Building Sendoela: An Online Car Shopping Platform Using Web Scraping
A new online shopping platform for cars called Sendoela demonstrates the power of web scraping technology combined with modern web development techniques. This innovative project aggregates vehicle listings from multiple sources to create a unified shopping experience.
The platform was built using a comprehensive tech stack including HTML, CSS, Python, and JavaScript. HTML and CSS were utilized to create the page layout and styling, while Python handled the crucial data acquisition through web scraping scripts and implemented the application logic using Flask framework.
The user interface features a clean, two-page design. The homepage displays available vehicles for sale along with relevant information about each listing. When users click on a specific car, they’re taken to a detailed page showing comprehensive information about that vehicle, pulling data from two different automotive websites.
Behind the scenes, the application’s script monitors user interactions, particularly when selecting specific car brands. Once a selection is made, the web scraping process begins automatically, collecting relevant links, images, and detailed information from the source websites. This information is then processed and presented to the user in a unified, easy-to-navigate interface.
This project demonstrates how web scraping can be effectively used to aggregate information from multiple sources, creating added value for users who would otherwise need to browse multiple websites to compare vehicles. The automated data collection process ensures that information stays current without requiring manual updates.