iOS & Android Beverage Marketplace Development

Technology Stack

Kotlin
Swift
Retrofit 2
Moya iOS
Material UI
HTML5
Stripe

The Client

The client owns an online beverage delivery marketplace. This marketplace sells a variety of beverages, including some of Europe’s best wines, beers, flavored drinks, coffees, juices, etc. Customers can buy their beverages from the listed sellers on this platform and get the products shipped to their preferred location. Or, customers can select the drive-in option to pick up the product from a nearby facility. The web platform also has iOS and Android app versions that users can access to purchase beverages directly from their mobile devices.

The Challenge

The client had earlier contacted Capital Numbers to build the web version of this eCommerce marketplace. Once we delivered, the client liked our work and approached us again to develop the platform’s iOS and Android app versions. However, the challenge this time was to create a multicart feature in the mobile apps.

Multicarts allow users to manage multiple shopping carts from one customer account. It is an excellent option for users as they can give names to each cart and add/remove products in each cart. Moreover, the chances of conversions and sales are higher as customers are already ‘warmed up’ to multiple products in each cart.

Our team had to integrate this multicart feature skillfully within the iOS and Android apps. We had to ensure the multicart sent customers straight to the checkout page.

Our next challenge was implementing a logic for payment retries. Here, we had to ensure no data tampering happened during payment retries.

In addition, we had to add functions that calculate the discounts/taxes to fetch the subtotal. Here, we needed to build custom algorithms to ensure accurate calculations.

Apart from the above, we had to add a solid payment gateway that guarantees seamless online transactions. Our solution had to be robust enough to restrict fraud.

The Solution

Clients have appreciated our commitment to delivering robust marketplaces in the past. With this project, too, we wanted to give our best in helping the client progress in his vision. So, we chose the following techs to create the mobile app marketplaces:

iOS Version - We used Swift to develop the iOS app because Swift has an expressive syntax and various modern features to fulfill our development needs. We also used Swift’s Moya library to make API call requests and expand the app’s functions.

Android Version - We chose Kotlin to develop the Android app because Kotlin offers code safety and error-free developments. Kotlin requires fewer lines of code which aids in quicker time to market. We also used Android Material UI to design a solid frontend. Plus, we implemented Retrofit 2 to make API call requests smoother.

We even made some common tech choices for both versions. Some of these are as under:

Using the MVVM pattern, we kept the app frontends separate from the backends. MVVM also helped us maintain codebases better.

Our experts used UserDefaults ( in the iOS app) and SharedPreferences (in the Android app) to store data locally. These helped us save data in the form of keys and values.

Next, we added retry algorithms to ensure quick payment retries. Here, we secured the algorithm to confirm retries don't distort invoice data. A lot of brain-wracking went into adding complex logic here.

We worked on UI flows that let customers ‘favorite’ their product lists. We did a few HTMLizations, too, to help customers expand product info upon clicking.

Lastly, we incorporated Stripe to enable all card users to make online purchases safely. We chose Stripe as it allows fault-free checkouts.

After we made the integrations, we deployed the iOS and Android apps on Apple App Store and Google Play Store, respectively.

Results

Buying beverages from mobile devices is a lot simpler now. Our client gets more sales opportunities because of the multicarts. Sellers, too, get to promote their products and make direct connections with their customers.

Here’s a summary of our contribution’s key outcomes:

A Broad Product List

Capital Numbers successfully created iOS and Android app marketplaces that list hundreds of beverages with product descriptions to let customers buy better and drink wiser.

Intuitive Searches and Filters

We kept searches and filters intuitive so customers could choose drinks by categories like wines, beers, coffees, etc.

Multi-quantity Product Viewing

We added multi-quantity viewing options to help customers choose the product quantity and press a “+” icon to add it to the cart.

Multi Carts

We added two carts (for doorstep deliveries and drive-ins). For example:

Those looking to courier their items to their homes can choose doorstep delivery.
Those interested in picking up their parcels from a facility can choose drive-ins.

Customers can also swap items between the two carts from a single app.

Editable Time Slots

We built delivery time slots to allow customers to edit their preferred date and time for product delivery.

Price Calculator

The pricing calculator deducts discounts and taxes to fetch accurate subtotals.

Secure Payments

Stripe integrations help with safer online transactions for cardholders.

Customized Promotions

We also added a function that allows sellers to customize promotional offers for specific customer groups.

Promotional Offers in PDFs

We built functionality to allow sellers to show their products in PDFs that look amazing.

Order Histories in PDFs

We embedded another function to allow customers to download their order histories in PDFs and keep them as records for the future.

Favorite Lists

We created a favorite list (or a wishlist) to help customers shortlist their items and shop from there without visiting the entire catalog every time.

Automatic Logouts for Inactive Accounts

We also built a feature that automatically logs out users if they’re inactive for some time, ensuring customer safety.

Recurring Billing and Checkouts

Capital Numbers is proud to have holistically addressed every challenge and delivered the customer experiences that the client looked for. Our work currently helps with repeated checkouts and billing - things our client hugely benefits from.