What is Jamstack eCommerce?

Jamstack is not a tool. Rather, it's a modern approach to building websites and applications. With its JavaScript, APIs, and Markup components, developers are able to deliver high-performance, secure, and scalable digital products. Websites built with Jamstack architecture follow a pre-rendering page model, improving overall speed and performance compared to traditional web development tools.

In a recent Jamstack Community Survey by Netlify, conducted annually, reveals that eCommerce significantly influences Jamstack adoption. In fact, 34% of users employ Jamstack for creating eCommerce stores. Moreover, these websites are not just small-scale; 32% of developers report that their sites attract millions of visitors.

In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about this modern web development architecture. 

The benefits of building with Jamstack eCommerce 

The world of eCommerce continuously evolves, spurred by shifting consumer expectations and advancements in technology. That's why here are some reasons why Jamstack can be a game-changer for your eCommerce business:

• Secure transactions are everything in eCommerce: Jamstack reduces your reliance on server-side technologies, limiting the points of vulnerability. This secures your platforms from common web development security issues.

  
  

• Improved performance results to better customer experience: Jamstack’s architecture allows you to pre-render pages, meaning faster load times - a critical factor in eCommerce conversions. Customers are less likely to leave your site if pages load quickly, improving customer satisfaction and increasing the chances of making a sale.

  
  

• Jamstack architecture scales with your business: As pre-rendered Jamstack sites are served via a CDN, scaling up to meet demand is easier. That means that whether your online store gets hundreds or millions of visitors, Jamstack can handle it, providing stability during peak shopping periods.

How Jamstack improves eCommerce performance

Jamstack’s structure inherently elevates eCommerce performance in a few ways:

• Faster load times: Jamstack's pre-rendering capability allows pages to be served from a CDN, dramatically reducing load times. This is crucial to keep visitors on your site and encourage conversions.

  
  

• Fewer server-side requests: Since much of a Jamstack site is static, it requires fewer server-side requests. This means less server strain and, ultimately, smoother site performance that gives customers a seamless shopping experience.

  
  

• Better SEO: Quick load times, secure platforms, and great user experience are all factors that search engines reward with better rankings. This implies more organic traffic to your eCommerce store leading to more potential sales.

With the understanding of the influence Jamstack has on an eCommerce store’s performance and customer experience, taking steps to incorporate it into your business's digital strategy can be key to outperforming competitors in an increasingly crowded digital marketplace.

Choosing the right Jamstack eCommerce platform

There are a number of options for Jamstack platforms. Let's break it down.

Top Jamstack eCommerce platforms in 2024

The online store landscape keeps shifting as forward-thinking retailers adopt Jamstack for their shopping platforms. In 2024, several platforms edged ahead of the pack, delivering unprecedented capabilities for large and small stores alike.

Shopify, with its vast app marketplace, flexible sales channels, and reliable customer support, continues to be a leading contender. WooCommerce, the open-source WordPress plugin known for its seamless CMS integration, is another popular choice. And not to be forgotten are the industry's emerging stars, like BigCommerce and Magneto, with their robust feature sets and impressive scalability options.

Key features to look for in a Jamstack eCommerce platform

When selecting an eCommerce platform, it's essential to seek out advanced capabilities and align those with your specific needs and goals.

Performance and speed top the list. Sites built with Jamstack often see significant improvements on these fronts, translating into lower bounce rates and higher customer conversions. 

Another must-have feature is a robust API. All elements of your online store - from content management to product listings and checkout operations - can be tightly interlinked through robust APIs.

Lastly, do not overlook the importance of scalability and flexibility. As business needs change, your platform should allow you to quickly scale up (or down) based on demand without causing disruption or downtime.

Comparing the best Jamstack eCommerce platforms

Armed with knowledge about top platforms and key features, we can now make meaningful comparisons.

Shopify’s strength lies in its extensive app marketplace and seamless integrations. Additionally, many Shopify apps (like Instant Page Builder) are built using jamstack principles.

For businesses with varying needs, this feature extensibility can prove invaluable. On the other hand, WooCommerce pulls ahead in cost-effectiveness and control, thanks to its open-source nature.

For businesses that prioritize scalability, BigCommerce and Magento could be an ideal option with their built-in scalability options.

In choosing a platform, always remember - the 'right' choice largely depends on your business needs and constraints. So pick one that aligns with your specific requirements and future growth plans.

Implementing Jamstack in your eCommerce store: A step-by-step guide

Here’s a step-by-step guide for integrating Jamstack in your eCommerce store

Step 1: Choosing the right platform

The journey to incorporating Jamstack begins with the critical decision of selecting the appropriate platform for your online business. The sea of eCommerce platforms can appear daunting, but remember, the cornerstone of an effective online store is its compatibility with your business model and marketing strategy.

Popular choices include BigCommerce, Shopify, and WooCommerce. Each platform carries unique features, and aligning these with your specific business goals is crucial. BigCommerce is praised for its extensive built-in features and superb SEO. Shopify excels in providing a user-friendly and intuitive interface, while WooCommerce offers the best option for WordPress users.

Another aspect to consider is your expected growth rate. You want a platform that can adroitly accommodate large traffic loads and flexibly scale when your business grows. Take into account platform-specific requirements, data management capabilities, and security parameters.

Step 2: Setting up your store

With the right platform in hand, it's time to set the foundations for your store. The setting up process encompasses several components. It begins with forming a well-structured site map that guides your visitors, creates a compelling user experience, and assists in seamless navigation.

Next, you need to decide on your product catalog. This entails listing your products and optimizing the product descriptions for search engines (SEO). Strategic keywords should rate high on your priority list here.

Setting up includes getting to grips with shipping rates, taxes, and payment providers, which should be tailored to your target audience. Incorporate SSL certificates for a secure connection. 

Step 3: Integrating Jamstack

Now comes the part where you integrate Jamstack. Start by investing in a quality headless CMS such as Storyblok, Contentful, or Sanity.io. These CMSs couple well with the Jamstack architecture because content sits separately from your eCommerce platform and is offered via APIs. This separation enables faster page load times, increased website security, and more flexibility.

When implementing Jamstack, remember to divide the rendering and the backend operations. This is achieved by selecting a Static Site Generator (SSG) such as Next.js or Gatsby. These help you pre-build static pages, which can sharply elevate your site’s load speed.

Lastly, enlist a reliable deployment and hosting service like Netlify or Vercel. These platforms work well with Jamstack, allowing global distribution, continuous deployment, branch preview, serverless functions, and much more.

Step 4: Testing and launching your store

Finally, before you click that launch button, remember to conduct rigorous testing of your site. Testing previews the user journey and filters out any hiccups. Challenge every function of your website, from signup protocols, browsing, and product selection to the checkout process.

Moreover, consider tracking the website's speed and performance to iron out any latency issues or roadblocks in the loading process. There are ample testing tools like Google Lighthouse, WebPageTest.org, and GTMetrix. They provide a detailed diagnosis of your website's health and suggest improvements.

The launch day should be a culmination of careful planning, testing, and refinement. With a proper eCommerce platform, seamless Jamstack integration, and persistent testing, you are bound to make a lasting impression on customers visiting your online store.

Boosting eCommerce Performance with Jamstack

Jamstack boosts site performance and speed, SEO rankings, and elevates the user experience.

How Jamstack enhances site speed and performance

Jamstack provides a profound improvement to site performance by using a unique layout. It deploys sites directly to a content delivery network (CDN), leveraging its global distribution to reduce latency. This results in incredibly fast page load times, a critical determinant in holding your web visitor's fleeting attention span. In essence, Jamstack is the wizard behind the curtain, assuring that your online store runs at optimal speed with a performance that retains customers and converts.

Moreover, Jamstack is file-based, meaning that pages are prebuilt and served directly from a CDN. With page elements pre-rendered at build time rather than upon request, you sidestep server-side operations, reducing bandwidth usage. Manual check - consider adding a graph here to visualize the impact of CDN distribution and pre-rendering on site performance and speed.

Improving SEO with Jamstack:

A fast and responsive site forms the bedrock of SEO performance. As we've established, Jamstack excels in this. But the offering goes beyond speed. Jamstack's architectural framework allows for easy integration of meta tags and other SEO-friendly features. This seamless integration enables a conscientious adoption of SEO techniques, propelling your online store to the coveted top-perched positions in search results.

In essence, Jamstack boosts your site's speed and performance, which inherently ups your SEO game. It also lends the flexibility to actively work on and improve your SEO strategies.

Enhancing user experience with Jamstack

With its prompt page loads and uncompromised performance, Jamstack offers an efficient and seamless user experience that becomes a focal point in customer acquisition and retention. Jamstack's de-coupled architecture separates the front end from the back end, giving you carte blanche to design the user interface. This freedom extends to creating an inviting, intuitive environment for your customers, significantly buoying your UX prospects.

Further, this architecture allows for excellent scalability. As your traffic surges, your site maintains its quality of performance, remaining steadfastly responsive and reliable. An online store equipped with the right mix of speed, performance, and an inviting environment is the winning combination in the competitive world of eCommerce, and Jamstack equips you with just that.

Conclusion

Embracing Jamstack can revolutionize your online store by improving performance, security, and scalability. When considering a platform or Shopify apps, look for ones that are built with jamstack principles because they are faster and more scalable

The cost savings enabled by a static-first approach can be a significant boon, and continuous deployment, coupled with a decoupled backend and front end, offers an unrivaled user experience. The information embedded in this guide aims to illustrate how Jamstack could be the secret sauce to driving your eCommerce business into the stratosphere.