How to use DreamFactory API service with Laravel Eloquent?

Hello everyone,
I'm new to Larave and DreamFactory and I've been learning them for a while and I'm very impressed by this amazing product which is built upon laravel. I want to build an online store with 3 client interfaces for Android, iOS and a website. I found out I can use DreamFactory so that I won't have to repeat myself and I can simplify the process of dealing with the database and other web services.
I want to start building an admin portal for the online store and I have chosen to build it with laravel. I understand how powerful and simple Eloquent is but it works directly with a database.
My question is how can I use laravel Eloquent and Models with an API back-end instead of a database?
Do I still need to use Eloquent and Model in this case?
Thanks in advance