The Local Mart

ShopT- Your local mart

Inspiration

Online marketplaces often come with hidden fees, scams, and unnecessary friction between buyers and sellers. We wanted to create a safer, more transparent way for local communities to trade directly with each other—without extra costs or complications.

What it does

The Local Mart is a community-driven marketplace that allows users to buy and sell items within their local area. By eliminating third-party fees and prioritizing local connections, the platform creates a more trustworthy and accessible trading experience.

How we built it

We developed a web-based platform that integrates mapping technology to help users discover nearby listings. We also incorporated AI functionality using Claude to enhance the user experience, along with a full authentication system for secure login and account management.

Challenges we ran into

Integrating the Claude API into our application Embedding and configuring map features for location-based browsing Handling redundancy and edge cases in login and signup workflows

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully built a functional, user-friendly platform that brings together local commerce and modern technology. We're especially proud of turning our idea into a working product—The Local Mart.

What we learned

API integration and troubleshooting Implementing and customizing map-based features Working with AI tools like Claude for enhanced functionality Improving full-stack development and debugging skills