CraftMart is a handcrafted goods website built using the MERN stack, offering a seamless and user-friendly platform for unique handmade products. It features robust functionalities, including a real-time chat app for instant communication, efficient product management, secure payment handling, gift and voucher management, streamlined delivery tracking, event management, feedback collection, and hassle-free return and refund services. CraftMart ensures a comprehensive experience for both customers and managers, blending creativity with advanced technology.
Our client (Rathnayaka Shilpiyo) currently relies on a manual ledger system to record payments and manage products, which presents numerous challenges. This outdated method is both time-consuming and prone to errors, such as incorrect transaction entries, unrecorded payments, and discrepancies between recorded stock and actual inventory. These issues can result in dissatisfied customers and missed sales opportunities. Additionally, customers are required to visit the shop in person to purchase items, restricting the business to a local audience and preventing it from reaching potential customers who value traditional wooden crafts but live further away.
The organization also relies on printed posters for event promotion, which is both costly and ineffective. This approach fails to reach a wider audience, often resulting in low participation at events designed to celebrate and share Sri Lanka’s rich cultural heritage. Furthermore, client information is typically gathered informally and communicated through word of mouth, leading to frequent information loss. When customers receive faulty products, they must visit the shop to file complaints, which is inconvenient and inefficient. This outdated system not only hampers customer service but also limits the company’s ability to respond promptly to feedback, slowing its growth and hindering innovation.
Moving to an online marketplace system presents a significant opportunity for Rathnayaka Shilpiyo to resolve its current challenges and unlock numerous benefits. By implementing an automated payment tracking system, the company can greatly enhance its efficiency. This transition will minimize errors, accelerate processing times, and instantly provide accurate financial reports. Consequently, transaction management will become more streamlined, allowing the company to handle payments more effectively. Moreover, customers will have the convenience of browsing and purchasing handmade products from anywhere in the world. This global reach will not only boost sales but also promote Sri Lankan craftsmanship to a wider audience.
An online marketplace will also simplify event management and marketing efforts. By leveraging digital marketing strategies such as social media, email campaigns, and online advertisements, Rathnayaka Shilpiyo can reach a larger audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. This digital shift will also enable the company to measure the success of its promotional efforts more effectively. Additionally, an online feedback system will empower customers to easily share their experiences, enabling the company to respond quickly to concerns and suggestions. This improved responsiveness will enhance customer satisfaction, foster loyalty, and build a vibrant community around the brand.
In summary, transitioning to an online system will streamline operations, elevate customer service, and open up vast opportunities for growth and innovation, positioning Rathnayaka Shilpiyo as a leader in the traditional wooden crafts market.
- The product management function is central to CraftMart's marketplace, allowing clients to efficiently manage their handmade goods and ensure a smooth customer experience. With this feature, clients have a user-friendly interface to add, update, and categorize their products, including details such as product images, descriptions, and prices. This function streamlines the process of organizing and presenting products, enhancing discoverability and customer engagement.
- The payment management function provides a user-friendly interface for customers to easily submit payments, manage their payment details, and download e-receipts. It features a secure payment processing system that ensures customer data protection. Payment managers can track income in real-time, generate reports, and manage payment information efficiently. Additionally, an integrated feedback mechanism allows customers to rate their payment experience, contributing to continuous service improvement. With a cloud-based database for real-time updates, the system eliminates the need for manual record-keeping, ensuring accurate financial management and streamlined operations for all stakeholders.
- The shipping and delivery management system supplements the marketplace by providing a dedicated delivery manager to oversee order fulfillment. Sellers and buyers can rely on the system to handle shipments. The shipping and delivery management function provides a user-friendly interface for customers to easily submit shipping and delivery details and manage their shipping and delivery details. Delivery managers can generate reports and manage shipping and delivery information efficiently.
- CraftMart's voucher system simplifies the process for sellers to create and distribute vouchers to customers, allowing quick redemption and validation of vouchers. The system supports various payment methods, enables real-time tracking of voucher usage, and integrates with financial systems for efficient transactions. This system aids in business decisions and streamlines the voucher process.
- The event management that we offer does away with the need to incorporate static content into the events, enabling the event managers to actively manage occurrences with ease. It is also easy to create, change, or delete events, and these changes will be made in the system right away. Each event is nested so that if the customer wants to attend any event, he or she gets a unique Zoom link which does not require any registration. The system also supports searching for events allowing the users to specify the event they want within specific parameters. There is increasing efficiency in the management of the event detail due to this easement of the processes of the users.
- The 'Return and Refund Management System' makes the process of handling 'Customer Return Requests' easy. This user-friendly interface enables the customer to raise a request for a return, input product details, and upload damage images. Administrators verify the authenticity of requests and follow up on processing at each stage for time-bound and efficient disposal. Return managers can also generate reports and view trends for refining return policies that best suit customers.
- CraftMart’s feedback management system efficiently gathers and analyzes customer feedback to improve product quality and enhance the overall shopping experience. This system allows sellers to gain actionable insights, enabling them to make adjustments to their product offerings and improve customer satisfaction. By monitoring feedback trends, sellers can ensure continuous improvement in craftsmanship and service. The system helps create a feedback loop where customer input directly drives product and service enhancements, resulting in a better marketplace for both customers and sellers.
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported the development of the CraftMart website.
Firstly, I thank our mentors and professors for their valuable guidance, feedback, and insights, which greatly enhanced the design and functionality of this project. Their expertise was instrumental in creating a user-friendly and secure platform for our users.
I also appreciate the open-source community, whose libraries and tools—such as React, Node.js, MongoDB, and Tailwind CSS—allowed us to bring CraftMart to life with robust and reliable features. Special thanks go to GitHub for providing an excellent platform to collaborate and manage our project effectively.
Finally, I would like to thank all the beta testers and users of CraftMart. Your feedback was essential in refining the system and making it accessible and efficient. Your support motivates us to continue improving and expanding CraftMart for a better user experience.
Thank you all for being a part of this journey!
- E-Receipt Generation
- Income and Expense Tracking
- Net Profit Calculation
- Search Payments and Expenses
- Product report genaration
- Search products
- Categorize products
- Gift report genaration
- Search gifts
- Delevary report genaration
- Feedback report genaration
- Event report genaration
- Javascript
- HTML
- MongoDB
- React
- Node
- Express
- CSS
Developing the CraftMart Marketplace allowed me to explore a wide range of technical and design challenges. Through this process, I gained hands-on experience in creating a robust e-commerce platform that balances user experience, functionality, and security. This project sharpened my problem-solving skills and provided valuable insights into the integration of complex systems to meet real-world business needs.
-
I learned how to build a system that supports real-time updates for adding, modifying, and categorizing products efficiently.
-
Designing intuitive interfaces helped me understand the importance of presenting product details (images, descriptions, and prices) in a way that enhances customer engagement
-
Gained experience in implementing secure payment methods, including encryption techniques to protect sensitive financial data.
-
I developed features to generate downloadable e-receipts for customers, ensuring a seamless post-purchase experience.
-
Enhanced my understanding of building real-time income tracking and financial reporting systems to assist payment managers in making informed decisions.
-
I learned how to create a system that allows real-time tracking and management of shipping details, providing transparency for both customers and delivery managers.
-
Gained insights into automating delivery reporting to streamline operations and improve logistics.
-
I understood how to integrate a system for creating, distributing, and redeeming vouchers efficiently.
-
By offering easy-to-use vouchers, I recognized the value of loyalty-building tools in e-commerce.
-
I developed skills in creating scalable event management tools, including real-time updates for creating, modifying, and deleting events.
-
Designed a system that provides unique Zoom links for events, streamlining customer participation without requiring extra registration steps.
-
Learned how to create a system for handling return requests with clear stages, including damage verification, processing, and resolution.
-
I gained experience in using data analytics to identify return trends and refine policies to improve customer satisfaction.
-
I learned how to build a feedback system that captures actionable insights, enabling sellers to make data-driven decisions.
-
Developed skills in tracking feedback trends to ensure continuous service and product improvement.
-
Strengthened my ability to work with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js) to develop a cohesive application.
-
Gained experience in handling user authentication, encryption, and data integrity to protect sensitive information.
-
Learned to collaborate with various stakeholders (clients, managers, and users) to ensure that the final product meets business requirements.
This project not only expanded my technical expertise but also taught me the importance of balancing functionality with user experience. By addressing real-world challenges such as outdated manual systems and limited market reach, I realized the transformative impact technology can have on traditional businesses. CraftMart was an excellent opportunity to merge creativity with innovation to build a platform that promotes Sri Lankan craftsmanship on a global stage.
Here are some related projects
FeedBackManagement-CreaftMart-Mern
PaymentManagement-CreaftMart-Mern
Clone the project
https://github.com/Sanil-Sandeep/PaymentManagement-CraftMart-Mern.gitGo to the project directory
cd backendInstall dependencies
npm i cloudinaryStart the server
npm run dev