Urban54

The Brief

Urban54 is a hi-vis workwear retailer looking to move away from off-the-shelf e-commerce platforms and gain full control over their online store. They needed a fast, scalable solution with no monthly platform fees, complete ownership of their data, and the flexibility to customise every aspect of the shopping experience, from product filtering to checkout flow.

My Role

End-to-end architecture, design and development of a fully custom headless e-commerce stack, including the backend API, customer-facing storefront, admin dashboard and transactional email system.

The Build

A ground-up headless commerce platform built for performance, flexibility and zero platform lock-in:

• Medusa.js open-source backend handling products, inventory, orders, customers and payments
• Next.js storefront with server-side rendering for fast page loads and strong SEO
• Bespoke React admin dashboard for order management, product editing and inventory control
• Resend integration for transactional emails, including order confirmations, dispatch notifications and account updates
• Stripe payment processing with secure checkout flow
• Advanced product filtering by category, size, colour and compliance rating
• Responsive design optimised for trade buyers ordering on site via mobile

Results

• Eliminated recurring platform fees. The store runs on infrastructure the client fully owns
• Sub-second page loads thanks to Next.js SSR and optimised image delivery
• Complete flexibility to add features without platform constraints or app store dependencies
• Streamlined order processing through the custom admin dashboard