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Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless CMS
Future of E-commerce
E-commerce Innovations
ARTICLE #33
Table of contents
Shopify Hydrogen: Is it the future of headless commerce?
Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless CMS
Future of E-commerce
E-commerce Innovations
Written by:
14 Minute read
Updated on: May 27, 2024
Toni Hukkanen
Head of Design
Creative Direction, Brand Direction
In the world of ecommerce, you might have heard discussions about a transformative trend introduced at Shopify Unite: Shopify Hydrogen. This revolutionary innovation has emerged in direct response to the increased demand for headless commerce solutions.
If you are wondering whether Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce and how Shopify merchants leverage this latest technology to maximize their business potential, we are here to answer your questions with comprehensive insights to reveal the impact of Hydrogen on your store.
What is Shopify Hydrogen?
Shopify Hydrogen is a framework to specifically build custom storefronts for Shopify stores. It's React-based, which is actually a JavaScript library to build user interfaces. It is competitive with other technologies like Gatsby, Nuxt, or Next.js. It is not widely used as compared to some other technologies, but it has certain advantages because it was developed by Shopify and works seamlessly with the backend system of Shopify.
Hydrogen provides developers with all the essential structure, components and tools they need to build fast, personalized and dynamic online shopping experiences. The primary goal is to give flexibility and ease of customization to Shopify store owners without any limitations linked with frontend development.
With the help of Hydrogen, developers can make highly customized storefronts while still taking advantage of the backend commerce functionality offered by Shopify. This ensures that store owners can get a headless approach to commerce without getting into the complex integration with external software.
At the moment, Shopify Hydrogen is an open-source project that allows developers to improve their framework over time.
Why is Shopify Hydrogen a game-changer for retailers?
For brands considering a switch to headless commerce, some might see Shopify Hydrogen announcement as a reaction to the fact that some well-reputed brands were searching for options beyond Shopify Liquid theme. These brands were trying to incorporate other headless systems with Shopify, while using Shopify only for checkout purposes. This integration made it easier for them to move to other ecommerce platforms such as Commerce Tools, BigCommerce, or Commerce Layer.
The release of Shopify Hydrogen proved to be a solution to gain the benefits of headless commerce within Shopify itself. It is also a way to prevent brands from switching platforms by giving them tools and technology to build their desired online stores in a more customizable way.
If we dig deeper into the technology, the goals and proposition of Shopify seem to be optimistic and ambitious. The aim is to keep brands deeply incorporated into the Shopify ecosystem and reduce risks linked with other headless build systems. In the past, it was important to integrate different technologies to build headless commerce.
For development, a frontend JavaScript framework like Vue.js, React or Angular
Sanity.io, Contentful, or Prismic as API based content management systems to implement in the above frameworks
Netlify or Vercel for managing deployment and hosting
By introducing Shopify Hydrogen, the process became simpler.
Hydrogen used as the base JavaScript framework
Applying Contentful or Sanity.io through native integration
Oxygen used for managing deployment and hosting
Though the efforts by Shopify are remarkable, there is still a question as to whether this solution will match up with the established players in the field.
How does Shopify Hydrogen work?
The developers of Shopify noticed that online shopping should be really fast and personalized for every user. But building a website that is both fast and personalized is a bit tricky because the use of different technologies can slow down a website.
That's where Hydrogen takes part by introducing a framework filled with different technologies to help create dynamic online shopping experiences. The best part is, that it also keeps the website super fast without making users wait for several minutes to load pages.
Shopify Hydrogen consists of a fast-paced system with special components that are commerce specific along with developer tools to build stores in an easy way.
The framework
The framework of Hydrogen includes a plugin called Vite that is useful for Server Side Rendering, client component code transformation and hydration middleware.
It acts as the set of building blocks for your online store by striking a balance between making sure everything is running smoothly and offering a great shopping experience. To offer these benefits, Hydrogen uses the highest potential of Vite and React while paying close attention to developing developer tools and optimized components.
UI components
Hydrogen has components, utilities and hooks that work as a support feature already integrated in Shopify.
To speed up the development process of the storefront, Hydrogen uses UI Components, built with Shopify data models. The direct integration of these pieces with storefront API is done to link with Shopify APIs or other third party data sources.
Starter template
Shopify also offers a starter template to help set up the basic structure of your store. The process is smooth and quick as the template has already been incorporated with Shopify and you don't need to start from scratch. You can easily skip the setup and head start customizing your storefront.
So, with Shopify Hydrogen, you can build a great shopping experience without sacrificing the performance of your site.
Why Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce?
Shopify Hydrogen has revolutionized the way online stores are built. With its cutting-edge framework that helps in creating fast speed, customizable storefronts can be integrated seamlessly with the backend system of Shopify.
No doubt, Hydrogen is shaping the future of headless commerce by offering merchants the ability to deliver exceptional shopping experiences to their customers. Here are some benefits of why Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce:
Site Performance Optimization
The most prominent benefit of headless commerce with Shopify Hydrogen is the optimized site performance. The separation of frontend from backend helps in achieving as quick as flash-loading page speed keeping the diverse content and its functions maintained within the backend.
The page load speed reduces from seconds to milliseconds with the help of Shopify Hydrogen. This also improves the Core Web Vitals of your store, making it user-friendly. So, you can deliver personalized content by customizing it in no time without affecting the server and the site's speed.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
As Hydrogen is taking control over the information provided on site, it is also helping in adjusting all aspects of SEO presence. You can dynamically create open graph images and make meta descriptions and titles to target certain keywords to improve search engine visibility. Though the default URL of Shopify looks something like /collections or /products, Hydrogen gives access to fully control the URL structures to optimize them for better SEO.
Freedom and flexibility to design
Hydrogen offers freedom and flexibility to create and customize a storefront the way you want it to be. This is done by headless commerce by separating the storefront of Shopify site from the backend that is keeping control of data and the functionality of the site.
With the design feature of Shopify Hydrogen you can make amazing UX/UI designs that perfectly offer great user experience. You can speed up the design process with the help of a page builder tool while using Hydrogen storefront. The easy and simple drag-and-drop features, starter templates and blocks for building pages make the process smooth for anyone no matter if they have coding experience or not.
You can freely update the look of your store without disrupting the backend. This is possible because the front and back ends of Shopify communicate with each other through API, unlike traditional commerce where even slight changes can cause serious problems.
Personalized commerce experience
The traditional ecommerce stores find it difficult to comply with personalized marketing strategies because there are some limitations in their setup. But Shopify Hydrogen has a separate frontend and Content Management System, so it has become easier now to implement personalized marketing strategies on any Shopify store.
Hydrogen combined with Oxygen provides a fast page loading speed while keeping the website performance at a stable level. So, you can achieve an exceptional commerce experience with them to satisfy your customers and boost store performance.
Fast Frontend Development
Using Shopify Hydrogen you can easily speed up frontend development for your Shopify store due to its solid foundation and pre-made design templates. The process gets even simpler because of the reduction in complexity of third party integrations that is usually required for custom storefronts.
Thus, Shopify Hydrogen is one of the quickest ways for stores to access advanced headless commerce features without depending on complex, lengthy and expensive developments.
Solution to scalability
When Hydrogen was not introduced by Shopify, developers faced a serious issue with site speed when experiencing a surge in traffic. Though making a fast website with low traffic isn't a complicated process, the growth in daily visitors often compromises the site's speed.
This issue is now being perfectly handled by Shopify Hydrogen along with Oxygen which offers a global hosting solution. Oxygen provides direct hosting to your Shopify store by Shopify without requiring integration of any third party hosting provider. This infrastructure has more than 100 server locations all across the globe to make sure customers experience fast loading times.
Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen together make a faster deployment of headless commerce.
What are the limitations of Hydrogen in Shopify?
Shopify Hydrogen is incredibly beneficial for several reasons, but there are some limitations too that can prove fatal setbacks to the solution of headless commerce.
It is a challenge for non-technical users
Headless commerce with Shopify Hydrogen is primarily focused on developers which makes it challenging for nontechnical users to make quick edits to the frontend of their store. Though Shopify is famous for its user-friendly interface that anyone can use to build a store without difficulty, headless commerce needs a higher level of technical knowledge as well as resources.
Lack of built-in store preview
The traditional Shopify setups allowed real-time preview of the storefront changes but with Hydrogen, only developers can set up a separate preview system. The lack of this feature has compromised the functionality of nontechnical users who want to visualize or approve changes before deployment.
App support is limited
The liquid-based Shopify storefronts can access thousands of third party apps to increase their functionality but the Hydrogen storefront is still under development. To incorporate desired functionalities, users will need to spend more time and resources in order to develop custom middleware.
Shopify Hydrogen is the game changer for headless commerce without a doubt, but there might be some complexities unsuitable for businesses with limited technical resources.
From Hydrogen to Remix
Both Hydrogen and Oxygen are ambitious projects introduced by Shopify focusing on an approach to revolutionize headless commerce. Though they have offered what they promised, there are a few things you should consider before diving in.
Hydrogen is still undergoing rapid changes and lacks established community support. It isn't a deal breaker, but having a skilled development team is crucial to handling uncertainties. Shopify has recently introduced Hydrogen 2, a better version built on the Remix framework. Remix is also React based but specializes in web standards and native web functionalities.
The future of Shopify Hydrogen seems uncertain at some points but the adoption of Remix has boosted its potential for success. It is now considered a game changer in the ecommerce world.
Who should use Shopify Hydrogen?
The framework of Shopify Hydrogen is most suitable for online stores already set up for headless commerce or planning for transition. The system is quite beneficial for businesses with strong technical users or teams. However, if your business lacks highly experienced technical teams or you don't want to get involved in the complexities of Headless commerce, then Hydrogen isn't the best recommendation for you.
Hydrogen is currently best suited for design-driven brands in search of unique user experience, medium to large established brands, businesses looking for SEO and page speed improvements along with encountering technical limitations, companies that have complicated internalization needs, and brands planning to use Omni channel strategies like in-store experiences or apps.
Though some parts and features are easy to understand, Hydrogen still requires continuous maintenance as compared to the Shopify Liquid. If you are a brand that isn't using Shopify Plus headless due to a lack of features and limited support, Hydrogen isn't your best bet. But improvements in the framework are expected and hopefully, it will become more accessible to all users.
Who is using Shopify Hydrogen?
As with any new technology, the success of Shopify Hydrogen depends on the trust and adoption by paying brands. Though the features provided initially were unknown to agencies and brands already using Shopify, it led to a cautious approach and slow uptake of this technology. However, currently, Shopify has some brands on board to showcase the capabilities of Hydrogen, but there is the possibility of observing more case studies and success stories. Here are a few intriguing examples of a few brands successfully taking advantage of Shopify Hydrogen and its potential impacts in the future.
Allbirds
Allbirds is a renowned sustainable shoe and clothing brand that has been at the forefront of the direct-to-consumer movement, taking benefits from Shopify to boost its ecommerce business. Allbirds transitioned to Shopify Hydrogen and it proved to be a vote of confidence in this innovative framework.
Allbirds faced the challenge of localizing its online presence while keeping the seamless integration maintained with physical stores. The brand revamped its online store with Shopify Hydrogen to deliver an efficient shopping experience along with streamlining its international operations. Allbirds introduced a new store locator feature in its mobile application to make it easy for customers to identify brick-and-mortar stores carrying their products in close vicinity. With Hydrogen, it possibly happened within three and a half weeks. The software engineers at Allbirds also emphasized the transformative impact of Hydrogen.
Kamp Grizzly
Kamp Grizzly is an independent agency that faced the challenge of creating an immersive website that can seamlessly integrate storytelling into the homepage, shopping experience and product detail pages. To address this issue, Kamp Grizzly turned to Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen. This move gave it a chance to construct a responsive and visually stunning website while maintaining exceptional performance.
The creativity incorporated into the website included an appealing homepage collage, an abstract grid for product landing pages, a product landing page grid resembling museum exhibits and versatile components for archiving collections. The inclusion of Hydrogen and Oxygen offered several benefits.
The React based framework’s ability to analyze quick changes during development made the process easier and faster. The combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen optimized the storefront for a fast user experience. It became obvious that the site can be managed and updated efficiently over the long term.
Fashiontofigure
Fashiontofigure is one of the prime examples of how Shopify Hydrogen can be used in the most effective way. This online store has a speciality in offering trendy plus size fashion along with beautifully designed and perfectly fitting clothes for all body types. While selling clothes and accessories, the store also gives an advantage to its customers to rent items for a flat monthly fee.
The design of the website is simple yet elegant. The main focus is on simplicity to ensure quick and easy navigation for customers to find what they are looking for. The fast loading speed ensures a seamless buying experience for visitors.
Goodnature
Goodnature is another excellent example of a website powered by Shopify Hydrogen suitable to meet customers' needs. The company aims to revolutionize pest control with the help of innovative traps. It was founded by Robbie and Craig who began with 50 different ways to combat rats in the wilderness of New Zealand. Currently, there are over 60 members in the team who have distributed around 500,000 traps around the globe making it easy for farmers, businesses, environmentalists and homeowners to manage invasive species.
Shopify Hydrogen has helped design a clear and easy to navigate site to facilitate customers to find the products they are searching for in the quickest possible way. There are categories and subcategories for great user experience. The loading speed is also fast, helping to improve its search engine rankings. The visuals, high-quality product images and the way products are showcased all make it one of the best websites that is using Shopify hydrogen.
SKIMS
SKIMS is another well-known brand for its remarkable solutions in loungewear, shapewear and undergarments. The website is also powered by Shopify Hydrogen and offers an excellent user experience.
This website boasts a captivating design with high quality product images and a consistent brand aesthetic that ensures an engaging browsing experience. The products have detailed information including fabric details, size charts, and available colors, that together become a source of an informed purchase decision.
SKIMS website has fast page loading speed and responsive browsing experience. These features boost user satisfaction and make shopping seamless. Though this website is another prime example of showcasing the capabilities of Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen, there is still room for a few improvements in UX design.
Will Hydrogen replace Liquid Shopify?
Hydrogen and Liquid are both integral parts of the system of Shopify, but they have different purposes, advantages and limitations.
Shopify Liquid
Liquid is Shopify’s template language useful in building web pages with a combination of static and dynamic content. The Static content remains the same on multiple pages while dynamic content changes from one page to the next.
The template uses a paint-by-numbers approach that allows developers to reuse static elements all across pages while adding dynamic data from the Shopify store. Though Liquid is relatively easy to set up and offers some amazing customization options, it has some limitations in storefront customization and performance and it is time-consuming.
Shopify Hydrogen
Hydrogen is a React based framework specifically designed to build headless storefronts of Shopify. It facilitates developers with ready made tools and components to make custom storefronts that can deliver the best user experience.
Unlike Liquid, Hydrogen gives access to unlimited customization options and can easily be connected with third party services through APIs. The enhanced performance and flexibility are also possible through Hydrogen for headless Shopify.
Though Liquid is the backbone of Shopify's themes, Hydrogen is proven to be the next-generation solution for storefront development. The customization options and top notch performance make it a strong contender to replace Liquid in the long run. However, both Liquid and Hydrogen are open source and available for use which makes it easy for developers to find the best solution based on their specific needs and preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shopify Oxygen?
Shopify Oxygen is a hosting service provided by Shopify to simplify the process of hosting custom storefronts within the platform. In the past, the store owners using traditional hosting solutions had to rely on third party hosting providers, but Shopify Oxygen has allowed them to host their Hydrogen-powered storefronts directly on the server of Shopify.
It has made the process easier and helped in avoiding complexities and potential compatibility issues linked with integration of third party hosting services. As Oxygen is built and maintained by Shopify, all users can expect a high level of reliability.
The possibility of enhanced customer support is another advantage of Oxygen. The support team of Shopify assists store owners in resolving hosting-related issues. This level of support, compatibility and reliability is invaluable for store owners who lack extensive technical expertise.
Do you need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen?
No, you don't need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen. As Hydrogen is an open-source framework available for all Shopify users, its use is not restricted to Shopify Plus customers. However, Shopify Plus users can host their Hydrogen app on Shopify Oxygen as it is the platform that provides hosting solutions.
How much does Shopify Hydrogen cost?
As Shopify Hydrogen is an open source React-based framework offered by Shopify, it doesn't have any direct cost associated with it for developers to build custom storefronts for headless commerce websites. Similarly, Shopify Oxygen also comes at no additional cost as it is publicly available.
However, to access the complimentary hosting offered by Shopify for Hydrogen, stores need a Shopify Plus subscription. So, the Hydrogen framework and Oxygen hosting service are free but store owners will need to subscribe to Shopify Plus to access the free hosting.
The core components of Hydrogen and Oxygen are also free but third party service providers and additional tools are needed to leverage APIs for a better shopping experience. These integrations and tools will have their associated costs.
Wrapping Up
Shopify Hydrogen presents a promising future for headless commerce due to its widespread adoption and long-term success which basically depends on varying factors like brand requirements, developer expertise and market dynamics. But focusing on the powerful features, potential impacts and flexibility of Shopify Hydrogen, it is well positioned to play a crucial role in shaping the future of headless commerce. It is worth paying attention to how this platform will evolve in the coming years.
ARTICLE #33
Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless CMS
Future of E-commerce
E-commerce Innovations
ARTICLE #33
Table of contents
Shopify Hydrogen: Is it the future of headless commerce?
Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless CMS
Future of E-commerce
E-commerce Innovations
Written by:
14 Minute read
Updated on: May 27, 2024
Toni Hukkanen
Head of Design
Creative Direction, Brand Direction
In the world of ecommerce, you might have heard discussions about a transformative trend introduced at Shopify Unite: Shopify Hydrogen. This revolutionary innovation has emerged in direct response to the increased demand for headless commerce solutions.
If you are wondering whether Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce and how Shopify merchants leverage this latest technology to maximize their business potential, we are here to answer your questions with comprehensive insights to reveal the impact of Hydrogen on your store.
What is Shopify Hydrogen?
Shopify Hydrogen is a framework to specifically build custom storefronts for Shopify stores. It's React-based, which is actually a JavaScript library to build user interfaces. It is competitive with other technologies like Gatsby, Nuxt, or Next.js. It is not widely used as compared to some other technologies, but it has certain advantages because it was developed by Shopify and works seamlessly with the backend system of Shopify.
Hydrogen provides developers with all the essential structure, components and tools they need to build fast, personalized and dynamic online shopping experiences. The primary goal is to give flexibility and ease of customization to Shopify store owners without any limitations linked with frontend development.
With the help of Hydrogen, developers can make highly customized storefronts while still taking advantage of the backend commerce functionality offered by Shopify. This ensures that store owners can get a headless approach to commerce without getting into the complex integration with external software.
At the moment, Shopify Hydrogen is an open-source project that allows developers to improve their framework over time.
Why is Shopify Hydrogen a game-changer for retailers?
For brands considering a switch to headless commerce, some might see Shopify Hydrogen announcement as a reaction to the fact that some well-reputed brands were searching for options beyond Shopify Liquid theme. These brands were trying to incorporate other headless systems with Shopify, while using Shopify only for checkout purposes. This integration made it easier for them to move to other ecommerce platforms such as Commerce Tools, BigCommerce, or Commerce Layer.
The release of Shopify Hydrogen proved to be a solution to gain the benefits of headless commerce within Shopify itself. It is also a way to prevent brands from switching platforms by giving them tools and technology to build their desired online stores in a more customizable way.
If we dig deeper into the technology, the goals and proposition of Shopify seem to be optimistic and ambitious. The aim is to keep brands deeply incorporated into the Shopify ecosystem and reduce risks linked with other headless build systems. In the past, it was important to integrate different technologies to build headless commerce.
For development, a frontend JavaScript framework like Vue.js, React or Angular
Sanity.io, Contentful, or Prismic as API based content management systems to implement in the above frameworks
Netlify or Vercel for managing deployment and hosting
By introducing Shopify Hydrogen, the process became simpler.
Hydrogen used as the base JavaScript framework
Applying Contentful or Sanity.io through native integration
Oxygen used for managing deployment and hosting
Though the efforts by Shopify are remarkable, there is still a question as to whether this solution will match up with the established players in the field.
How does Shopify Hydrogen work?
The developers of Shopify noticed that online shopping should be really fast and personalized for every user. But building a website that is both fast and personalized is a bit tricky because the use of different technologies can slow down a website.
That's where Hydrogen takes part by introducing a framework filled with different technologies to help create dynamic online shopping experiences. The best part is, that it also keeps the website super fast without making users wait for several minutes to load pages.
Shopify Hydrogen consists of a fast-paced system with special components that are commerce specific along with developer tools to build stores in an easy way.
The framework
The framework of Hydrogen includes a plugin called Vite that is useful for Server Side Rendering, client component code transformation and hydration middleware.
It acts as the set of building blocks for your online store by striking a balance between making sure everything is running smoothly and offering a great shopping experience. To offer these benefits, Hydrogen uses the highest potential of Vite and React while paying close attention to developing developer tools and optimized components.
UI components
Hydrogen has components, utilities and hooks that work as a support feature already integrated in Shopify.
To speed up the development process of the storefront, Hydrogen uses UI Components, built with Shopify data models. The direct integration of these pieces with storefront API is done to link with Shopify APIs or other third party data sources.
Starter template
Shopify also offers a starter template to help set up the basic structure of your store. The process is smooth and quick as the template has already been incorporated with Shopify and you don't need to start from scratch. You can easily skip the setup and head start customizing your storefront.
So, with Shopify Hydrogen, you can build a great shopping experience without sacrificing the performance of your site.
Why Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce?
Shopify Hydrogen has revolutionized the way online stores are built. With its cutting-edge framework that helps in creating fast speed, customizable storefronts can be integrated seamlessly with the backend system of Shopify.
No doubt, Hydrogen is shaping the future of headless commerce by offering merchants the ability to deliver exceptional shopping experiences to their customers. Here are some benefits of why Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce:
Site Performance Optimization
The most prominent benefit of headless commerce with Shopify Hydrogen is the optimized site performance. The separation of frontend from backend helps in achieving as quick as flash-loading page speed keeping the diverse content and its functions maintained within the backend.
The page load speed reduces from seconds to milliseconds with the help of Shopify Hydrogen. This also improves the Core Web Vitals of your store, making it user-friendly. So, you can deliver personalized content by customizing it in no time without affecting the server and the site's speed.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
As Hydrogen is taking control over the information provided on site, it is also helping in adjusting all aspects of SEO presence. You can dynamically create open graph images and make meta descriptions and titles to target certain keywords to improve search engine visibility. Though the default URL of Shopify looks something like /collections or /products, Hydrogen gives access to fully control the URL structures to optimize them for better SEO.
Freedom and flexibility to design
Hydrogen offers freedom and flexibility to create and customize a storefront the way you want it to be. This is done by headless commerce by separating the storefront of Shopify site from the backend that is keeping control of data and the functionality of the site.
With the design feature of Shopify Hydrogen you can make amazing UX/UI designs that perfectly offer great user experience. You can speed up the design process with the help of a page builder tool while using Hydrogen storefront. The easy and simple drag-and-drop features, starter templates and blocks for building pages make the process smooth for anyone no matter if they have coding experience or not.
You can freely update the look of your store without disrupting the backend. This is possible because the front and back ends of Shopify communicate with each other through API, unlike traditional commerce where even slight changes can cause serious problems.
Personalized commerce experience
The traditional ecommerce stores find it difficult to comply with personalized marketing strategies because there are some limitations in their setup. But Shopify Hydrogen has a separate frontend and Content Management System, so it has become easier now to implement personalized marketing strategies on any Shopify store.
Hydrogen combined with Oxygen provides a fast page loading speed while keeping the website performance at a stable level. So, you can achieve an exceptional commerce experience with them to satisfy your customers and boost store performance.
Fast Frontend Development
Using Shopify Hydrogen you can easily speed up frontend development for your Shopify store due to its solid foundation and pre-made design templates. The process gets even simpler because of the reduction in complexity of third party integrations that is usually required for custom storefronts.
Thus, Shopify Hydrogen is one of the quickest ways for stores to access advanced headless commerce features without depending on complex, lengthy and expensive developments.
Solution to scalability
When Hydrogen was not introduced by Shopify, developers faced a serious issue with site speed when experiencing a surge in traffic. Though making a fast website with low traffic isn't a complicated process, the growth in daily visitors often compromises the site's speed.
This issue is now being perfectly handled by Shopify Hydrogen along with Oxygen which offers a global hosting solution. Oxygen provides direct hosting to your Shopify store by Shopify without requiring integration of any third party hosting provider. This infrastructure has more than 100 server locations all across the globe to make sure customers experience fast loading times.
Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen together make a faster deployment of headless commerce.
What are the limitations of Hydrogen in Shopify?
Shopify Hydrogen is incredibly beneficial for several reasons, but there are some limitations too that can prove fatal setbacks to the solution of headless commerce.
It is a challenge for non-technical users
Headless commerce with Shopify Hydrogen is primarily focused on developers which makes it challenging for nontechnical users to make quick edits to the frontend of their store. Though Shopify is famous for its user-friendly interface that anyone can use to build a store without difficulty, headless commerce needs a higher level of technical knowledge as well as resources.
Lack of built-in store preview
The traditional Shopify setups allowed real-time preview of the storefront changes but with Hydrogen, only developers can set up a separate preview system. The lack of this feature has compromised the functionality of nontechnical users who want to visualize or approve changes before deployment.
App support is limited
The liquid-based Shopify storefronts can access thousands of third party apps to increase their functionality but the Hydrogen storefront is still under development. To incorporate desired functionalities, users will need to spend more time and resources in order to develop custom middleware.
Shopify Hydrogen is the game changer for headless commerce without a doubt, but there might be some complexities unsuitable for businesses with limited technical resources.
From Hydrogen to Remix
Both Hydrogen and Oxygen are ambitious projects introduced by Shopify focusing on an approach to revolutionize headless commerce. Though they have offered what they promised, there are a few things you should consider before diving in.
Hydrogen is still undergoing rapid changes and lacks established community support. It isn't a deal breaker, but having a skilled development team is crucial to handling uncertainties. Shopify has recently introduced Hydrogen 2, a better version built on the Remix framework. Remix is also React based but specializes in web standards and native web functionalities.
The future of Shopify Hydrogen seems uncertain at some points but the adoption of Remix has boosted its potential for success. It is now considered a game changer in the ecommerce world.
Who should use Shopify Hydrogen?
The framework of Shopify Hydrogen is most suitable for online stores already set up for headless commerce or planning for transition. The system is quite beneficial for businesses with strong technical users or teams. However, if your business lacks highly experienced technical teams or you don't want to get involved in the complexities of Headless commerce, then Hydrogen isn't the best recommendation for you.
Hydrogen is currently best suited for design-driven brands in search of unique user experience, medium to large established brands, businesses looking for SEO and page speed improvements along with encountering technical limitations, companies that have complicated internalization needs, and brands planning to use Omni channel strategies like in-store experiences or apps.
Though some parts and features are easy to understand, Hydrogen still requires continuous maintenance as compared to the Shopify Liquid. If you are a brand that isn't using Shopify Plus headless due to a lack of features and limited support, Hydrogen isn't your best bet. But improvements in the framework are expected and hopefully, it will become more accessible to all users.
Who is using Shopify Hydrogen?
As with any new technology, the success of Shopify Hydrogen depends on the trust and adoption by paying brands. Though the features provided initially were unknown to agencies and brands already using Shopify, it led to a cautious approach and slow uptake of this technology. However, currently, Shopify has some brands on board to showcase the capabilities of Hydrogen, but there is the possibility of observing more case studies and success stories. Here are a few intriguing examples of a few brands successfully taking advantage of Shopify Hydrogen and its potential impacts in the future.
Allbirds
Allbirds is a renowned sustainable shoe and clothing brand that has been at the forefront of the direct-to-consumer movement, taking benefits from Shopify to boost its ecommerce business. Allbirds transitioned to Shopify Hydrogen and it proved to be a vote of confidence in this innovative framework.
Allbirds faced the challenge of localizing its online presence while keeping the seamless integration maintained with physical stores. The brand revamped its online store with Shopify Hydrogen to deliver an efficient shopping experience along with streamlining its international operations. Allbirds introduced a new store locator feature in its mobile application to make it easy for customers to identify brick-and-mortar stores carrying their products in close vicinity. With Hydrogen, it possibly happened within three and a half weeks. The software engineers at Allbirds also emphasized the transformative impact of Hydrogen.
Kamp Grizzly
Kamp Grizzly is an independent agency that faced the challenge of creating an immersive website that can seamlessly integrate storytelling into the homepage, shopping experience and product detail pages. To address this issue, Kamp Grizzly turned to Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen. This move gave it a chance to construct a responsive and visually stunning website while maintaining exceptional performance.
The creativity incorporated into the website included an appealing homepage collage, an abstract grid for product landing pages, a product landing page grid resembling museum exhibits and versatile components for archiving collections. The inclusion of Hydrogen and Oxygen offered several benefits.
The React based framework’s ability to analyze quick changes during development made the process easier and faster. The combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen optimized the storefront for a fast user experience. It became obvious that the site can be managed and updated efficiently over the long term.
Fashiontofigure
Fashiontofigure is one of the prime examples of how Shopify Hydrogen can be used in the most effective way. This online store has a speciality in offering trendy plus size fashion along with beautifully designed and perfectly fitting clothes for all body types. While selling clothes and accessories, the store also gives an advantage to its customers to rent items for a flat monthly fee.
The design of the website is simple yet elegant. The main focus is on simplicity to ensure quick and easy navigation for customers to find what they are looking for. The fast loading speed ensures a seamless buying experience for visitors.
Goodnature
Goodnature is another excellent example of a website powered by Shopify Hydrogen suitable to meet customers' needs. The company aims to revolutionize pest control with the help of innovative traps. It was founded by Robbie and Craig who began with 50 different ways to combat rats in the wilderness of New Zealand. Currently, there are over 60 members in the team who have distributed around 500,000 traps around the globe making it easy for farmers, businesses, environmentalists and homeowners to manage invasive species.
Shopify Hydrogen has helped design a clear and easy to navigate site to facilitate customers to find the products they are searching for in the quickest possible way. There are categories and subcategories for great user experience. The loading speed is also fast, helping to improve its search engine rankings. The visuals, high-quality product images and the way products are showcased all make it one of the best websites that is using Shopify hydrogen.
SKIMS
SKIMS is another well-known brand for its remarkable solutions in loungewear, shapewear and undergarments. The website is also powered by Shopify Hydrogen and offers an excellent user experience.
This website boasts a captivating design with high quality product images and a consistent brand aesthetic that ensures an engaging browsing experience. The products have detailed information including fabric details, size charts, and available colors, that together become a source of an informed purchase decision.
SKIMS website has fast page loading speed and responsive browsing experience. These features boost user satisfaction and make shopping seamless. Though this website is another prime example of showcasing the capabilities of Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen, there is still room for a few improvements in UX design.
Will Hydrogen replace Liquid Shopify?
Hydrogen and Liquid are both integral parts of the system of Shopify, but they have different purposes, advantages and limitations.
Shopify Liquid
Liquid is Shopify’s template language useful in building web pages with a combination of static and dynamic content. The Static content remains the same on multiple pages while dynamic content changes from one page to the next.
The template uses a paint-by-numbers approach that allows developers to reuse static elements all across pages while adding dynamic data from the Shopify store. Though Liquid is relatively easy to set up and offers some amazing customization options, it has some limitations in storefront customization and performance and it is time-consuming.
Shopify Hydrogen
Hydrogen is a React based framework specifically designed to build headless storefronts of Shopify. It facilitates developers with ready made tools and components to make custom storefronts that can deliver the best user experience.
Unlike Liquid, Hydrogen gives access to unlimited customization options and can easily be connected with third party services through APIs. The enhanced performance and flexibility are also possible through Hydrogen for headless Shopify.
Though Liquid is the backbone of Shopify's themes, Hydrogen is proven to be the next-generation solution for storefront development. The customization options and top notch performance make it a strong contender to replace Liquid in the long run. However, both Liquid and Hydrogen are open source and available for use which makes it easy for developers to find the best solution based on their specific needs and preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shopify Oxygen?
Shopify Oxygen is a hosting service provided by Shopify to simplify the process of hosting custom storefronts within the platform. In the past, the store owners using traditional hosting solutions had to rely on third party hosting providers, but Shopify Oxygen has allowed them to host their Hydrogen-powered storefronts directly on the server of Shopify.
It has made the process easier and helped in avoiding complexities and potential compatibility issues linked with integration of third party hosting services. As Oxygen is built and maintained by Shopify, all users can expect a high level of reliability.
The possibility of enhanced customer support is another advantage of Oxygen. The support team of Shopify assists store owners in resolving hosting-related issues. This level of support, compatibility and reliability is invaluable for store owners who lack extensive technical expertise.
Do you need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen?
No, you don't need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen. As Hydrogen is an open-source framework available for all Shopify users, its use is not restricted to Shopify Plus customers. However, Shopify Plus users can host their Hydrogen app on Shopify Oxygen as it is the platform that provides hosting solutions.
How much does Shopify Hydrogen cost?
As Shopify Hydrogen is an open source React-based framework offered by Shopify, it doesn't have any direct cost associated with it for developers to build custom storefronts for headless commerce websites. Similarly, Shopify Oxygen also comes at no additional cost as it is publicly available.
However, to access the complimentary hosting offered by Shopify for Hydrogen, stores need a Shopify Plus subscription. So, the Hydrogen framework and Oxygen hosting service are free but store owners will need to subscribe to Shopify Plus to access the free hosting.
The core components of Hydrogen and Oxygen are also free but third party service providers and additional tools are needed to leverage APIs for a better shopping experience. These integrations and tools will have their associated costs.
Wrapping Up
Shopify Hydrogen presents a promising future for headless commerce due to its widespread adoption and long-term success which basically depends on varying factors like brand requirements, developer expertise and market dynamics. But focusing on the powerful features, potential impacts and flexibility of Shopify Hydrogen, it is well positioned to play a crucial role in shaping the future of headless commerce. It is worth paying attention to how this platform will evolve in the coming years.
ARTICLE #33
Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless CMS
Future of E-commerce
E-commerce Innovations
ARTICLE #33
Table of contents
Shopify Hydrogen: Is it the future of headless commerce?
Headless Commerce
Shopify Development
Headless CMS
Future of E-commerce
E-commerce Innovations
Written by:
14 Minute read
Updated on: May 27, 2024
Toni Hukkanen
Head of Design
Creative Direction, Brand Direction
In the world of ecommerce, you might have heard discussions about a transformative trend introduced at Shopify Unite: Shopify Hydrogen. This revolutionary innovation has emerged in direct response to the increased demand for headless commerce solutions.
If you are wondering whether Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce and how Shopify merchants leverage this latest technology to maximize their business potential, we are here to answer your questions with comprehensive insights to reveal the impact of Hydrogen on your store.
What is Shopify Hydrogen?
Shopify Hydrogen is a framework to specifically build custom storefronts for Shopify stores. It's React-based, which is actually a JavaScript library to build user interfaces. It is competitive with other technologies like Gatsby, Nuxt, or Next.js. It is not widely used as compared to some other technologies, but it has certain advantages because it was developed by Shopify and works seamlessly with the backend system of Shopify.
Hydrogen provides developers with all the essential structure, components and tools they need to build fast, personalized and dynamic online shopping experiences. The primary goal is to give flexibility and ease of customization to Shopify store owners without any limitations linked with frontend development.
With the help of Hydrogen, developers can make highly customized storefronts while still taking advantage of the backend commerce functionality offered by Shopify. This ensures that store owners can get a headless approach to commerce without getting into the complex integration with external software.
At the moment, Shopify Hydrogen is an open-source project that allows developers to improve their framework over time.
Why is Shopify Hydrogen a game-changer for retailers?
For brands considering a switch to headless commerce, some might see Shopify Hydrogen announcement as a reaction to the fact that some well-reputed brands were searching for options beyond Shopify Liquid theme. These brands were trying to incorporate other headless systems with Shopify, while using Shopify only for checkout purposes. This integration made it easier for them to move to other ecommerce platforms such as Commerce Tools, BigCommerce, or Commerce Layer.
The release of Shopify Hydrogen proved to be a solution to gain the benefits of headless commerce within Shopify itself. It is also a way to prevent brands from switching platforms by giving them tools and technology to build their desired online stores in a more customizable way.
If we dig deeper into the technology, the goals and proposition of Shopify seem to be optimistic and ambitious. The aim is to keep brands deeply incorporated into the Shopify ecosystem and reduce risks linked with other headless build systems. In the past, it was important to integrate different technologies to build headless commerce.
For development, a frontend JavaScript framework like Vue.js, React or Angular
Sanity.io, Contentful, or Prismic as API based content management systems to implement in the above frameworks
Netlify or Vercel for managing deployment and hosting
By introducing Shopify Hydrogen, the process became simpler.
Hydrogen used as the base JavaScript framework
Applying Contentful or Sanity.io through native integration
Oxygen used for managing deployment and hosting
Though the efforts by Shopify are remarkable, there is still a question as to whether this solution will match up with the established players in the field.
How does Shopify Hydrogen work?
The developers of Shopify noticed that online shopping should be really fast and personalized for every user. But building a website that is both fast and personalized is a bit tricky because the use of different technologies can slow down a website.
That's where Hydrogen takes part by introducing a framework filled with different technologies to help create dynamic online shopping experiences. The best part is, that it also keeps the website super fast without making users wait for several minutes to load pages.
Shopify Hydrogen consists of a fast-paced system with special components that are commerce specific along with developer tools to build stores in an easy way.
The framework
The framework of Hydrogen includes a plugin called Vite that is useful for Server Side Rendering, client component code transformation and hydration middleware.
It acts as the set of building blocks for your online store by striking a balance between making sure everything is running smoothly and offering a great shopping experience. To offer these benefits, Hydrogen uses the highest potential of Vite and React while paying close attention to developing developer tools and optimized components.
UI components
Hydrogen has components, utilities and hooks that work as a support feature already integrated in Shopify.
To speed up the development process of the storefront, Hydrogen uses UI Components, built with Shopify data models. The direct integration of these pieces with storefront API is done to link with Shopify APIs or other third party data sources.
Starter template
Shopify also offers a starter template to help set up the basic structure of your store. The process is smooth and quick as the template has already been incorporated with Shopify and you don't need to start from scratch. You can easily skip the setup and head start customizing your storefront.
So, with Shopify Hydrogen, you can build a great shopping experience without sacrificing the performance of your site.
Why Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce?
Shopify Hydrogen has revolutionized the way online stores are built. With its cutting-edge framework that helps in creating fast speed, customizable storefronts can be integrated seamlessly with the backend system of Shopify.
No doubt, Hydrogen is shaping the future of headless commerce by offering merchants the ability to deliver exceptional shopping experiences to their customers. Here are some benefits of why Shopify Hydrogen is the future of headless commerce:
Site Performance Optimization
The most prominent benefit of headless commerce with Shopify Hydrogen is the optimized site performance. The separation of frontend from backend helps in achieving as quick as flash-loading page speed keeping the diverse content and its functions maintained within the backend.
The page load speed reduces from seconds to milliseconds with the help of Shopify Hydrogen. This also improves the Core Web Vitals of your store, making it user-friendly. So, you can deliver personalized content by customizing it in no time without affecting the server and the site's speed.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
As Hydrogen is taking control over the information provided on site, it is also helping in adjusting all aspects of SEO presence. You can dynamically create open graph images and make meta descriptions and titles to target certain keywords to improve search engine visibility. Though the default URL of Shopify looks something like /collections or /products, Hydrogen gives access to fully control the URL structures to optimize them for better SEO.
Freedom and flexibility to design
Hydrogen offers freedom and flexibility to create and customize a storefront the way you want it to be. This is done by headless commerce by separating the storefront of Shopify site from the backend that is keeping control of data and the functionality of the site.
With the design feature of Shopify Hydrogen you can make amazing UX/UI designs that perfectly offer great user experience. You can speed up the design process with the help of a page builder tool while using Hydrogen storefront. The easy and simple drag-and-drop features, starter templates and blocks for building pages make the process smooth for anyone no matter if they have coding experience or not.
You can freely update the look of your store without disrupting the backend. This is possible because the front and back ends of Shopify communicate with each other through API, unlike traditional commerce where even slight changes can cause serious problems.
Personalized commerce experience
The traditional ecommerce stores find it difficult to comply with personalized marketing strategies because there are some limitations in their setup. But Shopify Hydrogen has a separate frontend and Content Management System, so it has become easier now to implement personalized marketing strategies on any Shopify store.
Hydrogen combined with Oxygen provides a fast page loading speed while keeping the website performance at a stable level. So, you can achieve an exceptional commerce experience with them to satisfy your customers and boost store performance.
Fast Frontend Development
Using Shopify Hydrogen you can easily speed up frontend development for your Shopify store due to its solid foundation and pre-made design templates. The process gets even simpler because of the reduction in complexity of third party integrations that is usually required for custom storefronts.
Thus, Shopify Hydrogen is one of the quickest ways for stores to access advanced headless commerce features without depending on complex, lengthy and expensive developments.
Solution to scalability
When Hydrogen was not introduced by Shopify, developers faced a serious issue with site speed when experiencing a surge in traffic. Though making a fast website with low traffic isn't a complicated process, the growth in daily visitors often compromises the site's speed.
This issue is now being perfectly handled by Shopify Hydrogen along with Oxygen which offers a global hosting solution. Oxygen provides direct hosting to your Shopify store by Shopify without requiring integration of any third party hosting provider. This infrastructure has more than 100 server locations all across the globe to make sure customers experience fast loading times.
Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen together make a faster deployment of headless commerce.
What are the limitations of Hydrogen in Shopify?
Shopify Hydrogen is incredibly beneficial for several reasons, but there are some limitations too that can prove fatal setbacks to the solution of headless commerce.
It is a challenge for non-technical users
Headless commerce with Shopify Hydrogen is primarily focused on developers which makes it challenging for nontechnical users to make quick edits to the frontend of their store. Though Shopify is famous for its user-friendly interface that anyone can use to build a store without difficulty, headless commerce needs a higher level of technical knowledge as well as resources.
Lack of built-in store preview
The traditional Shopify setups allowed real-time preview of the storefront changes but with Hydrogen, only developers can set up a separate preview system. The lack of this feature has compromised the functionality of nontechnical users who want to visualize or approve changes before deployment.
App support is limited
The liquid-based Shopify storefronts can access thousands of third party apps to increase their functionality but the Hydrogen storefront is still under development. To incorporate desired functionalities, users will need to spend more time and resources in order to develop custom middleware.
Shopify Hydrogen is the game changer for headless commerce without a doubt, but there might be some complexities unsuitable for businesses with limited technical resources.
From Hydrogen to Remix
Both Hydrogen and Oxygen are ambitious projects introduced by Shopify focusing on an approach to revolutionize headless commerce. Though they have offered what they promised, there are a few things you should consider before diving in.
Hydrogen is still undergoing rapid changes and lacks established community support. It isn't a deal breaker, but having a skilled development team is crucial to handling uncertainties. Shopify has recently introduced Hydrogen 2, a better version built on the Remix framework. Remix is also React based but specializes in web standards and native web functionalities.
The future of Shopify Hydrogen seems uncertain at some points but the adoption of Remix has boosted its potential for success. It is now considered a game changer in the ecommerce world.
Who should use Shopify Hydrogen?
The framework of Shopify Hydrogen is most suitable for online stores already set up for headless commerce or planning for transition. The system is quite beneficial for businesses with strong technical users or teams. However, if your business lacks highly experienced technical teams or you don't want to get involved in the complexities of Headless commerce, then Hydrogen isn't the best recommendation for you.
Hydrogen is currently best suited for design-driven brands in search of unique user experience, medium to large established brands, businesses looking for SEO and page speed improvements along with encountering technical limitations, companies that have complicated internalization needs, and brands planning to use Omni channel strategies like in-store experiences or apps.
Though some parts and features are easy to understand, Hydrogen still requires continuous maintenance as compared to the Shopify Liquid. If you are a brand that isn't using Shopify Plus headless due to a lack of features and limited support, Hydrogen isn't your best bet. But improvements in the framework are expected and hopefully, it will become more accessible to all users.
Who is using Shopify Hydrogen?
As with any new technology, the success of Shopify Hydrogen depends on the trust and adoption by paying brands. Though the features provided initially were unknown to agencies and brands already using Shopify, it led to a cautious approach and slow uptake of this technology. However, currently, Shopify has some brands on board to showcase the capabilities of Hydrogen, but there is the possibility of observing more case studies and success stories. Here are a few intriguing examples of a few brands successfully taking advantage of Shopify Hydrogen and its potential impacts in the future.
Allbirds
Allbirds is a renowned sustainable shoe and clothing brand that has been at the forefront of the direct-to-consumer movement, taking benefits from Shopify to boost its ecommerce business. Allbirds transitioned to Shopify Hydrogen and it proved to be a vote of confidence in this innovative framework.
Allbirds faced the challenge of localizing its online presence while keeping the seamless integration maintained with physical stores. The brand revamped its online store with Shopify Hydrogen to deliver an efficient shopping experience along with streamlining its international operations. Allbirds introduced a new store locator feature in its mobile application to make it easy for customers to identify brick-and-mortar stores carrying their products in close vicinity. With Hydrogen, it possibly happened within three and a half weeks. The software engineers at Allbirds also emphasized the transformative impact of Hydrogen.
Kamp Grizzly
Kamp Grizzly is an independent agency that faced the challenge of creating an immersive website that can seamlessly integrate storytelling into the homepage, shopping experience and product detail pages. To address this issue, Kamp Grizzly turned to Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen. This move gave it a chance to construct a responsive and visually stunning website while maintaining exceptional performance.
The creativity incorporated into the website included an appealing homepage collage, an abstract grid for product landing pages, a product landing page grid resembling museum exhibits and versatile components for archiving collections. The inclusion of Hydrogen and Oxygen offered several benefits.
The React based framework’s ability to analyze quick changes during development made the process easier and faster. The combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen optimized the storefront for a fast user experience. It became obvious that the site can be managed and updated efficiently over the long term.
Fashiontofigure
Fashiontofigure is one of the prime examples of how Shopify Hydrogen can be used in the most effective way. This online store has a speciality in offering trendy plus size fashion along with beautifully designed and perfectly fitting clothes for all body types. While selling clothes and accessories, the store also gives an advantage to its customers to rent items for a flat monthly fee.
The design of the website is simple yet elegant. The main focus is on simplicity to ensure quick and easy navigation for customers to find what they are looking for. The fast loading speed ensures a seamless buying experience for visitors.
Goodnature
Goodnature is another excellent example of a website powered by Shopify Hydrogen suitable to meet customers' needs. The company aims to revolutionize pest control with the help of innovative traps. It was founded by Robbie and Craig who began with 50 different ways to combat rats in the wilderness of New Zealand. Currently, there are over 60 members in the team who have distributed around 500,000 traps around the globe making it easy for farmers, businesses, environmentalists and homeowners to manage invasive species.
Shopify Hydrogen has helped design a clear and easy to navigate site to facilitate customers to find the products they are searching for in the quickest possible way. There are categories and subcategories for great user experience. The loading speed is also fast, helping to improve its search engine rankings. The visuals, high-quality product images and the way products are showcased all make it one of the best websites that is using Shopify hydrogen.
SKIMS
SKIMS is another well-known brand for its remarkable solutions in loungewear, shapewear and undergarments. The website is also powered by Shopify Hydrogen and offers an excellent user experience.
This website boasts a captivating design with high quality product images and a consistent brand aesthetic that ensures an engaging browsing experience. The products have detailed information including fabric details, size charts, and available colors, that together become a source of an informed purchase decision.
SKIMS website has fast page loading speed and responsive browsing experience. These features boost user satisfaction and make shopping seamless. Though this website is another prime example of showcasing the capabilities of Shopify Hydrogen and Oxygen, there is still room for a few improvements in UX design.
Will Hydrogen replace Liquid Shopify?
Hydrogen and Liquid are both integral parts of the system of Shopify, but they have different purposes, advantages and limitations.
Shopify Liquid
Liquid is Shopify’s template language useful in building web pages with a combination of static and dynamic content. The Static content remains the same on multiple pages while dynamic content changes from one page to the next.
The template uses a paint-by-numbers approach that allows developers to reuse static elements all across pages while adding dynamic data from the Shopify store. Though Liquid is relatively easy to set up and offers some amazing customization options, it has some limitations in storefront customization and performance and it is time-consuming.
Shopify Hydrogen
Hydrogen is a React based framework specifically designed to build headless storefronts of Shopify. It facilitates developers with ready made tools and components to make custom storefronts that can deliver the best user experience.
Unlike Liquid, Hydrogen gives access to unlimited customization options and can easily be connected with third party services through APIs. The enhanced performance and flexibility are also possible through Hydrogen for headless Shopify.
Though Liquid is the backbone of Shopify's themes, Hydrogen is proven to be the next-generation solution for storefront development. The customization options and top notch performance make it a strong contender to replace Liquid in the long run. However, both Liquid and Hydrogen are open source and available for use which makes it easy for developers to find the best solution based on their specific needs and preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shopify Oxygen?
Shopify Oxygen is a hosting service provided by Shopify to simplify the process of hosting custom storefronts within the platform. In the past, the store owners using traditional hosting solutions had to rely on third party hosting providers, but Shopify Oxygen has allowed them to host their Hydrogen-powered storefronts directly on the server of Shopify.
It has made the process easier and helped in avoiding complexities and potential compatibility issues linked with integration of third party hosting services. As Oxygen is built and maintained by Shopify, all users can expect a high level of reliability.
The possibility of enhanced customer support is another advantage of Oxygen. The support team of Shopify assists store owners in resolving hosting-related issues. This level of support, compatibility and reliability is invaluable for store owners who lack extensive technical expertise.
Do you need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen?
No, you don't need Shopify Plus for Hydrogen. As Hydrogen is an open-source framework available for all Shopify users, its use is not restricted to Shopify Plus customers. However, Shopify Plus users can host their Hydrogen app on Shopify Oxygen as it is the platform that provides hosting solutions.
How much does Shopify Hydrogen cost?
As Shopify Hydrogen is an open source React-based framework offered by Shopify, it doesn't have any direct cost associated with it for developers to build custom storefronts for headless commerce websites. Similarly, Shopify Oxygen also comes at no additional cost as it is publicly available.
However, to access the complimentary hosting offered by Shopify for Hydrogen, stores need a Shopify Plus subscription. So, the Hydrogen framework and Oxygen hosting service are free but store owners will need to subscribe to Shopify Plus to access the free hosting.
The core components of Hydrogen and Oxygen are also free but third party service providers and additional tools are needed to leverage APIs for a better shopping experience. These integrations and tools will have their associated costs.
Wrapping Up
Shopify Hydrogen presents a promising future for headless commerce due to its widespread adoption and long-term success which basically depends on varying factors like brand requirements, developer expertise and market dynamics. But focusing on the powerful features, potential impacts and flexibility of Shopify Hydrogen, it is well positioned to play a crucial role in shaping the future of headless commerce. It is worth paying attention to how this platform will evolve in the coming years.
ARTICLE #33
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