Mobile app and omnichannel retail POS development for an e-commerce giant: The Souled Store

Team Daffodil analyzed the existing e-commerce web store of The Souled Store to identify the features and functionalities already in place and suggest vital enhancements and improvements. This analysis enabled the team to understand the flow of operations and discover gaps in the web store. Following several brainstorming sessions with the eCommerce team, the business analysts and UX team at Daffodil designed wireframes for a new mobile app.

The new mobile app was designed to replicate all web app functionalities while incorporating several key improvements.

Team Daffodil developed an intuitive interface using React Native for the front end, ensuring a dynamic and seamless user experience across both Android and iOS platforms. For the backend, we used Python to create a robust and efficient system capable of handling real-time interactions and managing large volumes of data. AWS was chosen to host the application, providing a reliable, scalable, and secure environment. This infrastructure ensured high performance and availability, meeting the demands of The Souled Store’s expanding customer base.

The developed mobile application not only integrated smoothly with their existing e-commerce infrastructure but also provided a unified and engaging shopping experience, enabling higher customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

A custom search engine for web and mobile apps was developed for the client. It helped The Souled Store team to overcome the limitations of their existing third-party search engine service, which was slow, had recurring costs, and manageability issues.

By incorporating Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, the new search engine enabled more intuitive queries based on different attributes, such as color and gender.

This means users could ask questions or use phrases as they would in conversation. For instance, users can type in requests like “red t-shirts”, making the search process more user-friendly and aligned with how they think about products. This approach enabled the system to understand the context and intent behind the queries, leading to much more accurate and relevant results.

This enhancement also allowed customers to filter and find products more efficiently, resulting in more relevant search results and higher customer satisfaction & engagement.

Team Daffodil implemented the “Pick Up Where You Left Off” feature for both logged-in and non-logged-in users, to allow them to easily resume their shopping journey from their last point of interaction.

This feature tracks the user’s activity within the application, whether they were simply browsing products, adding items to their cart, or completing the checkout process.

For logged-in users, the feature securely saves their session data, allowing them to return to their viewed products, even if they log out. This ensures a seamless and personalized experience, encouraging users to resume their shopping without the frustration of starting over every time.

For non-logged-in users, the feature still captures their browsing history temporarily, for their current session. This flexibility caters to a broader audience, enhancing user satisfaction and reducing abandonment rates.

This feature not only improves user satisfaction but also encourages more frequent engagement with the app resulting in better sales for The Souled Store.

To enhance the overall user experience and drive engagement, Team Daffodil integrated powerful widgets into the app. These dynamic features not only made navigation easier but also offered tailored recommendations and insights to users to enhance their purchase journey. The widgets we worked on were:

Personalized recommendation widget:
The personalized recommendation widget utilized matrix factorization techniques to offer custom product suggestions for each user. By analyzing users’ past purchases and preferences, this widget identified patterns related to factors such as the product’s category & attributes such as brand, price range, etc. As a result, customers received personalized recommendations increasing the likelihood of additional purchases. This approach not only improved user engagement but also made each interaction more relevant and enjoyable for them.

Best-sellers widget:
The best-sellers widget showcased the best-selling products over a specified period, allowing users to easily identify current market trends and popular items. By displaying top sellers, this widget helped customers make informed decisions based on what others are purchasing. It not only drove sales of trending items but encouraged users to explore and buy products that were highly favored by their peers.

New arrivals widget:
The new arrivals widget highlighted the latest products launched, sorted by their launch date in descending order. This ensured that the newest items appeared first, making it easy for customers to discover fresh offerings. This widget promoted excitement and urgency, encouraging shoppers to take prompt action. This feature was particularly valuable for Souled Store’s fashion-forward customers, looking to stay updated with the latest styles and releases.

Cross-sell widget:
The cross-sell widget relied on manual mapping to suggest related products, identifying top-selling cross-sell items based on predefined categories. By analyzing sales data, this widget recommended complementary products that enhanced the primary purchase, increasing the average order value.

To manage widgets, product catalogs, campaigns, side menus, offers, coupons, and gift vouchers, Team Daffodil developed a comprehensive Content Management System (CMS) for The Souled Store. Utilizing Python as the core technology, the CMS enabled real-time content updates, ensuring the client could quickly adapt to changing trends and promotions.

With the ability to manage various content elements from a single interface, The Souled Store enhanced its agility in executing marketing strategies, ultimately leading to higher customer engagement and satisfaction.

Moreover, the intuitive design of the CMS simplified workflows for the team, reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks.

Additionally, an automated system for managing product exchanges and returns was introduced to streamline the process and enhance customer satisfaction. This system simplified the steps involved in returning or exchanging items, allowing customers to initiate requests seamlessly through the app.

To complement this, a digital wallet feature was developed within the application, enabling users to score loyalty points, credits, and discounts securely. This digital wallet made transactions quicker and more efficient and increased customer engagement by rewarding users for their purchases and interactions.

To create a truly seamless shopping experience, it was important to optimize the omnichannel capabilities of The Souled Store. Team Daffodil set out to enhance the integration between these channels to ensure that customers could transition effortlessly between the website, mobile app, and physical stores.

Our focus areas were:

Split-day delivery: Our team developed a split-day delivery capability for The Souled Store, providing customers the convenience of receiving orders in multiple shipments. This feature allowed orders to be divided and fulfilled from different stores or warehouses, ensuring that customers received their items as quickly as possible.

If a single store cannot fulfill the entire order by the desired time, the order could be split and sourced from multiple stores to meet the delivery schedule. This split-day delivery solution enhanced operational efficiency through optimized order processing and resource management.

Advanced in-house POS system and mPOS system: Team Daffodil designed and built a tailor-made, in-house POS system specifically for The Souled Store. This solution replaced the client’s third-party POS system, offering increased flexibility, control, and integration capabilities.

The development team collaborated closely with Souled Store’s business and IT teams to understand their operational workflows and designed an intuitive and user-friendly interface. The custom POS system streamlined sales processes and enabled real-time data inventory.

Also, Team Daffodil developed the mPOS feature in The Souled Store mobile app which works similarly to the store’s POS system. This mPOS system enabled the store employees to move freely in the store environment and help customers with checkout, inventory management, and access to product information without sticking to the counter.

Flexible omni-channel fulfillment: Team Daffodil ensured a consistent and seamless customer experience across offline and online channels. The team aligned the user interfaces and features of the online platform and physical stores, creating a unified brand image and delivering a cohesive omnichannel experience.

This included replicating personalized recommendations and enabling features such as BOPAS (buy online and pick up at store), BORIS (buy online, return in store), buy offline and get online, and return and replace at any platform. This also helped with a smooth checkout process, loyalty programs, and convenient browsing features in offline stores. By implementing this solution, The Souled Store enhanced customer satisfaction, improved brand loyalty, and provided a consistent experience irrespective of the channel used by the customers.

Hyperlocal e-commerce: Team Daffodil developed hyper-local e-commerce solutions for The Souled Store, giving customers the option to receive their orders on the same day.

The order could be fulfilled from the nearest store. Also, if the store does not have time to deliver they can transfer the order to another nearest store. This solution made the delivery process faster and resulted in increased sales and a great omnichannel customer experience for the customers.

The hyperlocal e-commerce solution improved operational efficiency by 28% through faster order processing and efficient resource management. Also, the delivery cost on The Souled Store’s side was reduced as they were able to charge their customers for the fast delivery option.

Team Daffodil conducted thorough market research to understand the local preferences of the U.S. market, which guided the localization of The Souled Store’s websites. The team tailored the user experience by incorporating local payment methods and region-specific promotions, highlighting The Souled Store’s commitment to understanding local markets and fast fashion.

To ensure fast and reliable delivery, Team Daffodil established fulfillment centers in various regions and partnered with local carriers, effectively navigating the complexities of international shipping.

Additionally, the platform’s scalability ensured that The Souled Store can adapt to evolving market demands and continue its growth trajectory in the competitive U.S. retail landscape.