👤 Customer
Browse products, manage cart, checkout via PayPal or Stripe, and view order history.
Overview
GetFood4Less is a full-stack food marketplace connecting local restaurants, bakeries, and cafés with customers through a real-time order and payment ecosystem. The platform helps reduce food waste by offering discounted meals that would otherwise be unsold, while maintaining seamless online operations for businesses and stores.
Designed to function like SkipTheDishes or Uber Eats, but with a unique focus on affordability and sustainability, GetFood4Less provides an integrated experience across four roles: Customer, Store, Business, and SuperAdmin.
System Architecture
🏪 Store
Accept or reject orders in real time, set prep times, and notify customers via dashboard.
💼 Business
Manage multiple stores, view transactions, process refunds, and monitor KPIs.
🧠 Super Admin
Global control of users, payments, invoices, analytics, and site configuration.
Core Experience
From guest orders to business dashboards, each user role delivers a unified and real-time marketplace experience.
Guest Orders
Quick checkout with instant payment validation and session persistence.
⚡ Instant flow
No signup required
💳 Secure Payment
Validated via Stripe or PayPal
🛒 Session Memory
Auto restore abandoned carts
Customers
Registered users get enhanced control, receipts, and tailored experiences.
⭐ Ratings
Review stores and products
🧾 Invoices
Download PDF receipts
🛍️ Reorders
Buy favorite items again
Stores
Full autonomy to manage orders, availability, and customer notifications.
📦 Real-time Orders
Accept or reject live
🕒 Prep Time
Editable live timer
📬 Customer Alerts
Pickup ready notification
Business
Centralized multi-store management with KPIs, refunds, and analytics powered by AI insights.
📊 Multi-Store KPIs
Sales and performance tracking
💸 Refund Tools
Webhook-driven flow
🧠 AI Insights
Auto summarization of sales
✨ Key Features
👥 Multi-Role Access
Customer / Store / Business / Admin
💳 Real-Time Payments
Stripe & PayPal
📈 Advanced Dashboards & KPIs
Real-time analytics
🧾 Auto Invoices + Refund Flows
Automated financial workflows
🗺️ Mapbox Store Locator
Geolocation & mapping
🤖 AI Assistant for Business Insights
Smart analytics & summaries
🏗️ System Flow
From order creation to commission processing, each step in the GetFood4Less ecosystem is automated and auditable in real time.
👤
Customer
Places the order through the web app and confirms payment.
➜
🛒
Order
Order is created and broadcast in real time to the store dashboard.
➜
💳
Payment
Funds are authorized; upon acceptance, the payment is captured and split 90/10.
➜
⚙️
Commission Processor
Automates revenue split, refunds, and transfers to connected accounts.
🛡️ Enterprise Security
- PCI DSS Compliant Payments
- Rate Limiting (Rack::Attack)
- CSRF & CORS Protection
- Audit Logs for all user actions
Technical Highlights
The GetFood4Less ecosystem integrates a full modern Ruby on Rails 8 stack — powered by real-time interactivity, automated builds, and multi-payment support.
Backend
Built for scalability with modern Rails features and background jobs.
🐍 Ruby on Rails 8
Core backend framework
📦 Redis / SolidQueue
Job processing & caching
🔒 Pundit + Devise
Authentication & authorization
Frontend
Modern, reactive frontend powered by Hotwire and Stimulus.
🧩 Stimulus
Modular JS interactivity
🚀 Turbo Rails
Real-time DOM updates
🎨 Sass + PostCSS
Custom SCSS and autoprefixer
Integrations
Seamless integrations for payments, maps, and analytics.
💳 Stripe Connect
Split payments automation
🅿️ PayPal SDK
Alternative payment option
🌍 Mapbox
Store geolocation & mapping
Build & Deployment
Optimized workflow with Yarn, esbuild, and Render CI/CD.
🧩 esbuild + Stimulus Plugin
Fast JS bundling
📦 Yarn + Node 18
Dependency management
☁️ Cloudinary
Hosting & media optimization
Ecosystem Integration
GetFood4Less brings together several modular projects I built separately. Each focuses on a different technical challenge within the ecosystem.
PayFlow Lite
Handles online payments, split transfers, and webhook-driven refund flows.
Geocoding & Store Locator
Enables location-based search, city filters, and address autocomplete using Mapbox.
Business Admin Dashboard
Provides KPIs, sales reports, refund tools, and multi-store management.
AI Assistant
An AI-powered helper that summarizes orders, answers FAQs, and supports store managers.
Outcomes & Learnings
Building GetFood4Less has been a cornerstone in my journey as a full-stack developer. It challenged me to design and maintain a production-grade ecosystem, balancing scalability, UX, and asynchronous workflows. Each module started as an isolated experiment, but together they form a coherent, maintainable marketplace system.
Next steps include introducing delivery routing, SMS notifications, and a mobile app version with the same backend foundation.