This guide clarifies who is responsible for what when building a headless CreatorCommerce implementation, helping you plan effectively and ensure each party knows their “job to be done.”

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Traditional vs. Headless Approach

• Traditional: CreatorCommerce integrates via Shopify theme customizations (Liquid, sections, cart attributes) in the storefront.
• Headless: You use Hydrogen (Shopify’s React-based headless framework) or another framework to build the front end, which fetches data from Shopify’s APIs (or the CreatorCommerce API).

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Key Differences in Responsibility

• Front-end rendering: Instead of letting Shopify’s theme engine do the heavy lifting, your dev team writes and maintains the UI in Hydrogen (React).
• Integration points: You’ll still rely on CreatorCommerce data, including metaobjects, cart attributes, discount codes, etc.—but your headless app must explicitly fetch and render that data.

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The “Jobs-to-Be-Done” breakdown

When running a headless build, consider the following tasks and who typically owns each.

Managing creator data (metaobjects & campaigns)

• Ownership: CreatorCommerce + Merchant (as needed)
• What happens:
  1. CreatorCommerce provides the creator metaobject schema and ensures it’s available in your Shopify admin (Settings > Custom data).
  2. You (the merchant’s team) or your internal staff uses the metaobject entries (creator name, discount code, recommended products, etc.).
  3. The data is now accessible to your Hydrogen frontend via Shopify Storefront API or other endpoints.

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Surfacing Data on the Front End

• Ownership: Merchant’s dev team
• What Happens:
  1. Your devs fetch metaobject (creator) data from Shopify’s Storefront API or a custom endpoint.
  2. In your Hydrogen app, you decide how and where to display this data (e.g., custom product pages, a unique landing page, or across the site).
  3. You incorporate conditionals based on cart attributes or affiliate context to show specialized content, brand styling, or UGC.

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Setting & reading cart attributes

• Ownership: Shared
  • CreatorCommerce ensures tracking logic is available (e.g., a script or API calls) to detect affiliate links.
  • Merchant’s dev team must integrate that logic into the hydrogen-based cart flow if you aren’t using the standard Shopify cart.
• What happens:
  1. If a shopper arrives via a creator’s affiliate link, the CreatorCommerce SDK (or custom integration) updates the relevant cart attributes (cc-creator-handle, cc-campaign-id, etc.).
  2. Your devs reference these attributes in your custom cart or checkout UI to reflect any special pricing, branding, or messages.

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Applying Discounts at Checkout

• Ownership: Merchant’s dev team, with CreatorCommerce providing discount details
• What Happens:
  1. CreatorCommerce either generates or stores the relevant discount code(s) and can supply them via an API.
  2. Your devs ensure those discounts are applied in the hydrogen-based checkout flow. (For instance, you might pass cc-collab-discount-code to the Shopify Checkout API or a custom checkout solution.)
  3. Verification: You’ll likely test or confirm that the discounted total matches what’s displayed on your front end.

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Handling co-branded pages & campaigns

• Ownership: Merchant’s dev team
• What happens:
  1. You create custom routes or pages in Hydrogen for each co-branded experience (e.g., yoursite.com/creator/<handle>).
  2. The data displayed is fetched from the Creator metaobject in Shopify.
  3. If you want dynamic SEO or links, you manage that logic in your headless router rather than in Shopify’s native page templates.

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Putting the Pieces Together: Typical Workflow

1. CreatorCommerce setup:
   • In Shopify admin, CreatorCommerce configures the metaobject schema, discount logic, and affiliate link structure.
   • Campaign/creator entries are created or updated so your store has valid data.
2. Hydrogen app configuration:
   • Your dev team includes or references the CreatorCommerce script (if applicable) to capture affiliate link clicks and set cart attributes.
   • Or, if you prefer a fully custom approach, your devs call the CreatorCommerce API to retrieve discount codes or additional data.
3. Front-end development:
   • Your dev team builds React components to display the creator’s brand assets, recommended products, or UGC from the metaobject.
   • They conditionally show discounted prices or content if certain cart attributes are set (meaning the shopper is in a particular funnel).
4. Checkout integration:
   • When the user initiates checkout, you automatically apply the discount code (via Shopify Checkout API or a custom approach).
   • CreatorCommerce’s data ensures the correct discount is used, but your devs must implement the actual call to apply it.
5. Reporting & tagging:
   • Once orders complete, CreatorCommerce ensures the order and customer tagging in Shopify. (Your dev team typically doesn’t have to handle these tags manually.)

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Who Owns Which Code?

Merchant’s Dev Team

• Hydrogen front end: Building all UX, React pages, components, custom routing.
• Integration logic: Ensuring cart attributes and discount codes get applied.
• Testing & QA: Verifying that the personalization is correct (e.g., right discount shown, correct creator brand assets, etc.).

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CreatorCommerce

• Affiliate/creator management: Providing and maintaining the metaobject schema, discount code logic, affiliate link tracking, etc.
• Support & API: Supplying documentation and endpoints for retrieving discount codes, creator data, or verifying cart attributes.
• Order/customer tagging: Once the order is placed, CreatorCommerce applies relevant tags in Shopify for reporting.

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Key Considerations for an eCommerce manager

1. Resource planning:
   • Developing headless experiences requires more in-house or contracted dev resources to implement front-end features.
   • Confirm your team has the React/Node/Hydrogen expertise to build a robust store experience.
2. Coordination:
   • Since CreatorCommerce handles the affiliate data model, ensure you communicate changes in campaigns or discount structures to the dev team.
   • The dev team must update front-end logic accordingly.
3. Testing & Validation:
   • Before launch, thoroughly test affiliate link flows, discount applications, and how data from the Creator metaobject is displayed.
   • Confirm that the final checkout total matches the displayed discount, and that customers and orders are tagged correctly in Shopify.
4. Scalability:
   • Plan for multiple creators, each with unique branding, discount, or recommended products. Your dev team’s front-end design should handle many co-branded experiences without duplicating too much code.

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Wrapping Up

A headless approach with Hydrogen offers maximum flexibility for building a bespoke storefront. However, it also shifts responsibility for many tasks—like the front-end display of affiliate data and discount logic—onto your dev team. CreatorCommerce still manages the underlying data (via metaobjects) and affiliate logic (via the SDK and discount API), but you decide how to pull and present that data in your custom setup.

By clearly delineating these jobs-to-be-done—and knowing exactly where CreatorCommerce’s tools end and your custom headless build begins—you’ll streamline your workflow and keep your co-branded experiences running smoothly.