Zipkart Zipkart Docs v1.0.0
Step 1 · Firebase Backend

How the Backend Works

Zipkart's backend is a Firebase project. You create it in the Firebase console in five short steps, then the setup tool deploys everything else in one click.

30 min in total

What Firebase does for Zipkart#

FirestoreThe live database: products, orders, stores, riders, wallets and every setting. Apps update in real time.
AuthenticationSign-in for customers (phone, email, Google, Apple), stores, staff, riders and admins.
StorageProduct pictures, banners, logos, rider documents, chat files and return photos.
Cloud Functions47 server functions. Prices, payments, refunds, wallets and rider dispatch run here, so no app can cheat.
Cloud MessagingPush notifications to phones and browsers, including the ringing new-order alert.
Hosting (optional)A free, fast home for the admin panel, store panel and customer website.

No server to rent or maintain

Firebase runs and scales the backend for you. There is no VPS, no PHP, no database server and no cron job to look after.

The setup in six steps#

1Create the projectOne Firebase project for all apps. 2 min 2Blaze plan & StoragePay-as-you-go plan, then turn on Storage. 5 min 3FirestoreCreate the empty database. 2 min 4AuthenticationTurn on the sign-in methods. 3 min 5Service keyDownload the key for the tool. 1 min

Then run the setup tool (step 6). It deploys the security rules, 95 indexes, Storage rules, the starter shop data and all 48 Cloud Functions, and turns on the Google APIs Zipkart needs.

You never edit the database by hand

The setup tool writes the starter data, and from then on you change everything from the admin panel. There are no collections to create, no rules to paste and no documents to edit in the Firebase console.

Which sign-in each app uses#

App Sign-in methods
Customer app & website Phone (SMS code), Email, Google, Apple. You choose which ones in Login Methods.
Store app & panel Email and password. The admin creates each store's login.
Delivery boy app Email, Phone, Google and Apple, chosen in Login Methods. Riders can sign up in the app and wait for approval.
Admin panel Email and password. The first sign-in becomes the super admin.

Choose the right location once#

When you create Storage and Firestore, Firebase asks for a location. It cannot be changed later. Zipkart's Cloud Functions run in us-central1 (United States), so a US location (nam5 or us-central1) is the fastest and keeps Storage in the free tier. A location near your customers also works.