Basma Bitak

PROBLEM

A handmade-crafts business in Cairo — crochet, macrame, dreamcatchers, accessories, natural soap — was selling entirely through Instagram DMs. It needed a real storefront its customers could browse, but online card payment is neither expected nor trusted by that customer base, so a conventional checkout would have been a barrier rather than a feature.

WHAT'S IN IT

• +Full RTL layout and Arabic-first copy throughout — not an English site with a translation layer bolted on.
• +Product catalog with category filters, sort, search, quick-view, favourites, and a recently-viewed rail.
• +Cart that serialises into a pre-filled WhatsApp order message instead of a payment checkout.
• +An AI shopping assistant on Gemini that answers product questions in Arabic.
• +Custom-orders flow, plus the FAQ, privacy, and refund pages a real business needs to look legitimate.

ROLE

Solo builder — design direction, storefront, admin, data model, AI assistant, and Arabic/RTL work. Real client engagement, not a self-directed project.

NOTABLE DECISION

Kept the cart but deleted the checkout. Customers build an order, then the cart serialises itself into a pre-filled WhatsApp message to the business. That preserves the familiar browse-and-collect flow while keeping the payment conversation where this audience already trusts it — and removes payment-gateway integration, PCI scope, and refund tooling from the build entirely.