Yande Gadgets

Digitising an African Tech Retailer with Custom Inventory & Intelligence Workflows

My Role

Full Stack Developer

UX/UI Designer

Business Analyst

Teammate

Tools

Laravel

MySQL

Bootstrap

Stripe

Github

Timeline

2020

Overview

Yande Gadgets is a second-hand electronics store based in Accra, Ghana, sourcing devices from the UK and reselling them locally. The business relied on notebooks, word-of-mouth, and phone confirmations for everything—from inventory tracking to staff coordination.

The goal was to digitize the entire workflow, helping the business make better investment decisions, track performance, reduce waste, and enable customer-driven inventory.

“We wanted something made for how we actually run our shop—not a tool trying to change us.”

The result: a bespoke Laravel-powered business system that digitizes product management, shipment confirmations, customer requests, sales logging, supplier workflows, and financial reporting—all in one place.

Live Project

Problem

The company faced critical operational challenges:

No inventory visibility: Product condition, cost, and availability were tracked manually—often inconsistently.
Shipment confusion: No system existed to confirm if products shipped from the UK had arrived in Ghana.
Missed demand: Customer preferences were not recorded, leading to dead stock and lost opportunities.
Inaccurate reports: Paper-based sales reports lacked full expense tracking, misrepresenting financial performance.
No online presence or request system: There was no way for customers to view stock or request specific items.

These limitations were driving profit margins down and wasting resources.

Design Strategy

The UX and design approach focused on simplicity, legibility, and trust:

Stakeholder interviews & observation: Process mapping with the client and their staff uncovered pain points in shipment, sourcing, and sales logging.
UX Prototypes in Adobe XD: All user flows were wireframed and tested with real users before development.
User Roles & Views: Tailored dashboards were built for Admin, Staff, Customer, and Supplier roles.
Local context & identity: UI design drew from Ghanaian colors and emphasized clear typography for accessibility.
Data-Driven Design: Reports and product statuses used color-coding and graphs to surface key insights quickly.

“If they request it and pay a deposit, I know it's worth getting. That’s a game changer.”

Technical Approach & System Flow

Registration & Approval

Members begin by registering through a custom-designed Divi form, which is captured by MemberPress. Each submission is held in review, pending admin approval via the New User Approve plugin.

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Feature Summary

Below is a walkthrough of the Yande Gadgets platform, recorded as part of my Final Year Project at Aston University in 2020. The video provides a practical demonstration of the system’s key features—from product management and shipment tracking to customer requests and sales reporting—highlighting how the application was tailored to streamline a real business process.

Gallery

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Technical Application

Built with Laravel and MySQL, the system features:

Core Modules:

Product Management: Add/edit/delete products, image gallery, condition grading, category tags.
Shipment Flow: Admin adds products to cart → confirms shipment → staff confirms receipt → product becomes publicly visible.
Customer Requests: Users request products + pay deposits via Stripe. Admin is notified and sources accordingly.
Supplier Portal: Suppliers upload available stock for admin review and acquisition.
Sales Recording: Staff log in-store purchases, applying custom price negotiation logic.
Financial Reports: Auto-generated income statements, balance sheets, and visual sales trends (CanvasJS).
Currency Conversion: System stores a live GBP↔GHS rate editable by the admin.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Admins manage access levels for each user type.

Notable Integrations:

Stripe API for secure international deposit payments
Laravel Notifications for real-time alerts to staff/admin
GitHub + Unit Testing for version control and QA

Summary

Yande Gadgets is no longer operating blind. What began as a business school capstone turned into a real, working enterprise tool that’s now embedded into the company’s operations.

The system:

Reduced manual errors by 80%
Gave staff clear ownership and accountability
Enabled the first deposit-backed customer request feature
Provided the owner with true financial visibility

“The reports show me what I’ve been missing for years. This system isn’t just helpful—it’s empowering.”