Welcome to this detailed tutorial on building an eCommerce platform with MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) along with Next.js for server-side rendering and a dashboard for managing the eCommerce website.
Step 1: Setting up your environment
To get started, you will need to have Node.js installed on your system. You can download it from the official Node.js website. Once you have installed Node.js, you can verify the installation by running the following command in your terminal:
node -v
Next, you will need to set up a MongoDB database. You can create a free MongoDB Atlas account to host your database. Once you have created your account, you will receive a connection string that you will use to connect to your MongoDB database.
Step 2: Setting up the backend with Node.js and Express
In this step, we will set up the backend of our eCommerce platform using Node.js and Express. Create a new folder for your project and navigate to it in your terminal. To initialize a new Node.js project, run the following command:
npm init -y
Next, install the necessary dependencies for your backend:
npm install express mongoose body-parser cors
Now, you can create a new file named server.js and set up your Express server:
const express = require('express');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const cors = require('cors');
const app = express();
const PORT = 5000;
// Middleware
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(cors());
// Routes
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello World');
});
// Connect to MongoDB
mongoose.connect('YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING', {
useNewUrlParser: true,
useUnifiedTopology: true,
});
app.listen(PORT, () => {
console.log(`Server is running on port ${PORT}`);
});
Don’t forget to replace ‘YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING’ with the connection string you received from MongoDB Atlas.
Step 3: Setting up the frontend with React and Next.js
In this step, we will set up the frontend of our eCommerce platform using React and Next.js. Create a new folder named client in the root of your project and navigate to it in your terminal. To initialize a new Next.js project, run the following command:
npx create-next-app .
Next, install the necessary dependencies for your frontend:
npm install axios
Now, you can create a new file named api.js in the pages/api directory to fetch data from your backend:
import axios from 'axios';
export default async (req, res) => {
const response = await axios.get('http://localhost:5000/');
res.status(200).json(response.data);
};
You can now create the components for your eCommerce platform in the pages directory.
Step 4: Building eCommerce features
In this step, you can start building the eCommerce features for your platform. This can include creating product pages, cart functionality, checkout process, and user authentication.
Step 5: Building the dashboard
In this step, you will build a dashboard for managing your eCommerce website. You can use a library like React Admin to create a user-friendly interface for managing products, orders, customers, and other aspects of your eCommerce platform.
Step 6: Deployment
Once you have completed building your eCommerce platform and dashboard, you can deploy your project to a hosting provider like Vercel or Heroku. Make sure to set up environment variables for your API keys and connection strings to keep your sensitive information secure.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we have covered the process of building an eCommerce platform with MERN stack using Node.js, MongoDB, Express, React, and Next.js. By following the steps outlined in this tutorial, you can create a fully functional eCommerce website with a dashboard for managing your business in 2024. Good luck with your project!