Performance Shop

Overview

Purpose & Goal

Performance Plastics Ltd, the company I built my first website for, needed an online store. Since their current site is static, eCommerce was not possible, requiring a new website. The goal was to build a robust and scalable online store that would expand their digital capabilities.

Web Stack

For the new online store, I chose Drupal due to its flexibility and my professional experience with the platform. This project enabled me to explore Drupal Commerce, integrating it with other essential modules to create a feature-rich and user-friendly website. Using Drupal ensured the site would be scalable and maintainable, providing a strong foundation for future growth.

Process

Design

The design of the new online store mirrored the corporate site, as it is an extension accessed via a subdomain. I reused many elements from the original site to maintain consistency and brand identity.

However, the new site also required several new elements, especially for product selection and the user checkout flow. I used basic templates as inspiration to keep the design familiar and intuitive for users, focusing on functionality and accessibility rather than reinventing the wheel.

Development

The development process was straightforward, leveraging my experience with Drupal.

A key highlight was creating a custom payment gateway module to integrate with the local payment processing system in Mauritius. I collaborated with the Mauritian company MIPS, working with their API to ensure seamless integration.

They have a WordPress plugin that I used as a base, and I essentially created the Drupal version of it. This approach streamlined the development process and the resulting module was robust and aligned with their existing infrastructure, enabling efficient and secure payment processing.

Result

Lessons Learnt

Throughout this project, I gained a comprehensive understanding of Drupal Commerce and the complexities of integrating payment gateways. Working with a local payment processing system provided valuable insights into the operational challenges of custom payment solutions.