Poly Merchant

For Cal Poly students, by Cal Poly Students

Comment

Inspiration

Our team was inspired by the vibrant community of vendors and small businesses selling their products at Dexter Lawn. Recognizing the value and appeal of these lawn sales, we envisioned a platform that would provide 24/7 access to this marketplace for both consumers and businesses. Our goal was to create an online platform where students could easily engage with sellers and browse through a wide range of products at any time. While we continue to develop the payment feature, we facilitate communication between buyers and sellers through email or phone, allowing for negotiation of pickup or drop-off arrangements. This platform not only enhances exposure for vendors, who benefit from continuous visibility but also provides consumers with a vast selection of items, surpassing what they would typically find in traditional in-person experiences.

What it does

Poly Merchant is a website that provides access to a dynamic marketplace where only Cal Poly students and vendors can upload and purchase items. They need to sign up with a Cal Poly email if they wish to have access to any of the sites features. As a seller, you can easily list your products, providing a concise description, pricing, and your contact information, such as email, phone, or both. When buyers find an item of interest, they can directly communicate with the seller via phone or email to arrange the purchase. (Payment coming soon....)

How we built it

We had one person working on the front-end development, one person working on the back-end development, and one person helping out with both.

Challenges we ran into

We had a lot of trouble integrating the multiple pages for each product. Implementing passwords through Django also took a majority of the back-end development.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Looking ahead, we are excited to continue working on this project throughout the quarter and even during the summer. Poly Merchant has not only sharpened our coding skills but also fostered teamwork and collaboration, enabling us to identify and leverage our individual strengths and conquer together.

What we learned

We became much more familiar with web development. In particular, we became much better at implementing a website with multiple people working on the back and front end separately. None of us have made a complete website before so it was a huge learning experience for all of us.

What's next for Poly Merchant

Our vision for Poly Merchant extends far beyond an MVP. We have engaged in conversations with vendors and small businesses who have expressed genuine interest in the platform. Building on this early momentum, we are committed to evolving Poly Merchant into a comprehensive service that becomes an integral part of students' lives, providing a reliable and efficient marketplace for their needs. We are ready to listen to what students want to see next from Poly Merchant.

Share this project:

Updates