Overview
B2B wholesale product catalog for a Bali-based handicraft exporter. Catalogs 157 handcrafted products across 4 categories (Wood Carving, Mirror, Painting, and Arts & Crafts) sourced from artisan villages including Sukawati and Kamasan. Solo freelance project with full ownership from design to deployment.
Challenge
The client had no web presence and needed to reach international B2B buyers. Unlike standard e-commerce, wholesale transactions require an inquiry-based flow rather than direct checkout. Buyers negotiate pricing, confirm minimum order quantities, and arrange shipping terms before purchasing. The platform needed strong SEO to rank for international search traffic and compete with established marketplaces, with fast page loads despite image-heavy product photography.
Approach
Chose Next.js 15 with React 19 for server-side rendering (critical for international SEO). Built a data-driven product catalog from CSV-sourced product data with dimensions, materials, vendor, and pricing metadata. Used Sharp for server-side image optimization of product photography. Implemented IndexNow API for notifying search engines of new product additions and image sitemaps for visual search indexing. Built the inquiry flow through WhatsApp and email integration instead of a shopping cart.
Tech Stack
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Framework | Next.js 15 |
| UI Library | React 19 |
| Language | TypeScript |
| Styling | Tailwind CSS |
| Animation | Motion |
| Image Optimization | Sharp |
Key Implementation Details
- 157 handcrafted products across 4 categories with artisan village provenance (Sukawati woodcarving heritage, Kamasan painting tradition)
- CSV-sourced product data pipeline with dimensions, materials, vendor, and currency-sensitive pricing
- IndexNow API integration for notifying search engines of new or updated product pages
- Image sitemaps and structured data markup for visual search indexing
- Sharp-based image optimization for bandwidth-heavy product photography
- Inquiry-based B2B sales flow via WhatsApp and email, replacing traditional checkout
Outcome
Live at balithings.com. Indexed by Google in multiple countries with organic traffic from Indonesia and Australia. Search impressions grew 4x month-over-month within the first two months. The inquiry-based B2B flow routes buyer requests through WhatsApp and email, matching wholesale purchasing patterns.