Intro
An eCommerce website is a perfect way to sell your product online. These sites offer features that help retailers connect with their customers. They also provide sellers with access to a growing market.
As such, more and more online retailers are looking to build an eCommerce site to sell their numerous and ever-growing products in their stores. In this article, you will learn the ultimate guide to building a website for your business in the ruthless eCommerce industry, and the best eCommerce tech stack you’ll need to get your business to where it deserves to be.
What is An eCommerce Tech Stack?
The term “eCommerce technology stack” refers to a set of software, frameworks, platforms, and other solutions required to run and maintain an online store.
In order to build a strong eCommerce infrastructure, the most advanced eCommerce technology and automation solutions are intended to work seamlessly with top eCommerce platforms.
Why is An eCommerce Tech Stack Important?
In an increasingly competitive eCommerce market, a strong tech stack may help online retailers cut costs while increasing logistical efficiency and automating time-consuming procedures.
In the end, it helps online retailers develop a lean supply chain with a high conversion rate, whether they are selling directly to consumers (B2C eCommerce) or businesses (B2B eCommerce).
In terms of the consumer’s perspective, companies may improve the customer experience by adopting automation, artificial intelligence, and other popular tools to guarantee those customer expectations are satisfied. These could be automated order tracking, fast and effective returns processing, and insight into the last-mile shipment process.
In addition to your tech tack, you’ll want to work with the best people. Read our guide to building the right eCommerce team structure to help you get the best results.
eCommerce Development Technology Stacks
Frontend eCommerce Technologies
The user interface is what your online store visitors see. Customer abandonment rates are higher when product pages take too long to load. The ideal loading time for an online business is 2.5 seconds. By not having a quick loading online business, you are missing out on profit. The speed of a website’s loading is also a ranking consideration.
Frontend development also requires responsive design. Your online business must be responsive to accept mobile orders.
The design phase of front-end development is the first step. The design team generates site layouts and prototypes for the development team. eCommerce websites’ front ends are built using popular programming languages like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript frameworks (Angular, Vue and React).
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
In the world of online design, HTML is the most often used markup language for creating web pages.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
CSS is a style sheet language that helps describe the appearance of a document written in a markup language like HTML. CSS, like HTML and JavaScript, is an essential component of the World Wide Web.
JavaScript
JavaScript, a popular front-end programming language, is used to add interactivity to HTML websites. React, Angular, Vue, and jQuery are some of the most popular front-end JS libraries.
- Vue.js – When it comes to building single-page apps and progressive web UIs, Vue.js is a helpful JS framework. It’s also a good choice for creating quick and simple eCommerce sites.
- Node.js – Node.js, an open-source runtime environment, enables front-end and back-end solutions to be developed using JS. The development of eCommerce systems using Node.js has a number of benefits over other technologies.
- Angular – Angular, a front-end framework, is used to construct dynamic mobile, web, and desktop applications. Known for its robustness and completeness, it is developed and maintained by Google. An increasing number of companies are turning to Angular.js development services to build eCommerce platforms.
- React.js – React.js is one of the most popular JS frameworks for creating interactive components on websites. Additionally, it’s employed in the creation of software and eCommerce websites.
Backend eCommerce Technologies
Developing a back-end system is a challenge. For an eCommerce website to function, business logic is necessary. The server side of online retail is responsible for tracking orders, adding goods to the catalog, optimizing pages for search engines, changing site pages, scaling the online store, registering customers, and allowing users to pay for their purchases.
The eCommerce website and its features will not operate if the backend framework is not properly coded. The business metrics should uphold the business goals. With self-hosted platforms, the backend platform part has to be a pretty strong all-in-one solution.
Web server
A web server is software that receives requests from users, analyzes them, and delivers specified files to them. Apache and Nginx are the two most popular open-source and free web servers.
Since it was first released in 1995, Apache has had plenty of time to mature. Nginx is a newer web server, but it is quickly gaining traction among web developers because of its unique design, which allows it to handle an almost infinite number of simultaneous requests.
Databases
Databases are essential components of the server ecosystem because they enable the management and processing of various data points. Databases that are often used include:
- MongoDB
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- DynamoDB by Amazon
- Firebase by Google
Storage
Popular storage options include:
- Firebase Storage by Google
- Amazon Simple Storage Solution (AWS S3)
Programming languages
Using syntax, programmers instruct computers to perform certain actions. Website technology stacks often employ one or more of the following popular programming languages, together with their accompanying frameworks.
- Ruby [Ruby on Rails]
- Java [Spring]
- Python [Django, Pylons, Flask]
- Scala [Play]
- PHP [Laravel]
Third-party eCommerce Tech Stack
Third-party solutions are a critical component of the technology stack. There are several options available on the market, so every online business can find what’s best for them.
Inventory Management Software
Keeping track of, buying, and selling raw materials and completed items is referred to as inventory management in the business world. Management of inventory contributes to inventory accuracy, cost savings, reduced risk of overselling, improved insights, enhanced profitability, and increased productivity, among other things.
Enterprise Resource Planning
eCommerce business owners have to deal with a lot of vital operations and data, which is why they require enterprise resource planning (ERP).
ERP software may help online businesses of all sizes manage inventory, accounting, and supply chains, as well as create and maintain product SKUs.
Payment Gateways
The eCommerce platform requires an effective gateway that can boost customer loyalty and profit and sales to provide customers with secure and easy payment processing software, smooth transactions, and delivery to their doorstep. Alternative payment methods must be added to your online store so that you can accept both credit and debit card payments without any extra investment.
Shipping Solutions
It is possible to automate the process of managing and tracking freight deliveries with the aid of shipping software. Shipments to customers are made easier with the help of shipping modules. Your eCommerce success can depend on a small thing such as the shipping cost.
Bulk editing and printing of shipping data, carrier price and shipment comparisons, and personalized tracking and confirmation alerts are just some of the additional tools you can get with the eCommerce tech stack.
Email Marketing Software Solutions
Email marketing campaigns should allow for easy email creation, list segmentation, message personalization, and reporting. To choose the best email marketing solution, look at factors such as dependability, pricing, template designs, technical support, deliverability, ease of use, integration, and automation, as well as other features that email marketing software has to offer.
Live Chat and Chatbots
Chatbots are powerful conversational marketing solutions capable of handling many conversations at once. They respond to clients’ questions by gathering information from a variety of sources while keeping a consistent brand tone.
Live Chat enables customer service representatives to have real-time conversations with clients. If a customer’s conduct indicates that you should initiate a live chat with them, you can do it preemptively.
Social Media Marketing
Marketing a product or service via social media platforms and sites is known as social media marketing. It helps in advertising products and services, creating brand awareness, and generating traffic.
eCommerce Analytics Tools
A business analyst’s eCommerce analytics tools include statistical tools, data mining tools, and predictive models. It is possible to get a comprehensive perspective of crucial insights that improve productivity and profitability via the use of such software programs.
Product Information Management
When it comes to promoting and selling your items, product information management (PIM) refers to putting together all the data, content, and other resources that are necessary to do so.
PIM software helps by centralizing all of these resources and keeping them up-to-date and available across your business. PIM software may also aid automate the generation and optimization of product data for internal and external usage.
PIM may be the most critical component of an eCommerce IT stack. PIM is the only method to go omnichannel at scale for online companies in the digital era.
Digital Asset Management
A digital asset management system (DAM) is a system for storing and organizing digital assets like images, videos, augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) models, and more.
Asset metadata is used to catalog all of your assets in DAM software. Importing and exporting assets, offering preview or thumbnail views, or converting or resizing files are some of the additional features that certain DAM solutions offer.
PIM and DAM are intertwined and many PIM solutions have DAM capabilities and features.
Product Lifecycle Management
To keep the manufacturing process flowing smoothly, product lifecycle management (PLM) involves keeping track of production processes and encouraging communication among all parties involved. It links and organizes everyone participating in the product’s life cycle, from the designer to the customer.
Multichannel Listing Management
The right technology may help businesses optimize their product data, disseminate it to the various retail hubs, marketplaces, and other platforms they wish to use and keep it up-to-date.
This is how your eCommerce IT stack incorporates multichannel listing management. With these tools, you’ll be able to make sure that the product data you’re distributing is correct and up-to-date across every sales channel you use, making it easier for you to keep up with the latest trends in your industry.
eCommerce: How to pick a tech stack?
Make sure it works with your current stack
As a beginner in web development, the ideal place to start is using pre-existing tools and frameworks rather than constructing your own. Make sure any new platforms or technologies you implement are compatible with your present systems.
Consider the details of the project
Understanding your initial project needs, such as niche size and specifics such as industry verticals, allows you to focus on a smaller number of technology stacks for eCommerce development.
Consider the lead time to market
Another aspect to think about while deciding on eCommerce solutions is the time to market. The LAMP stack is a good choice if you only need a fast app to test a concept. Because of its limited scalability and low performance, LAMP is unlikely to be your best option when it comes to developing a high-quality and flexible product.
Ensure that the system is scalable
An eCommerce platform’s scalability is a critical aspect in determining a company’s growth. Having a distribution network that’s as broad as your goods will allow you to rapidly expand your business. Without considerable investment in time, skill, and cash, you will lose market share and suffer possible income losses every minute if your platforms and frameworks cannot grow rapidly.
Choose the tried-and-true above the fresh and inexperienced
When it comes to maturity, there is a fine line between graceful movement and old-school approaches. If you’re a fan of the latest and greatest in trendy technology, you’re bound to encounter challenges.
Make sure there is enough skill to go around
Talent and money are often inseparable. As technology becomes more widely used, more programmers become proficient in it. On the other side, the faster and more straightforward a technology is to learn, the more enjoyable it is for developers. Since developers aren’t so scarce for a single structure, talent may be found in all pricing ranges and for all languages and talents.
Use a ready-to-go solution in the event of problems
Open-source software and developer communities have been around for a long time. Your project should have rich documentation, a strong community, and support from the technology you’re employing.
Make a budget for the hardware you’ll need
Even the most basic functionalities of some applications require many servers. For startups with limited budgets, it’s important to double-check the hardware requirements of the software solutions you’ve selected.
Web and mobile app development
Are you aiming to develop your business online? Get a professional developer who is going to be able to take your thoughts and turn them into actionable plans.
Considerations when selecting an eCommerce platform
As the type of project determines the entire technical stack of the online shop, we question our customers about the type and scale of the project when they employ us to build their eCommerce enterprises.
Small projects
We recommend constructing an online store utilizing an existing solution like a CMS or WordPress, especially if the customer requires a functional prototype in a short time frame. As a result, the developer’s technological stack should comprise the following components:
- PHP and the Nginx plugin for WordPress
- Nginx, MySQL, and Ruby for Shopify
- PHP, Nginx, and Sass for BigCommerce
Midsize projects
A different set of tools might be appropriate for a midsize project. Customers who wish to build an online store with 500 items, large traffic, and configurable features can choose open-source solutions like Magento. Included in the technological stack in this scenario are:
- Apache, Nginx, PHP, and MySQL for Magento
- Nginx, Bootstrap, and jQuery UI for Prestashop
- PHP, HTML/CSS, MySQL, and DHTML for OpenCart
Big and complex projects
If you’re planning to build a custom two-way platform, social network, or enterprise-sized online shop with a lot of connectors and special features, you’ll need a separate technological stack. Consider the following:
- JQuery, RequireJS, and PHP 5.5 or 5.6 for Magento Enterprise
- Ruby, MySQL, and JavaScript for the Sharetribe application
Wrapping Up
Now that you’ve learned how to select the right technologies for your eCommerce website, you’ll be able to make the right decisions for your organization.
Need help in eCommerce Tech Stack setup? Set up a consultation today!
