Mobile Commerce App with Medusa, React Native, and Expo

66% of online orders are made through mobile devices. Since shoppers find it easier to make purchases on their mobile devices, businesses must build a good user experience for them. So, it's essential to invest in a mobile app that allows customers to browse products and place orders.

Medusa's architecture decouples the server from the storefront, allowing developers to integrate different types of storefronts with the technology they need. Developers can build an app with React Native and Expo that connects to the Medusa server to perform commerce operations. You can then publish the app to Apple's App Store or Google Play Store.

How it Works

Medusa is a headless commerce platform. When you install Medusa, you install a server that exposes powerful commerce features through its APIs. The Medusa installation also comes with an admin that connects to the server through its APIs.

This flexible architecture allows you to connect any frontend client to Medusa through its APIs. So, you can create a React Native and Expo app that utilizes these APIs to retrieve store data and perform commerce operations.

In the React Native app, you can retrieve the products from the Medusa server and allow customers to browse them and view their details.

Customers can add products to the cart, update a cart item's quantity, or remove items from the cart. They can also view the cart totals before proceeding to checkout.

When the customer proceeds to checkout, they can enter their shipping and billing addresses, choose a shipping method, and select a payment provider.

Once the customer places an order, it will be recorded in the Medusa backend. The customer can then view a confirmation screen with the details of the placed order.

Tutorial: Build Commerce App with Medusa, React Native, and Expo

This tutorial in our documentation guides you through building a commerce app with Medusa, React Native, and Expo. By following the tutorial, you'll learn how to:

1. Set up an Expo app and connect it to your Medusa server.
2. Add a home screen showing the list of products in your store.
3. Add a product details screen with add-to-cart functionality.
4. Add a cart screen to view and manage the cart.
5. Add checkout screens for complete checkout functionality.
6. Add an order confirmation screen to view the order details after it's placed.

You can also expand the app to include customer account functionalities and integrate payment providers like Stripe.