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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.