How to Build a Node.js E-commerce App?

By Raj Kishore | Software & Tools

The eCommerce sector is growing exponentially and there is no doubt about it. According to one market Research, it is expected that the eCommerce market will grow up to $24,265.12 billion by 2025. So if you want to stay in such a huge market then you have to implement the best technologies to gain the benefits from a booming industry. 

To survive and grow in the market in the long run, you need an eCommerce store that is reliable, consistent, scalable, and of top-notch quality. Creating such an online store is a very challenging task but with the use of suitable technology, you can get it right. And one such technology is NodeJS. Many top eCommerce development companies choose to keep this IDE in their arsenal or tech stack to simplify their development process. 

In addition to providing better results, NodeJS is also helpful in minimizing loss or damage and getting you through the entire software development process without any hiccups. Therefore here in this article, we will see how you can develop your eCommerce app by using NodeJS. So let’s get started now, shall we? 

Building a NodeJS eCommerce website

There are two ways to do this. A NodeJS eCommerce application is created by using: 

  1. MEAN/MERN Stack
  2. Microservice Architecture

NodeJS eCommerce with MEAN/MERN Stack

MEAN/MERN stack can be an ideal option for eCommerce web app development especially when in the starting phase. Because NodeJS is perfectly capable of giving a quick response to an increase in web traffic. 

If you are wondering what makes MEAN/MERN so powerful that it can manage pressure so well, then let me tell you that the answer lies in the name itself. The MEAN stack. 

  • MongoDB: It is a NoSQL-based database that handles the exchange and execution of data storage. This allows the NodeJS eCommerce app to run smoothly without having any problems related to the server. 
  • ExpressJS: To provide a good user experience, you need a good interface and that is created by ExpressJS which is the backend framework in the stack. Its sole purpose is to create a smooth interface for web apps. 
  • AngularJS/ReactJS: If you are using MEAN then it’s AngularJS and if you are using MERN then it’s ReactJS that provides automatic view synchronization for your web development process. 
  • NodeJS: This is a lightweight technology framework that is built on the Chrome V8 JS engine. It renders an event-driven I/O model and a non-blocking model to maintain the efficiency 

How does the MEAN/MERN stack work with eCommerce applications? 

Both MEAN and MERN are ideal choices for NodeJS eCommerce development. Even if any problem arises during the development process, both the tech stack are open-source so you can easily get help from experts or fellow community members or even enough resources that can guide you past those problems. Now, what happens in the backend:

  • It all starts when requests start emerging from the client side and are sent to the AngularJS where they get processed. 
  • After getting processed, all the requests arrive at the NodeJS which is in charge of the process at the server side.
  • After NodeJS processes all the requests on the server side, it is sent to ExpressJS which has the authority to provide access to the database. 
  • Now, in the requests, certain data is asked by the users. Mongo works to collect all that data by accepting the requests and then sending it to Express. 
  • From Express, the response is sent to Angular via NodeJS to fulfill the user request. 

If you have a NodeJS eCommerce app that works with MEAN/MERN then it would not have any difficulty serving around ten thousand users at a time. Such an amount of requests is enough for a web app that is still in its initial stages. 

NodeJS eCommerce with Microservice architecture

Microservices and NodeJS work as complementary to each other. It supports some other frameworks like SenecaJS as well. Since we are using microservices, all functionalities of the NodeJS eCommerce app are divided into small sections which make your application more scalable. 

When you use microservices for your project, you get an elegant design for your eCommerce web app. REST APIs are used to deliver it to the clients. API gateway is also helpful in enabling the web app to communicate. Allow me to paint a word picture of how the backend of the NodeJS eCommerce app would work with microservices. 

Adopting an architecture pattern of microservices is very beneficial for eCommerce businesses. Because it provides an opportunity to create services that are independent of their programming languages as well as databases. In addition, the long-term commitment to the tech stack is eliminated as well as it allows you to reduce the eCommerce website development costs

Many top eCommerce companies in the world have already adopted microservices architecture patterns in their workflow and are setting an example of how successful this strategy can be. 

Who hasn’t heard of eBay? We all know how successful this eCommerce platform is. But still, when you come to know that eBay has more than a billion users, it says how powerful and reliable this eCommerce platform might be. How did it come to this? Just because eBay has employed a dynamic architecture pattern of microservices that enabled it to grow and scale beyond billion users. 

Allow me to give you another example. Cadenza used to implement the MEAN stack with their subscription-based NodeJS eCommerce app at first. But then they decided to migrate to microservices architecture when Cadenza started facing difficulties in managing 125 APIs. All these APIs were from different categories like payment management, product management, user management, and so on. 

Moreover, they were experiencing frequent app crashes which needless to say would distort the overall user experience. After shifting to Microservices architecture, all of their problems are solved and they can now focus on growing their eCommerce business instead of focusing all their strengths on how to solve daily technical problems. 

Conclusion

There are many advantages of creating an eCommerce app with NodeJS no matter whether you use MEAN/MERN stack or microservices architecture. MEAN stack would just basically reduce the burden off the developers’ shoulders and make everything easy. 

Meanwhile, Microservices provide developers with full control over their eCommerce applications. This makes it easy for them to make a scalable eCommerce application. Microservices are an ideal option for eCommerce businesses that already possess monoliths. 
With the growing eCommerce sector, the utilization of NodeJS for eCommerce development has already gained momentum. This brings a good opportunity for all the NodeJS developers out there. But it is equally important for businesses to select the best, highly skilled, expert NodeJS developers for their projects.