SUSHI SHOP - Online service for Ordering Sushi

Establishing business processes from scratch is always difficult, especially when it comes to such a demanding area as FoodTech. Founders of online services are faced with a serious task: to organize and automate all stages of orders and provide a unique user experience. We helped SushiShop, a mobile app for food delivery, to solve this problem. Our team took part in the initial stages of its development and the first release versions.

SushiShop is a mobile application for ordering Japanese dishes. The idea is to make the app automatically recognize the distance from the user to the nearest store and personalize the services. However, already at the initial stages of the implementation of the idea, the customer's team faced many problems associated with the low speed of processing orders, the lack of delivery monitoring tools, non-unique functionality, and integration difficulties.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to optimize the processes on their own, the SushiShop management turned to the IT specialists of BuildApps. The client was convinced of our professionalism earlier while working on another project. Now we were required not only to create a technical base, but also to implement custom features for the successful promotion of the platform. And it was necessary to do this in a short time, in 4 months.

A set of tasks that we had to complete

In the process of setting goals, BuildApps specialists focused on key business goals and company’s individual requirements. As a result, we formed the following list of priority tasks:

• Reducing the time for processing applications at the level of both the platform and the sales department.
• Organization of logistics processes and increasing the accuracy of geolocation.
• Integration with monitoring systems for step-by-step tracking of the customer's path and order delivery.
• Improving the user experience when choosing foods, meals, drinks, and placing an order.
• Implementation of a bonus loyalty program to expand the customer base and attract traffic.
• Development of a buyer's personal account to store the history of interactions with the app.

After agreeing on the terms of reference with the management of SushiShop, it was decided to expand the IT team to achieve the set results in a short time. Several IT specialists were additionally involved in the work, including from the partner company, Notissimus. As a result, the team grew from two (developer and technical analyst) to 6 performers (4 developers, analyst, tester, and marketer).

How we organized the workflow and eliminated pitfalls

The work was organized in accordance with Scrum algorithms. The process consisted of equal intervals of time, and after each of them, the app was tested with a specific set of functions. We chose this methodology for a simple reason: it ideally suited the requirements of the client and the project. SushiShop management was interested in taking part in the development from the very beginning: to have stable builds step by step, track progress, and receive reports on each completed task.

The use of flexible methodology allowed us to:

• ensure transparency of cooperation by providing the customer with access to intermediate results;
• competently distribute responsibilities at each stage of scaling and product deployment;
• simplify analytics, build customization, and test the app in partnership together with another team;
• avoid problems associated with changing market trends and user needs.

So, thanks to flexible scrum planning and adherence to the best programming practices, we increased the efficiency of completing tasks with minimal investment and resources. It led to the creation of the release version of the app after 4 months.

What steps we took to achieve the key goals

The BuildApps team completed:

• Building CI/CD processes to speed up the feedback loop and reduce the financial burden on the customer.
• Coding of screens for Android and IOS to create a base for promoting the service in top app stores.
• Adding the Cart and Customer Profile modules to expand the possibilities of using the service.
• Creation of a loyalty program with the ability to collect bonus points, focused on active orders, to motivate purchases.
• Setting up sending notifications to the client's email after placing an order to ensure the transparency of the service.
• Automation of obtaining data about the user's location to calculate the optimal delivery time for the goods selected by them.
• Development of a detailed catalog of products with an indication of the composition and calorie content to customize the selection of goods.

Sustainable improvements that we managed to achieve in 4 months

As a result of the consistent work of a team of 6 professionals on the project, a number of unique ideas, both technical and marketing, were implemented.

Among our achievements appreciated by users of the release version: an intuitive interface, convenient search and selection functions, a script that encourages active purchases, and a high response rate to requests.

For business users of SushiShop, the most useful achievements are: flexible internal mechanisms that allow updating the interface and introducing new functions, constant product support, and reduced response time to problems by setting up logging.

Taken together, it gave impressive results: an increase in the flow of customers by more than 25%, an expansion of the sales geography, and an increase in network awareness, thanks to receiving positive reviews in marketplaces.

* Our team took part in the initial stages of development and the first release versions together with the company Notissimus.

Dreaming of your own FoodTech project? Do you want to get tangible results without unnecessary investments? Contact BuildApps to discuss the details of cooperation!