Business Website / E-commerce 2026
Guruge Cinnamon
A multilingual digital storefront for a Sri Lankan Ceylon cinnamon business, built around product discovery, direct enquiries and international customers.
- Year
- 2026
- Status
- In development
- Platform
- Web · API · Admin
- Scope
- Product catalogue, Three languages, WhatsApp ordering, Export enquiries
Overview
Guruge Cinnamon grows and processes Ceylon cinnamon near Hikkaduwa. The platform is three codebases treated as one product: a customer-facing storefront, a REST API, and an admin panel for orders, products and enquiries.
Challenge
Ceylon cinnamon producers often reach buyers through wholesalers or generic catalogues. Export and tourist customers need clear product information — what the grades mean, how Ceylon differs from Cassia — and a direct way to make contact.
Direction
Launch as a brand and catalogue site first, with commerce built but switched off. The storefront explains the product in English, Sinhala and Russian and routes orders and enquiries to WhatsApp. Cart, checkout, accounts and online enquiry submission sit behind launch flags until the API is ready for production.
What was built
- Storefront in English, Sinhala and Russian, with locale-aware routing and alternate-language metadata
- Product catalogue and a guide to cinnamon grades
- Ceylon versus Cassia explainer, FAQ and blog
- Export page with bulk quote requests
- WhatsApp ordering from product pages and a persistent contact button
- Shop visit section with directions
- REST API for products, orders, customers, reviews, enquiries, delivery districts and in-store collection bookings
- Admin panel for orders, cash on delivery, collection, delivery, products, reviews, enquiries and district reports
Technology
- Next.js
- next-intl
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- Express
- MongoDB
- Mongoose
- Joi
Outcome
The brand can go live as a clear, three-language catalogue with a direct line to the producer, and switch on commerce later without a rebuild.
Screens
Technical notes
One product, three repositories
Storefront, API and admin are separate codebases but one system, so they are presented as one project.
Commerce, gated
The storefront ships as a catalogue at launch. Ecommerce code stays in the codebase behind feature flags rather than being removed, so turning it on is a configuration change.