Let’s Make an AliExpress clone with React, Django
In this blog post, we will go through the full process of building an online e-commerce marketplace similar to AliExpress using the Django framework for the backend API and React for the frontend. This will cover everything from planning and design, to development of features, testing, deployment and post-launch work.
Let’s get started!
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1. Project Planning
The first step is to plan out our project. We need to define the core functionality that will be included and select the appropriate tech stack.
For our AliExpress clone, the main features will be:
- Product listings with filtering/search
- Product detail pages
- Shopping cart
- Checkout/payments
- User profiles/accounts
- Seller dashboard
- Orders/order history
We will need a database to store product, user and order data. PostgreSQL seems like a good fit as it is reliable and works well with both Django and React.
For the backend API, Django is a natural choice as it is a full-featured framework well suited for building REST APIs. It has great ORM support for PostgreSQL out of the box.
React will be used for the frontend as it allows us to create reusable UI components and build a responsive single page application. React also plays nicely with Django.
Estimating around 6 months to develop and launch version 1 with the core features listed above. We will use Git/Github for version control and a ticketing system like ClickUp to organize tasks.
2. Database Design
We’ll use the Django ORM to define our models:
# models.py
from django.db import models
class Product(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2)
description = models.TextField()
def __str__(self):
return self.name
class Order(models.Model):
date = models.DateTimeField()
# foreign keys
user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
def __str__(self):
return f"{self.user.name}'s Order"
class OrderItem(models.Model):
order = models.ForeignKey(Order, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
product = models.ForeignKey(Product, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
quantity = models.PositiveSmallIntegerField()
def __str__(self):
return f"{self.quantity} of {self.product.name}" 3. Backend Development
We’ll build APIs with Django REST Framework:
# views.py
from rest_framework import viewsets
from .models import Product
from .serializers import ProductSerializer
class ProductViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
queryset = Product.objects.all()
serializer_class = ProductSerializer
# tests.py
from rest_framework.test import APIClient
class ProductTests(TestCase):
def setUp(self):
# create test data
def test_product_list(self):
client = APIClient()
response = client.get('/products/')
self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200) 4. Frontend Development
Create React app and fetch products:
// App.js
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
function App() {
const [products, setProducts] = useState([])
useEffect(() => {
fetch('http://localhost:8000/api/products/')
.then(res => res.json())
.then(data => setProducts(data))
}, [])
return (
))}
)
} 5. Core Product Features
Now that our base framework is setup, it’s time to build out the main product features.
Products CRUD
The admin can add/remove products and edit product details from a seller dashboard.
Products Listing
Users can browse products filtered by category, brand, price etc. Load more products on scroll.
Product Pages
Individual product pages with photos, description, reviews/ratings etc. Add to cart button.
Shopping Cart
Track cart items in Redux state. Update quantities, remove items, view cart totals.
Checkout
Multi-step checkout form for address, payment details. Integrate Stripe payments.
Orders
Order confirmation page on checkout. View order history in profile.
User Accounts
Registration/login forms integrated with Django auth. Profile pages to edit addresses.
Product Search
Search bar to search for products by name or keywords in the database.
This covers the core shopping functionality to launch with. Further refinements and features can be added later in iterative cycles.
6. Testing
We’ll write backend tests with Django Rest Framework:
# tests.py
from rest_framework.test import APIClient
from django.test import TestCase
from .models import Product
class ProductTests(TestCase):
def setUp(self):
self.client = APIClient()
self.product = Product.objects.create(
name="iPhone",
price=499
)
def test_product_list(self):
# get api response
response = self.client.get('/products/')
self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
self.assertContains(response, "iPhone")
def test_product_detail(self):
# get single product
response = self.client.get(f'/products/{self.product.id}/')
self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200) For React, we’ll use React Testing Library:
// Product.test.js
import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
import Product from './Product';
test('renders product name', () => {
render("iPhone" />);
expect(screen.getByText('iPhone')).toBeInTheDocument();
}); 7. Deployment
Deploy Django to Heroku:
# create app
heroku create
# deploy
git push heroku main
# run migrations
heroku run python manage.py migrate Deploy React to GitHub Pages:
npm run build
# publish build folder
gh-pages -d build 8. Marketing
Now it’s time to promote our new marketplace! Some strategies include:
SEO Optimization – Add title, meta descriptions for searchability and rich snippets.
Google Ads – Run PPC campaigns targeted at popular ecommerce keywords.
Affiliate Program – Partner with influencers and offer commissions for referrals.
Email Marketing – Collect emails on signup and send periodic newsletters.
Social Media – Promote actively on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest focusing on our target audience. Post new products, sales.
Influencer Marketing – Reach out to micro-influencers in relevant niches to review products organically.
Retargeting Ads – Show ads to past website visitors who didn’t complete a purchase.
Analytics Tracking – Use Google Analytics to track metrics like traffic sources, goal completions. Continuously optimize efforts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have successfully developed a full-stack ecommerce marketplace application using modern technologies like Django and React. The project provided valuable learning experience in areas like database design, API development, frontend coding, testing, and deployment. Building this real-world application equipped us with practical skills that can be leveraged for future projects as well.
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