Bio
As a serial entrepreneur, Bård has spent the last two decades pushing the boundaries of internet craftsmanship. His background started in software engineering and as an entrepreneur, his experience spans from software architecture, product management, business strategy to international sales.
As CEO of Crystallize, he is leading our team in building the ultimate headless eCommerce service.
Blog Posts (66)
3D Visual Product Configurator Accelerator
Accelerate your product configurator development. This boilerplate enables visual shopping experiences with complex products. Powered by Crystallize and CharpstAR and wrapped in the frontend framework Next.js, this open source gives you a foundational immersive shopping experience. You can check out the boilerplate live in our running product configurator demo.
Reimagining Sweef.se: A Case Study on Enhancing Performance and User Experience Through Next.js and Crystallize
Sweef.se, renowned for its unique, high-quality, on-demand furniture at reasonable prices, is doing it by offering not just furniture but Sweden's comfiest furniture, fostering a culture of comfort, quality, and individual expression. They needed solid tech to back their efforts to deliver that via their digital storefront.
The previous platform, PrestaShop, although functional, lacked the flexibility and speed essential for delivering a superior user experience and managing the complex product configurations offered by Sweef.
Betting on a monolithic approach in the age of omnichannel demand, composable commerce, and best-of-breed tech stacks is an arduous task doomed from the beginning. So, instead of going the beaten path of eCommerce, they took a leap of faith and opted for a headless approach.
Hands-On Experience: How to Build an eCommerce Store with SvelteKit?
Do you want to build an eCommerce storefront using SvelteKit, Houdini, Tailwind, and with product information from the Crystallize GraphQL API? Well, look no further. We have created an open-source boilerplate that connects the dots for this stack.
Product Storytelling in the World of Headless Commerce
Have you ever wondered why certain products make such a lasting impression? What separates Apple from any other tech brand or Starbucks from any other coffee shop? The secret lies in their stories. And guess what? You don't have to be a renowned brand to leverage this power.
Rich storytelling is the core of Crystallize headless commerce. Re-imagine eCommerce and a case study of a project that brought Crystallize to life are all about product storytelling. After all, Crystallize is conceptualized as a single source from which you can tell the story behind your brand and product with ease and build a stronger customer experience by inspiring and informing your audience on every channel of interest (resulting in higher conversion rates, a more sticky customer experience, and fewer interactions via customer support of course).
Every product has a story; it's all about how you tell it (and who's backing your efforts).
Structured Content: The Key to a Successful Website
According to Semrush, 50% of brands are still not using structured content. This means that the content a half of businesses out there create isn't reaching relevant people or at least isn't doing it nearly as successfully as it could be.
The online world is more crowded and competitive than ever, making it difficult to stand out and get noticed. And don't get us started with AI stuff that is published/made at a staggering rate. On top of all that, your audience's expectations are higher than ever: they want personalized, relevant, and engaging content everywhere they go online.
All this is made possible with structured content.
Structured content enables you to do more with your content. Not only does it enhance the user experience by providing precise navigation and consistency, but it also improves search engine optimization (SEO) by increasing relevance and improving ranking.
Implementing structured content on your website is becoming a crucial step to drive traffic, engage users, and achieve online success.
But first …
The Best eCommerce Platforms of 2023
Gartner magic quadrant view, business expectations, industry leaders' opinions, most popular solutions… best of articles come in all shapes and sizes. This one of ours about eCommerce platforms is a bit different… we hope.
Getting Started with Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Marketing in 2023
Driving customer acquisition, optimizing the eCommerce experience, fostering loyalty, and scaling operations are the reason why brands opt out for Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) approach in business and marketing. But is it for everyone, and how do you start with it?
The Future of PIM is on the Edge
Edge computing makes it possible to deliver and process data even closer to end-users today, and businesses are slowly discovering the potential it offers.
70% Sales Boost with Crystallize As Subscription Management Solution
NextJS on the front + Crystallize on the back for content management and subscription management for new blazing-fast BUNAD Magasinet website.
Odds Ballklubb Launching a New Subscription Based Over the Top (OTT) Streaming Service Gullpila
Gullpila delivers engaging live and on-demand HD video content to Odds Ballklubb football club fans and represents a new direct revenue stream for the club.
What Is Product Taxonomy?
A great product taxonomy improves your customer user experience and how they find the right product they need much easier and faster.
Return on Investment (ROI) of Headless Commerce
The benefits and competitive advantages of headless commerce are many. When done right, of course. Let’s look at some of the primary advantages that a proper headless commerce buildout can provide.
Price Lists for B2B and B2C Flexibility
Besides your product/service, pricing is at the very heart of eCommerce. Customizing product prices in Crystallize has become a lot easier with the price list.
Product Merchandising to PDF Catalogs with PIM
Turning your product information into PDF in seconds. Publish catalogs, datasheets, and price lists in a flash with a headless PIM system.
Towards Next-Generation Commerce Platform For Tailor-Made Customer Experiences
Our journey to reimagining eCommerce is not about adding features. It's about delivering core, modern commerce business requirements and future-proofing tech stacks.
B2B eCommerce: More than a Trend in 2024
The B2B eCommerce sector is undeniably booming, marked by an exhilarating growth trajectory. As of 2021, different sources have reported the market size ranging from USD 2.3 billion to a staggering USD 7.35 trillion, with a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) varying from 17.48% to 29.3% for the coming years.
One notable driver of this growth is the swift ascendancy of manufacturers in the eCommerce arena, who amplified their online sales by 18.4% in 2021, reaching $543.25 billion from the previous $458.7 billion.
The fervent expectations of B2B sellers further underscore this upward trend, as nearly 20% anticipate their eCommerce sales to burgeon by at least 25% in 2023.
B2B eCommerce is not just a modern-day convenience; it's a strategic imperative for businesses aiming to secure a competitive edge in today's digital-first marketplace.
But is it an approach for your business?
Frontend Frameworks in 2022 for eCommerce
The frontend frameworks ecosystem is booming so much that finding the right one for your online business/store has become challenging (at best). We’d love to help. This post is all about that.
Content Modeling 101 for eCommerce
Content modeling is an interesting topic and lays the foundation for a great eCommerce architecture. When done correctly, of course.
Hands-On Experience: Remix.run eCommerce Starter
Remix is getting quite some attention lately, and being in the eCommerce space, it has caught our eye.
Event-Driven HTTP Caching for eCommerce
Let us dive into the topic typically described as the most complicated topic to learn for developers. Or better, the hardest to master.
Static Website Hosting Platforms in 2023
Netlify, Vercel, Platform.sh … the static website hosting landscape has changed significantly in the past few years and is only getting better.
PIM + Gatsby = Jamstack eCommerce
The Jamstack strategy is gaining momentum these days, and rightfully so. Benefits such as better performance and easier scaling alongside better developer experience come to mind immediately. One of the main reasons we got into the business of reimagining ecommerce is giving devs the freedom to BYOF (bring your own front end). To tailor-make the front end and build a process for continuous deployment for fast iterations and deliver the best possible customer experience.
To make it even easier to start a Gatsby JS ecommerce project, we combined our Crystallize PIM with Gatsby, a modern React-based framework, to build out a super scalable Jamstack headless commerce solution. The results are staggering. Pagespeed score of 100 and a 3ms average response time when scaling out with 500 concurrent users on Vercel. Fast.
Black Friday eCommerce Should Not Mean Waiting in Line
It makes no sense, but it is true. The reason for waiting in line is that many online stores are running on outdated technologies that simply do not scale, like Elkjøp in Norway or Jeffree Star.
Engaging Online Shopping Experiences with Video
Creating a seamless and engaging on-site customer experience is the ultimate goal for everyone running an online store. Besides your product/service, your store performance and product videos ensure you get the much-needed attention.
Videos In Jamstack Websites and Apps
Video is dominating the digital marketing landscape and contrary to what you may have heard there are a couple of ways you can easily add them to your Jamstack website.
The Project That Brought Crystallize To Life: Skien’s Cykkelfabrik
We have server-side rendered React using an early version of the Next.js framework on the front end and Crystallize powering the backend for complete product information, product storytelling, and order fulfillment management.
eCommerce SEO Checklist: The Best Practices For 2023
Not your average list but a comprehensive 19-point eCommerce SEO checklist with everything you need to know to optimize your store and successfully grow organic traffic and revenue.
The Rise of B-commerce: Modern Stacks for B2B eCommerce
Why does only B2C eCommerce tech have all the shiny toys? Well, this is about to change.
Subscription eCommerce: The Ultimate Guide
Subscription ecommerce business models have seen fantastic growth in recent years. With Crystallize being at the forefront of it, now is the time to dive into the ins and outs of starting, running, and scaling an eCommerce subscription business.
The Future of eCommerce: eCommerce Trends To Watch For In 2022
A different, heavily opinionated look at the future of eCommerce. Let’s talk about the eCommerce trends like owned channels, community building, sustainability, App commerce, and B2B commerce that I think will dominate 2022.
Fast Search API Service for eCommerce
For many businesses, site search comes as an afterthought, while in reality, if done right, it can be another significant revenue stream.
Milliseconds Matter: Five Reasons Why a Headless eCommerce Platform Needs to be Blazing Fast?
Check out the top reasons your ecommerce platform needs to be blazing fast if the satisfied customer is not a good enough explanation.
Site Speed Affects Adwords Pricing
We've talked lengths about site speed and performance affecting your search engine ranking and organic traffic but did you know site speed affects Adwords pricing and ranking as well?
Product Information Management Done Headless
A headless approach to PIM means having a service ready to manage product information in seconds. Product information and content are delivered via an API. No templates, no web pages, only structured content. Pure developer bliss.
How to Build Beautiful and Fast Jamstack eCommerce in 3 Steps?
With the rapid growth of tools and solutions available in the space now is probably the best time to move your online store to Jamstack eCommerce architecture.
The eCommerce Performance Magic Sauce
Genuine internet craftsmanship is performed by experienced UX designers, front-end developers, and information architects. The combined focus on customer experience, frontend performance, and beautiful reusable information architecture is rocket fuel for SEO, conversion and click-through rates, and reusable content services.
The differentiation is in the execution—in the details.
How to Use Hyperlinks Properly?
Hyperlinks are one of the most important aspects of content creation, copywriting, and website management in general. And we should all know by now how to use hyperlinks properly, right?
Reimagining eCommerce: the Story of Crystallize
Instead of building a better PIM, CMS, eCommerce, or order management service, we wanted to design an API layer you need to market and sell your products on any channel, at any scale, and in any way you want it. A perfect product story engine, if you will.
What is PIM, and How Does Product Information Management Work?
PIM is your centralized product information system from which the product data is distributed to all relevant stakeholders, teams, and sales channels.
Headless Commerce: A Complete Guide to the Future of Online Selling
New sales channels appear every day. Instagram now has a shopping tab, WhatsApp is getting one, TikTok is jumping onto the eCommerce wagon, and purchasing groceries from your smart fridge has become a reality. If your online store is your only sales platform, then you’re seriously missing out.
Yes, we get it.
First, it’s creating content for your website. Then, it’s creating content for mobile. It’s creating social media sales channels, smartwatches, and other IoT devices. Moreover, the number of these will only increase in the future.
And who has a team that large? Not many! But hey, that’s why you’re here because this is where headless commerce shines.
Headless commerce and headless architecture have gained much traction lately, so the market for headless commerce is projected to expand to around USD 2.2 billion by 2023. Over six in ten retail companies plan to migrate to headless commerce platforms by 2024, while over 20 percent already use them (source: headless commerce stats 2024).
Frontend Performance Measuring, KPIs, and Monitoring
Core Web Vitals, LCP, Cumulative Layout Shift, FID, Webpagetest.org, Google Lighthouse, Pagespeed Insight, CrUX, or the latest one, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) —we're sure you've stumbled upon one of these in your quest to improve front-end performance.
But how do you measure performance? And why do you need to be data-driven and continuously monitor, optimize, and build a performance testing and optimization culture?
Let's explore that. Let's go millisecond hunting.
Semantic Web With Structured Data
By using structured data to describe your web pages, you contribute to a more semantic web. This is a web where we describe the data being shown and not just how it should look, making it machine-readable. Google also uses structured data to enhance search results. Here is how you can add, test, and verify that your web pages are properly structured for the semantic web - as Google sees it.
An important skill for better Internet craftsmanship.
Blobs vs Chunks: Introducing Content Chunks
TL;DR chunks give more possibilities of re-use, logic, and referencing other content. Future-proofing and time-saving.
Buy Commodity and Build Innovation
There is a shift in the way we buy and use the software. Most software is today rolled out as API services using a saas business model. Basically democratization of technology. You get full access to all features and pay for usage. No feature differentiation based on size. By creating a best-of-breed headless stack you can achieve a bigger focus on innovation rather than building and maintaining commodity services.
Milliseconds Make Millions: Sell More and Grow Faster
Nowadays the performance of your website matters big time.
Google Page Experience Algorithm and Updated Search Console
Google is updating its ranking algorithm in June of 2021 to include the page experience scores. The goal is to reward websites that have a great page experience and to put extra pressure on slow websites. In short, you get better rankings in organic search and pay less for Google Ads if you score well in-page experience. Core web vitals will then be part of the page experience score.
How Site Speed Affects SEO & Google Rankings (With Data)?
Site speed matters we know that. But how does speed affect your SEO efforts and, ultimately, ranking? To figure that out we did a Monstera Obliqua identification and care keyword test project.
Fast Vue.js Headless Storefront With Nuxt.js
Learning Vue.js doesn’t require a lot of upfront knowledge (classic CSS, HTML, and JavaScript is enough). That fact alone plays a huge part in its adoption. The lightweight nature of Vue.js is the other.
Testing One Million eCommerce Orders Per Hour
How fast and well your website can handle serious amounts of simultaneous order placements can make or break businesses. It depends on your chosen ecommerce platform, of course. So we tested ours.
How to Use GraphQL to Populate Figma with Real Product Information?
Being able to use actual data is a great way to stress-test your design. Thanks to the use of API and a pre-made plugin you can now populate your Figma design file with product information from your Crystallize PIM.
Beautiful Sales Reporting With Push Button Export
Export your data with a simple push-button copy-paste to a spreadsheet. Use the sales insight to support better decisions for your online business.
GraphQL Is Ideal to Query Structured Product Catalogs Fast
The product catalog (PIM) is the heart of any e-commerce solution. In Crystallize we have based our API for the product catalog on GraphQL to have a great developer experience and to provide a low latency API. We wanted the developers to have the freedom when building the user interface, typically in React, without having a back-end that slows them down.
Over The Top Video with AWS Media Services Integrated with Crystallize Subscription Commerce
Crystallize is designed to rapidly launch new subscription-based digital services. Integrated with over the top (OTT) live and on-demand video delivery with AWS Media Services you have a game-changing recipe. Allowing brands to launch new subscription-based streaming services at an unprecedented pace.
Crystallize Terms of Service Weighing in at Only 38% of Slack's
We just finalized the legal stuff for Crystallize together with the brilliant team at Bull, what a great name for a legal firm btw. We wanted to have friendly and balanced terms of service to reflect our philosophy and customer focus. Slack, which we think is awesome, set the bar at about 5900 words. The Crystallize terms of service count today 2272 words which is just 38,5% of what the great team at Slack has, and that is including the order form.
Matrix Based Product Information Management with Grids
Matrix-based organization of products enables information architecture that is not easily done with hierarchical or topic map-based organizers. The grid organizer gives you a powerful product information management tool to build powerful taxonomies for your ecommerce. Simply manage products in a grid with drag and drop. Easy.
SEO for React eCommerce SPA
React is super popular for eCommerce these days. Single-page applications (SPA) are typically the starting point due it their awesomeness. React SPA is however not awesome for SEO and time to first meaningful render. This is where server-side rendering (SSR) with Next.JS comes in. Frontend performance is super-important according to the ecommerce SEO checklist so you need to have fast APIs. GraphQL done properly could help your performance that you should verify with profiling and benchmarking. For eCommerce SEO the good old best practice still applies like title and h1 tag usage.
Content Rich Storytelling Makes Juicy Ecommerce
Tell the story behind the product.
The First Crystallize Partner: Formidable
We are proud to welcome the JavaScript engineering consultancy Formidable as the first official partner to Crystallize. After getting to know the team we are super impressed by their skills and their attitude towards leveling up their peers and customers. This is a team we are very much looking forward to being working with.
Why a Designer and an Illustrator Were the Two First Hires in My New Software Venture?
With starting my new software venture, Crystallize, I hired a designer as employee number one the second was an illustrator. I wanted to front-load focus on design, user experience, visualization, and content strategy and not have that being an afterthought. Here is why.
Why we Killed Our REST API in Favor of GraphQL?
REST vs. GraphQL dilema from the perspective of a eCommerce platform. Both sides have pros and cons, but here is what moved the needle for us.
Better Developer Experience with GraphQL
GraphQL delivers a better developer experience with a self-describing API, query and mutation input validation, and a single query to your backend that returns exactly the data you need. This is why we based our fast ecommerce API on GraphQL.
Webhooks with GraphQL for Simpler Integration
Webhooks are used to orchestrate events in our headless ecommerce service. We have now introduced GraphQL to allow you to select exactly the data you need for each webhook. You do not need to circle back to fetch the data you need. Simple, quick - and you are in control.
Event Driven eCommerce Orchestration for a Jamstack Frontend
With site speed becoming an important part of a customer experience making sure that the number of backend requests during runtime has become important.
Build a React Native eCommerce App with Crystallize
React Native is a popular framework for building cross-platform mobile apps. With this in mind, we've built React Native ecommerce app boilerplate from scratch, and in this short tutorial, I will explain how to use it.
Long-form Storytelling for Engaging eCommerce Experiences
You can use long-form storytelling to increase engagement by creating authentic experiences. Learn from Patagonia and The New York Times how to build trust and grow your online audience. Emotional stories that inspire are more likely to be shared and if you are lucky even go viral. We have created an open-source eCommerce boilerplate to get you started with long-form storytelling.
B2B Pricing, Multi-currency and Discounts With Price Variants
Price variants allow you to build a pricing scheme for your products to support B2B, B2C, international multi-currency sales, or discount management. In Crystallize you define global price variants that apply to all products. The user guide shows how price variants work.