Delivery Store Locator App for Android and iOS

Industry:
Location Services
Location:
United Arab Emirates
Collaboration
2024-Ongoing

Customer

The client for this project is a serial co-founder of tech startups that also consults entrepreneurs on identifying software opportunities and crafting product and market strategies.

Challenge

This time, the client came up with the idea of creating a mobile app that would greatly expand Google Maps' capabilities in identifying nearby delivery services based on the user's location and assisting the choice between them.

This app was supposed to offer a convenient interface for organizing lists of favorite local services for easy repeated access. Moreover, it should have featured a tool for creating customizable summary reports, facilitating fast comparisons of services according to crucial user parameters, including price, delivery time, and reviews.

Another key feature of the app should be the ability for users to contribute to the local community by clarifying and adding information about nearby delivery stores and leaving reviews on service quality.

Solution

Together with the client, we decided on cross-platform mobile development for Android and iOS using Flutter. The primary sources of information about local stores for this app were Google Maps and Google Places. We established a staged release plan, enabling early adopters to access and evaluate completed features promptly.

Here’s how the app's functionality was presented in the final version.

Key App Features

Obtaining, filtering, and sorting the lists of available delivery stores

The app can detect the user's location automatically, but the user also has the option to enter the delivery address manually or tap on the map. Then, a list of all delivery stores within the delivery radius of this location is generated.

Users have the capability to:

  • Filter the list by required item types: food and beverages, groceries, medications, flowers, etc.
  • Narrow down the list based on other key user criteria, including specific working hours and delivery speed
  • Sort the list by price category, customer rating, or other similar criteria
  • Manually mark the stores of interest and filter out the irrelevant ones

Checking details for the chosen stores

  • When the user switches to the Google Maps tab, they can see all the stores they’ve chosen, each outlined with a delivery radius
  • Tapping on any store, whether from the list or the map, allows the user to view all information available in the Google Places account, including photo galleries, phone numbers, websites, operating hours, customer reviews, and more

AI-generated summary reports that compare the chosen stores

Upon navigating to the designated tab, users can re-filter and sort their preferred stores and specify comparison criteria. The AI tool will then generate a summary comparison table by extracting current information directly from the stores' websites.

The criteria for comparison could include:

  • Prices. This can be displayed as a general assessment of the price level based on the most popular items, as well as the prices of specific products indicated by the user
  • Customer ratings
  • Delivery speed

Saving preferred local delivery services to favorites

  • While searching, filtering, and sorting services, users can mark them as favorites to make them easier to access next time
  • Marked services appear in the Favorites tab, where they can be organized using tags based on product types and other characteristics, as well as added or removed manually

Adding missing information and reviews about local delivery services to the system

  • Users can manually add local stores that don’t appear on Google Maps by specifying their location, product types, delivery radius, and any additional details if desired
  • Manually added stores become visible to all app users
  • Users can also leave reviews on the delivery services they have utilized
  • Reviews for stores displayed on Google Maps are automatically posted and become globally accessible on Google Maps

Team Composition and Project Timeline

One mobile development expert handled this project. The MVP, which included essential features such as listing available stores and providing information about them, was completed in three weeks. The full functionality was achieved in 2.5 months.

Results

At the beta testing stage and with early adopters, encouraging results in user traction has already been achieved. The high frequency of regular use and users actively adding information about their local services suggest that the app effectively fulfills the ongoing needs of customers utilizing delivery services.

The client has already launched a marketing campaign primarily targeting Middle Eastern countries. They hope the app will generate significant interest, be in demand, and quickly build a user base.

We are continuing to support the app while preparing for the next phase of development, where we aim to introduce monetization methods and enhance features using the feedback gathered by the client.

Technologies Used

  • Flutter
  • Firebase
  • Google Maps
  • Google Places
  • Geocoder
  • Python
  • Amazon Services