Total Liquor
A comprehensive multi-platform liquor e-commerce ecosystem featuring a web storefront, admin dashboard, store management portal, and React Native mobile app with Stripe Connect payment processing for multi-vendor marketplace functionality.
Key Challenges
- Implementing Stripe Connect for multi-vendor marketplace with split payments and 10% platform fee calculation
- Building a bulk product import system that parses Excel files, validates data, and creates hierarchical relationships (Categories → Brands → Products → Variants)
- Designing a role-based access control system with separate authentication flows for customers, store owners, and administrators
- Managing complex order state machine with multiple statuses (Pending → Preparing → Ready → Delivered) across different user roles
- Synchronizing inventory management across multiple stores with real-time stock tracking and variant-level pricing
Key Learnings
- Mastered Stripe Connect Express accounts for marketplace payment splitting and vendor onboarding flows
- Gained expertise in building scalable multi-tenant architectures with Sequelize ORM and PostgreSQL
- Learned to implement complex form validation using Zod schemas with React Hook Form across web and mobile
- Developed proficiency in building cross-platform applications sharing business logic between React and React Native
- Understood the importance of transaction management in e-commerce checkout flows to maintain data integrity
Overview
Total Liquor is a full-stack multi-platform e-commerce solution designed for the liquor retail industry. The platform enables liquor stores to manage their inventory, process orders, and accept payments through a unified system. Built with a microservices-inspired architecture, it consists of three interconnected applications: a customer-facing web storefront, a comprehensive admin dashboard, and a React Native mobile app for on-the-go shopping.
Key Features
Multi-Vendor Marketplace
Store owners can register, complete Stripe onboarding, manage their inventory, and receive payments directly to their connected accounts with automatic 10% platform fee.
Bulk Product Import
Excel-based product import system that automatically creates categories, brands, products, and variants with intelligent data parsing and validation.
Real-time Order Management
Complete order lifecycle management with status tracking (Pending → Preparing → Ready → Delivered), supporting both delivery and in-store pickup options.
Cross-Platform Mobile App
React Native mobile application with NativeWind styling, featuring product browsing, cart management, Stripe payment integration via WebView, and order tracking.
Comprehensive Admin Dashboard
Full administrative control over users, stores, products, categories, brands, inventory, orders, payments, discount codes, and blog content management.
Technical Implementation
The backend is built with Express.js 5 and uses Sequelize ORM with PostgreSQL for data persistence. The architecture follows a service-controller pattern with comprehensive validation using Joi. Authentication is handled via JWT tokens with role-based middleware protecting routes for customers, store owners, and administrators.
- Database Design: 18+ interconnected models including User, Store, Product, ProductVariant, Inventory, Order, CartItem, Payment, and Discount with complex associations
- Payment Processing: Stripe Connect Express integration with automatic account creation, onboarding sessions, payment intents, and transfer data for split payments
- State Management: Redux Toolkit with RTK Query for efficient API caching, optimistic updates, and automatic refetching on the frontend
- Form Handling: Zod schema validation with React Hook Form for type-safe form management across both web and mobile platforms
- File Processing: XLSX library for parsing Excel uploads with header normalization, data validation, and batch database operations