What Are the Benefits of a Node.js E-Commerce Application?

Node.js is an open source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that can be used to develop software applications. Using Node.js to develop e-commerce applications allows for building fully-featured, scalable, and user-friendly e-commerce platforms by leveraging all the features and advantages inherent to it.

Node.js offers three major benefits when developing e-commerce applications.

Primary Node.js E-Commerce Benefits

Cross Compatibility

Since Node.js is cross-platform compatible, developers do not have to rely on other programming languages or frameworks to provide support for other platforms. Whether you are targeting a web-based storefront, mobile storefront, or both, Node.js can facilitate developing it.

Scalability

Node.js incorporates scalability into the application development with its event-driven design. Its non-blocking event-loop mechanism enables the server to process requests seamlessly. On top of that, Node.js comes with the load balancing functionality, which facilitates distributing the application load across the CPU core without stressing out the system memory. Additionally, the ability to create microservices-based architecture using Node.js enables developers to build e-commerce platforms that are easily scalable and capable of providing an excellent user experience.

Ease of Use

It’s pretty easy to get started with Node.js with its relatively simple learning curve, extensive package library (NPM), and comprehensive documentation. Also, due to the open source nature of Node.js, developers do not have to pay a licensing fee for using it, which has widely driven the adoption of it across the IT industry. This has led to the rapid development of this platform and a vast knowledge base has become available in every corner of the internet. If a developer faces a blocker, it has most probably been encountered by someone else in the past, and the solution is just a few keystrokes away in Google.

Other Node.js E-Commerce Benefits

Following are some specific benefits that Node.js offers over competing frameworks and programming languages.

Performance Optimization

Node.js utilizes the V8 Javascript engine developed by Google for code interpretation which inherently offers fast execution times for applications. As Node.js supports both client-side and server-side scripting, development does not depend on other frameworks and languages, eliminating the performance impact of other frameworks and languages on the application.

Another factor that impacts the performance is the I/O model. Node.js can provide non-blocking I/O operations leading to multiple requests simultaneously. This, in turn, helps to provide a faster e-commerce storefront experience for the customers.

Caching

Node.js provides developers with the ability to cache single modules in application memory. When a developer integrates this caching feature into an e-commerce application, any requests made to the cached module will generate lightning-fast responses. In e-commerce, this is highly valuable when dealing with shopping carts and inventory management where quick responses are essential.

Single Data Stream

The Node.js architecture is built with a single data stream structure. In this approach, the corresponding response travels through a single data stream when a request is made. When the data is in a single data stream, developers can easily process and extract the required data from the payloads.

Simplified Development

When developing an e-commerce application, it is paramount to have a simple yet functional interface that provides a great customer experience. It should also consist of a rock-solid backend to handle all the requests and meet any performance demand. Developers can use Node.js to power both frontend and backend development, simplifying the overall development effort under a single umbrella.

Another factor that greatly assists in Node.js development is the Node Package Manager (NPM). It helps developers easily find many useful libraries developed by the Node community. Those libraries will enable adding functionality to the e-commerce platform without starting from the ground level, effectively reducing development time and cost.

Using Node.js and E-Commerce APIs

One of the best ways to develop an e-commerce application is to leverage an existing e-commerce API with Node.js. E-commerce APIs like the ones offered by Fabric provides developers with all the required functionality to create a robust e-commerce application.

Using an e-commerce API drastically reduces the development time as almost all of the required functionality for an e-commerce platform is available via API. Also, consuming a reliable API translates to an increased reliability in the Node.js application.

As the core functions are reliably and efficiently handled by an API, developers can focus on other functionality and frontend of the application to differentiate themselves and provide a great user experience.

Shanika Wickramasinghe

Software engineer and technical writer @ fabric.