PricePoint
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The Inspiration
PricePoint was born out of a late-night call with my brother, who runs a small chicken shop in Argentina. In 2023, inflation there hit over 210%, and he was having a hard time keeping track of constantly changing prices. That conversation gave me an idea: a mobile app that would let him quickly update product prices and keep everything organized in one place.
Technical Implementation
Under the hood, PricePoint is a React application wrapped in Ionic and Capacitor to give it a native mobile feel. After a few evenings of coding, I created an app that helps my brother quickly find a product, update its price, and save it with just a few taps.
To help keep things clear, I added a visual system that shows how fresh each price is. Green means it’s been updated within the last week. Yellow for 8-14 days. Orange for 15-21. And red for anything older.
// Returns a badge color based on how many days have passed since last price update
const calculatePriceStatusColorClass = ({ product_updateDate }) => {
const diffDays = Math.floor(
(Date.now() - new Date(product_updateDate)) / (1000 * 3600 * 24)
);
if (diffDays <= 7) return "green-badge";
if (diffDays <= 14) return "yellow-badge";
if (diffDays <= 21) return "orange-badge";
return "red-badge";
};Customer Credit Tracking
In his small town where everyone knows everyone, it's common for customers to put purchases on their tab, especially during this economy. So I added a customer profile feature. Now, he can create a profile for each customer, track who owes what, and log payments (including partial ones). It’s still simple, but way more reliable than paper.
Impact and Future
What started as a quick fix for my brother has become a core part of his day-to-day operations. It’s nothing flashy, but it works and it solves a real problem.
One of my favorite things about being a developer is solving real problems like these. Sometimes you recommend a tool. Sometimes you build it yourself. Either way, the goal is the same: make someone’s day a little easier.