Tommy Footwears — an e-commerce brand with its own AI stylist
My own footwear brand, built end to end: a shop with instant search and smart filtering, an AI assistant that recommends products, custom orders for bespoke pairs, and an abandoned-cart system that follows up on email and WhatsApp — all on framework-free PHP.
The Brief
A footwear brand competing against marketplaces, not just other stores
Tommy Footwears launched into a market dominated by Jumia, Konga, Ajebo Market, and a handful of established premium Nigerian brands — none of which can offer a shopper anything personal. As both the founder and the developer, I set out to build a store that wins on experience rather than price: fast browsing, a shopping assistant that actually recommends things, and a path to a fully custom pair. The site went live on May 25, 2026, on PHP, MySQL, and Tailwind CSS.
What I Built
A store built to feel personal, not generic
Shop & Search System
AJAX-powered filtering with infinite scroll, autocomplete search, and a recently-viewed products feed to keep browsing frictionless.
Tommy AI
An AI-powered personal style assistant wired directly into the cart — it recommends products and nudges shoppers toward custom orders.
Abandoned Cart Recovery
A full recovery flow using Brevo SMTP email sequences and a WhatsApp CTA, built to win back sales that would otherwise just disappear.
Custom Orders & Admin Analytics
A dedicated Custom Orders page for bespoke footwear requests, backed by an admin dashboard tracking sales, search behavior, and recovery performance.
Tech Stack
Built solo, without a framework
Every system below — storefront, AI assistant, and recovery flows — runs on the same lean, framework-free stack.
Challenges & Solutions
The parts that took real problem-solving
Competing against marketplaces with far bigger budgets
Rather than compete on price against Jumia and Konga, the store leans on two things they can't offer: Tommy AI's personal recommendations and a genuine custom-order path.
Carts were getting abandoned with no follow-up
A single reminder email isn't enough. The recovery flow now follows up on both email and WhatsApp, giving shoppers a channel they're more likely to actually check.
Browsing needed to feel instant, not like a database query
Autocomplete search, AJAX filtering, and a recently-viewed feed were built to remove the reload-and-wait feeling most small e-commerce sites still have.
Results
- Live since May 25, 2026 at tommyfootwears.com.ng, running as an active storefront.
- Tommy AI and Custom Orders established as the brand's core differentiators against larger marketplaces.
- Multi-channel cart recovery catching sales that a single-email flow would lose.
- Full admin analytics giving visibility into search, browsing, and recovery performance.
Want something built like this?
I build full-stack platforms end to end — storefronts, AI features, and everything behind them.
See it live →
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