Where Coffee Meets Community — A modern café discovery platform with rewards, seamless payments, and community engagement. Connect coffee lovers with amazing local cafés.
Mission: Sip Grounds bridges the gap between coffee enthusiasts and exceptional local cafés, creating a rewarding ecosystem that benefits both customers and café partners.
- 🗺️ Interactive café discovery with map-based exploration
- 💳 Seamless payments via Stripe integration
- 🎯 Points & rewards system for customer loyalty
- 🛍️ Official merchandise shop with coffee gear and apparel
- 📱 Community polls and engagement features
- ⭐ Reviews & ratings with photo uploads
- 🎫 Coupon system for special offers
- 💬 Integrated customer support via Intercom
- Increase foot traffic & repeat visits for partner cafés
- Provide a delightful, rewarding customer experience
- Build a thriving coffee community
- Drive customer loyalty through gamification
- Frontend: React + TypeScript (responsive web-first approach)
- Backend: Node.js + Express + MongoDB
- Payments: Stripe Checkout with secure webhooks
- Real-time Support: Intercom Messenger integration
- Deployment: Vercel (frontend) + Render (backend)
- Interactive map with location-based search
- Advanced filtering (price range, ratings, amenities)
- Detailed café profiles with photos and information
- Real-time availability and hours
- Secure authentication system
- Personalized user profiles with statistics
- Order history and preferences
- Achievement badges and milestones
- Comprehensive drink categories: Hot coffee, cold coffee, seasonal specials
- Food offerings: Breakfast items, bakery goods, snacks
- Advanced customization: Sizes, milk alternatives, extras
- Seasonal & limited-time items with automatic prioritization
- Rich metadata: Nutritional info, allergens, prep times
- Secure Stripe integration for seamless checkout
- Points accumulation on every purchase
- Tiered rewards system (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum)
- Coupon codes and special offers
- Gift card functionality
- Official Sip Grounds branded items
- Coffee gear and accessories
- Apparel and drinkware
- Integrated with main rewards system
- Photo reviews and ratings
- Community polls and voting
- User-generated content
- Social sharing capabilities
- Integrated Intercom Messenger
- Real-time chat for logged-in users and visitors
- Context-aware support with user activity tracking
- Automated help suggestions
- Framework: React 18 + TypeScript
- Styling: Bootstrap 5 + Custom CSS with orange theme (
#f59e0b) - State Management: React Context (Auth, Cart)
- Routing: React Router v6
- HTTP Client: Axios with interceptors
- Notifications: React Toastify
- Maps: Integrated mapping components
- Build Tool: Create React App
- Runtime: Node.js + Express.js
- Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
- Authentication: JWT-based sessions
- File Upload: Cloudinary integration
- Validation: Joi schema validation
- Security: Helmet, CORS, rate limiting
- Payments: Stripe Checkout + Webhooks
- Customer Support: Intercom Messenger
- File Storage: Cloudinary CDN
- Email: Integrated email services
- Analytics: Event tracking via Intercom
- Frontend Hosting: Vercel
- Backend Hosting: Render.com
- Version Control: Git + GitHub
- Environment: Separate dev/staging/production configs
- Node.js 16+ and npm
- MongoDB database
- Stripe account for payments
- Cloudinary account for image storage
- Intercom account for customer support
-
Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url> cd SipGrounds
-
Backend Setup
cd sipgrounds-backend npm install # Create .env file with your credentials cp .env.example .env # Seed initial data node seed-menu.js node scripts/auto-seed-cafes.js # Start backend server (port 5001 avoids macOS AirPlay conflict on port 5000) PORT=5001 npm start
-
Frontend Setup
cd sipgrounds-frontend npm install # Create .env file cp .env.example .env # Start development server npm start
Backend (.env)
DATABASE_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/sipgrounds
JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your-cloud-name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your-api-key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your-api-secret
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
PORT=5001Frontend (.env)
REACT_APP_API_URL=http://localhost:5001
REACT_APP_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...
REACT_APP_INTERCOM_APP_ID=....
PORT=5173macOS Note: Port 5000 is reserved by the macOS AirPlay Receiver (Control Center) on macOS 12+. The backend is configured to run on port 5001 to avoid this conflict. If you disable AirPlay Receiver in System Settings → General → AirDrop & Handoff, you can use port 5000 instead.
- Homepage (
/) - Hero section with café discovery - Cafés (
/cafes) - Interactive map and list view - Café Detail (
/cafes/:id) - Individual café information - Menu (
/cafes/:id/menu) - Full menu with categories - Shop (
/shop) - Merchandise and coffee gear - Polls (
/polls) - Community engagement
- Profile (
/profile) - User dashboard with statistics - Rewards (
/rewards) - Points balance and redemption - Orders (
/orders) - Purchase history - Checkout (
/checkout) - Secure payment flow
- Primary Color: Orange (
#f59e0b) - consistent throughout - Typography: Modern, clean fonts with good readability
- Components: Reusable React components with TypeScript
- Responsive: Mobile-first design with Bootstrap grid
- Accessibility: WCAG compliant with proper ARIA labels
- Object-oriented design with Drinks and Food classes
- Seasonal & Limited-Time Items featuring seasonal flavors
- Advanced customization with sizes, milk options, extras
- Rich metadata including nutritional info and allergens
- Smart categorization with automatic seasonal prioritization
- Hot Coffee: Brewed Coffee, Latte, Americano, Cappuccino, Mocha
- Cold Coffee: Cold Brew, Nitro Cold Brew, Iced Latte, Iced Mocha
- Seasonal Drinks: Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pecan Cortado, Holiday Specials
- Food: Breakfast items, bakery goods, snacks, seasonal treats
- ✅ User Authentication - Secure login/signup system
- ✅ Café Discovery - Interactive map and detailed profiles
- ✅ Menu System - Comprehensive drinks and food categories
- ✅ Rewards Program - Points accumulation and redemption
- ✅ Merchandise Shop - Official branded items
- ✅ Payment Integration - Stripe checkout and webhooks
- ✅ Customer Support - Intercom Messenger integration
- ✅ Community Features - Reviews, ratings, and polls
- ✅ Responsive Design - Mobile-optimized interface
- ✅ Admin Dashboard - Content management system
- 🔄 Enhanced Analytics - Detailed user behavior tracking
- 🔄 Mobile App - Native iOS/Android applications
- 🔄 Advanced Filtering - AI-powered café recommendations
- 🔄 Social Features - User profiles and friend connections
- 📱 Native Mobile Apps - iOS and Android applications
- 🤖 AI Recommendations - Personalized café and drink suggestions
- 🎮 Gamification - Badges, challenges, and leaderboards
- 🌐 Multi-language Support - Internationalization
- 📈 Advanced Analytics - Business intelligence dashboard
- 🔗 API Platform - Third-party integrations
We welcome contributions! Please see our contributing guidelines for details on:
- Code style and standards
- Pull request process
- Issue reporting
- Development workflow
This project is proprietary software. All rights reserved.
- Customer Support: Integrated Intercom Messenger
- Developer Support: GitHub Issues
- Business Inquiries: Contact through website
Built with ❤️ for the coffee community