Why React.js Is the Ideal Choice for Your eCommerce Website

Learn why React.js is the ideal choice for your eCommerce website. Our eCommerce Support team is ready to assist with any queries or concerns.

Why React.js Is the Ideal Choice for Your eCommerce Website

Choosing the right frontend framework plays a crucial role in building a high-performance, scalable, and modern e-commerce website. One technology that stands out is React.

According to the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, React remains the most loved web framework, with over 60% of developers preferring it for building user interfaces. React offers a suite of features that are especially beneficial for e-commerce platforms.

Let’s dive into why React is such a strong choice and walk through how to use it to create a complete e-commerce experience from scratch.

Why Choose React for E-commerce?

React’s modular design lets us build our application using small, reusable components. For e-commerce, this means we can easily manage components like product cards, cart summaries, filters, and navigation bars. This approach also improves maintainability and testing.

• React uses a virtual DOM that optimizes UI rendering by updating only the components that need to change. This leads to faster page updates and smoother user interactions, which is crucial for a good shopping experience.
• React’s declarative nature makes code easier to understand and debug. Developers can write cleaner components that reflect exactly what the UI should look like at any given time.
• With frameworks like Next.js, React can be rendered server-side to improve SEO and initial page load speed. For e-commerce stores that rely heavily on product discoverability and fast performance, this is a game-changer.

Key Features to Use in a React E-commerce Store

• React Context for lightweight state management.
• json-server + json-server-auth for simulating a real-world backend.
• React Router for smooth page navigation.
• Axios for seamless API requests.
• Bulma CSS or Tailwind CSS for clean, responsive UI design.
• jwt-decode for secure token-based authentication.
• localStorage to persist user and cart data.
• Extendable features like product management, cart, checkout, and order history.

How to Build an E-commerce Store with React

1. First, initialize a Next.js app:

   npx create-next-app@latest my-ecommerce-app
   
   cd my-ecommerce-app
   
   
2. Then, install dependencies:

   npm install redux react-redux @reduxjs/toolkit tailwindcss
   
   npx tailwindcss init -p
   
   
3. Next, set up a folder structure:

   mkdir components pages utils services
4. After that, initialize Git:

   
   
   echo "node_modules/" > .gitignore
   
   echo ".env.local" >> .gitignore
   
   git init
   
   git add .
   
   git commit -m "Initial project setup"
   
   
5. Then, create a data model with fields like `id`, `name`, `price`, `category`, and `image`. Design a reusable `<ProductCard />` component:

   
   
   const ProductCard = ({ product }) => (
   
   <div className="border p-4">
   
   <img src={product.image} alt={product.name} className="w-full h-48 object-cover" />
   
   <h3>{product.name}</h3>
   
   <p>${product.price}</p>
   
   </div>
   
   );
   
   

   Add filtering, sorting, and a search bar using `useState`, Redux, and the JavaScript `filter()` method. Use Axios or Fetch to retrieve product data from an API.
6. Now, use Context API for small apps or Redux for more complex needs. A sample `cartReducer` might look like:

   
   
   const cartReducer = (state = [], action) => {
   
   switch (action.type) {
   
   case 'ADD_TO_CART':
   
   return [...state, action.payload];
   
   case 'REMOVE_FROM_CART':
   
   return state.filter(item => item.id !== action.payload.id);
   
   default:
   
   return state;
   
   }
   
   };
   
   

   Store cart data in `localStorage` to persist it across sessions:

   localStorage.setItem('cart', JSON.stringify(state));

   Then, we can use `useDispatch` and `useSelector` to connect UI components with the Redux store.
7. Next, design a multi-step checkout form using `react-hook-form`:

   
   
   import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form';
   
   const CheckoutForm = () => {
   
   const { register, handleSubmit } = useForm();
   
   const onSubmit = data => console.log(data);
   
   return (
   
   <form><input type="text" placeholder="Address" />
   
   <button type="submit">Proceed</button></form>);
   
   };

   Add validation, a summary page, and conditional rendering for different steps in the checkout process.
8. Then, use Stripe’s React integration to securely handle payments:

   
   
   import { CardElement, useStripe, useElements } from '@stripe/react-stripe-js';
   
   const PaymentForm = () => {
   
   const stripe = useStripe();
   
   const elements = useElements();
   
   const handleSubmit = async (e) => {
   
   e.preventDefault();
   
   const { error, paymentMethod } = await stripe.createPaymentMethod({
   
   type: 'card',
   
   card: elements.getElement(CardElement),
   
   });
   
   if (error) console.error(error);
   
   else console.log(paymentMethod);
   
   };
   
   return (
   
   <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
   
   <CardElement />
   
   <button type="submit">Pay</button>
   
   </form>
   
   );
   
   };
   
   

   Then, we need to test with sandbox mode and set up webhooks to handle real-time payment status.
9. After payment, show order confirmation and store order data. Furthermore, we can send confirmation emails using services like EmailJS or SendGrid:

   
   
   import emailjs from 'emailjs-com';
   
   const sendOrderEmail = (order) => {
   
   emailjs.send('service_id', 'template_id', {
   
   order_id: order.id,
   
   customer_email: order.email,
   
   }, 'user_id');
   
   };
   
   

   Also, add an `OrderHistory` component and allow users to track their orders using API responses or webhook notifications.

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Conclusion

React is handy in building scalable and performant web applications, and with the right architecture, it’s an excellent fit for your next e-commerce project.

In short, our Experts demonstrated why React is the ideal choice for your eCommerce website.