Building SOLACE: A developer’s journey with Medusa 2.0

As developers, we have worked on several DTC commerce projects in the past, and one thing became very clear—starting from scratch every time is both time-consuming and frustrating. Setting up essential features like a robust checkout flow, product filtering, or content management often felt repetitive, and many existing systems did not provide the flexibility needed to customize and scale. s

We built SOLACE to solve these issues for our clients — the full repo is open-source here. SOLACE is designed to give developers a strong foundation for DTC stores that can be used in a wide range of projects. By combining Medusa 2.0’s backend, Strapi for content management, and modern integrations like Stripe and Resend, we have built something that allows teams to launch their stores faster without sacrificing flexibility or control.

Learn about our experiences building the new Medusa Starter below.

Our experience building a Starter for Medusa 2.0

Working with Medusa 2.0 to build SOLACE was a smooth and enjoyable process. From backend customizations to frontend development and admin panel usability, every part of the experience felt intuitive and efficient. Medusa’s modular design allowed us to focus on creating a flexible and powerful DTC starter. Here is what stood out to us during the process:

Modular architecture for flexible ecommerce development

One of the things we appreciate most about Medusa is its modular architecture. We did not have to build everything from scratch. Instead, we could use pre-built modules like the Cart Module, Product Module, and Order Module, and utilize their features to build custom modules that would be more tailored to the needs of SOLACE.

It was not just about saving time—this modularity gave us a lot of control. We could integrate Stripe for payments, Resend for emails, and Strapi for content management with ease. Everything fit together without extra effort, which made development straightforward and stress-free.

The flexibility of this setup is a big deal. It works equally well for traditional backend setups as it does for microservices or serverless environments. It gave us the freedom to design exactly what we needed without being locked into a specific structure.

Enhanced admin panel in Medusa 2.0

The admin panel in Medusa 2.0 got a big upgrade, and it really stood out during development. The interface is clean, logical, and much more user-friendly. Tasks like managing products, orders, or promotions are now easier for clients to handle without feeling overwhelmed.

In earlier versions, while the admin panel worked well, it could sometimes feel a bit complex for new users. The 2.0 update really changed that. It is now intuitive to navigate, and it works beautifully on both desktop and mobile, which is a huge plus for today’s ecommerce businesses.

Dynamic promotion management with Medusa 2.0

The Promotions Module in Medusa 2.0 was one of the features we really enjoyed working with. It is rules-based, which means it gives you a lot of flexibility without being complicated.

We could easily create different conditional promotion rules and associate them with campaigns. For example, we implemented dynamic campaigns like “10% off for orders over $50” or “Free shipping on specific product categories,” and the process was seamless.

This made setting up promotions fast and painless. As developers, we appreciated how simple it was to implement these features while giving businesses plenty of options for customizing their marketing campaigns. It felt like a win for both sides—developers and store owners.

Effortless backend deployment with Medusa Cloud

Deploying the backend using Medusa Cloud was incredibly straightforward. All it took was connecting our GitHub repository, and we had a fully functional backend environment ready to go in minutes.

This saved us a ton of time and eliminated the usual headaches of managing infrastructure. Instead of spending time setting up servers, we could jump straight into building the features that matter most.

Improved documentation for faster development

One thing we really appreciated about Medusa 2.0 is the improved documentation. It is well-organized, easy to follow, and filled with practical examples for almost every scenario.

The clarity and structure of the documentation speed up development significantly. It allowed us to quickly find what we needed and focus on building and delivering Solace faster.

Meet SOLACE: Key highlights

Solace is a DTC starter built to help developers and businesses launch digital commerce stores faster. It comes packed with features, useful integrations, and a design system that makes customization straightforward. Here are some of the highlights:

Essential features for your store

Solace covers the essentials you need for a DTC store:

• Product grid with filters: Customers can easily browse and find what they are looking for with advanced filtering options.
• Multi-step checkout: A smooth, step-by-step checkout flow that integrates seamlessly with Stripe for secure payments.

Powerful integrations

We have included tools to make running an e-commerce store easier:

• Strapi CMS: Manage all your content dynamically without needing to touch code. You can easily update pages like About Us, Blog, or Terms and Conditions.
• Resend: Handles email notifications for things like order confirmations and shipping updates, so customers stay informed.

Built with design in mind

Solace is not just functional—it is designed to be easy to customize:

• Mobile-optimized layouts: Everything looks and works great on any device, whether it is a desktop or a phone.
• Figma UI kit: Comes with a complete design system, so you can quickly adapt the storefront to match your brand.

• Theme support: Light and dark themes make it easy to align with your brand style

Solace is all about giving developers a strong starting point while making it simple for businesses to run and grow their stores. Check out the project:

• SOLACE Overview
• Demo
• Figma
• Github

Reflections on building with Medusa 2.0

Working with Medusa 2.0 taught us how powerful simplicity can be. Its modular design gave us the freedom to build exactly what we needed without overcomplicating things, and the tools it provides work seamlessly together.

The development process felt smooth and intuitive, and the excellent documentation kept us moving quickly. Medusa 2.0 strikes a great balance—it is flexible enough for custom solutions, but still easy to work with. It is a framework that helps developers build faster while giving businesses the tools to grow.