Restaurant Ecommerce Platform
A complete online ordering system that cut third party commission to zero and gave the restaurant full control over orders, menus, and delivery
About the Project
The restaurant was paying 20 to 30 percent commission to third party delivery platforms on every order. On a good day, that commission ate more than the profit margin on some menu items. The owner wanted out. The brief was to build a system that matched the experience customers expected from the major platforms: fast browsing, easy cart management, clear order tracking, without paying a rupee in commission. The platform had to be simple enough for the kitchen team to manage without a dedicated IT person.
What We Were Solving
The restaurant needed a complete online ordering system to replace third party apps that charged high commissions. They wanted a custom built solution tailored to their menu style, pricing structure, and delivery zones.
The technical challenge was building a real time ordering experience that felt as smooth as the major platforms. Cart state, item availability, and order status all needed to update without full page reloads. Any lag in the order confirmation flow would cause customers to double submit or abandon the order entirely.
The admin panel had to be usable by non technical staff. Menu updates, price changes, and order status updates needed to be doable by a kitchen team member with no software background. Every admin action needed to be reversible and clearly communicated.
How We Tackled It
We mapped the complete ordering flow from the customer's perspective first: browse, select, customise, add to cart, checkout, confirm, track. Every step was optimised for speed and clarity before we designed the admin side.
The menu data structure was designed to handle variants, add ons, and availability flags. A burger with size options and extra topping choices is structurally different from a fixed price set meal, and the system needed to handle both without complicated workarounds.
Order state management was built as a real time system using polling for simplicity and reliability. The kitchen display updates automatically as new orders arrive. Order status changes on the admin side immediately reflect on the customer's order tracking screen.
What We Built
We built a scalable full stack system using the MERN stack with TypeScript for both backend and frontend. The customer facing interface supports browsing menu items, filtering by category, managing carts with full variant support, and placing secure orders with real time confirmation.
For the admin dashboard, we implemented product and category management, live order tracking, delivery status updates, and full CRUD operations. The system is optimised for speed using Vite, and Bootstrap ensures a clean layout across all devices. Zero third party commission on every order from day one.
Key Features Delivered
- Full menu catalog with categories, variants, and add on options
- Real time cart with quantity management and instant total calculation
- Delivery and pickup order flow with address input and zone validation
- Order tracking screen showing live order status for customers
- Kitchen admin panel with live incoming order notifications
- Menu management allowing price changes and availability toggling
- Order history for customers with reorder capability
- Mobile optimised ordering experience for smartphone users
Project Screenshots
