Development

How to Create an Ecommerce Site with React

Kris Nicolaou, February 8, 2021

Through technology, you can now sell, promote, and manage your businesses online. One option is to use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to post products and engage potential customers. The other is to use open-source platforms to create and design your shop’s web application.

Open-source platforms make the development of front-end web applications easier and faster. You just have to browse JavaScript libraries for existing codes and pick which codes suit your web application

This way, you won’t have to spend time learning a new framework just to develop a web application. Besides, the front-end world is continuously changing. This means that the framework you will study might end up being obsolete in a couple of years.

One of the leading frameworks is React. In this article, we will take a quick look at the advantages of React over other competitive frameworks or technologies and its use for e-commerce websites.

React: Simple yet Powerful

React is an open-source, front-end JavaScript library used to build web user interfaces and their components. This framework is used to create the things you see and interact with when you open a website in their browser on a laptop, desktop, or cellphone. Basically, it is used to build a website’s web pages, layouts, and content.

When developing a single-page or mobile application, React can be used as a base. However, it is only concerned with state management and rendering that state to the DOM, so if you are trying to develop a React application, you will need to use additional routing libraries.

Through React, developers can create large web applications that can change data without reloading the webpage. React is popular since it is fast, scalable, and simple.

React, also known as React.js or ReactJS, was developed by Jordan Wilde on Facebook. In 2015, Facebook announced React’s native libraries that cater to native applications like IOS, Android, and UPD. Currently, it is being maintained by Facebook and a community of individual developers and companies.

Why Use React for Your eCommerce Website?

When it comes to building e-commerce websites, there are a lot of web technologies that you can use. You should also consider that when you are developing an e-commerce website, it is essential to plan how you will design and maintain the website.

With React, you won’t have a hard time creating an intuitive website since it is full of different features that you can use. Some of the important features that this web technology offers are:

Virtual DOM

For every DOM element in React, there is a corresponding “virtual DOM element.” This means that when you try to change an element in the web application, the virtual DOM representation holds the entire re-rendered UI.

After this, it checks the previous states of the old DOM and compares it to the new DOM. This allows a unique feature that enables the programmer to code as if the whole page is rendered on each change, whereas react library only renders components that change. This process makes React faster and more memory efficient.

JSX

JSX means Javascript XML. It is a markup syntax that is closely similar to HTML. Since the syntax is similar to HTML, it is more convenient for developers to write React elements that they will incorporate into the web page. Given that it is easy to use, most developers opt for React because of its JSX feature.

Component-based

Many users like that React allows you to build different components, each having its logic and controls. The good thing here is that you can manipulate and render a component without worrying that some components and parts of the page will be affected.

It is also good to note that it is easy to pass data across the app while keeping the state out of the DOM since the component logic is written in JavaScript.

Performance

React runs on an application architecture called Flux controls, which uses one-way data binding. Through a unidirectional data flow, you will be able to get better control over the application, and you won’t have to use additional features just to manage the multidirectional data.

Simplicity

React is perfect for beginners with prior experience with HTML and JavaScript since it is easy to learn and understand and code. Developers who’ve worked with other web technologies can quickly adapt to this framework.

We know that building a useful and intuitive eCommerce website can be difficult for people to understand, so allow us to expand on the service that we offer. Call Brain Box Labs to turn your ideas into something that is perfect for your brand!

General Steps in Creating an Ecommerce Site Using React

When trying to develop good web designs, it is best to know the basics of a good web design. We have prepared general steps that you should keep in mind before starting your website.

  • Prerequisites:
    • Basic knowledge of JavaScript and HTML
    • The most recent version of Node installed on your pc
    • Create a new React project
    • In the application, you’ll need the following:
      • JSON-server and JSON-server-auth for fake back end (authentication)
      • Axios for making Ajax requests to the fake back end
      • JWT-decode to parse the JWT that the back end will respond
      • Bulma CSS framework to style the application
  • Getting Started:
    • Add stylesheet to the application
    • Create context
  • Creating the Foundation of the App
    • Create a skeleton version of the components you’ll need (AddProducts, Cart, Login, and ProductList)
  • Making Up a Fake Backend
  • Implement Authentication in the React App
  • Make the Login Component
  • Create Product Views
  • Add Products
  • Add Cart Management

Contact Brain Box Labs To Learn More About React eCommerce Sites

Effectively using React can help you create powerful eCommerce websites without worrying about your backend infrastructure. If you want to learn more about React and build a successful eCommerce site, check out Brain Box Labs

Ask us

Frequently Asked Questions

When building an eCommerce website, you must first decide on what products you will be selling. Determining the products will set the whole direction of your journey in building a website. Next is to choose your business model, a business, and domain name, then select an eCommerce website builder. There are many online applications that you can use which will help you create a website in minutes or hours.
A scalable eCommerce web application is a site that can effectively handle the in-flow of users/ customers. When a website is not equipped with good scaling, it can crumble the entire system with increased traffic on its platform. That is why it is important to have good scaling measures for the website.
Yes. It is possible for a beginner to learn React quickly, given that the student has prior experience using JavaScript and HTML. It will be easier for people with knowledge in these two since the syntax used for React is similar to HTML.