Headless e-commerce
A real store, without the platform tax.
Headless commerce on Next.js + Medusa, self-hosted on our infrastructure. You get full control of the storefront and checkout — and you stop paying a percentage of every order to a platform you don't own. Reference build: TuEstilo Moda runs on exactly this stack.
The real problem
Why the default way falls short.
The per-sale platform tax
Hosted store platforms rent you your own storefront and take a cut of every order on top of subscription and app fees. At volume that tax funds a competitor's roadmap, not yours. Self-hosted Medusa removes it — your only cut is the payment processor.
Locked themes, limited slots
On a hosted platform your storefront is a theme with slots — you can only change what the platform lets you. A headless Next.js front end is real code you shape pixel by pixel, so the store fits your brand and your conversion goals, not a template.
Your customer list isn't yours
When the platform owns the checkout, it effectively owns the customer relationship and data. Headless and self-hosted, the orders, the emails, and the history all live in infrastructure you control.
What you get
- A Next.js storefront — fast, fully custom, built around the purchase funnel
- The open-source Medusa commerce engine (products, carts, orders, regions) self-hosted on your infrastructure
- No monthly platform rent and no per-order skim beyond your payment processor
- Bilingual EN/ES storefronts and region-appropriate payment and shipping
- Full ownership of the storefront code, the checkout, and the customer data
- A proven stack — TuEstilo Moda is a live reference build, not a pitch deck
How a project runs
- 1 · Scope the store — Catalog, regions, currencies, payments, and shipping — mapped to your market, including bilingual and Latin American needs where relevant.
- 2 · Build storefront + engine — A custom Next.js front end on the self-hosted Medusa engine — products, cart, and checkout you control end to end.
- 3 · Wire payments & fulfillment — Integrate your payment processor and shipping, and connect orders to your tools through automation.
- 4 · Launch & own — Go live on infrastructure you control, keeping the margin, the data, and the freedom to change anything.
How we think about headless e-commerce
"Headless" means the storefront (what shoppers see) and the commerce engine (products, carts, orders) are separate, talking over an API. That separation is what buys you freedom: the front end is a real Next.js app you can design and optimize without fighting a platform's theme system, while Medusa handles the commerce logic as open-source software you host yourself. Nothing about your store is rented.
The economics are the headline. A hosted platform charges a subscription, often a per-transaction fee, and a marketplace of paid apps to fill the gaps — a tax that scales with your success. Self-hosted Medusa has none of that; beyond your payment processor's standard rate, the margin on every order stays with you. For a growing store that difference compounds into real money.
We build for bilingual and cross-border commerce specifically, because a lot of our work spans US and Latin American markets. That means EN/ES storefronts done properly and payment and shipping fit for each region — the same architecture behind TuEstilo Moda, our live reference store, so this is a proven path rather than a promise.
Where it fits
Industries this matters most for.
Questions
Headless e-commerce FAQ
How is this different from Shopify or WooCommerce?
It is headless and self-hosted: a custom Next.js storefront on the open-source Medusa engine, running on infrastructure you own. No monthly platform rent, no per-order platform fee, no locked theme — you keep the code, the checkout, and the customer data.
Will I really avoid per-sale fees?
Beyond your payment processor's standard rate, yes — there is no platform skimming a percentage of each order and no app-store subscriptions stacking up, because you host the store yourself.
Can the store sell in Spanish and to Latin American customers?
Yes. We build bilingual EN/ES storefronts with region-appropriate payment and shipping — cross-border commerce is a core part of our work.
Is there a real example running on this stack?
Yes — TuEstilo Moda is a live store on exactly this Next.js + Medusa architecture. It is a working reference build, not a hypothetical.
Related services
The rest of the stack.
Let's build it
Tell us what you need. We'll scope it clearly and show you exactly what you'll own.