The eCommerce sector is experiencing remarkable growth. Today, it’s essential to construct an eCommerce website that is accessible, easily expandable, and cost-efficient for success in the digital marketplace. To accomplish this, a growing number of businesses are embracing serverless architecture and microservices. In this blog, we will delve into the process of constructing a serverless, microservices-driven, and accessible online store from scratch. Nevertheless, if you lack the necessary skills or encounter challenges in creating an online store, take the help of experts for successful eCommerce website development. Let’s begin with an introduction to serverless eCommerce websites.
An Insight into Serverless eCommerce Websites
A serverless eCommerce site is crafted using a serverless architecture. This entails leveraging cloud-based services that enable developers to focus on coding without worrying about managing servers or infrastructure. Through the adoption of serverless technology, you can lower expenses, enhance scalability, and elevate the overall quality of the customer experience.
Next, let’s explore eCommerce microservices architecture.
What is a Microservices-based eCommerce Website?
A microservices-based architecture is a modular approach to creating online stores. The best thing about this is all services within the eCommerce website will function autonomously. This stands in contrast to monolithic eCommerce websites, where the essential features are tightly integrated with the front-end user interface.
The critical features may include shopping product listings, shopping carts, payment processing, etc. In monolithic systems, updates and changes to backend functionalities can have repercussions on the frontend user experience. Additionally, it may lead to website downtime and slow down the development process.
Furthermore, with a monolithic system in place, you cannot customize functions and swiftly adapt to evolving trends and emerging technologies. In a microservice-driven eCommerce setup, it’s possible to introduce new features into the backend, where each function operates independently of the rest. This enables eCommerce web developers to customize the website in a modular manner.
Next, let’s head to the process of developing a serverless, microservices-based, accessible eCommerce website.
A Step-by-step Guide to Serverless and Microservices-based eCommerce Website Development
Step 1: Define Your eCommerce Goals
Prior to embarking on the development journey, it is crucial to possess a clear understanding of your eCommerce goals. You must consider questions such as:
- What type of products or services will you be providing?
- Who constitutes your primary target audience?
- What distinctive features or services will distinguish you from competitors?
- What scalability and performance requirements do you have?
It’s important to establish a well-defined vision initially. It will serve as a guide for making decisions during the development process.
Step 2: Choose the Right Tech Stack
In this stage, select the appropriate technologies for serverless and microservice-based eCommerce website development. Here are some widely recognized options:
- Frontend: Opt for React, Vue.js, or Angular to create responsive and user-friendly interfaces.
- Backend: Consider AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, or Google Cloud Functions for leveraging serverless computing capabilities.
- Database: Evaluate Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB, or PostgreSQL as potential data storage options.
- API Gateway: Explore AWS API Gateway or Azure API Management as tools to manage your APIs efficiently.
- It’s imperative to ensure that your chosen tech stack is aligned with your long-term objectives for scalability and cost-effectiveness.
Step 3: Design a Microservices Architecture
In this stage, divide your eCommerce website into microservices, with each one assigned a specific role (e.g., managing the product catalog or processing orders). This modular approach enables independent development and scalability for each service. Furthermore, prioritize the creation of an interface that is accessible to all.
Step 4: Implement User Authentication and Authorization
Security plays a critical role in eCommerce. Establish user authentication and authorization mechanisms utilizing Amazon Cognito or Firebase Authentication. You must safeguard user data and adhere to GDPR compliance standards.
Step 5: Develop Core Microservices
Next, begin developing essential microservices that drive the functionality of your eCommerce website. For successful eCommerce development in USA, you must include the following microservices:
- Product Catalog: You must construct a microservice for managing product-related data. This includes images, descriptions, and pricing.
- Shopping Cart: Establish a service dedicated to managing cart operations, such as adding/removing items, applying discounts, and calculating totals.
- Checkout and Payments: You must create microservices to handle order processing, ensure secure payment transactions, and maintain order history.
- User Profiles: Additionally, develop a service to manage user profiles, addresses, and users’ preferences.
Step 6: Implement Serverless Functions
In this step, you must utilize serverless functions, such as AWS Lambda or Azure Functions, to carry out vital functions. It includes order processing, sending email confirmations, and managing real-time notifications. This approach enables efficient scaling that aligns with demand while keeping costs in check.
Step 7: Create a Robust API Gateway
Next, you must employ an API gateway, such as AWS API Gateway or Azure API Management. The goal is to manage and secure the APIs of your microservices. For this, you must centralize tasks such as authentication, rate limiting, and monitoring.
Step 8: Monitor and Optimize
In this stage of the ecommerce website developmentprocess, you must implement monitoring and logging solutions to acquire insights into your system’s performance. Consistently evaluate metrics and logs to optimize resource utilization and enhance the user experience.
Step 9: Test Thoroughly
After this, you need to carry out thorough testing. It will include unit and integration tests. Additionally, perform load testing to verify that your eCommerce website can handle substantial traffic volumes without compromising performance.
Step 10: Launch and Promote
After thoroughly testing your eCommerce website, the next step is to introduce it to the public. You must create a marketing strategy to promote your platform and draw in potential customers.
Step 11: Ongoing Maintenance and Iteration
The eCommerce web development journey doesn’t conclude upon launch. Instead, it’s an ongoing process. You must continuously collect user feedback, closely monitor performance, and implement enhancements. The latter should be based on data and user interactions. The serverless and microservice-based architecture facilitates agile development and effortless updates.
Conclusion
In this blog, readers learned about an 11-step process to build an eCommerce website successfully. However, executing it can be difficult, especially if you lack technical knowledge. In that case, you can hire the best eCommerce website development company in the US. They will handle the job efficiently and deliver successful outcomes.
