Simple eCommerce Website With PHP (No Database)

Last Updated: November 14, 2023

Welcome to a tutorial on how to create a simple eCommerce website with PHP. Want to build an eCommerce website? Only to find overly complex project examples all over the Internet? Well, here’s a simple one that does not involve a database – Read on!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

DOWNLOAD & NOTES

Here is the download link to the example code, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything.

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Source code on GitHub Gist

Just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

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PHP ECOMMERCE

All right, let us now get into more details on how the simple eCommerce website works.

 

 

 

PART 1) PHP LIBRARY

1-lib.php
<?php
if (isset($_POST["req"])) {
  // (A) PRODUCTS LIST
  $products = [
    1 => [
      "n" => "Laptop",
      "p" => 345.67,
      "i" => "img-a.png"
    ],
    2 => [
      "n" => "Smartphone",
      "p" => 123.45,
      "i" => "img-b.png"
    ],
    3 => [
      "n" => "Tablet",
      "p" => 234.56,
      "i" => "img-c.png"
    ],
    4 => [
      "n" => "Headphones",
      "p" => 34.56,
      "i" => "img-d.png"
    ]
  ];

  // (B) HANDLE REQUESTS
  switch ($_POST["req"]) {
    // (B1) INVALID REQUEST
    default: echo "Invalid request"; break;
  
    // (B2) GET PRODUCTS
    case "get":
      echo json_encode($products);
      break;

    // (B3) CHECKOUT
    case "checkout":
      // (B3-1) DATA YOGA
      $cart = json_decode($_POST["cart"], true);
      unset($_POST["req"]);
      unset($_POST["cart"]);

      // (B3-2) SEND VIA EMAIL
      $msg = "";
      foreach ($_POST as $k=>$v) { $msg .= "$k : $v\r\n"; }
      foreach ($cart as $i=>$q) {
        $msg .= sprintf("%u X %s - $%s\r\n",
          $q, $products[$i]["n"], $q * $products[$i]["p"]
        );
      }
      echo mail("admin@site.com", "Order Received", $msg)
        ? "OK" : "Failed to send email";
      break;
  }
}
  1. Since there is no database, the only way is to hardcode products in an array. This is in the structure of ID => DETAILS.
    • n Product name.
    • p Product price.
    • i Product image.
  2. This part is the AJAX handler, just send the request $_POST["req"] along with the required parameters.
    • $_POST["req"] = "get" Outputs the list of products in a JSON-encoded string.
    • $_POST["req"] = "checkout" Checks out the cart items, and sends them out via email. Remember to change the email address to your own.
      • $_POST["cart"] Required. A JSON-encoded string of cart items, in the format of ID : QUANTITY.
      • $_POST["ANY OTHER"] Other information such as name, email, telephone, address, whatever you want to capture.

 

 

PART 2) SHOPPING PAGE

2-shop.html
<!-- (A) PRODUCTS + SHOPPING CART -->
<div id="wrap">
  <!-- (A1) HEADER -->
  <div id="head">
    <div id="iCart">
      My Cart <span id="cCart">0</span>
    </div>
    <div id="iDummy">My Account</div>
  </div>
 
  <!-- (A2) PRODUCTS -->
  <div id="products"></div>
 
  <!-- (A3) CART ITEMS -->
  <div id="wCart">
    <span id="wCartClose" class="button" onclick="document.getElementById('wCart').classList.remove('show')">&#8678;</span>
    <h2>SHOPPING CART</h2>
    <div id="cart"></div>
  </div>
</div>
 
<!-- (B) CHECKOUT FORM -->
<div id="checkout"><form onsubmit="return shop.checkout()">
  <div id="cgClose" class="button" onclick="shop.togcf(false)">X</div>
  <label>Name</label>
  <input type="text" name="name" required value="Jon Doe">
  <label>Email</label>
  <input type="email" name="email" required value="jon@doe.com">
  <input class="button" type="submit" value="Checkout">
</form></div>
  1. The “main page” itself.
    • <div id="head"> Pretty much just a “toggle show/hide cart” button.
    • <div id="products"> A container to draw the products in.
    • <div id="cart"> To draw the current cart items.
  2. A hidden checkout form. Feel free to add more fields that you want to capture.

 

PART 3) THE JAVASCRIPT

3A) AJAX FETCH HELPER FUNCTION

3-shop.js
var shop = {
  // (A) HELPER - AJAX FETCH
  fetch : (data, after) => {
    // (A1) FORM DATA
    let form;
    if (data instanceof FormData) { form = data; }
    else {
      form = new FormData();
      for (let [k, v] of Object.entries(data)) { form.append(k, v); }
    }

    // (A2) FETCH
    fetch("1-lib.php", { method : "post", body : form })
    .then(res => res.text())
    .then(txt => after(txt))
    .catch(err => console.error(err));
  },
  // ...
};
  • var shop is an object that contains all the “shopping” mechanisms.
  • shop.fetch() is but a simple helper function to do an AJAX call to 1-lib.php.

 

 

3B) PROPERTIES

3-shop.js
// (B) PROPERTIES
hPdt : null, // html products
hCart : null, // html cart
hCCart : null, // html cart count
hCO : null, // html checkout wrapper
hCOF : null, // html checkout form
products : null, // products list
cart : null, // cart items
qty : 0, // cart total item quantity
total : 0, // cart total amount
  • hPdt hCart hCCart hCO hCOF References to HTML elements.
  • products Array of products, which will be loaded from 1-lib.php.
  • cart The current cart items, in the structure of { ID : QUANTITY }.
  • qty The current total quantity.
  • total The current total amount.

 

3C) INITIALIZE

3-shop.js
// (C) INITIALIZE
init : () => {
  // (C1) GET HTML ELEMENTS
  shop.hPdt = document.getElementById("products");
  shop.hCart = document.getElementById("cart");
  shop.hCCart = document.getElementById("cCart");
  shop.hCO = document.getElementById("checkout");
  shop.hCOF = document.querySelector("#checkout form");
 
  // (C2) CLICK TO TOGGLE CART
  document.getElementById("iCart").onclick = () => {
    document.getElementById("wCart").classList.toggle("show");
  };
 
  // (C3) RESTORE CART
  shop.cart = localStorage.getItem("cart");
  if (shop.cart == null) { shop.cart = {}; }
  else { shop.cart = JSON.parse(shop.cart); }
 
  // (C4) LOAD PRODUCTS > DRAW HTML
  shop.fetch({"req": "get"}, data => {
    // (C4-1) PARSE DATA INTO JS OBJECT
    shop.products = JSON.parse(data);
 
    // (C4-2) DRAW HTML PRODUCTS
    for (let [id, pdt] of Object.entries(shop.products)) {
      let row = document.createElement("div");
      row.className = "pCell";
      row.innerHTML = `<img class="pImg" src="assets/${pdt.i}">
      <div class="pDetails">
        <div class="pName">${pdt.n}</div>
        <div class="pPrice">$${pdt.p.toFixed(2)}</div>
        <input class="pAdd button" type="button" value="Add To Cart" onclick="shop.add(${id})">
      </div>`;
      shop.hPdt.appendChild(row);
    }
 
    // (C4-3) DRAW CART ITEMS
    shop.drawcart();
  });
},
window.onload = shop.init;

shop.init() Runs on page load. Not going to explain line-by-line, but a quick walkthrough:

  • (C1) Get all the related HTML elements.
  • (C2) Click to toggle show/hide the cart items.
  • (C3) The shopping cart is saved in the localStorage as a JSON-encoded string. This part simply restores the cart session from localStorage to shop.cart.
  • (C4) Fetch the product entries from 1-lib.php, and draw the HTML products plus cart items.

 

 

3D) CART ACTIONS

3-shop.js
// (D) SAVE CART ITEMS INTO LOCALSTORAGE
save : () => localStorage.setItem("cart", JSON.stringify(shop.cart)),
 
// (E) DRAW CART ITEMS
drawcart : () => {
  // (E1) RESET
  let row;
  shop.total = 0;
  shop.hCart.innerHTML = "";
 
  // (E2) EMPTY CART
  if (Object.keys(shop.cart).length==0) {
    row = document.createElement("div");
    row.className = "cCell";
    row.innerHTML = `Cart is empty`;
    shop.hCart.appendChild(row);
    shop.hCCart.innerHTML = 0;
  }
 
  // (E3) DRAW ITEMS
  else {
    for (let [i, q] of Object.entries(shop.cart)) {
      // (E3-1) CALCULATE SUBTOTAL
      let subtotal = q * shop.products[i]["p"];
      shop.total += subtotal;
      shop.qty += parseInt(q);
 
      // (E3-2) ITEM ROW
      row = document.createElement("div");
      row.className = "cCell";
      row.innerHTML = `<input class="cQty" type="number" value="${q}" 
      min="0" max="99" onchange="shop.change(${i}, this.value)">
      <div class="cInfo">
      <div class="cName">${shop.products[i]["n"]}</div>
      <div class="cPrice">$${subtotal.toFixed(2)}</div>
      </div>
      <input class="cDel button" type="button" value="X" onclick="shop.remove(${i})">`;
      shop.hCart.appendChild(row);
    }
 
    // (E3-3) CART TOTAL
    row = document.createElement("div");
    row.className = "cCell";
    row.innerHTML = `<input class="cDel button" type="button" value="X" onclick="shop.empty()">
    <div class="cInfo">
    <div class="cName">Total</div>
    <div class="cPrice">$${shop.total.toFixed(2)}</div>
    </div>
    <input class="cDel button" type="button" value="&gt;" onclick="shop.togcf(true)">`;
    shop.hCart.appendChild(row);
 
    // (E3-4) TOTAL QUANTITY
    shop.hCCart.innerHTML = shop.qty;
  }
},
 
// (F) ADD PRODUCT TO CART
add : id => {
  if (shop.cart[id]==undefined) { shop.cart[id] = 1; }
  else { shop.cart[id]++; }
  shop.save(); shop.drawcart();
},

// (G) CHANGE QUANTITY IN CART
change : (id, qty) => {
  if (qty <= 0) { shop.remove(id) }
  else { shop.cart[id] = qty; }
  shop.save(); shop.drawcart();
},
 
// (H) REMOVE PRODUCT FROM CART
remove : id => {
  delete shop.cart[id];
  shop.save(); shop.drawcart();
},
 
// (I) EMPTY CART
empty : () => { if (confirm("Empty cart?")) {
  shop.cart = {};
  shop.save(); shop.drawcart();
}},
 
// (J) TOGGLE CHECKOUT FORM
togcf : show => {
  if (show) { shop.hCO.className = "show"; }
  else { shop.hCO.className = ""; }
},
 
// (K) CHECKOUT
checkout : () => {
  // (K1) FORM DATA
  let form = new FormData(shop.hCOF);
  form.append("req", "checkout");
  form.append("cart", JSON.stringify(shop.cart));
 
  // (K2) AJAX PROCESS
  shop.fetch(form, res => {
    if (res=="OK") {
      shop.cart = {};
      shop.save();
      shop.drawcart();
      shop.togcf(false);
      alert("CHECKOUT OK. DO SOMETHING - REDIRECT TO THANK YOU?");
    } else { alert(res); }
  });

  // (K3) PREVENT FORM SUBMIT
  return false;
}

The last few sections of the Javascript deal with the shopping cart.

  • (D) save() Saves shop.cart into the localStorage.
  • (E) drawcart() Loops through the current cart items shop.cart and draws the HTML.
  • (F) add() Add an item to the cart.
  • (G) change() Update item quantity.
  • (H) remove() Remove item from the cart.
  • (I) empty() Remove all items from the cart.
  • (J) togcf() Show/hide the checkout form.
  • (K) checkout() Checkout the current cart items. Complete this function on your own.

 

EXTRAS

That’s all for the tutorial, and here is a small section on some extras and links that may be useful to you.

 

IMPROVEMENT IDEAS

This example works, but it is extremely simplistic. A lot can be done to make it better.

  • Complete the checkout process – Capture more fields, send to admin, send to customer, and create your own “nice email template”. See links below.
  • Add more security and checks – Double-check the checkout in 1-lib.php for valid name/email/products.
  • If you want user registration and login, the only way is to involve a database. Keeping user data in a flat file is never a good idea. See links below.
  • Admin Panel – It is possible to build a simple one and secure it using HTTP authentication.
  • Online payment – Paypal, Stripe, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Wise, Payoneer, whatever else.

The possibilities are endless and I cannot give free consultations to everyone. The rest is up to you to complete.

 

 

COMPATIBILITY CHECKS

This example should work on all modern “Grade A” browsers.

 

A WAY BETTER SHOPPING CART

A shopping cart with product options, categories, discount coupons, user system, admin panel, API, and an installable web app - Click here to check out my eBook!

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

 

THE END

Thank you for reading, and we have come to the end. I hope that it has helped you to better understand, and if you want to share anything with this guide, please feel free to comment below. Good luck and happy coding!