Client

Established in the USA, the client is a provider of an online marketplace platform that connects vendors of diet products (health foods, dietary supplements, etc.) with thousands of consumers.

Background

When the startup turned to Arateg, it had already had an e-commerce website that enabled users to purchase dietetic products, compare prices, check out product reviews and ratings.
With the spread of COVID-19, the demand for fitness apps for workouts at home significantly increased. As a result, the client saw an opportunity to create an online sports marketplace that would match gyms and fitness experts with users across the country.
Cooperating with our online marketplace development company, the company decided to build a web app for service providers and a mobile app for consumers.

Project goal

The primary goal was to enable users to work out at home using various training programs and communicating with coaches.
The startup also wanted to allow sports and fitness experts to analyze user behavior, track payments, and facilitate accounting management. As the company aimed to demonstrate the system to investors, there were tight deadlines for project delivery.

Project duration

5 months

Team

3 frontend developers, 3 backend developers, 2 UI/UX designers, 2 React Native developers, 2 quality assurance engineers, a project manager.

Technologies

Amazon Web Services, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, Express.js, Python, Flask, Django, Elasticsearch, Elastic Load Balancing, React, Redux, Redux-Saga, Storybook, styled-components, RabbitMQ, Redis, Memcached, PostgreSQL, React Native.

Solution

After a thorough examination of the customer’s business goals, our team provided assistance in conducting market research and competitor analysis. Thanks to this, we specified the target audience and compiled a list of features that might align with their needs and preferences.
To identify the key functionality for the first product version, our experts created impact maps and user personas describing what vendors and their customers should be able to do when interacting with an online marketplace platform.
As a result, we decided to implement features such as video content uploading, calorie counting, exercise program search, menu compilation, loyalty programs from fitness coaches, online payments, etc. Finally, we designed a software requirement specification and outlined a roadmap for online marketplace delivery.
By following the Agile approach, we managed to build new functionality every 2-3 weeks. Thanks to this, the startup could validate the outcome of each development stage and test the market feasibility while our engineers were able to make the necessary changes on the go.
As a consequence, we faster created an online sports marketplace that met the expectations of end users. To explore the main advantages of the Agile approach, read our article on the topic.

During the project, our team solved the following challenges:

  1. Since the system would target a large US market, high availability and scalability were vital to handling heavy loads and preventing downtime.
    With the view of laying out the foundation for scalability and high availability, our online marketplace developers built a microservices architecture, this way also ensuring ease of infrastructure maintenance. Employing Elastic Load Balancing, our team enabled autoscaling of resources.
    By tweaking RabbitMQ, we set up data parsing for efficient processing of massive arrays of data, which allowed us to optimize the server load. Additionally, our engineers used Redis and Memcached to improve page load speed by providing cashing and database indexing.
  2. According to the customer’s requirements, vendors and customers had to be provided with the possibility to communicate in chats.
    Using Firebase, our software development team integrated group and private chats. Thanks to this technology, we were able to implement multiple features out of the box, involving media asset storage and data synchronization in milliseconds.
  3. It was crucial to enable automatic verification of vendors’ banking details and offer paid subscriptions.
    In order to verify banking details when a new fitness expert or company is connected to an online sports marketplace, our engineers used Connect Onboarding, a pre-built user interface.
    By using Stripe Checkout—a hosted payment page, which is optimized for conversion—we enabled secure payments for subscriptions. Thanks to this service, our team implemented this functionality much faster in comparison with custom development.

Features

Our team developed an online fitness marketplace consisting of a web application for service providers and a cross-platform application for users.

The functionality of a web marketplace platform for vendors:

  1. User account
  2. Registration and authorization
  3. User dashboard
  4. Data analytics and visualization
  5. Video uploading
  6. Admin panel
  7. Online chats
  8. Accounting management

The functionality of a mobile app for users:

  1. Workout and exercise programs
  2. Search using multiple filters
  3. Reviews and rating
  4. Calorie counting
  5. Push notifications
  6. Statistics visualization
  7. Video play
  8. Possibility to upgrade the premium functionality
  9. Group and private chats
  10. Online payments via Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.

Result

Partnering with Arateg, the client managed to create an online fitness marketplace—consisting of web and mobile apps—in 5 months and showcase it to investors. With the delivered solution, the startup was able to raise funds.
Thanks to cross-platform development, the customer reduced project expenses by around 30%, avoiding the necessity to write separate codebases for iOS and Android operating systems, as well as support two software products.
At the moment, the client continues collaborating with our online marketplace development company to build the next app version and make the necessary improvements according to end-user feedback.

What our client says

client review, from CEO & founder of a US startup
Founder & CEO, US startup

It was a real pleasure to work with Arateg. The company provided high-quality service, from effective project management to top-notch communication and compliance with deadlines. The Arateg team assisted us in researching the audience’s needs and analyzing competitors.Thanks to regular reports and daily video meetings, we were able to validate intermediate results and provide our feedback. With the solution, we engaged investors and raised capital to implement new functionality.

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