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Success Story

Daffodil helps HOPE to build an application to support Canadian SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Services Used:

Mobile App Development
UI/UX Design

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A brainchild of one of the key associates at Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada – supportsme.ca is a platform to help local businesses across Canada. To be named ‘Hope’ initially, the project stands true to its intent – a ray of hope to those who were hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. It gave the local business owners optimism and an opportunity to earn during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

  • 25 businesses onboarded in 5 days
  • 1000+ registered users
  • $1M+ transactions in 20 days

The Situation

Since the very idea for the website stemmed from the exigency of the global crisis, the product had to be developed with time criticality in mind. Team Daffodil had to deliver the product – both desktop and mobile applications during the most intense and challenging phase of the coronavirus outbreak failing which the entire exercise would go purposeless. To this end, a team of 10 including designers and developers was deployed to meet the launch deadline. 

Due to time constraints and a hurried process, a hiccup was noticed by the team – lack of a responsive website i.e. not optimized for the mobile browser. This was a hurdle that needed a quick and intelligent solution. The team realized that the users could not open the website on a mobile browser and were unable to redeem their vouchers.

  • Create modules, features, and UI for a new concept with no pre-existing solution in a limited period. Build desktop and mobile applications in a short span of a month.
  • Come up with a makeshift solution for the website not opening on the mobile browser while working on the mobile app simultaneously.
  • Build the messaging of the product as well as guiding the client on ways to make it available to a wider audience on social media platforms by adding social sharing features and QR codes.

The Solution

The team wasn’t only hard-pressed for time, it also had no reference for the product and had to build everything from the scratch. Apart from product engineering, a major chunk of time went into consultation. Our team not only came up with modules and functionalities but also advised the client on the technology to increase the social media reach. NodeJS was used for the backend while web, iOS, and Android applications were built on Reactive Native. This tech stack was chosen by our experts to help reduce costs for the client as well as making the product available to more customers. Three primary modules were created – admin, consumer, and business owner for the website. Once the consumer registers on the site and buys a discounted certificate/voucher, they receive a unique number which they can show to the service provider to avail the service.

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The website was developed and ready to onboard the businesses in flat 25 days. The model was simple – create an ecosystem to help the local businesses by offering them payment in advance for services to be offered in the future. For instance, as a customer you want to have a meal at your favorite restaurant down the road, you simply log on to the portal and buy a certificate for the said eatery for $100 and avail services worth $120. This way, the local restaurant gets paid in advance and the customer gets a discount on their next meal. All customers need to do is to show their certificate at the outlet to redeem the voucher. 

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For this, the site needed to work on mobile phones and other smart devices. The problem of the site not being responsive was overcome by one smart ad hoc solution. The team decided to park a few peripheral features for the time being such as reviews, donations et al and shift its focus on building the redeem module. Post this, the user could very well enter the site via a mobile browser, view their purchased certificates, and click on the one they wish to redeem. The team’s astute handling of the situation to a problem that otherwise would have taken days was much lauded by the client. 

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The Impact

The application is available in both desktop and mobile versions. It has restaurants, cafes, spas, fitness, hotels, and even EduTech services that offer customers discounted certificates/vouchers which can be bought and redeemed at a later stage. The key benefit for businesses is that they get paid upfront for their future services while customers can redeem a certificate at their convenience. The product was well-received and in mere 20 days of going live more than 25 businesses such as Subway, Black Dog Hospitality registered themselves on the portal. Besides, the website also saw a considerable amount of donations to these businesses. The biggest achievement was that it could help the local business owners and skill sharers at a time when they needed it the most. Team Daffodil’s on-time delivery, consultations, and quick problem-solving made the project a success not only for business owners but consumers as well. Customers could avail services and experiences at their favorite local haunts at much lesser prices at a time most suitable to them.

  • 25 businesses onboarded in 5 days
  • 1000+ registered users
  • $1M+ transactions in 20 days

“I just wanted to take a minute to thank the team for such commendable and brilliant work on this Milestone. The dedication and the hard work shown by the team over the last month is really encouraging and speaks highly about our shared commitment towards the success of the idea. I have absolutely enjoyed working with the team and really respect the team’s attitude and focus towards my project.”

Harshdeep Singh

Marketing Analyst, HOPE

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