A study on the design and development of a full-stack E-commerce web application with integrated payment processing via stripe

Background: The e-commerce industry has witnessed appreciable growth driven by evolving consumer behaviours and technological advancements. Despite the availability of off-the-shelf solutions, many businesses require tailor-made platforms that better serve specific operational needs. 
Objective: This paper presents the design and development of a functional, responsive, and secure e-commerce website built from scratch using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB, and the Stripe payment gateway. 
Methods: An iterative, agile-informed methodology was adopted, encompassing requirements analysis, UI/UX design, frontend and backend development, third-party payment integration, and multi-phase testing including unit, integration, and user acceptance testing. 
Results: The completed platform successfully delivers user registration and authentication, product browsing with filtering, dynamic cart management, and a seamless Stripe-powered checkout. Responsive design was achieved via CSS media queries and Bootstrap, while MongoDB underpinned robust data management. 
Conclusion: The study demonstrates that a fully functional, secure, and scalable e-commerce website can be built using open-source web technologies. Future work includes hybrid mobile app development, AI-powered chatbots, advanced analytics, and multi-currency support.