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 <arpit....@hotwaxsystems.com> 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: +1 860-391-6148 PIN: 206 921 601# > > Thanks & Regards > Arpit Mor > > > On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:41 PM Chandan Khandelwal < > chandan.khandel...@hotwaxsystems.com> 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 < >> mridul.pat...@hotwaxsystems.com> 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 <dee...@apache.org> 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 <arpit....@hotwaxsystems.com >>> > >>> > 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: +91-9098005893 > office: 0731-409-3684 > http://www.hotwaxsystems.com > -- Kind Regards, Arpit Mor Enterprise Quality Engineer *HotWax Systems* *Enterprise open source experts* cell: +91-9098005893 office: 0731-409-3684 http://www.hotwaxsystems.com
