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E-commerce on MongoDB

GrandNode is an open-source e-commerce platform built on MongoDB and ASP.NET Core. It has used a document database since its first release in 2016 - not as an add-on, but as the way it stores every product, order and page.

Why a document database fits e-commerce

  • Products are documents. A product with dozens of attributes, variants, prices per customer group, pictures and translations is stored as one document, not spread across many joined tables. Reading a product page is one query.
  • Flexible data. Adding a field for a new kind of product does not need a schema migration across the whole catalog.
  • Scaling reads. Replica sets spread reads across servers; a managed cluster such as MongoDB Atlas takes care of backups and failover.
  • Ready to run anywhere. A local MongoDB, a Docker container or a cloud cluster all work - MongoDB 4.0 or newer.

What it means for your store

  • Large catalogs with many variants stay fast to browse and edit.
  • Multi-store and marketplace setups share one database while keeping each store's data separate.
  • Your data stays in your database - export it, report on it or connect it to other systems.

And the trade-offs

A document database is a choice, not a free win. Your team will want to know MongoDB basics - indexes, backups and the query language - and reporting tools that expect SQL need a connector or an export. Our article NoSQL vs SQL for e-commerce goes into the details, and why MongoDB explains the reasons behind the choice.

Learn more

Download GrandNode - free and open source - or try the live demo.