How to Create a Powerful E-Commerce Site with Laravel

Laravel For ECommerce

For e-commerce development, the backend framework has equal significance to the frontend framework. Therefore, Laravel tempts many ecommerce developers to create a robust ecommerce site. Hence, today’s post is dedicated to learning how to create an ecommerce website with Laravel by presenting a step-by-step guide.

According to Statistics & Data., Laravel has retained its top position as the most popular backend framework in 2023.

Why is Laravel An Ideal Choice for Ecommerce Development?

Laravel offers several unique advantages, such as:

1.Scalability with its modular architecture.
2.Security with its built-in security features.
3.Customizability with its flexibility.
4.Maintainability with its use of an Artisan console.

Apart from these, Laravel has many built-in features that support an elegant ecommerce development, including:

  • Elegant syntax.
  • MVC architecture.
  • Comprehensive documentation.
  • Built-in authentication and authorization.
  • Eloquent ORM.
  • Blade templating.
  • Rich ecosystem.
  • Huge Laravel developer community.
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    How To Build an Ecommerce Website with Laravel?

    With these insights, let’s see how to create a robust ecommerce site with a step-by-step guide.

    Step#1 – Set Up Laravel Ecommerce Development Environment.

    Before starting anything, it’s crucial to set up a proper ecommerce development environment in Laravel. It requires some prerequisites, such as:

    Install PHP:

    Laravel is a PHP framework. Therefore, the latest version of PHP on the development machine/server is required to leverage the latest features and functionality available in the framework. So please do it.

    Install Composer

    Composer is a dependency manager for PHP projects. So, install it.

    Install Laravel:

    With the help of a composer, you can install the latest version of Laravel by following the installation instructions given in the documents.

    Configure Environment:

    Laravel uses a ‘.env’ file to manage development environment-specific settings. You can locate the file in your project’s root directory. The file stores sensitive info, including database credentials. In this file, you can set database connection details, app key, and other essential information about Laravel for ecommerce project development.

    Install Node.js and NPM:

    If you’re using Node.js as a frontend framework, install it along with NPM for frontend asset compilation.

    Setup Version Control System:

    You can use Git to set up a version control system to track changes in a collaborative development environment.

    Finally, run the development server using the Artisan command.

    Step#2 – Design Laravel Ecommerce Database

    An ecommerce website always consists of several entities. Therefore, an ecommerce database has many tables and relationships. Let’s explore some essential tables and their relationships in database design.

    Tables Relationship
    Products:
    Define product details, including names, SKUs, prices, images, variations, etc.    		 Many-to-Many (A product can belong to one or more categories.)
    Users:
    Define user details, including names, email addresses, and custom customer-specific fields    		 One-to-Many (A product can belong to one or more categories.)
    Orders:
    Define order details, such as users, product purchased, price, and order status.    		 One-to-Many (A user can have many orders.)
    Order Items:
    Link orders to specific products and quantities within each order.    		 One-to-One (An order item can belong to one product.)
    Payments:
    Track payment information, including transaction ID, method, amount, and status.    		 One-to-One (A payment belongs to one order.)
    Categories:
    Organize products into categories and subcategories with a set structure for the organization.    		 One-to-Many (A category may have more sub-categories.)
    Shopping Carts:
    Define shopping cart details, including products, users, categories, price, amount, etc.    		 One-to-Many (A shopping cart may have many products but one user.)

    Step#3 – Plan Laravel Ecommerce Website Architecture.

    Ecommerce success becomes easy when you have planned the website architecture carefully, meeting your bespoke requirements. Let’s see which components have significance in planning.

    Function Components
    User management Registration, authentication, user roles, such as customers, admin, etc.
    Product Catalog Products, attributes, categories, inventory, etc.
    Shopping cart Add to cart functionality, session management, and cart persistence.
    Checkout process Address management, shipping options, payment gateway integration, etc
    Order management Order processing, history, status updates, etc
    Search and filtering Search functionality, autosuggestions, advanced filters, etc
    Content management Statistic and dynamic web copies, blogs, SEO content, etc
    Analytics and Reporting Sales reports, tracking user behavior metrics, performance metrics, etc

    Step#4 – MVC Development

    Model, view, and controller are essential components of a web application.

    Model Translate database design into models that direct data access logic. Develop a product model with methods to retrieve, create, update, and delete product info.
    View Presents data retrieved from the controller in a user-friendly and visually appealing format—leverage Blade to inject dynamic data and develop reusable layout components. Develop products.blade.php view and show product lists with images, descriptions, and prices.
    Controller Manage incoming user requests and interact with models to retrieve data and generate suitable responses. Develop a product controller with actions for depicting product listings, retrieving individual product details, and managing product searches.

    Step#5 – Routing & URL Design

    Create a foundation for user navigation by defining routing and URLs. Thus, you will create clear paths to explore the site by customers.

    Routing Fundamentals:

    The routing system in Laravel maps URLs or user requests to specific controller actions. You must employ clear and descriptive URLs that reflect the page content.

    The Best Practice:

    You should maintain consistency in URL structure across sections in the ecommerce storefront. You can use route parameters to capture dynamic parts of URLs. iCommuneTech has experienced Laravel programmers to create a user-friendly routing system.

    Step#6 – Ensure Security

    Ensuring e-commerce security begins with the implementation of authentication and user management by following the best practices. Laravel offers the following features, such as:

    Registration:

    Develop a registration module to allow users to create accounts and set secure password hashing and validation processes.

    Login:

    Create login modules with secure login mechanisms and email or username authentication.

    Accounts:

    Develop accounts to edit user profile information.

    Email Verification:

    Introduce the email verification step for additional security and account confirmation.

    Password Reset:

    Create a password reset module to help users set new passwords or edit existing ones.

    Laravel has a built-in authentication system. You can use Laravel Sanctum to authenticate APIs. You can customize it.

    Step#7 – Develop Product Catalog and Shopping

    Product Catalog Module Development

    Now, it’s time to create product catalog modules, which may consist of the following sub-modules.

    Product Listing:

    It displays products in a user-friendly format with images, descriptions, and prices.

    Filtering and Sorting:

    The module must allow customers to filter their search by category, price, and other attributes.

    Product Details:

    It should consist of detailed information regarding the product along with several images, reviews, and related products.

    Search:

    Your on-site search engine must help Laravel ecommerce shoppers to find intended products quickly using the search bar.

    Shopping Cart Module Development

    Your shopping cart module may contain the following sub-modules.

    Add-to-Cart:

    It allows shoppers to add products with quantity selection and variations.

    Cart Management:

    It will show shopping cart content, including product quantity, product details, and cumulative prices.

    Checkout:

    You must design a smooth, secure, and user-friendly checkout process addressing the selection of products and order confirmation.

    You can use the Eloquent ORM features of Laravel to retrieve data and product listings. You can implement Laravel shopping cart packages for cart management and checkout functionality.

    Step#8 – Checkout & Payment Development

    Laravel for ecommerce allows you to develop a secure and effective checkout flow with integrated payment options. The module may consist of the following features.

    Address:

    It allows options for shipping and billing addresses.

    Payment Methods:

    You can offer different payment methods in this module. You can integrate global and local payment gateways based on target audience preferences.

    Order Confirmation:

    The module contains order details, shipping/billing information, and payment confirmation buttons.

    Order Status:

    It allows for the tracking of orders from warehouses to shipping and final delivery. It also will send email or mobile notifications.

    Security Concerns

    You can address various security concerns during the development, such as:

  • PCI compliance.
  • Encryption technology is used to protect sensitive data during storage and exchanges.
  • Use fraud detection measures to protect financial data and transactions.

    • Step#9 – Order Management & Admin Panel Development

    Order management and admin panel in your Laravel application act as a control hub. The following are essential features you need to infuse during Laravel for ecommerce building.

    Order Listing:

    You can view and manage all orders. You can filter them by status, such as pending, processing, shipped, etc.

    Order Details:

    You will have detailed information for each order in this sub-module. For instance, you check customer details, product purchased, payment status, and shipping info.

    Inventory Management:

    It offers inventory status and shows alerts about it. It manages inventory updates based on orders and sales.

    Reporting and Analytics:

    It gives insights into sales performance and popular products in ecommerce.

    Of course, you can use the following Laravel feature to build the modules.

    1. Eloquent models and relationships to manage orders, products, and other relevant data.
    2. DataTables and Datagrid packages to build interactive and searchable order lists and product tables in the admin panel.
    3. Laravel charts and graphs for sales trends and other key metrics.
    4. Laravel policies and authorization to control access to specific features and functionality within the admin panel.

    Step#10 – Testing & Deployment

    Testing:

    You must run a thorough testing process using the following tests to ensure bug and error-free Laravel for ecommerce.

    1.Unit testing with PHPUnit.
    2.Feature testing with Behat and Cucumber for BDD (Behavior-driven Development).
    3.Integration testing with Dusk.
    4.Security testing with built-in features.

    Deployment:

    This is the final step. You need to perform the following DevOps tasks.

  • Local testing should be done using XAMPP or Laravel Valet before deployment on the live server.
  • A version control system, such as Git, will track revisions and rollbacks if necessary.
  • Deployment strategies, including CI/CD pipelines or PaaS options like Laravel Forge or Vapor.
  • Server configuration with essential software and security measures.
    • check out our DevOps services If you have any issues with the DevOps tasks
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    Wrapping Up:

    Laravel offers extensive support to build a highly customized ecommerce store using its powerful features and functionality. What you need is a team of Laravel developers with the required expertise and experience. iCommuneTech is a perfect choice in this regard. As #1 Laravel development company, we take care of everything you need for an ideal ecommerce development with competitive rates and services.

    Would you like to get a free quote from our team? Let’s have a phone call to start a discussion on your project idea.