Environment and sustainability

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
A Location-Based E-Commerce Platform for Sustainable Local Trade

ABSTRACT

People who are unfamiliar with a given area often struggle to locate nearby shops that
stock the specific goods they need, resulting in unnecessary travel, wasted time, and
unnecessary fuel consumption. This project proposes a web-based e-commerce platform
that automatically detects a buyer's location and connects them to the nearest sellers who
currently have the desired goods in stock, combining everyday online commerce with
environmental sustainability.

The project aims to: (i) design a platform that automatically detects a buyer's location upon
login without manual input; (ii) accurately match buyers to nearby sellers who genuinely
have the requested goods in stock, at the time of the request; (iii) allow suppliers to register
and continuously update their inventory in real time; and (iv) reduce unnecessary travel
and promote local, sustainable trade.

The platform will be developed using HTML for content structure, CSS for styling and
responsive design, and JavaScript for interactive functionality, including geolocation
detection and real-time buyer-seller matching. The system will use the device's geolocation
service to identify the buyer's current position and cross-reference it against a regularly
updated database of supplier locations and stock listings. The application will be built to
run consistently across different operating systems and devices.

The project is expected to produce a functional platform that reliably directs buyers to
nearby sellers with accurate, up-to-date stock availability, eliminating the problem of buyers
being directed to sellers who no longer have the goods listed. This is expected to reduce
unnecessary travel and fuel use, support local suppliers and small businesses, and
demonstrate how accessible web technologies can be applied to advance environmental
sustainability.