Online store development in Python

The future belongs to computers, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and also to e-commerce. By selling online, companies are not limited to just one or a few locations – they have access to audiences around the world. In addition, with the help of modern digital tools, business can be almost completely automated, which means reducing costs, minimizing errors, and of course increasing the speed and quality of customer service.

If you look at eCommerce through the eyes of a consumer, there are also plenty of advantages. According to Oberlo, about 2 billion users shop online, and here’s what motivates them:

• 53% – availability of free shipping.
• 41% – a large number of promotions, discounts and other loyalty program tools.
• 35% – real reviews from other users.
• 33% – simple and convenient return procedure.

The conclusion is obvious – e-commerce is growing, offline sales are declining, which means it’s time to think about launching your own online store. How to do this using the Python language and its frameworks is described in this article.

For the effective operation of an online store, not only a cool UI/UX is important, but also reliable code that can withstand high loads. Otherwise, you can get a sports car, but without an engine, steering wheel and clutch – it looks beautiful, but you won’t move. Therefore, you should approach the choice of backend technologies very carefully.

When it comes to developing an online store, Python is one of the priority technologies for our team, and here’s why:

• High development speed. Python gives developers access to many standard libraries containing ready-made functions, classes and modules, which has a positive effect on development speed. In addition, Python is a very compact language, and working in it requires writing fewer lines of code, for example, compared to Java.

• Versatility. Having received tangible results from the website, you may want to scale your business and launch, for example, a mobile application. In this case, you will have the opportunity to use a ready-made backend in Python, which will save an impressive part of your budget.
• Opportunity for development. Even after release, you can modify the Python code indefinitely – introduce new modules, optimize existing functionality, etc. Thus, over time, your online store will not lose relevance and will always meet user expectations.
• Safety. Since the operation of an online store is directly related to financial transactions, code reliability becomes a very important parameter. Python frameworks such as Django and Flask use the latest security features by default and provide reliable resource protection against SQL injections, XSS, Clickjacking and other types of attacks.

Python is a server-side programming language in which the backend-side of an online store is written. To implement the client side of the project, other technologies will be required, and there are options here.

For example, if you do not plan to create unique animations, configurators and other complex features, it is quite possible to make do with the capabilities of static technologies: HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

This will save the development budget and speed up the implementation of the project. Otherwise, you will need to use JavaScript frameworks such as Vue and React. With their help, you can create almost any interface, but it will require more time, effort and investment.

Each team builds its development process differently. Therefore, we will tell you about how everything works in our company.

Stage 1. Collection of information

First we contact the client and discuss the project. At this stage, the manager tries to learn as much as possible about your business idea, benefits, goals and basic requirements.

This is necessary in order to coordinate expectations and determine the future direction of development.

Stage 2: Planning and design

Next, the team creates a prototype of the online store, which allows us to understand exactly how the site will work and what functions will need to be implemented. Typically, such a mockup consists of three main components: a table of functionality, block diagrams of modules, and project mathematics (formulas that will be used for various calculations). After that, we record demo videos for the client and make a presentation. When all the nuances of the project are agreed upon and approved, the project manager breaks the entire process into 2-week sprints and selects the optimal team of developers: designers, programmers and testers.

Stage 3. UX and UI development

The design makes the online store convenient, comfortable and memorable. But this is subject to a competent approach and following modern trends. To achieve the optimal result, we create the interface step by step: we study the market and competitors, develop mindmaps and warframes, and then turn them into clickable design mockups. Each of these stages is carefully discussed and agreed upon with the client.

Stage 4. Technical development

Programmers develop the frontend and backend parts of the project. The frontend is the client side that users interact with on the browser side. When implementing it, developers perform layout, create animations, tables, graphs and other interface components. Backend is the server part of the online store. It contains functional code and is responsible for the correct implementation of business logic.

Stage 5. Testing

After development is completed, QA engineers perform thorough testing of all functionality to ensure that the most complete product is released to the market.

Stage 6. Technical support and development

The release of an online store does not mean that we will leave you alone with the project. Then we can provide professional technical support and product development, which will allow it to always remain relevant and in demand on the market.

We approach the development of each online store comprehensively and individually: we study the client’s market, its strengths and competitors, and then launch a unique service with a thoughtful UX and a reliable server base.

When implementing your project, we can use almost any current technology – for this we have a wide internal staff of developers in a variety of areas. In other words, Python in our case is just one of the available tools. If you are ready to move from words to actions, fill out the form below and let’s start discussing your project.