Why React.js is the Best Framework for High-Performance eCommerce Websites

13 Mins Read: The buying habits of most buyers have changed drastically. With buyers increasingly preferring online purchases over in-person shopping, businesses must harness the power of JS frameworks to build websites that grab the attention of their users effectively. This piece is dedicated to our developer’s favourite – ReactJS and why it is one of the best choices for new-age eCommerce website development.

There’s no denying that the way an average person shops across the globe has completely changed. While physical stores may never cease to exist, with the digital boom there soon might come a time when physical stores will be more of experience stores. At least the studies suggest that – the ecommerce market size is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.9% from 2024 to 2030.

The digital landscape is rapidly expanding with brand new players entering the market and innovative capabilities transforming the buying experience every second. To remain highly relevant to your customers, you need to choose a framework that builds market-leading capabilities which rehashes the buying experience of your buyers and turns them into conversions.

The choice of framework for your eCommerce website development has to be a crucial decision because it decides the seamlessness of your website. Although there are multiple frameworks which you can choose to build your eCommerce website, ReactJS has emerged as a highly relevant choice for developers. In this piece, we are going to answer a few questions – Why are businesses focusing on building an ecommerce website with react? How ReactJS helps you build high-conversion online stores and what architectural best practices you can follow in the process.

Let’s talk about the importance of choosing the right framework for your eCommerce website and the considerations you must have when choosing one.

Why Choosing the Right Framework for eCommerce Website is Important?

Let’s face it, as a business leader you will be spoilt for the choice on the javascript frameworks that can be used to build eCommerce websites - from AngularJS to VueJS, NextJS to ReactJS. However, you must choose the framework that corresponds to your business needs.

Time to Build Solutions:

Depending on the nature of your business or the factors impacting your industry, you must finalize a strategy that clearly defines the timeline when you want to hit the market. And this timeline should also take into consideration about the time your project will require to solve complex challenges.

This is where choosing the right tech is essential because if you are on a tight timeline, you must choose a technology that produces outcomes in lesser time. Also, a framework that has a strong community always helps in solving crucial challenges faced by your developers, speeding development in the process.

ReactJS could be a great option if your development timelines are a bit stringent. Besides its reusable components, React has the best UI libraries which are usable across every stage of development and helps you launch a flawless solution faster.

Solution Performance:

The entire point of having a highly immersive digital touchpoint is improving client interactions and buying experiences. If your eCommerce website lacks required functionalities or the capability to seamlessly carry out these functions, your customers are not going to be very happy about the lags and downtimes.

Well, the truth is, some frameworks are naturally slow and building solutions with such frameworks will yield websites with low performance. This is why a lot of developers prefer building high-end enterprise apps with ReactJS as it is designed to build powerful immersive and scalable front ends.

Solution Maintenance:

Deploying a website is not the end of your work, your development team constantly needs to maintain it with upgrades and patches, update libraries to keep it fast, flawless and secure.

Here, choosing a legacy framework could be the bane for your business. See, some technologies are just hard to work with – right from developing patches to finding developers well-versed in it. But in choosing the highly evolving react ecommerce framework , you do not just develop market leading functionalities but deliver high performance and also easily source ReactJS developers to help your project and maintain solutions after deployment to the market.

Future Support:

As goes the phrase, you must never try catching a falling knife! In this context, you must never choose a framework whose popularity is steadily dropping. The trick here is choosing a framework that has strong community support and a steady number of developers training in it.

Being developed, maintained and made open source by Facebook (now Meta), ReactJS is constantly evolving and finding takers in biggest of industry names. So, when it comes to popularity or hiring ReactJS developers, rest assured, you aren’t going to be in the spot.

Do you know ReactJS is arguably the JavaScript library with the biggest share in driving higher website traffic? A high-end tech survey confirms it.

So, what makes React one of the most popular choices for eCommerce development?

ReactJS is one compelling force when it comes to developing intuitive and immersive front ends. In the eCommerce market, the front end requires frequent alterations and updates than the back end – all thanks to promotional sales, discounts and offers.

This brings us to the question that Reacts competitors in eCommerce development – VueJs and AngularJS, do they efficiently handle this? Well, most developers find that Angular and Vue offer advanced ways of building UIs but end up making them more complex than ever; whereas React helps them keep it simple. This is because React’s design in based on Document Object Model which makes your eCommerce websites fast and highly dynamic.

Features of ReactJS That Make It a Top Choice for eCommerce Websites

Most developers are in high praise about React’s efficiency and scalability, which makes it one of the top choices for eCommerce websites to single-page applications.

Here are the features that make it a catch:

Virtual DOM:

This is one of the flagship features of ReactJS that enhances performance. This framework keeps two versions of the browser DOM, the version which is rendered while another copy which is kept for reference.

The virtual DOM helps developers render only the changed elements on a website instead of the full DOM tree. This is the beauty of ReactJS, it smartly updates only the components that have been changed. Since, the virtual DOM eliminates the need to re-render an entire page after changes, and re-renders parts of webpages where changes have been made, ecommerce with react websites find a massive performance boost.

Since it is incredibly helpful for eCommerce websites that frequently needs updating merchandise details, cart updates etc. as changes can be done to a webpage without completely refreshing it entirely.

Dynamic UI:

We can say this is another benefit of React’s Virtual DOM that it helps developers build highly interactive and dynamic user interfaces. We must realize here that the buying experience you provide on your virtual store actually impact conversions. With smoother, responsive and intuitive interfaces, real-time product updates, AI-enhanced live chat options and realistic product visualizations, you push casual visitors into impulsive buyers. And when this responsive experience stays with them, you end up making a loyal customer base.

Component Based Architecture:

A component-based architecture is what makes it a perfect choice to build eCommerce websites with ReactJS. When you think of an eCommerce store, you inevitably think of product listings, navigation bars, filters, shopping carts. This component-based architecture in React enables developers to reuse pre-developed, manageable elements into the central theme of the website.

These could be anything from categories, product cards, checkout forms and other widget-powered functionalities. This doesn’t just make building an eCommerce website easy, but enables easy upgrades and integrations.

Every part of a user interface can be developed by reusing pre-existing elements in the central theme. These include product cards, categories, forms used during checkout, and more functionalities powered by available widgets. This modularity not only helps in development but also helps the engineer managing the application in the future to make amendments and additions to the app.

Server-Side Rendering:

Ecommerce businesses are eternally concerned about the performance of their websites and the search engine ranks. The best part is, ReactJS displays content on server side which makes it easy to share webpages with search engines. This enables ecom websites in generating traffic through such sections.

One Way Data Binding:

Data moves in a singular flow for ReactJS. In case developers need to edit any component in the runtime, they need to access the callback function for it. With this single-sided data flow, developers have a better hand at accessing the performance of the website and ways to transform features.

JSX:

ReactJS has completely revolutionized HTML for JavaScript. With the help of JSX, developers are able to eliminate separate HTML files and can directly write HTML codes directly on JS files and React renders those codes as HTML elements on a page. This doesn’t just reduce unnecessary clutter of files but also speeds up the development process.

Next. js Integration:

React’s NextJS framework is again one of th most popular choice for developers for its static site generation and server-side rendering. Apart from React’s core functionalities, NextJS offers API routes, auto code splitting and dynamic routing which make it easier and more seamless to build scalable and immersive eCommerce websites using reactjs.

With a wide palette of features, ReactJS definitely is a top choice for building various apps and eCommerce sites. Let’s now dig into a few advantages React would bring for your eCommerce websites.

Advantages of Using ReactJS for eCommerce Websites

Unarguably, ReactJS is one of the most popular frontend frameworks with adequate JavaScript libraries that build web apps and websites with stunning user interfaces. Let’s explore the advantages it brings to eCommerce website development:

ReactJS is Composable:

This makes for one of the most crucial advantages of ReactJS where developers can actually combine elements or parts of components to make a whole. Back in the days when websites were heavily HTML reliant, websites used to have pages after pages of HTML codes.

React enables dividing such codes into custom components that can be integrated later. This makes the codes flexible and easily maintainable. Again, JSX that I mentioned earlier, is used as a template to use these HTML elements to render subcomponents.

ReactJS is Declarative:

React makes codes easier to debug and more predictable. The UI of a website can be enhanced with interactive components by simply changing their state. Since, developers do not have to interact with the DOM for every change, it enables them to check the UI after the state of the component has been changed. This remarkably enhances the ability to redesign UIs and debug codes at the same time.

ReactJS is SEO Friendly:

SEO is about making it easier for developers to find the right content for the user. When a user makes a search, search engines platforms like Google, Yahoo, Bing or Baidu try to find which page is the most relevant to that specific search. React affects the SEO by giving you a SPA (Single Page Application) which requires Javascript to show the content on the page which can then be rendered and indexed.

ReactJS Guarantees Stable Code:

Thanks to React’s component-based architecture, it uses data flow to compartmentalize changes. This data-binding mechanism ensures that minor changes in the temporary structure, do not affect the permanent structure. When developers change the state of an object, only those specific components are updated which guarantees code stability and consistent app performance.

ReactJS Developers Get Abundant Community Support:

Although this JS library was developed for internal use, Facebook later made it open source. As a result, the ReactJS community has experts from biggest industry names guiding developers on challenges they face with ReactJS eCommerce website development.

Let’s now talk about the challenges businesses face while building a scalable eCommerce website.

Crucial Challenges You Could Face When Building an eCommerce Website

Businesses that require stellar website performances, face a myriad variety of complexities. We have picked up the ones that highly affect your performance and business:

Ability to Handle Higher Volumes of Traffic:

No matter at what stage you decide to go digital, your website traffic will jump higher with time. This is where most businesses suffer because their websites lack the ability to remain responsive and fast when processing multiple service requests. Downtimes, outages and crashes become a regular affair which affects user experience and thus, impacts conversions.

Solution: Developers strongly opine that ReactJS could be one of the best band-aids. Using its Virtual DOM, and efficient rendering processes, developers can update components of a page that needs changes. This considerably reduces the load on the server and enhances overall performance.

Complex Database Management:

Running an eCommerce website means you will be dealing with an enormous database. From managing products across diverse categories, integrations across several touchpoints and financial transactions across multiple gateways – all happening at the same time.

Let’s say your favourite brand is running an online sale and you are finally getting to lay hands on products you wanted for a long time. Now, your cart holds an unbelievable discount only for a certain time and you are getting repeatedly stuck while making the payment. Won’t it feel frustrating?

Solution: If you are wondering is React going to handle the database? Of course not! But remember, it has a component-based architecture that enables seamless data fetching. Developers often use Redux and Context API for highly efficient site management capabilities.

Security and Data Vulnerabilities:

Growing consumer demands and new innovations inevitably mean that your business data (which also consists of sensitive customer data) is accessed across various touchpoints. This means you need strong security measures corresponding to global data protection laws to minimize data vulnerabilities and threats.

Solution: I have heard developers speak highly about ReactJS in this regard. React has a highly modular structure that enables implementing complex security at component level. ReactJS also allows integrating advanced security solutions with APIs and backend services.

Third Party Integration:

When we talk about integrations for your eCommerce website, you’ll have to count secure payment gateways, shipping logistics with reasonable charges and minimal delivery issues, inventory management tools like Zoho Inventory or TradeGecko, CRM systems, ERP solutions, marketing tools with social media integrations and analytics tools for insights into customer behaviour, buying patterns and website performances. Accommodating multiple crucial but complex integrations can be difficult if your website.

Solution: React JS brings with it an extensive ecosystem of libraries and other flexibilities that make third-party integrations smooth and frictionless.

Feature Scalability:

Your eCommerce website will waste away if you don’t keep adding new features or expand existing ones. Most business leaders worry that integrating new features and transforming existing ones with disrupt operations and impact business continuity.

Solution: Again, the component-based architecture of ReactJS helps developers easily add new or modification of features. This makes ReactJS a wise choice as your website will stay highly maintainable and scalable.

Enhancing User Experience:

Digital buyers are highly clingy about seamless website experiences. You must understand that no matter what your category is, there are more competitors than takers. Also, digital buyers are highly attentive about businesses delivering customized experiences, so an intuitive UI ticks with them faster.

Solution: Thanks to React’s reusable components and fast rendering capabilities, developers can now enhance the overall user experience with intuitive interfaces.

Building Compliance to Regulations:

Working with public data implies enormous responsibilities and being compliant with several global data regulation standards like GDPR. This is where many businesses fail because across regions there are many data compliances which are highly complex to follow and integrate in regular operational processes if attempted at one go.

Solution: Well, the good news is, ReactJS follows a modular approach. And that means, you get to have a phased approach to implement these compliance measures at several levels of the solution. This doesn’t just make the implementation easy but also protects your solutions from rapid disruptions amidst changes.

Cost Management:

This has been one of the primal challenges businesses face when building a high-load bearing website. They often feel stuck with maintaining the cost of development, infrastructure and on-going support.

Solution: We have seen multiple clients benefit from ReactJS here. It’s ability to reuse components helps businesses save development costs and time-to-markets.

Now, you must explore the best and proven ways in which you can leverage ReactJS for building a high-performing eCommerce website. Let’s dig in:

Craft A Solid Foundation with React: Best Architectural Practices You Should Follow

Above its tech prowess, ReactJS has an extensive ecosystem of libraries and tools, which if leveraged correctly, can give a wealth of resources. Developers often pre-build components for common eCommerce functions which saves time, efforts and a lot of money.

If you want to build a solid architecture for your eCommerce website, here are a few considerations:

1. State Management: React is famous for its state management capabilities. However, what you must know is it is suitable only for smaller apps. If you are building a complex website, you must invest in a state management library like Redux, MobX to seamlessly manage state across components.

2. Routing: ReactJS Router is extensively used by expert developers to manage navigation for SPAs (single-page applications). This router enables end users seamless move through product pages, categories, checkout and payment processes.

3. Separate Concerns: If you want cleaner codes, seamless testing and easy maintenance, you must integrate separation of concerns. Your developers can decouple the user interface of your website from data access layers and business logic to achieve this.

4. Data Fetching: I have seen many developers prefer working with ReactJS because of its data fetching abilities. ReactJS is built in a way that it can accumulate data from various API sources like Fetch, Axios which is crucial for an eCommerce website in optimizing its performance through real-time decision making.

While these are some of the architectural recommendations that you must include, there are some capabilities which you can integrate with ReactJS to enhance user experience further.

Optimize UX on Your eCommerce Website with these Advanced Techniques

If you ask the most experienced eCommerce developers, they’ll tell you that they prefer ReactJS for one very crucial reason – it enables you to craft highly intelligent, interactive and immersive user experiences that puts you ahead of your competitors.

Here are some techniques you can use:

1. Product Search and Filters: Now, we’ll talk about React’s extensive store of libraries. Libraries like React Algolia or React InstantSearch can help you integrate seamless search features and faceted navigation. If users can effortlessly find products they want, they will come back to your website repeatedly for ease of use.

2. Custom Recommendations: You users love a tailored approach. By analysing buying behaviours, browsing histories you can get insights into products your customers may want to look at. Integrate machine learning and recommendation engines to facilitate this tailored approach to enhance user experience.

3. Wishlists: The main purpose of your eCommerce website is to trigger repeat visits and purchases, For that you need to build a strong demand and position your products as aspirations for your users. Creating functionalities like Saved Items and Wishlists enables your users to remember products that they liked on previous visits and stay at the top of their mind when making further purchases.

How Radixweb Can Help Your Optimize User Experience with React eCommerce DevelopmentWhen it comes to building a highly responsive and intuitive eCommerce that has minimal load and downtime issues, ReactJS is one of the most popular choices with our eCommerce developers.With our extensive experience of over two decades in eCommerce development, we have turned the digital presence of numerous businesses in helping build an e commerce website from scratch with react. Our developers have built dynamic eCommerce capabilities with React’s elegant features like Virtual DOM, server-side rendering, component-based architecture etc.Besides, React is one constantly evolving framework that consistently delivering efficient improvements for new-age customer demands. And our developers have been readily adapting to the changes and iterations, leveraging all advanced ReactJS features to craft high SEO ranking websites with superior loading speeds.If you have an eCommerce project in mind, get in touch with our React eCommerce developers and we’ll show you the way to build capabilities that make you the end user’s top choice.