Building a High-performance Ecommerce App with React Native

Do you know more than 7.6% of retail flourish in the UK through mobile e-commerce?

The global market size of the e-commerce business was 24 trillion USD in 2025 and is expected to reach 62.1 billion by 2031.

Building an e-commerce app can be tedious, but it is essential to expose products and services to a mass audience. With a modular component-based approach and third-party library support, React Native for e-commerce enables hassle-free app deployment. It's driving the revolution to all businesses with utmost convenience and scalability especially when you’re building a react native ecommerce app that needs to ship fast without compromising on UX.

Here, in this blog, we’re sharing the step-by-step process to build a React Native Ecommerce app.

Why use React Native for e-commerce app development?

Initially, React Native was a Hackathon project (Meta, formerly Facebook). It was published in 2015.

React Native has impressed the industry worldwide with its incredible fusion of JS, JXL, and Native threads. It enables bidirectional communication to power the cross-platform version of the app.

It delivers a seamless and spectacular experience, making a large user base across the global marketplace. There are many other reasons to choose React Native for e-commerce apps, let’s discuss below.

• First of all, the apps created with React Native are compatible with running on both Android and iOS platforms.

• Developers have the accessibility to pick any components and reuse them to launch a different version offering uniform functionality.

• It keeps the development budget in control as developers don’t need to waste time and effort on creating two different codebases for diverse launches.

• Perfect for modest and major-level functionality with responsive, reactive UI.

• Minimize compilation time without compromising the state and refresh the app with all the latest modifications.

• Enabling fast-forward-thinking future application releases with sharable resources.

Adapting the Art of React Native App Development for E-commerce Business

Whether you want to start from scratch or customize it according to your unique business needs, React Native is capable of tailoring a distinct brand image. The affordability, scalability, and accessibility of reusable components with a single codebase makes it in high demand, that's why React Native is used.

Below is an easy approach to designing a scalable and flexible mobile app store that uses React Native for e-commerce - ideal when you’re planning a react native ecommerce mobile app experience that feels native on both platforms.

Key E-commerce Features for Your React Native App

The React Native app needs to have numerous features, from onboarding the user to making the purchase.

• User Onboarding & Authentication: Secure registration/login (social, email/password, biometrics).
• Product Catalog & Browsing: High-quality product displays with images, descriptions, pricing, availability, zoom, galleries, and variations.
• Shopping Cart & Checkout: User-friendly cart management and streamlined checkout with secure payment integration, address management, and order summaries.
• Payment Gateway Integration: Secure transactions via popular gateways (Stripe, PayPal, etc.) supporting various payment methods.
• Push Notifications: Targeted notifications for promotions, order updates, shipping, and abandoned carts.
• Multi-Currency & Language Support: Global reach with local currency display and app translation.
• Order Management & Tracking: Order history, shipment tracking, and returns/refund management.
• Advanced Filtering & Search: Product discovery via filters (price, category, etc.) and robust search with suggestions.
• Analytics & Reporting: User behavior and performance tracking via analytics tools (Google Analytics, Firebase).
• Reviews & Ratings: Product reviews and ratings for building trust.

Key Steps: React Native Ecommerce App Development

Whether it's a small or large business idea, both can accelerate sales with an e-commerce app. Businesses can receive a good amount of orders and deals globally. Therefore, if you have a unique idea for catering to the marketplace and building an app, we at Quokka Labs can create the quality app to equip you with all the essential features and all screen sizes.

Let's start with the first step to know how to build a shopping app with React Native.

Step 1: Launch the Development Environment

In the first step, start setting up the development environment and project for a React Native application for e-commerce.

Go to the Node.js website and download the Node.js installer.

Then proceed next to install React Native with npm.

Also, to ease the debugging, connect an emulator.

Step 2: Launch the New Project

Navigate to the terminal or command prompt.

Copy/ paste this command to your IDE and initiate a new project to run on the server, equipping and configuring all the essential dependencies.

Step 3: Design Application Architecture

Before you head on to the deployment, refer to the BRD and SRS to understand the intent and requirements. It guides you in strategizing the navigation, product screen, details screen, cart, payment integration, filters, user authentication, and other advanced features.

Step 4: Focus on Frontend Design

Define the essential libraries for animation, navigation, user journeys, and how the user will navigate through multiple screens. Pay attention to functionality and how the user will interact with the app interface while exploring different products and their details.

Adopt a minimalistic look with essential UI components and design libraries. Ensure that it looks uniform and responsive across all screens and devices.

Step 5: Focus on Backend Integration

Generally, developers prefer to connect Node.js, and Express JS with Mongo DB for successful data management and backend fetching.

Launch the essential APIs to manage authentication, product listing, cart setup, and payment integration.

Redux and MobX are the main state management libraries. To manage the flow, utilize the potential of reducers, query selectors, and actions. Ensure that the component transfers information uniformly without interruption.

Step 6: Prepare the Login page for User Authentication

The login page is the first screen where the user interacts with your app's functionality. If it does not look interesting or appealing or if it takes too long to load and respond, the user will not install the app and will immediately uninstall it.

Ensure that user data and privacy are non-negotiable, Hire React Native developers that can do this job efficiently. Prioritize session management; authorization rules should align with the authentication algorithm. Enable multi-factor safe login through token-based, hashing, and biometric authentication practices.

Step 7: ProductList Creation: A Gateway to Make Navigation Flawless

The product screen is an essential component of your React Native e-commerce app, and it is where you can display your product and services. Thus, asking the UI/ UX designers' team to build something appealing can turn the heads of everyone to explore once.

Each product is identified with an ID, and some of the details are also included. Decide how to feature the image, product details, price, and CTAs. To deliver a smooth shopping experience, you need to add on and run essential queries.

Access the ProductList component to establish database connectivity and structure a list. Enable the API to fetch the data and display it as a list. Below is the code to access it. A flat list will display with TouchableOpacity. The user can tap to view the product details.

Step 8: More Essentials Need to Setup

Consider how users will search. Filter, categorize, and sort the items at their convenience. Whether it’s a mid-size app or a larger one, practice data management strategies, pagination, scrolling, and lazy loading for seamless rendering and UX. It will drop the cart abandonment rate.

To make your cart easily accessible throughout the app’s multiple screens, equip the React’s context API. Here’s the process to code.

Users can hold and remove the cart items from here. The CartProvider component enables accessibility to hold the cart state and wraps the app.

After creating the product list and cart icon, you need the functionality to add/ display product details so that users can learn about the product.

Likewise, we need to design the product details screen to show the details of what you’re carrying in your cart. Implement the interface functionality to remove or add product counts, quantities, and prices at the time of checkout.

Step 9: Implementing the Functionality to Visualize Shopping Cart Icon

Of course, you’re taking the reference of e-commerce apps like Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa, where at the top of the header, you see an icon displaying the count of items you saved in your cart for future purchases. To enable and display this shopping cart icon's usability, feed this code for reference. When users tap on this, they will be redirected to a different screen in the shopping cart.

Get all together!

You have created the product screen, product details, shopping cart button, and summary screen. Now, it's time to assemble everything and equip the navigation functionally. To access this, we will use the React Navigation library. Do it like the following code.

Here, you can see the CartProvider tag that makes the cart state accessible throughout the app.

Step 10:: Payment Integration Functionality

In this step, you must design the screen for payment gateway that previews order and order confirmation details. PayPal is the most preferred payment gateway.

Step 11: Discover the Bugs through Testing Tools

In this step, you can use testing tools to find bugs like Appium, Jest, React Native debugger, Jasmine, and ESLint tools. After that, it will be given forward to deployment.

Step 12:: Release for End Users

We’ve reached the final stage now!

As the building is finished, look for the APK App Store and Google Play Store release guidelines.

It takes time to create and assemble all apps. To launch online stores with React Native mobile development, refer to this guide.

Best Practices for Developing e-commerce Apps

To make the release successful, curated the best practices sharing with you in brief.

• Do not dive into deployment without refereeing the trends, client needs, audience base, and competitors.
• Prefer the latest version of the tools.
• Keep the libraries and plugins in the limit from the secure sources without overwhelming the app.
• Keep the codebase manageable by arranging the utilities, dependencies, components, and everything separately.
• Prioritize lazy loading, optimizing the assets and resources.
• Make the rendering smoother by utilizing the PureComponent, FlatList, and React.memo.
• Keep the payment checkout journey short and fast.
• Keep monitoring the app to understand the potential issues before it's too late.
• Enable offline access to make the app accessible even in poor network conditions.
• Ensure that app features are relevant and user-centric, keeping mobile users in focus.
• Set up the app analytics tool to track user behavior.
• Enable the section for reviews and ratings. Get user feedback to know their experience so that they can plan further moves.

These practices make a react native ecommerce mobile app faster, safer, and easier to scale over time and they’re a big reason react native ecommerce is a strong choice for modern storefronts.

Real World Examples Shaped with React Native

Delivery.com

It’s a retail delivery business app set up in the USA. To optimize operations and improve efficiency, it has adopted React Native planned to build a Cross-platform app with React Native to boost shopping.

Myntra

Myntra got the customers' nerves regarding what they look like the most in an app—product catalogs, user profiles, orders, easy-to-navigate UI, design, etc. Myntra has adopted this technology to enable a rapid and robust shopping experience.

Shopify

To deliver a seamless and spectacular experience and make a unique space across the global marketplace, Shopify has adopted the React Native mobile app development. It drives substantial growth and productivity.

It’s your turn to enter e-commerce and make products/services accessible with a react native ecommerce mobile app that feels smooth, fast, and scalable.

Wrap Up:

E-commerce is crowded, but a well-built mobile experience is still a competitive advantage. If you want to make products and services more accessible, a react native ecommerce mobile app can help you capture demand with a smooth, modern shopping journey - especially when you pair it with strong performance, analytics, and reliable checkout.

Ready to build? Quokka Labs can help you plan, design, and ship a scalable react native ecommerce app - from MVP to enterprise rollout - so you can focus on growth with react native ecommerce.

Connect with us to share your responsibilities and drive your core operations efficiently by accessing the React Native app development service.

FAQs:

Q1: Why Should a Business Launch an E-commerce App?

Ans: Businesses with online apps are rising and scaling faster than physical stores. The average mobile user spends around four hours a day on their screen, making mobile a powerful channel to showcase your brand globally. By aligning your strategy with eCommerce mobile app development trends and adopting React Native for e-commerce apps, you can convert mobile users into high-intent customers. Well-designed e-commerce apps not only improve purchase rates but also drive sustained revenue growth, which is why brands are increasingly investing in React Native professionals.

Q2: What is a better website or app for the e-commerce business?

Ans: Mobile apps are modest, faster, and convenient to use. React Native application development is worth it for driving business operations effortlessly for mobile users. Most of the time, customers hold their phones in their hands.

Instead of visiting websites, users like to scroll through apps to explore products and services. Apps with rewards, cashback, digital payment card discounts, and loyalty programs attract customers, increasing the rate of conversion and earning more money and traffic.

Q3: Why is React Native app development for e-commerce worth it for business?

Ans: React Native offers native app-like accessibility with optimized performance. It enables flexing and scaling the app features, as well as accessing exclusive libraries. It can make the app launch faster with pre-built templates and also from scratch.

Q4: What are the common obstacles during the process of e-commerce app development?

Ans: Lack of planning and proper strategy can lead to problematic events. However, it is crucial to manage states, carts, and the checkout process. Accumulation of unnecessary widgets and inconsistent navigation also impact users' engagement with an e-commerce app.

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