Medusa JS Overview

In this article, we’ll see Medusa JS Overview.

Businesses aim to provide their customers with smooth, engaging, and personalized shopping experiences in the quickly changing world of e-commerce. Here comes Medusa JS, an innovative open-source e-commerce platform that transforms online stores by utilizing headless JavaScript.

We’ll go over the cutting-edge capabilities and benefits of Medusa JS and how it enables companies to create e-commerce systems that are adaptable, scalable, and secure for the future. Prepare to unleash Medusa JS’s power and revolutionize the way you shop online.

What is Medusa JS

Medusa is the leading open-source Node. js eCommerce platform for JavaScript developers.

Medusa enables developers to build scalable and sophisticated commerce setups with low effort and great developer experience.

Medusa is split into 3 core components – the headless commerce part that exposes the REST APIs for your store, the frontend of your store, and the admin panel – you are free to use the platform as a whole or use the parts that you need for your eCommerce store.

Benefits of Medusa JS

  • Orders, Exchanges, and Returns APIs: Aside from the standard order management that comes with e-commerce platforms, Medusa also provides an easy and automated way to manage swaps, returns, and claims.
  • Products and Collections APIs: Add products with extensive customization settings and sort them into collections.
  • Region API: Configure and manage multiple regions and currencies all from one platform.
  • Plugin API: Easily integrate fulfillment providers, payment providers, notification services, and many other custom tools and third-party services.
  • PriceList and Promotions APIs: Advanced pricing for products with conditions based on the amount in the cart or promotions and discounts.
  • Tax API: Advanced tax configurations specific to multiple regions, with the capability of specifying taxes for specific products.
  • The Power of Headless JavaScript: Medusa JS adopts a headless architecture, separating the front end and back end of an e-commerce platform. The frontend, built using modern JavaScript frameworks like React or Vue.js, communicates with the backend via APIs, allowing for flexible, dynamic, and highly customizable storefronts.
  • Flexible Frontend Development: Medusa JS provides a flexible environment for front-end developers. Using popular JavaScript frameworks, developers can design engaging interfaces, implement personalized shopping experiences, and optimize performance.
  • Scalable Backend Architecture: On the backend, Medusa JS utilizes Node.js and Express to deliver a scalable and performant foundation for e-commerce applications. With its microservices-based architecture, businesses can easily extend and customize functionality to accommodate their unique requirements.
  • Extensive Feature Set: It boasts an extensive feature set designed to meet the demands of modern e-commerce. It offers essential functionalities like product catalog management, inventory tracking, order management, customer management, and powerful discount and promotion capabilities.
  • Customization and Integration: It is highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor their e-commerce platforms to match their unique requirements. With its rich set of APIs, developers can extend and integrate additional services or build custom features to enhance their storefronts. This flexibility enables seamless integration with existing systems, such as CRM, ERP, or marketing automation tools, to create a unified and efficient e-commerce ecosystem.
  • Community and Support: Medusa JS benefits from an active and growing community of developers and contributors. The supportive community provides ongoing updates, bug fixes, and security enhancements, ensuring a reliable and stable e-commerce solution. The availability of documentation, tutorials, and community-driven resources further facilitates the adoption and development of Medusa JS-powered e-commerce platforms.

Medusa JS Installation

Follow the below steps to install Medusa:

Step 1: You should have node.js and PostgreSQL preinstalled. If you have already installed node.js then run the following command in the terminal

npm install -g @medusajs/medusa-cli

Step 2: Once Medusa CLI is installed as per the above step, run the following command to setup Medusa backend:

medusa new my-medusa-app

( Note: During application setup, it will ask for database configuration. You can configure or skip it if you want to configure it later. But, it is essential to configure it. )

Step 3: After the above command runs successfully, try the following 2 commands step by step:

cd my-medusa-app\

medusa develop

Step 4: You will see the login screen on the http://localhost:7001/login page of the browser automatically. Now, you need to configure the database if you have skipped it on above step 2. We have already done this in step 2. so, we are skipping this step.

# create a new user
CREATE USER medusa_admin WITH PASSWORD 'medusa_admin_password';

# create a new database and the newly created user as the owner
CREATE DATABASE medusa_db OWNER medusa_admin;

# grant all privileges on medusa_db to the medusa_admin user
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE medusa_db TO medusa_admin;

# exit the postgres console
quit

Now, open the .env file on the root of your project directory at insert the following code

DATABASE_URL=postgres://medusa_admin:medusa_admin_password@localhost:5432/medusa_db

Step 5: Run the “npm run seed” command in your terminal to add sample seed data to your database.

Step 6: Now run the “medusa develop” command in your terminal to run your application

Step 7: Now your Medusa application is ready. you can run http://localhost:7001/ in your browser with a login screen.

You can use the following credentials if it asks for login

email: admin@medusa-test.com
password supersecret

if it does not work, then run the “npx medusa user -e admin@medusa-test.com -p supersecret” command in your terminal

That’s it. You can use the Medusa backend. You can follow the instruction video below for the whole installation process:

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Medusa

Advantages:

  • Fast
  • Fully Customizable
  • Easy setup and deployment
  • Free
  • Headless commerce platform

Disadvantages:

  • Medusa does not support multiple languages.
  • The community doesn’t create many plugins to add custom functionalities to a Medusa store.

References:

Conclusion:

Medusa JS empowers businesses to unlock the full potential of headless JavaScript and deliver exceptional e-commerce experiences. By decoupling the front end and back end, businesses gain the freedom to create immersive and personalized storefronts while leveraging the power of JavaScript frameworks. With its scalable architecture, extensive feature set, customization options, and thriving community, Medusa JS is a game-changer for businesses seeking to build scalable, customizable, and future-proof e-commerce platforms. Embrace Medusa JS and embark on a journey to transform your online retail experience and exceed customer expectations. I hope this article helps!

Last updated on October 24th, 2023.