Case Study: How We Created Search-And-Discovery oMap.pl App

Upd: The platform has been recently rebranded into Foodito.

oMap Sp.z.o.o is the name of the Polish company that is managed by two Latvian businessmen. They are two co-founders of oMap.pl app. Andris Stinka, one of businessmen, has more than 20 years of experience in the IT business, he is also known as a co-founder of DAYPE and Addio Ltd. companies that are engaged in the Internet technologies. oMap company was founded in March 2018. 

This year the company plans to launch Menu+ - it is a niche app that will provide useful tools for small business marketing. It will be the app created on oMap.pl basis but it will be focused more on food and drink market. Cleveroad specialists already submitted a rough estimation and rough specification for a new project and the project is already under development. 

Having conducted the market analysis, Andris came to the conclusion that there is a lack of search-and-discovery apps available on the Polish market. That is why he ordered the development of oMap.pl service from Cleveroad.

#1. The main challenge was in how various services can promote their product. Our customer noted that plastic business cards won't let companies advertise their product as efficiently as it was before. That is why oMap.pl app was developed to let service advertise themselves online and provide users with interesting discounts and loyalty programs. 

#2. Also, oMap.pl software has commission free ordering system, unlike other competitors. No money charges for each order or quantity of products. 

This tool helps you find different restaurants, car services, barber shops, and so on. In fact, the service makes it possible to find anything. Business owners can contact admin represented by our customer and agree about the placement of their enterprise in the app.

irst things first. Let's start from the very beginning.

The precise estimation means a lot. See more in our video below:

Initially, the customer told us that he needs the service on all popular platforms - web, Android and iOS. So to turn this product into reality, we involved the team of developers as follows:

• 3 web developers (1 for back-end development, 2 for front-end);
• 2 Android developers; 
•  2 iOS developers.  

Then the development process started. We applied Agile methodology for the development of the mobile app and it helped us keep up with deadlines and fixed budget. Advantages of Agile methodology for mobile app development are obvious. 

The app was initially focused on two main groups - users and advertisers. 

This project allows you to search various types of service in Poland.

• You can sign-in via Facebook or register using your e-mail. Or you can use it without registration, but you will not be able to order the food if you need it. You read information about one or another service to make your decision.

It is worth noting that at the moment oMap.pl is used for food services search predominantly. But it doesn't mean if you have a hotel, you cannot add it to the oMap.pl search. It is up to you.

• Now then, you can use maps to find the service you need. Interestingly, you can use web version for searching, but you cannot use it to make orders. You will have to download the app for iOS or Android depending on your smartphone. The web version is used for admin to customize the service settings and just as an interface for searching. Moreover, the web version is available only in the Polish language.

• You can read reviews left by other users, look through photos and leave your comments. Also, each enterprise has it's rating and you can rate it as well after the visit;
• If it is the first time you are in Poland, you can ask a local guide to advise you some good restaurants or hotels. He will do it using oMap.pl app.
• Direct messaging with clients. Representatives of restaurants or any other services can speak directly with clients in the integrated chat. 

Paid premium accounts for Advertisers make it possible for them create preferences-based offers and be at the top of the list. 

When you downloaded the app, it offers you to choose the language - Polish or English. Then, using the app, you can order the food using special integrated chat form to contact food service representative. Chatting and for ordering are advantages you can have using oMap.pl, unlike other available similar services like Foursquare, for example.

Also, you can get directions from you to the nearest cafe or any other place. The main goal was to create the service that is functional and has a minimalistic design. It is user-friendly, it doesn't require from anybody to investigate how it works. And you can register your own business if you want to.

Payment is made only in cash upon delivery. But in future, there are plans to integrate payment with a credit card as well.

This stage is also very important, especially in our specific case we paid much attention to this process.

Since our customer had already a large listing of services he wanted to add to his product, our developers wrote a special script to add it all at once. Therefore, to test it correct functionality, our QA engineers also wrote scripts for automated testing to perform load testing and estimate the capacity of AWS servers.

There were some difficulties during the testing process since we needed to increase service performance in order to provide users with a high-quality functionality.

We used many interesting tools and services to create oMap.pl and their role was really significant.

As usual, we did our best to submit a high-quality product to the customer. The development process took 3 months and soon we will add some changes and release a new update. Our specialists are engaged in maintenance and help the customer to customize some settings if necessary.  

The product hit app stores almost 9 months ago. As for total customers' feedback, our customers noted that first customers found oMap.pl app very attractive and interesting. More than 50% of the total interest concerns food sector since other sectors like auto repair or barber shops are not so popular. 

As for the main metrics, as of the beginning of July: 

• the number of downloads is 763; 
• the number of monthly visitors 4000.

Our customer expects these figures to increase higher with the release of the new update in September.

There are a couple of things customers plan to update in oMap.pl as follows: 

• More detailed information about followers. Premium advertisers (restaurants, hotels and other enterprises) want to get more information about their followers to create an ad and offers based on personal preferences of each user. 
• Add a detailed manual on how to use oMap.pl, why and what benefits you can get from it.   

Also, as we noted above, Menu+ app will probably become a reality very soon. Just stay tuned!  

We are always happy to create something new for our customers and we hope that the next project will not be the last one. If you have any software idea but you don't know how to implement it - we will help you willingly. Contact us and subscribe to our blog!