E-commerce platform is a complex system from a technical perspective. To make all the pieces work together, you need a reliable technology that will support it. Node.js is fast and scalable, but how to make sure it’s the right match for your platform?

The Beauty of Building Apps with Node.js

Node.js is a Javascript environment that lets you develop performant and scalable applications. It’s a perfect match for applications such as real-time collaboration tools, chats, streaming apps or other applications that deal with multiple I/O operations. However, it doesn’t cope well with CPU-heavy software as the long-running calculations block incoming requests, which can lead to a drop in performance.

Performance

Node.js supports multitasking by giving better outcomes with lower costs. Comparing it to - say - PHP, it’s way more convenient. As the buyer’s journey at an e-commerce store involves numerous operations, such as adding things to the basket, changing product features, choosing payments etc., it’s crucial from the performance viewpoint that the technology serve such tasks efficiently. And Node.js effectively handles different operations conducted at the same time, which makes it a good choice for e-commerce.

Scalability

Node.js enables quick scalability. In a short period, your e-commerce store can grow substantially. It is an important factor to consider when choosing the technology. Node has an inbuilt mechanism that helps to manage scalability and adjust it to your individual needs.

Big and Active Community

The Node.js community is a very active and vibrant group of developers who contribute to the constant improvement of Node.js. Thanks to their cooperation, the framework is well-documented, up-to-date and continuously supported, which makes the development much easier and faster. They produce a ton of ready solutions, codes in Github, plugins, modules and many more possibilities. In addition, if a problem pops up, chances are you already have the answer on StackOverflow.

Many Plugins and Packages in npm

Node.js comes with a great deal of packages that can be easily implemented in your app. That way, developers don’t need to write everything from scratch but can leverage reliable open-source solutions. It significantly increases the speed of development. There are great packages available for e-commerce too.

One Language on Back- and Front-end

Node,js is a JavaScript-based environment, and many popular front-end frameworks (such as React, Ember, Angular) use the very same language. Therefore, you can create applications which are isomorphic that is written in one language. It streamlines the development process,the communication between front- and back-end teams is way easier, and they can understand both sides of the codebase much better. Potentially, you might have a smaller and more efficient team that is easier to manage. Finally, with no technological diversity recruiting new people in case of scaling up won’t be a problem.

Tips and Things to Remember

After you weigh up all the options and decide to go for Node.js, there are a few things to consider about the development.

Choose the Right Solution

Depending on your needs, the number of features and the complexity of an application, you will have a bunch of options to develop your e-commerce store. There are a few ready solutions to create such an app including platforms such as Prime Fusion, Reaction Commerce and Trader.io. Naturally, you can also build an app from scratch if your project requires unique characteristics. Let’s go through all of the options.

1. Prime Fusion

Prime Fusion is a product fully based on MEAN stack, a full-stack javascript framework that includes MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, Node.js as well as GraphQL, webpack, React, Gulp, Babel and Mocha. All the above mentioned databases and frameworks provide developers with a complete set of tools to build a stable e-commerce platform. Prime Fusion can be easily modified and doesn’t require special knowledge about creating a store - everything comes with the framework.

2. Reaction Commerce

Reaction Commerce is an open-source, real-time platform based on Meteor Framework. It is a fast, flexible and scalable solution that plays nicely with npm, Docker and React. The codebase is modular, so you can tailor the solution to fit your needs. Everything can be extended, overwritten or installed as a package. It also provides extensive real-time analytics to help you make better business decisions.

3. Trader.io

Trader.io is also built around MEAN stack. It offers a flexible, scalable API and all basic functionalities you will need in your e-commerce store. The solution was built by a team of developers who had previously created a lot of e-commerce applications and then decided to take that existing code and make it open-source.

4. Own solution

The last option is to code your own solution that would be fully in line with all your needs. Building it from scratch will give you much bigger flexibility. However, it will take more time and money to create it and require more experience from developers.

Consider Technology Coherence

Node.js serves only as a backend for your e-commerce store, and you also need to think about what technologies you will use for other parts of the application. It’s important that all the frameworks and solutions stay consistent. That’s why the best option is to use a ready package offered by e-commerce platforms mentioned in the previous section. That way, you will avoid many problems that may appear when developing the app.

Is It a Good Choice?

In many cases, Node.js can give you higher performance than other technologies. It’s also proven that it’s a stable and fast solution for building e-commerce stores. It comes with a bunch of ready frameworks that make development easier and quicker. However, choosing stack is an individual case and depends on many factors. Write to us, and we’ll help you make the right decision.

Read also: Ruby on Rails for Ecommerce.