Thriftkart

Thriftkart – Detailed Project Description

Full-stack, AI-ready e-commerce platform built with React, Node.js, and MongoDB

Overview Key Features Backend Architecture Admin Panel Deployment & DevOps AI Vision Technology Stack

Overview

Thriftkart is a full-stack e-commerce platform designed to deliver a smooth, modern, and scalable online shopping experience. Built using React.js, Node.js (Express), and MongoDB, it provides a secure and responsive interface for both customers and administrators, focusing on efficiency, modularity, and user experience — from product discovery to order fulfillment.

Key Features

Browsing & Discovery: Category & subcategory navigation, smart filters, featured items, and dynamic home banners.
Cart & Checkout: Seamless cart flow with Razorpay integration for secure payments.
Performance UX: React hooks, Context API, and lazy loading for fast, mobile-friendly rendering.
Media Management: Image uploads via Cloudinary or Google Drive.
Security: JWT-based auth, password hashing, CORS/Helmet hardening.

Backend Architecture

The Node.js + Express API follows a modular structure for core domains: users, products, categories, carts, orders, and media. Mongoose enforces schema and validation, while Multer handles uploads. Authentication and authorization use JWT.

Highlighted Capabilities

Authentication: Login/registration with JWT; role-aware authorization.
Product & Catalog: CRUD for products, categories, sub-categories, and banner assets.
Orders: Order creation, status updates, and history tracking.
Integrations: Cloudinary/Google Drive for images; Razorpay for payments; Nodemailer (optional) for emails/OTP.

Admin Panel

A React + MUI dashboard enables efficient store operations with role-based access and secure CRUD. Admins can manage products, categories, orders, and promotional banners with near real-time feedback.

Inventory, pricing, and catalog controls.
Order oversight and status workflows.
Banner and homepage content management.

Deployment & DevOps

Hosting: Ubuntu VPS (Hostinger/DigitalOcean).
Runtime: PM2 for process management; Node 20.
Edge: NGINX as reverse proxy with Let’s Encrypt SSL (Certbot).
CI/CD: GitHub Actions for automated build and deploy.
Security: UFW firewall; environment-specific .env for staging/production.

AI-Driven Vision

Thriftkart’s roadmap evolves into an intelligent shopping ecosystem with personalized recommendations, cross-vendor price comparison, AI chatbot support, and dynamic search insights powered by the OpenAI API and analytics tools.

Technology Stack

Frontend (Client)

React.js (v18/19), React Router DOM
Axios / Fetch API
Material UI (MUI), React Icons, Swiper.js
Context API, React Hooks
Tailwind CSS / Custom CSS

Backend (Server)

Node.js (v20), Express.js
Mongoose (MongoDB ODM)
JWT (jsonwebtoken), Bcrypt.js
Multer (uploads), Cloudinary SDK / Google Drive API
CORS, Helmet, Dotenv, Nodemailer (optional)

Database

MongoDB Atlas / Self-hosted MongoDB
Mongoose models & validation

Payment & Transactions

Razorpay API (primary)
Future: Stripe/PayPal (international)

DevOps & Deployment

Ubuntu VPS, NGINX reverse proxy
PM2 process manager
GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
Certbot (Let’s Encrypt) SSL, UFW Firewall
Environment-based .env (staging & production)

Admin Panel

React + MUI Dashboard
JWT Auth Guard, secure CRUD APIs

Additional Tools

Cloudinary / Google Drive (media), Postman/Thunder Client (API testing)
Git & GitHub (version control), Docker (optional)

Planned AI & Analytics

OpenAI API (chatbot, recommendations)
Google Analytics / Mixpanel
AI-powered price comparison & dynamic search