Building High-Performance E-commerce Websites Based on WordPress CMS

I. Introduction

Recently, I've been researching independent site development. International independent sites have become a popular entrepreneurial trend in recent years, with many mature technology stacks available. WordPress, as a veteran website building tool, still occupies a significant market share in the independent site field due to its simple operation, rich plugins, and active community.

After in-depth research on WordPress website building and setting up my own independent site, I found that using WordPress with plugins like WooCommerce to build e-commerce independent sites offers some flexibility, but also has the following limitations and disadvantages:

1. Performance and Scalability Issues

● Heavy plugin dependency: Expanding e-commerce functionality (such as payment, inventory management) requires multiple plugins, and too many plugins can slow down website speed.
● Limited high traffic handling capacity: Native WordPress architecture has weak support for large-scale concurrent visits, requiring additional server optimization (such as caching, CDN).
● Cost issues: As business grows, server-side page generation leads to increased server consumption and higher expenses.

2. Higher Security Risks

● Vulnerability to attacks: WordPress is an open-source system with a high rate of vulnerability exposure, requiring frequent updates of core, themes and plugins to avoid hacker attacks.
● Payment security dependent on third parties: Payment gateways (such as Stripe, PayPal) integrated through plugins may pose transaction risks if plugins are insufficiently maintained.

3. Design and User Experience Bottlenecks, Limited Frontend Customization

● High theme adaptation costs: Most free themes lack adequate adaptation for e-commerce functionality, requiring purchase of paid themes or custom designs.
● Inconsistent mobile experience: Some themes have inadequate responsive design, requiring additional optimization for mobile loading speed and interaction.

After reading some articles and searching for related issues, I discovered that internationally, developers are already using the more evolved Jamstack architecture for website building.

II. Jamstack Architecture Application

What is Jamstack Architecture

Jamstack is a modern web development architecture that emphasizes building high-performance, secure websites or applications through pre-rendering static content and decoupling client and server sides. Its name derives from the acronym of core technologies: JavaScript (dynamic functionality), APIs (backend service integration), and Markup (pre-rendered static pages).

• Pre-rendering Using static site generators (SSG) like Gatsby, Next.js, Hugo, etc. to generate static files such as HTML and CSS during the build phase, eliminating the need for traditional server dynamic page rendering.
• Content Distribution via CDN Static files are quickly delivered through CDN (Content Delivery Network), reducing server load and improving global access speed and stability.
• API-driven Dynamic Functionality All server-side operations (such as user authentication, database interaction) are implemented through JavaScript calling REST/GraphQL APIs, such as using Stripe (payment), Auth0 (authentication) or self-built Serverless functions (like AWS Lambda).
• Frontend and Backend Decoupling Frontend and backend services are developed independently, with content manageable through Headless CMS (such as Contentful, Strapi), giving developers freedom to choose technology stacks.

Advantages of Jamstack Architecture

Jamstack architecture offers several key advantages over pure WordPress architecture, particularly suitable for modern development scenarios and high-performance requirements:

• Performance Optimization: Static-first, Native CDN Support
  Jamstack: Through pre-rendering static HTML files distributed directly by CDN, loading speed is extremely fast (typically 3-5 times faster than dynamic sites), providing low-latency experience for visitors anywhere in the world.
  WordPress: Relies on dynamically generated pages, each request needs to connect to the database and execute PHP scripts, placing heavy pressure on the server and prone to crashes during peak traffic; cache plugins can optimize but have limited effect in complex scenarios.

• Security: Greatly Reduced Attack Surface
  Jamstack: No exposure of database or server-side code, core assets are only static files, eliminating common attacks such as SQL injection and XSS.
  WordPress: 52% of historical security vulnerabilities come from plugins (according to WPScan statistics), requiring frequent updates to core, themes and plugins to maintain security, resulting in high maintenance costs.

• Developer Experience: Modern Toolchain and Decoupled Architecture
  Jamstack: Supports frameworks like React/Vue (e.g., Gatsby, Next.js) + Headless CMS (e.g., Contentful, Strapi), achieving frontend-backend decoupling and improving development efficiency; automated deployment through Git and CI/CD.
  WordPress: Relies on PHP template engine and plugin ecosystem, mixing presentation logic with content, prone to code bloat, customization requires learning WordPress-specific development patterns.

• Scalability: Service Combination as Needed
  Jamstack: Integrates third-party services via API (such as authentication: Auth0, payment: Stripe), expanding functionality as needed; no single point of failure risk.
  WordPress: Strong plugin dependency (a critical plugin stopping updates may paralyze the site), and too many plugins significantly slow performance.

• Cost Optimization: Reduced Server Expenses
  Jamstack: Extremely low hosting costs (e.g., Netlify/Vercel/EdgeOne Pages free tier supports small projects), no server maintenance overhead; CDN automatically scales during traffic surges.
  WordPress: Requires continuous payment for server/database hosting, configuration upgrades needed for high traffic (cloud server costs may increase exponentially).

Disadvantages of Jamstack Architecture

• Highly Static However, Jamstack architecture is not a panacea; its high degree of static generation makes it unable to handle some scenarios highly dependent on dynamic updates, such as social networks or high-frequency dynamic content sites like microblogs.
• High Development Cost Additionally, Jamstack architecture requires frontend development capabilities, making it more difficult for non-technical beginners.

For e-commerce independent sites, since product and page operation content doesn't require high-frequency updates, with only user login, shopping cart, checkout, etc. needing dynamic API requests, Jamstack architecture is very suitable.

III. Build Process Overview

• Backend: WordPress Installation and Configuration (Server/Docker)
  • WooCommerce plugin installation
  • JWT plugin for user authentication
  • ACF plugin for managing custom data structures
  • GraphQL plugin installation (such as WPGraphQL)
• Frontend: There are many frontend static generation frameworks available, choose as needed. With AI assistance, creating a beautiful frontend page is no longer a problem. The next step is to write frontend applications, adapt API data, implement login state management processes, and quickly build a unique e-commerce independent site. Popular static page hosting sites like Vercel and Netlify also provide e-commerce templates, but they are either too simple for direct use or only have frontend without data API integration. After searching around, I found that Edgeone Pages has templates with fully adapted frontend and backend, with pre-written API proxy functions ready to use. WordPress is truly quick to set up, but truly troublesome to configure. The template documentation is quite rudimentary, and it took me a long time to get everything working. If anyone is interested, I'll write a more detailed article later.

IV. Performance Evaluation

I ran Lighthouse tests on both my WordPress application and the Jamstack-built application, and there is a significant difference.

Native WordPress site:

Since the Jamstack architecture site is hosted on CDN, it loads at lightning speed, providing an extremely smooth experience. The WordPress server only handles dynamic API responses, and my server here is only 2 cores, 2GB.

Jamstack architecture site:

This model is very suitable for programmers transitioning into e-commerce independent sites, allowing quick and ultra-low-cost building of websites that can generate income. Even for subsequent projects building sites for others, the WordPress CMS-based Jamstack architecture is an approach that is very low-cost, fast, and highly customizable.