becomes easy,
> > >>> economical,
> > >>> >> and quick.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Innovation and Engaging User Experience: With traditional
> monolithic
> > >>> >> Commerce, making user-centric changes to your website requires
> both
> > a
> > >>> front
> > >>> >> and backend transformation. But with headless commerce, all the
> > >>> >> frontend/app developers have to focus on is user experience,
> > >>> >> personalization, and consistency without having to worry about
> > >>> changes to
> > >>> >> the backend.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Easy-to-Manage Integrations: Headless commerce not only includes
> > >>> providing
> > >>> >> API support to the frontend, but it also includes communication
> > >>> between
> > >>> >> various components (like ERP, WMS, OMS, CRM, POS, etc.) via APIs.
> > >>> This will
> > >>> >> reduce the complexity of the integration and its maintenance.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Business Agility & less time to market: Companies must be able to
> > >>> respond
> > >>> >> quickly to new market opportunities by constantly releasing new
> > >>> features.
> > >>> >> In traditional commerce, each component is tightly coupled with
> > >>> another
> > >>> >> which makes changes a complex task. But with Headless commerce
> > >>> different
> > >>> >> components communicate via APIs, which make changes to one
> component
> > >>> easy
> > >>> >> without having to worry about changes to other components.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> I’d like to put forward a suggestion for developing a headless
> > >>> commerce
> > >>> >> plugin, to keep the competitive edge of OFBiz with the rapidly
> > >>> changing
> > >>> >> technological trends by exposing core backend functionalities via
> > >>> APIs (The
> > >>> >> REST capabilities are already added to OFBiz recently).
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Looking forward to suggestions and feedback.
> > >>> >>
> > >>> >> Thanks & Regards
> > >>> >> Arpit Mor
> > >>> >>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >
> > > --
> > > Kind Regards,
> > > Arpit Mor
> > > Enterprise Quality Engineer
> > >
> > > *HotWax Systems*
> > > *Enterprise open source experts*
> > > cell: [phone]
> > > office: 0731-409-3684
> > > http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Kind Regards,
> > Arpit Mor
> > Enterprise Quality Engineer
> >
> > *HotWax Systems*
> > *Enterprise open source experts*
> > cell: [phone]
> > office: 0731-409-3684
> > http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
> >
>