I am tasked by my company to build a marketplace app. The front-end will be react native, I would like to ask recommendations regarding the back-end. Thanks to FCC tutorials i now know about node/express & mongodb. However, since i am still unexperienced, naturally i feel a bit unconfident.
My question is : should i built from scratch using node/express, or should i just use available services such as firebase? Is firebase takes time to learn?
Which approach is the most practical and take the least amount of time?
The basic features of the app are:
Visitors can see items that being sold.
Visitors can buy item, which will be send to his/her address
Visitors can register as member.
Registered members can sell items/goods.
In time, we would like to add features such as chat, transaction history, dicounts, etc.
If you say that you are being tasked, does it mean that you will lead a team of developers? I ask because this is not a trivial task, especially if you do not have the experience. I would guesstimate it as a month-long project for a full team consisting multiple developers, devops, tester, designer and a project manager. This is not to discourage you, but to give a heads-up about what you are facing.
Best would be to use technologies with what you feel most comfortable. Firebase is great, but it definitely has a learning curve. If you can dedicate the time, perhaps it can simplify your process and speed things up, especially if your team is lacking devops competency.
Keep your services (account, cart, payment etc) as isolated as possible, so if you make a design mistake, you can simply rewrite the faulty module. Use ready-made solutions wherever possible.
Look into what payment methods your client wants to use. An easy one to implement is PayPal and have extensive documentation as to how to implement this. If you’re going to construct the backend from scratch make sure it follows good security precautions
Good afternoon. Most recently, the meta had almost the same task as yours. Before starting work, I highlighted several applications that I use every day. From each of them, I selected several ideas. One of the main ideas is the introduction of a chatbot. On the example of the banking sector, one can see how rational and justified such a decision is. The main goal of chatbots in the banking sector is to provide the best customer service. However, they also help staff and prevent stressful situations arising from direct communication with customers. I will leave you a link https://light-it.net/blog/chatbots-in-banking-industry-benefits-forecasts-and-more/ where you can read more about this.
Looks interesting, really. Do not waste time on bullshit, seriously, there are normal firms that have been doing this for many years and they will certainly give a forum to any new in this matter. As an example - https://www.intellias.com/ecommerce-development-services/, which in the market and in this area for over 18 years, with a large team and experience they are exactly the best.