Building a Marketplace Mobile App Using React Native

About the client

The client approached us through our website. The initial idea of the client was to build an application like Yelp but for eCommerce. The client wanted a cross-platform app development solution so we suggested him React Native.

We allocated a Business Analyst (BA) on the project so that he can freeze the complete requirements with the client along with the features he wanted to introduce and the technology stack.

Building a marketplace mobile app using React Native

About the Project

After Business Analyst froze all the requirements we started with our development process. Initially, 1 developer was allocated on the project full-time.

Later on, the client wanted to introduce the food industry in the application where it can allow users to either order food online or book a table at their favorite restaurant.

So we added the attribute “business type” in the vendor application which allows business owners to select as under which business type they want to register their business.

We developed 2 apps –

Vendor app
Shopper’s app

The vendor app allowed the eCommerce vendors to submit their store and manage their store from within the application.

Shopper’s app allowed users to search for eCommerce stores around their location and online order from any particular store with the functionality of online payments.

The whole application data was stored at Firebase which remained in synchronization with both the vendor and shopper mobile application.

The search within the application is powered by Algolia which remains in synchronization with Firebase using AWS Lambda to serve real-time search results.

The user and vendor sign up process are managed by Amazon Cognito which offers simple and secure sign-up, sign-in and Access Control for the mobile app very quickly and easily.

Major features offered by the app

Geo-location based search

Without a doubt, this is the key feature of the application. The application detects the location of the user from the GPS and serves results depending upon the location. Although the feature heavily depends on the user desire to whether to allow the app to access the location or not. So, the application also offers its users to manually add the location. The user can also see locations of all the stores or restaurants in the map at run time. Clicking on the specific store will show a small window with its basic information and gives the facility to open its detail information.

User profiles

As mentioned earlier the application uses Amazon Cognito to manage the sign-in and sign-up process of the application. The profile feature offers the users to streamline the user experience of the application. Through profiles, users can access their past history of the stores they visited, save items for later purchase, manage their reviews, add items to their favorite list, order management, invoice management, billing management etc.

The vendor app, on the other hand, can easily view the number of sales they have made with a properly integrated dashboard for the ease.

Ratings and reviews

Seeming to be a very common feature, it allows users to add ratings and reviews of their experience with any particular store or restaurant which in turn help other users. The vendor app also offers the stores and restaurants to manage the reviews they have received from the users.

Push notifications

The application also features a custom-built push notification system which notifies the users about any new items being added by the stores or to convey information about certain discounts and coupon codes.

Payment gateway integration

Both the vendor and shopper app has integrated payment gateways offering payments through PayPal, Netbanking, Credit or Debit cards.

Customer loyalty program

The application features a customer loyalty program which let users earn points on every purchase made through the app. Then those points can be used by the user in their future transactions which are offered in the form of discounts.