Replatforming SAP Commerce Cloud Frontends Without Touching the Backend

Many SAP Commerce Cloud teams are stuck between a legacy Accelerator storefront and the effort of a full Composable Storefront build. There is a third path: renew the frontend in phases on the OCC API while the backend stays exactly as it is.

Why the frontend is the pressure point

The Accelerator storefront is server-side, JSP-based and tightly coupled to the backend. It is increasingly hard to maintain, slow to change for marketing and behind on Core Web Vitals. SAP itself points customers toward the decoupled Composable Storefront. But a full Angular rebuild is a large program. The pain is in the frontend; the backend is usually fine.

Phased replatforming on the OCC API

Because the OCC REST API already decouples frontend from backend, you can move the frontend incrementally:

• Phase 1: stand up the new Laioutr frontend against the OCC API for a contained scope, for example content and landing pages
• Phase 2: migrate category and product pages, validating OCC responses against the live catalog
• Phase 3: move cart and checkout, the highest-risk flows, with parallel running and measurement
• Phase 4: cut over remaining routes and retire the legacy storefront

At every phase the SAP backend configuration is untouched. You are changing how data is rendered, not where it lives.

The rollback plan matters

Each phase has a defined scope and a rollback path: routes can point back to the legacy storefront if a phase regresses. That makes replatforming a controlled sequence of reversible steps rather than a big-bang cutover. Performance and accessibility are validated per phase, not at the end.

What you gain

• Marketing autonomy through a visual page builder, no engineering ticket per banner
• Lighthouse 100 target and Core Web Vitals out of the box
• WCAG 3.0 and BFSG handled at the platform level
• Backend optionality preserved, since the frontend is not re-coupled to SAP internals

Realistic timeline

A mid-sized SAP storefront with clear branding and no exotic custom logic typically goes from kickoff to first live phase in weeks, with full cutover over a few phases. Multi-site or heavy B2B setups take longer and are scoped per phase.

FAQ

Do we have to leave the Composable Storefront behind?

You can. Or you can run Laioutr alongside it during transition. Both consume the same OCC API.

Is the SAP backend modified?

No. Replatforming happens at the frontend layer on OCC. Backend configuration, extensions and data stay in place. Book a migration scoping call.

How is risk controlled?

Through phasing and rollback. Each phase is reversible, and high-risk flows like checkout run in parallel before cutover.

Related: Headless frontend for SAP Commerce Cloud.

Related reading: SAP Accelerator End of Life: Migrating to a Composable Frontend Without Replatforming the Backend and B2B + B2C on SAP Commerce Cloud: Multi-Storefront with Laioutr.