Project idea
The online bookstore has been on the market since the early 90s, but it decided to get an ecommerce software solution only in 2015. By that time, the shop had accumulated several hundred thousand items in their catalog and numerous clients in need of a usable mobile app.
Our task was to create a mobile app for an online bookstore with a wide selection of products, several authentication methods, different delivery and payment options, and a complex loyalty program.
Challenges
- We had to create an app for a large online shop with a six-figure number of items. The app had to offer convenient ways to navigate the catalog, search for items, place an order, and pay for it.
- The company needed two different versions of the app — for smartphones and for tablets.
- The app had to offer a complex loyalty program.
- Users needed several payment and delivery options in the app.
Results
We’ve created a modern and user-friendly mobile app for the bookstore. The app is available on both iOS and Android and has a separate version for tablets.
The online catalog consists of multiple subcategories and has hundreds of thousands of store-keeping units (SKUs). To find an item, users can search with several filters: authors, book titles, and categories. The app also supports visual search: a user can point their camera at a book cover in an offline shop and find it in the catalog.
The new ecommerce software solution supports a complex loyalty program. The user’s discount grows as they make more purchases and combine discounts with other offers. Users also earn cashback in the app.
This app supports an Instant Apps format. It allows using the app without installing it on the device: users can go all the way through the order process in it.
The app offers multiple login options, including eight social networks and a phone number login. It also provides nine delivery options and several payment methods.
We’re still supporting this B2B ecommerce software solution and release updates once in 2–3 months.
Head of Design, Manager
The app has received many awards:
- For the order process usability and checkout flow in 2021.
- For being one of the best online shops in Google Play and App Store in 2020.
- For the design and development on Android and iOS in 2016.
At Google I/O 2017, the online bookstore was also among the first 50 apps to support Instant Apps.
Solutions
We teamed up with our client to solve the essential UX and UI tasks. The key was to adapt the app to the specific use cases: book readers use big screens, and book buyers might like smartphones more.
Home screen design
We asked them what the mobile app home screen should look like and put together a brief. Then, we drew up the mockups based on that.
The client team shared their ideas on the general app look and feel, and our team implemented their suggestions, building on our experience and mobile development standards.
As a result, we’ve reflected the whole range of products on the home screen. The screen displays fifteen carousels of three different types.
Screen prototypes: More information to the users
To help our client check the app’s user-friendliness, we created interactive screen prototypes. They demonstrate how clear the navigation is, how readable the texts are, and if the screen provides enough information.
This stage showed us that the app froze because it was too big and had too many screens. After trying several prototyping services, we finally decided on InVision and created interactive prototypes. Since the shop has a giant catalog with various subcategories, we’ve made the app run faster and easier to navigate.
When we started this project, it was the iPhone 5 and Android 4 era — the screens were smaller, and it took more effort to create a user-friendly mobile design.
Tablet app for those who like to read
Reading from a tablet is much more convenient than from a smartphone. That’s why we implemented a tablet app version. It looks different from the smartphone version — you can read all the information on a single screen without scrolling. due to that, some screens look different on tablets and smartphones.
Instant apps: Use the app without installing it
Instant Apps is a Google technology that lets you use a compressed 4-MB mobile app without installing it on your device. The app launches on your phone instantly and takes users through all order steps until checkout. At checkout, it asks users to install the full app version.
Our team is one of the 25 Google-certified studios: this allows us to try out new technologies before they go public. That’s why we offered the client to be among the first ones to implement Instant Apps.
Converting the B2B ecommerce software solution into an Instant App wasn’t easy: we had to keep the key user scenarios in mind while keeping the app minimalistic. It was also crucial to thoroughly configure the SEO.
The app was among the world’s first 50 Instant Apps at Google I/O 2017.
Making the best user experience
Lots of features make using the app comfortable. For example, each book’s flypage displays available offers and has a link to a snippet you can read before making a purchase.
The app supports a complex loyalty program. Users can increase their discount percentage by making more purchases and combine their discounts with other offers. In addition, they can earn cashback on their purchases.
We’ve also implemented a Lucky Roulette offer — a daily lottery where users can win an additional discount. The lottery is a part of the loyalty program, and its key purpose is to boost user purchases in the app.
The app has a massive catalog with lots of subcategories — therefore, keeping the navigation easy is crucial. To do it, we’ve implemented several filters in quick search: authors, book titles, and categories.
The app also provides visual search. You can point your camera at the book you see in an offline store, on a bookshelf, or at your friend’s place and find it in the catalog.
The visual search is powered by the SqueezeNet neural network which we’ve adapted to mobile devices.
Users can log in via any of the eight social networks available, with their phone numbers, or using other options. There also are fifteen payment methods and nine delivery options.
We update the app once in 2–3 months on both platforms as we continue to add new functions.
