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@article{188049,
        author = {S. Varshini Bhat and K. Mruthyunjaya and K. Shiva Shankar Prasad and Gokul P. R},
        title = {VSTALLS: A Hyperlocal Digital Marketplace Platform for Small-Scale Business Digitalisation and Economic Empowerment},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {8261-8266},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=188049},
        abstract = {VStalls is a website that allows micro and small businesses to create their own branded virtual stalls, list catalogues, accept orders from multiple vendors, and engage with their customers directly. The discovery experience is enhanced with browsing by city and location-based filters, so that neighbourhood commerce translates seamlessly to online transactions. The technology is built with Next.js 14, React 18, and Supabase PostgreSQL with Row Level Security and role-based access to enforce tenant-isolation and least privilege operations at minimal operating overhead for MSMEs.
An accompanying discovery suite combines Google Maps business search, directory scraping, lead scoring, and outreach templating to increase efficiency and vendor onboarding time and normalise city-level expansion playbooks across the food, retail, beauty, grocery, services, and lifestyle niches.
Recent research highlights accelerating growth in hyperlocal services and increasing MSME digital adoption, but none provide a seller-first framework; VStalls provides that missing infrastructure and is validated with a small user study (n=22) reporting a 90.9% willingness to use and a strong mobile preference, to be used here as validation rather than the main emphasis.},
        keywords = {},
        month = {December},
        }