Headless vs native Shopify: when it's worth it, and when it's a waste of money

Leaders on Shopify with John Readman · Oct 7, 2026 · 28m · transcript

Five years ago, headless was the hottest thing in ecommerce. Then it went out of fashion. Now it's coming back. So should your brand be doing it?

Tom Mucklow-Norell is the co-founder of Superco, a London-based Shopify Platinum Partner working with brands like Represent and Funkin' Cocktails. His view is simple: for most brands, native Shopify is now so good that headless just isn't a smart use of time or money. But there are exceptions, like the famous chef whose recipe content drives such huge organic traffic that headless was the only sensible choice.

Tom also explains why big brands are…