HARTBEESPOORT — Small and medium businesses that need more than a brochure page can now commission web and application development through Past and Present, the Hartbeespoort operator behind past-and-present.co.za. Briefing notes supplied to The Riverside Herald describe a development offering that starts at R2 500 for a chosen vertical template plus one redesign pass once the merchant selects a layout—aimed at traders who want a credible shopfront without funding a bespoke build from scratch.
The same operator runs a live hybrid storefront trading as “Vintage & Modern Treasures,” mixing vintage resale, hardware bundles, and consumables with cart checkout, account registration, and a searchable Services editorial shelf that documents its own commerce stack (Services — Past and Present). That production site functions as portfolio evidence alongside preview deployments for spirits, honey, apparel, and other verticals hosted on Vercel (QuickCask, Just Honey, Everloom).
What the development package includes
According to briefing material for this article, the entry package covers template selection and one round of visual customisation after the merchant picks a starting layout. Higher tiers extend into full-stack commerce—product catalogues, checkout, contact intake, and editorial pages—rather than a static homepage alone.
Public-facing builds use React on the customer side, commonly through Next.js, a React framework documented for full-stack web applications with built-in optimisations for interactive storefronts (Next.js Docs). React’s own documentation positions the library for composable user interfaces deployed through modern frameworks such as Next.js (Start a new React project — React). On Past and Present’s live domain, product imagery resolves through an API media route rather than hard-coded assets—a pattern consistent with a React front end consuming a shared backend (Past and Present).
Behind the storefront, the operator’s stack is Django CRM ready: structured models for products, orders, customers, and contact submissions; role-based staff access; and REST endpoints exposed through Django REST framework (Django at a glance Django REST framework). Contact forms on the public site collect name, email, subject, and message (Contact — Past and Present)—the same intake pattern the platform treats as lead records rather than stray inbox threads. For merchants who later need a dedicated CRM module, the open-source Django CRM project documents commercial-request handling, deal workflows, and multi-application composition on top of Django (Django CRM features).
AI-ready editorial and app paths
Briefing notes describe the platform as AI ready: editorial Articles routes on demo storefronts and on Past and Present are intended for guides and seasonal copy that merchants can review before publishing and repurpose on social channels (Services — Past and Present). That aligns with broader SME behaviour—Xero’s 2026 survey of more than 400 South African small businesses found 52% already use AI tools daily or weekly, often for content creation and process automation (State of South African Small Business 2026 — Business Report).
Beyond the web layer, the operator publishes service articles on Flutter mobile development for retailers whose Django REST backend already powers checkout and order history (Flutter lets one codebase reach Android and iOS — Past and Present). Flutter’s documentation states that one codebase can deploy to mobile, web, and desktop targets (Flutter multi-platform). Mobile remains a later phase in agency roadmaps cited on the same site; the web-and-CRM foundation is positioned as the prerequisite.
Fulfilment and payments merchants inherit
Template and full-stack clients inherit operational patterns visible on reference sites: card payments through Yoco (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express), standard domestic delivery in three to five business days, express options, tracked shipments, and fourteen-day returns on qualifying goods (FAQ — Past and Present). Demo storefronts such as QuickCask publish the same fulfilment disclosures on their FAQ pages (FAQ — QuickCask). Backend integrations with The Courier Guy—rate quotes, shipment creation after payment, and tracking updates—are documented in carrier API materials consumed by the platform (The Courier Guy API documentation).
Who the offer targets
Industry commentary on South Africa’s retail digitisation stresses that many independents still lack an owned website while relying on social channels alone (The Importance of Strong Brand and Digital Presence — Fenec). Past and Present’s development pitch sits in that gap: vertical templates for food, apparel, spirits, and generalist resale reduce time-to-launch compared with one-off agency quotes, while company-scoped data keeps each merchant’s orders and buyers separate when an operator runs more than one local brand (Platform development for operators — Past and Present).
Merchants evaluating the offer should treat Vercel preview URLs as design references, confirm category fit against the live Past and Present catalogue, and plan payment and courier credentials before go-live. Enquiries route through the contact page (phone 072 523 5515, email info@3pillars.co.za, Hartbeespoort address listed publicly) (Contact — Past and Present).
The Riverside Herald has not independently audited delivery timelines, pricing beyond the stated R2 500 entry point, or contractual terms; prospective clients should confirm scope, revision limits, and hosting arrangements directly with the operator before committing.
References
- Contact — Past and Present
- Django at a glance — Django documentation
- Django CRM features
- Django REST framework
- Everloom
- FAQ — Past and Present
- FAQ — QuickCask
- Flutter lets one codebase reach Android and iOS — Past and Present
- Flutter multi-platform
- Just Honey
- Next.js Docs
- Past and Present | Vintage & Modern Treasures
- Platform development for operators — Past and Present
- QuickCask
- Services — Past and Present
- Start a new React project — React
- State of South African Small Business 2026 — Business Report
- The Courier Guy API documentation — Zendesk
- The Importance of Strong Brand and Digital Presence — Fenec