●Next.js + E-commerce

E-commerce success hinges on two metrics: organic traffic and conversion rate. Next.js optimizes both simultaneously in ways that traditional platforms cannot. For organic traffic, search engines reward fast, accessible sites with excellent Core Web Vitals. Next.js Image component automatically generates WebP/AVIF at optimal sizes, eliminating the CLS and LCP issues that plague image-heavy product catalogs. Server Components render product pages server-side, creating crawlable HTML that search engines index fully—no more 'content not found' issues from JavaScript rendering delays. Partial Prerendering serves your product catalog from edge CDN in under 100ms globally, while streaming in personalized elements like recommendations and inventory status. For conversion, every millisecond matters. Research consistently shows that 100ms of added latency costs 1% in conversions. A traditional SPA e-commerce site might ship 2MB of JavaScript that must parse and execute before the page is interactive. A Next.js Server Component architecture sends lightweight HTML—the page is interactive the moment it arrives. Add Server Actions for cart mutations, and you eliminate the network round-trips and race conditions that cause double-submissions and lost items. The headless architecture also future-proofs your investment. Your frontend is decoupled from your commerce backend, whether that's Shopify, BigCommerce, or a custom solution. When you need to add marketplaces, mobile apps, or in-store kiosks, they all consume the same commerce API.

E-commerce projects balance speed-to-market with long-term scalability. I start by understanding your product catalog complexity, traffic patterns, and integration requirements. A 100-SKU store has different needs than a 100,000-SKU marketplace. For Shopify merchants, Hydrogen provides the fastest path to a custom Next.js frontend while keeping Shopify's battle-tested commerce engine. For those wanting full control, Medusa offers an open-source alternative with excellent developer experience. Either way, the frontend architecture remains consistent: Server Components for product listings and detail pages, streaming for personalized content, and Server Actions for cart operations. The checkout flow gets special attention. I implement Stripe Checkout for the fastest PCI-compliant path, or Stripe Elements if you need full design control. Guest checkout is default—forcing account creation is the fastest way to lose sales. Apple Pay and Google Pay reduce friction on mobile where the majority of e-commerce traffic now originates. Search and discovery drive conversions, so I integrate Algolia early. The faceted search, typo tolerance, and personalization capabilities are essential for catalogs beyond a few hundred products. Server Components render initial search results for SEO, then client-side InstantSearch takes over for interactive filtering. Performance monitoring is non-negotiable. I set up Core Web Vitals tracking from day one, with alerts when metrics regress. A/B testing infrastructure lets you optimize continuously. The goal is a site that converts better every month, not just at launch.