Source It Local
Handmade with intention — a community marketplace for local artisans.
- Industry
- Retail · Community commerce
- Year
- 2025
- URL
- sourceitlocal.co
What we built.
Source It Local set out to make 'shop small' actually scalable — a single, beautifully designed surface where a neighbor can find a handmade ceramicist two blocks over, a local non-profit fundraising soap drop, or a vetted plumber in the next zip code. We partnered with the founding team to take the idea from brand sketches to a live two-sided marketplace with vendor onboarding, location-aware search, multi-vendor checkout via Stripe Connect, and an editorial 'Meet the Makers' surface that earns the trust the category requires.
Our role
- Product strategy & discovery
- Brand & UI design
- Full-stack web app
- Vendor onboarding & payments
- Location-aware search
Stack
Shipped in 10 weeks to public beta.
Time to public beta
10 weeks
Discovery to live shoppers
Vendor onboarding time
< 1 day
Apply to first listing live
Lighthouse performance
97 / 100
Mobile, production build
Categories live at launch
5 surfaces
Products · Categories · Vendors · Services · Non-Profits
Why this was hard.
- 1
Existing 'shop local' directories were unbranded, hard to navigate, and treated artisans as listings rather than stories
- 2
Most marketplace platforms (Etsy, Faire) optimize for global SKU velocity — not the slow, local, story-driven discovery their audience wanted
- 3
Multi-vendor checkout with per-vendor payouts and shipping rules is a complex, regulated build to get right on day one
- 4
Trust needed to be earned in 60 seconds — the homepage had to feel like a magazine, not a marketplace
How we shipped it.
01
Editorial-first brand
We designed the brand and UI around the products themselves — generous photography, serif display type, warm neutral palette. The hero leads with 'Handmade with intention' over real artisan photography, not stock e-commerce chrome.
02
Location-aware discovery
Built a ZIP-aware search layer that re-ranks products and vendors by proximity. Shoppers can browse globally, then collapse the catalog to a 25-mile radius with one input. Powers the marketplace's core 'made near me' promise.
03
Vendor self-onboarding
Stripe Connect onboarding wired into a 4-step flow — identity, shop branding, first product, payout. Most makers go live the same day they apply, with no human in the loop required.
04
Multi-vendor checkout
One cart, multiple sellers, per-vendor shipping rules and tax handling. Funds split at capture via Stripe Connect destination charges so vendors are paid out automatically without the platform touching the money.
05
Categories & Non-Profits
First-class surfaces for Products, Categories, Vendors, Services, and Non-Profits — the last is a genuine differentiator, letting community organizations run drops and fundraisers on the same rails as for-profit makers.
Features that shipped.
Editorial homepage
Magazine-grade hero, rotating featured drops, and 'Meet the Makers' editorial that turns vendors into stories.
Smart search & ZIP filtering
Unified product + service + vendor search with proximity boosting and saved locations.
Vendor storefronts
Every maker gets a branded shop page with bio, gallery, products, and a follow button.
Multi-vendor cart
Cross-vendor checkout with per-seller shipping, taxes, and Stripe Connect payouts.
Wishlist & follows
Save products and follow makers — drives repeat traffic without paid acquisition.
Non-profit drops
Time-boxed fundraising listings with built-in donation accounting.
Light & dark themes
Full theming system shoppers can toggle, with brand-consistent palettes for both modes.
Notifications inbox
Real-time alerts for restocks, new drops from followed makers, and order updates.
"Envert built something that finally feels like our community — not another sterile marketplace. Makers can list themselves in an afternoon, and shoppers actually stay and browse."
— Founding team, Source It Local
Want something like Source It Local?
Every engagement starts with a free scoping call. We map the surface, name the smallest billable wedge, and tell you honestly if we're the right team to ship it.
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