Inspiration
I found that at least 50% of restaurants did not have a link to buy gift cards while making a website for people to buy them during the shelter-in-place order for the Bay Area. After launching, a few restaurant owners started reaching out to me about setting up their own gift cards online, so I wanted to make it as easy as possible and free for them.
What it does
On the app, people can buy e-gift cards to send to themselves or someone else.
Businesses can create and scan e-gift cards, just by signing up and linking their Stripe account.
How I built it
I made an iOS app written in Swift for the frontend and a Node backend on Heroku. I'm using the Stripe API to handle payments. The gift cards have QR codes that are redeemed through a scanner on the app.
Challenges I ran into
Redeeming only part of the funds on the gift card was difficult because it required updating the card amount while the restaurant owner is scanning.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I'm proud that I can make actual payments, send an e-gift card to my email, and redeem gift cards through the scanner.
What I learned
I used Heroku, Node, and the Stripe API for the first time.
What's next for Gift The Support
Account creation for restaurants and buyers, automatic e-gift card creation, automated payouts, apple wallet storage for gift cards, QR codes verification, and amount deduction, and added security.
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