One of the unexpected side effects of the pandemic has been the rise of the digital-first customer. New customers whose buying habits have entirely shifted online. In response, Adobe has announced new headless CMS capabilities to its Adobe Experience Cloud platform.
The company says these new capabilities provide developers’ tools to create and manage experiences. Specifically, new headless content management system (CMS) capabilities in Adobe Experience Manager help developers deliver content. The company has also announced new updates to the Commerce Integration Framework (CIF). This allows developers to create shoppable app-like experiences that combine content and commerce.
Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service, part of Adobe Experience Cloud, is a cloud-native solution for digital experience management. It brings together out-of-box capabilities and content customisation options that marketers and developers require. This is combined with SaaS-like agility.
The company believes developers are struggling to deliver cohesive content across every touch point. (Modern web, smart watches, native apps, etc.). That is because until now, content has been siloed and difficult for developers to easily access. Developers need access to code to create new app-like experiences that meet consumer expectations.
New headless CMS capabilities
To allow developers to support content into multiple touchpoints, Adobe has introduced GraphQL APIs for headless content delivery. GraphQL, is an industry standard, application-agnostic query language that retrieves content. It allows developers to get exactly the content they need, so that content matches the needs of their app. Additionally, queries can also return all nested content in a single call. Because fewer requests are being made in both directions and less bandwidth is being used, overall app performance improves.
Adobe Experience Manager also offers the ability to extend from headless to hybrid content delivery when needed. This allows marketing teams to collaborate with developers, which improves experiences and content velocity.
By leveraging GraphQL, developers can deliver content into any touchpoint via the framework of their choice. For example, by leveraging the GraphQL API, a mobile app developer can query for marketing content from Adobe Experience Manager. Personalised content is then sent to the app which renders its UI. A marketer can then use Experience Manager’s authoring UI to add and edit marketing content across multiple devices and touchpoints. This saves the marketer time and resources.
Integrations with Commerce Integration Framework
Adobe Experience Manager can integrate and extend commerce services from Magento and other commerce solutions through Commerce Integration Framework (CIF). CIF is built on APIs that can be easily extended. This enables a storefront authoring experience in Adobe Experience Manager with faster-time-to-market at a lower cost.
Pentair, a company, delivering smart, sustainable water solutions to homes and businesses worldwide, leveraged Adobe’s CIF. The company integrated its commerce and content solutions on time, within budget and without a single moment of service interruption.
“Integrating content and commerce solutions via created an enterprise solution for our business,” says Patrick Theimer, Pentair VP digital customer. “By leveraging the CIF, we can share properties, such as data and analytics across our brands. This provides a comprehensive experience to customers. Through this integration, we gain the efficiency and effectiveness of a shared platform across the enterprise.”
Enterprise Times: What this means for business?
A few weeks ago Adobe published a report that noted a new breed of digital-first, experience-driven customer. The report highlighted trends that can help inform digital marketing priorities and investment decisions. Companies were urged to become more agile and quick to respond to new technology and digital developments.
Brands really have to engage with audiences whose expectations have changed exponentially over the past 12 months. It is becoming essential to quickly create and reiterate customer experiences.
A big part of that is making sure customers receive the right content across the entire customer journey. App-like and immersive experiences are now a must, and at the centre of this effort are developers. Hence Adobe adding new headless CMS capabilities to its Experience Management platform. The company is correct to suggest that developers are struggling to deliver cohesive content across every touch point. Any new toolkit developments that enable developers to craft app like experiences across devices must be welcomed.
