NoSQL – Using NoSQL Databases for E-commerce Order Management

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Is it possible to use a non relational database be in an Order management system for an e-commerce company with a large number of orders everyday, like Amazon? Can the benefits of Non Relational databases (scalability, reliability etc) be exploited in this scenario, or, is it impossible to give up ACID properties and hence mandate that only a relational DB be used for this purpose?

Best Answer

It's certainly possible. Whether it is a good idea or not is another matter.

I personally wouldn't use nosql in the use case you described for two major reasons:

  1. Interoperability - chances are your order system will have to interface with multiple back end systems all written around the relational database model. Mapping back from nosql to relational will be extra work and can introduce bugs.

  2. reporting - reporting is a big feature of an ordering platform. You will regularly need to pull reports based on the ordering data to fine-tune the sales process. Reporting is much harder to do well in a nosql database.

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