Panier Québécois

Panier Québécois was my transition from mechanical engineering into software. I co-founded the first online farmer's market in Montréal with three partners in April 2020. What started as a project to help local farmers markets during COVID grew into a business handling over 800 orders every month.

This was my full-time occupation from April 2020 to October 2022. As a technical co-founder, I was involved in far more than just writing code. I built and maintained the entire e-commerce platform while also managing marketing strategy, customer service, operations, and logistics.

Technical Development

I developed a full-featured e-commerce platform in PHP as a custom WordPress plugin:

• Custom Orders Export System: Automatically sent orders to suppliers via email and SMS, generated printable PDF pick lists, integrated with our fleet management tool, and created optimized product pickup lists
• Inventory Management: A lightweight system for the operations team to track stock
• Loyalty Program: A complex cashback rewards system for repeat customers
• Wishlist Feature: Allowed customers to save items for later

All of this was built solo while juggling the rest of the business.

Beyond the Code

Running a startup meant wearing many hats:

• Marketing: Strategy, analytics integration, and campaign execution
• Operations: Order preparation, delivery coordination, and process optimization
• Customer Service: Direct customer support and relationship management

The hands-on experience of building and operating a business gave me practical understanding of what companies actually need from technology, how to prioritize under constraint, and how to communicate across technical and non-technical stakeholders. It cemented my decision to pursue software development full-time, and the entrepreneurial mindset has stayed with me in every role since.

(Panier Québécois continues today as a B2B service. The current website no longer reflects the storefront features described above.)