Vibe Coding Custom Apps for Your Business

When the software you need doesn't exist

If your business needs a specific piece of software and you can't buy it anywhere, you may be able to build it yourself through vibe coding. That means describing what you want in plain language and letting an AI coding tool write the software for you.

That isn't just a theory for us. We recently built a small custom tool for an e-commerce client, and it solved a problem that off-the-shelf options didn't handle well. Here is what we made and how it came together.

The problem: delivery fees that depend on distance

Our client runs an online store that offers local delivery, and the delivery fee depends on how far the customer is from the shop. We didn't have a good way to set that up in a standard shopping cart.

A flat fee wouldn't be fair to nearby customers, and it wouldn't cover the cost for farther ones. The store needed the cart to understand distance, and no ready-made option fit.

What we built

We built a small delivery calculator that works like this:

1. The customer starts typing their address and picks it from a dropdown.

2. The tool measures the distance from the store to that address.

3. It calculates whether the order qualifies for delivery.

4. If it doesn't yet, it tells the customer how much more to add to their order to get it delivered.

The tool ties into free software, and it was built for this one business to do exactly what that business needs.

How it works in practice

In the demo, we typed in an address and picked it from the dropdown. The tool came back with a clear message: delivery is free, and the address is about 1.7 miles from the shop.

That is the experience the customer gets in the cart. No guessing, no emailing the store to ask about fees, and no surprises at checkout.

How it was made: vibe coding with Claude Code

We built this with Claude Code. There was no detailed specification and no saved master prompt. We simply told it what we wanted, looked at what it produced, and adjusted.

The version we ended up using was the third iteration. That is typical of vibe coding: describe the goal, review the result, and refine until it works the way you want.

What this means for your business

Custom software used to mean a large budget and a long timeline. Today, if you have a specific need that no product on the market covers, building a small tool for it is very doable.

Think about the gaps in your own business: a quote calculator, a booking rule, a delivery fee, a lead form that behaves a certain way. If you can describe it, it may be buildable.

If you'd like help with something like this, reach out through gochattanoogalocal.com or leave a comment on the video and ask. I'm happy to help