Category: How-To

Neobank is a logical stage in the evolution of financial institutions, which appeared in response to society’s demand to simplify services as much as possible and to minimize communication with bank employees. In essence, it is a rejection of misplaced scaling and an emphasis on marketing.

Today, every country with normal development of digital technology has at least one neobank. So, despite all the convenience and simplicity of the mechanism of work, the niche of neobanking is far from being oversaturated. And the earlier you dare to do something like that, the more chances you have to get an original product, which will have a lot of consumers.

However, do not forget that neobank is not just an application on your mobile but a complex of services requiring maximum security, a well-organized technical infrastructure, and the highest level of usability. Moreover, it requires a high-class development team and considerable investment to make the result worthwhile. 

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What is Neobank and its Workflow?

Neobank is a digital fintech institution that provides the usual banking services (loans, investments and savings accounts, credit cards) without being a traditional bank in the legal sense (no banking license). It has no physical offices and practically no cash machines because all the issues can be solved through a mobile app. The very principle of providing financial services in a digital format is designed to anticipate all the desires and requests of the user and solve them in a few clicks without long and tedious calls to support or – even worse – without standing in queues for a “live” consultant.

The best-known examples of neobanks are U.S.-based Chime and UK-based Revolut. By the way, the U.S. and UK are the top countries in this area by transaction value.

According to Statista, the market size of neobanks in 2021 with a forecast for 2022 and 2030 looks like this:

The market volume in 2021 was estimated at nearly $47 billion. The sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 53.4% through 2030 to reach $2.05 trillion. The average transaction cost per user in the neobanking segment will be $18.21 thousand in 2022.

The last five years have been a rapid development of alternative banking services. Part of the reason for these trends is the growing frustration of users with the complexities of traditional banking, which has led to a search for more straightforward and less expensive solutions. 

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What is a NeoBank in 2022?

There is still a perception that neobank is only for young people who understand digitally, but this is not true. In truth, Neobank’s target customers are men (58%) and women (42%) aged 25-44. The EU, Britain, and the U.S. are at the top of the list for downloads. However, an increasing proportion of the population aged 65 and older are also discovering the delights of digitalization.

For their audiences, neobanks take a friendly approach or so-called “new sincerity”. Customer service communicates with you as a longtime mate, not as an absolutely polite, aloof dialogue line. The application itself is built so that you can find any option in a couple of clicks, even if you have no idea where it is. There are gamification elements, no commissions, minimal interest, and favorable cashback, all of which encourage the customer to use neobank as much as possible. Such a beneficial environment is ensured by minimizing the costs of project infrastructure. 

Why Should You Start NeoBank in 2022?

NeoBanking has advantages that make the project profitable and repayable in a short period:

• A niche that is not fully filled

• Attractiveness for clients due to accessible communication

• Greater flexibility compared to traditional banks

• High investment attractiveness

You can create your own neobank from scratch or use a ready-made solution with additional functions and features that will distinguish you from your competitors. Neobank software is more flexible, allowing you to add and expand features faster than traditional systems. Neobanks rely on advanced process automation, web services, and APIs to provide banks and customers with high profitability, security, and flexibility.

You can also create a subsidiary of a conventional bank, but there are some differences. 

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What’s the Difference Between Neobanks and Traditional Banks?

It is important to distinguish between traditional banks offering online banking services and neobanks. As we have already mentioned, neobanks have no offline departments because the working principle is built, so there is no need for them. 

Legally, the regulator for conventional banks is the Central Bank, but for neobanks there are two regulators, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank. Also, Conventional credit institutions can only operate with full banking accreditation, while a neobank can have both payment and financial certification, depending on the services provided.

One should also distinguish between neobanking and digital banking. If, for the first one, the mobile app is the only available form of existence, the latter is just one of the “avatars” of a traditional bank that wants to become more accessible and user-friendly. Neobanks perform the same functions as digital banks, but large financial institutions do not support them in the same way as conventional and digital banks. Instead, most are launched by private organizations and follow an online-only service model.

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With conventional banks going online, though, we can say that the line between the two types of financial services is already blurring. Representatives of traditional banks understand that they need to keep up with the times to retain their customers. But rapid change is usually impossible because of the growing gap between the current level of technology and their large-scale corporate systems. 

One solution is to create a dedicated neobank in which the parent bank takes over the regulatory environment and requirements. On the one hand, the parent takes on new risks, but on the other hand, the subsidiary can provide a broader range of banking and lending products, such as auto loans, mortgages, etc. In this way, you open up the neobank to your company’s existing audience. 

As an option, one of the IT giants, which is not directly related to financial services, can open its own neobank. One of the most popular neobanks in China, Alibaba’s MYBank, serves 35 million users and SMEs. The bank specializes in small personal and business credit services. 

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Developing a Neobank from Scratch

As with any financial product, developing a neobank should start with precise planning, and then follow the steps that are appropriate for creating every outcome. 

1. Having a well-formulated idea that is transformed into a business idea

2. Analysis of the market and competitors

3. Analysis of the target audience

4. Hiring an experienced team of managers and developers

5. MVP creation (from UX Design prototypes to testing and deployment)

6. Launch

7. Feedback gathering

8. Work on mistakes and support

If you have an idea at this stage, contact The APP Solutions company, which will help you investigate the market situation and hire a competent outsourcing team to create a product that will pay for itself in a short time. 

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Neobank Software Development from the Very Beginning

It is necessary to pay attention to the basic details, without which it is impossible to create a sustainable product. 

Every country has its peculiarities of legislation concerning the regulation of neobanking. Therefore, before you start implementing the idea, you need to understand all the aspects due to banking licensing and so on.

A financial product works not only with personal data, but also with the money tied to it. Therefore, the first priority is ensuring the appropriate level of security to prevent information breaches, such as with two-factor or multi-factor authentication.

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Since the primary use of neobank is through a mobile app, payments should be a couple of clicks away for maximum convenience, without filling out a whole bunch of boxes. 

For the payment gateway mentioned above to really work efficiently, you need integration with the most popular payment systems in the region. However, do not forget about security – when you integrate this or that system into your code, you must consider the risks that it can be hacked, and your customers’ data will go to fraudsters. So it helps if you are very selective when choosing partners.

Perhaps there’s no need to repeat once again how important a positive user experience is in a situation when this is the main feature of the application through which it presents itself. This includes everything from lightning-fast account creation and the same fast receipt of a card, to personalized banking services (the ability to buy cryptocurrency and shares, make investments, and take long-term and short-term loans). And all this with zero commissions and no hidden fees. 

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Must-have features for neobank 

What features should be present in your application to interest the user?

• Cashback (a nice little something to spend not only on yourself, but also to donate a small amount to charity at the end of the month, this is a very effective motivator)

• Dynamic CVV2 (as a means to further protect your finances)

• Expense reports and savings against goals (here, neobank takes over the function of the financial app, helping the users keep track of their balance)

• Referral program (one of the ways to get new users by getting existing ones interested)

• Cryptocurrency (an opportunity to integrate your crypto-purse into the application or create such a wallet right here)

• Paying bills (utility bills, apartment rent, car insurance – all of these can be paid with a single click, or you can set up automatic monthly/weekly/annual payments).

Can neobanks be profitable?

As of 2020, there were more than 300 neobanks launched around the world. Statista predicts that by 2026 the number of users will be 347.21 million, which is 4.4%. So as you can see, the market is far from saturation, and the growth prospects are excellent. 

By 2024, there will be 47.5 million digital-only bank account holders in the U.S., a 19.8% increase over 2020, and digital bank penetration in the U.S. will increase by 8.9% from 2020 to 2024.

Source

In addition, not all populations are yet reached. For example, neobanks are mostly aimed at young people who strongly connect to gadgets. But what about teenagers? They are also great with any app in a few minutes, but their reach in neobanking is still minimal.

If neobanks are so profitable for users, then how do they make money? Don’t be surprised, but one source of income is commissions. Yes, for the consumer, they are practically non-existent, and there is no deception here. Neobanks get a cut of the interbank commissions, only their mechanisms are more complicated and are not obvious to the customers.

Neobanks also introduce premium accounts for users who want more convenient services, from two-click medical insurance to VIP cards. What’s more, premiums can come in different levels, too. 

Due to favorable terms, loans in neobanks are much easier to get than in conventional ones, and the terms are better, so the pool of lenders is expanding very quickly. However, there are risks in the sense of unreliable clients. 

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If we are talking about the basic version of neobank, its creation, depending on the features, can cost you from $300-500 thousand. If you have a bigger budget, you can talk about additional options. Be prepared that, on average, the project takes about six months to complete. However, you can always speed it up if you need to and have the right resources. For example, if you agree to work on an out-of-the-box solution.  

In parallel, focus on marketing efforts to attract customers. Make sure you are appealing all the way through. Remember that the profitability of your neobank can be determined by the customer lifetime value (LTV)/customer acquisition cost (CAC) ratio. The higher the LTV/CAC ratio, the more revenue will be generated from each new customer. So, the most important thing is to keep your customers happy.

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What are the Trends of Neobanks?

In order to be one step ahead of your competitors, you need to understand which trends in the niche can be advantageous. Right now, when going through the natural neobank development process, you need to pay attention to the following points.

Even though neobanks are not banks in the usual sense of the word, their security is just as important. Digital banking uses biometric verification, encryption technology, and other security measures to protect customer and mobile data. They also provide highly secure features such as locking and freezing anytime through the app. That said, all security measures need to be configured to make usability easy, and customers face unnecessary steps during transactions or verifications.

You can go further and create your own security tool and software solution to protect customer data. However, it is highly recommended that you keep logs of access of everything that happens on your neobank platform so that your security team can review them at any time in the future.

The advantage of neobanking is the openness of its operating mechanisms compared to traditional financial institutions. And since the neobank has no physical branches, all information about services, rates, transactions, promotions, commissions, and much more must be presented and posted so that the client is sure to be aware of everything promptly.

AI is now present in almost every digital niche, and in financial services, there is no way without it at all. Neobanks are polling users about what they would like to get out of the app. It is important to analyze and anticipate the behavioral factors of your target audience so that the client only thinks of a feature and finds it has already been implemented into your app. This kind of thing helps to increase conversion rates. AI is also heavily used in online support chats and is improving every year.

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The bottom line

Neobank is a financial product that makes life much easier for people without bank accounts and those who can’t imagine themselves without dozens of financial transactions daily. Neobank manages to do it at the same time. 

To expand its audience without losing old customers, neobank has to offer new features and capabilities with enviable regularity. You can do this by working closely with a team of managers and developers who will work for the result, even after the project launch. And we at The APP Solutions can help you with that! So click the button below and tell us your idea; we are here to make it happen.

Credits to Depositphotos

When people talk about cybersecurity and cybercrime, the first thing that comes to mind is financial fraud and bank security. However, what could be more important than the security of our data in healthcare? After all, it’s not about mundane financial well-being, but our physical condition, and even our lives. And it’s not so much a matter of someone possessing and taking advantage of our health data as it is of a doctor not being able to access such data on time. 

This is especially true since healthcare is second only to finance in the interest of cyberattacks. And, the cost of a data breach puts healthcare in the lead (according to HIPAA Journal – $408 per record, compared to about $148 in other areas). In addition, 21% of the consequences result in legal liability, 40% in loss of essential data, and 33% in outages. 

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What is Healthcare Cybersecurity?

Healthcare cybersecurity is an area of information technology aimed at protecting healthcare systems. These systems include electronic health records, health tracking devices, medical equipment, and software to deliver and manage care. 

Cybersecurity in healthcare aims to prevent attacks by protecting systems from unauthorized access, use, and disclosure of patient data. The main goal is to ensure the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of critical patient data, which, if breached, could endanger patients’ lives.

However, there is a global shift in health and human services, with more and more of these services being made available online since COVID-19. Accordingly, medical and paramedical processes, and all other areas, began to digitize as quickly as possible, which has happened before but not on such a scale or at such  speed. The catalyst, in the form of the coronavirus, has given a significant load of medical professionals not only offline but also online – telemedicine, e-prescriptions, and even remote surgeries. Thus, the need to optimize processes through digitalization has become evident. And when it comes to the secure storage of big data, the question of cybersecurity is bound to arise. 

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How Common are Cyberattacks in Healthcare?

According to Statista, the industry is expected to be worth $345.4 billion by 2026, up from $34 billion in 2017. In other words, the financial infusion into Healthcare Cybersecurity has increased tenfold in 10 years. Not surprisingly, Statista cites a study showing that in 2020, 17 percent of healthcare cyberattacks caused severe injury or damage to patients, and nearly 30 percent caused disruption of emergency services.

According to the HIPAA Journal, healthcare cybersecurity statistics show an 8% decrease in incidents in February 2022 compared to January 2022. Nevertheless, those 46 incidents affected 2.5 million people. As a result, the healthcare industry has lost $25 billion over the past two years. 

The number of breaches and affected people:

Source

Why is Cybersecurity a Problem in Healthcare?

By far, the most common type of cybersecurity attack is a money-making attack.

In addition to ransomware attacks on financial assets, the industry has seen invasions aimed solely at disruption, as well as attacks aimed at compromising user data. Recently, cybercriminals have been using indirect supply chain attacks to disrupt companies far beyond their original targets. 

There is a vigorous public debate that responsible government agencies simply cannot keep up with the scope and “quality” of the threats that must be met. In such an atmosphere, it is every man for himself, and private companies are forced to establish a system of protection on their own without being able to ask for help from government healthcare providers. There is an understanding that it is necessary to work proactively rather than respond to attacks after the fact. 

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The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 is designed to help with this, but it is too early to tell if it is effective. 

As a result, more than half of the world’s population does not trust healthcare providers to protect personal data. At the same time, in the U.S. the figure is much better – 80%.

The difficulty is that, in any clinic or hospital, there are many networks and digital complexes: EHRs, electronic prescriptions and decision support systems, intelligent heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, infusion pumps, and medical Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. All of these can be threatened by cybercriminals.

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Types of Attacks on Healthcare Organizations

Deloitte experts identified several threats faced by many healthcare organizations: 

1. Phishing. One of the most unsightly, and therefore most common, methods – links or attachments in emails infect computer systems with malware, which then spreads across the clinical network. 
2. Man in the middle. Cybercriminals infiltrate data transmissions and steal users’ personal information, resulting in severe damages and fines for privacy violations. Sometimes it’s much more trivial – attackers quickly gain physical access to the computer with the data. 
3. Attacks on network vulnerabilities. Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache poisoning, HTTPS spoofing, and other similar cybercrimes targeting wired and wireless networks that provide access to patient information.
4. Ransomware attack. Criminals not only encrypt data and extort money for decryption, but also block access to the entire clinical system, paralyzing surgical and life-support equipment.  
5. IoT attack. Personal patient information and high-tech connected medical devices used in invasive and noninvasive procedures can be attacked, as well as auxiliary equipment not directly related to medicine – smart elevators, intelligent heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and infusion pumps.

Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges

Indeed today, there is no medical institution that is not protecting the personal data of its patients, as they are required by law to do. But, undoubtedly, one of the most important challenges in this situation is the backwardness and complete irrelevance of such protection. Sometimes the so-called cybersecurity of an individual hospital can be compared to a cardboard wall that shields itself from a fire-breathing dragon. 

The reasons for this may be different – from the inability to allocate an adequate budget for protection to the banal connivance – “it won’t affect us.” 

One of the factors of such a challenge can be considered the forced pulling of your medical institution/company to the super modern standards of cybersecurity. Otherwise, no insurance company will want to cooperate with you to avoid their losses from attacks on you. 

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How to Improve Cybersecurity in Healthcare

To make the number and possibilities of cyber attacks less and less possible every year, you need to work systematically on the process of building your security. Cybersecurity solutions include endpoint protection, identity access control, data protection, and network security. These technologies are used to protect sensitive information and critical systems from attack. More specifically, these measures aim to protect against threats from inside and outside the organization. This underscores the need to view cybersecurity as a comprehensive strategy consisting of practices and technologies.

 

Thus, it is first important to implement technology and collect analytics regarding the frequency and nature of cyberattacks so that a preventive level can be triggered later. In parallel, fundamental security should be in place in any business or government institution related to the protection of citizens’ data – from the tax office to the online lingerie store – should not be forgotten. Organizations should adopt modern security measures, including multifactor authentication and privileged access management, to create a threshold level of security.

Another effective measure should be cybersecurity training for all staff from the lowest to the highest levels (hopefully, no one keeps their account password on paper under their laptop anymore) – how to keep themselves safe; which links to click and which not to click; which emails to open and which not to. How often to backup data and make software updates, what passwords should be, what is multifactor authentication, and what to do if a hacker attack still occurs. 

We would like to remind you that about a third of all data leaks are due to human factors – deliberately or not, an employee of a healthcare institution gives out the necessary data to malicious insiders. Of these types of leaks, twice as many are unintentional. In other words, the culprit is trivial human negligence. 

Clinics must control and monitor malicious file activity. To do this, they can implement systems that block unauthorized actions with data, prevent unauthorized email exchanges, prohibit the possibility of copying to external sources, etc. Unfortunately, the institution doesn’t find out about 39% of hacks until a month later; this situation needs to change urgently. 

Finally, endless testing is essential – APIs must be thoroughly tested before they can be trusted in healthcare systems to enable data sharing while maintaining internal security measures.

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Conclusions 

As times have changed, healthcare systems must change with them, which means more than just annual risk assessments and periodic tests. Each year we come to an increasing realization that the modern hospital is not just physicians and nursing staff, but also a complex system designed to automate, optimize, and store databases, integrated with pharma, biotech government, insurance, and financial entities. Breaking into this system would result in hours to weeks of paralysis, which is unacceptable due to the nature of the industry. 

As we advance, organizations and their technology partners must take responsibility for implementing robust, thoughtful technology and procedures, as well as regular testing and validation of systems. These measures are the best way to meet today’s cybersecurity requirements while preparing organizations for future events.

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These frameworks focus on:

• Describing the security situation and communication risks
• Identifying methods for dealing with cyber threats
• A plan for continuous improvement

Obviously, it’s too costly and impractical for the smallest medical center to keep its own cybersecurity staff. It’s better to outsource that kind of responsibility and not have to worry about anything. But to do that, you have to find professionals you can trust. 

The APP Solutions can find you a team of specialists who will protect against cyberattacks, regardless of the complexity of the product you need to secure. 

Credits to Depositphotos

Healthcare is an industry for which rapid implementation of innovations is as necessary as air and, at the same time, one where these innovations most often pass with pain and misery. The entire hefty system has long needed reform, but change has been too slow. The new touchstone is believed to be COVID-19. The scope of the disaster forced many medical institutions to change their work processes to help significantly increased patient flow effectively.

One option for dealing with the epidemic was Agile. This methodology’s flexibility has helped significantly improve and streamline the interaction between doctor and patient, medical center, hospital, and pharmacy.

What is Agile?

The term Agile came to healthcare and other industries from the IT field – from the need to smooth workflows in software development. About a quarter of a century ago, developers used the methodology of Waterfall, where the second part of the team could not start working until the first part was ready. Constant downtime did nothing to improve productivity.

Agile is a kind of team approach to project management. It is designed to increase team productivity by doing the work in small repetitive parts – sprints (usually a two-week period with specific goals and objectives, but iterations can be shorter and longer).

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Next, a list of results is compiled, and the priorities of those outcomes are determined based on customer opinions (or clients, customers – depending on the field). Finally, when each sprint is over, the team and customers evaluate the work and make changes for future sprints.

That is, instead of relying on legacy processes that often led to long delays, Agile emphasizes building the product quickly with short sprints and using end-user feedback to make improvements.

Source

Operational communication between employees, and their vision of the situation at that moment, was placed at the center of the process – this allows a quick response and effective elimination of problems, as opposed to when employees strictly follow template instructions.

Thus, the connection between the customer/executor becomes stronger when the parties don’t go exactly according to the contract but rather, the circumstances.

Another practice of Agile is daily stand-ups. These check-in meetings unite team members to note progress toward sprint goals and identify any blocking or hindering factors. Each participant in such a rally should briefly discuss the work that has already been done, what they are currently doing, and what is preventing them from completing the next work phase.

Regardless of the specific application case, Agile helps companies move from a method where everything is carefully and diligently planned, to a technique that quietly breaks down those plans if necessary, immediately creating new ones and accepting changes.

 

What is Agility Healthcare?

In healthcare, most of today’s management, business planning, and information technology implementation processes aim to reduce the risk for organizations and are often inflexible to quickly adapt to new technological changes, resulting in incremental changes that fail to deliver much-needed transformation.

Digital innovations entrepreneur Martin Högl can confirm this – as he has encountered it in Germany. According to Martin, German healthcare is a highly conservative field.

You can learn more about thi from the CareMinds channel – The APP Solutions podcast. You’ll find other exciting guests there as well.

Agile in healthcare starts with ensuring patient satisfaction. At the same time, adopting Agile methodologies helps companies deploy functional applications quickly, accelerating flexible development processes.

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When to Use Agile in Healthcare?

Given the complexity and limitations, healthcare companies can benefit more from adopting an Agile methodology than other industries. Healthcare organizations are inherently complex adaptive systems. Multiple, medical and non-medical professions work with technology to meet the needs of virtually every patient who walks through their doors within an ever-changing regulatory and reimbursement environment, and with rapidly growing medical knowledge.

Agile does not dictate what medical teams should do. Instead, it offers guidelines to help teams decide how to prioritize work, communicate, and adapt to challenges along the way.

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In healthcare, Agile focuses on patient voices and developing the best solutions to satisfy those voices. To succeed, individual departments within organizations, such as business planning and information technology, must give their employees freedom and flexibility.

An Agile team comprises of clinicians, engineers, project and product managers, data scientists, and testers. Each team creates an iterative cycle to improve outcomes and increase value for patients, healthcare providers, and the system. At intervals, the team meets to review progress and identify bottlenecks and the means to address them. In addition, the team analyzes user experience to respond to feedback and promptly make revisions.

Teams start by discussing the “dream project” as the customer sees it. Then a start and finish line are formed – from what and to what they should come. And the points between these distances may undergo significant changes along the way, because when you bluntly follow a linear process, you risk falling behind your competitors, or simply getting a  different result from what was planned.

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This approach no longer works in the dynamic marketplace that the healthcare industry has recently become. Instead, there needs to be constant communication between everyone involved in the process, even those who have not yet started or have already finished their part. Everyone involved, from developers to testers, from engineers to doctors, from the delivery to the marketing team, must be in close contact at all times to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Agile allows healthcare companies to start adapting and innovating effectively in the field of:

• Patient care
• Clinical workflows and digital health technology
• Organizational strategies
• Clinical Operations
• Pharmacology
• Insurance Medicine

Teams can use agile to redefine the model of care for patients, taking into account their goals and needs. The Agile approach provides the means to explore, integrate, and adapt to new and emerging scientific knowledge and tools, as well as the ability to respond to the changing needs and expectations of patients and families to create a truly adaptive, responsive system of care. Innovative healthcare organizations are using this Agile approach to deliver patient-centered care.

The Benefits of Agile in Healthcare

Such a work structure (if it is done correctly) promotes a number of advantages.

1. Improving the quality of medical services – focusing on the patient’s needs. Now the patient can consult with a doctor without leaving home thanks to telemedicine. Patient monitoring and care are constantly being improved through adequate documentation in medical facilities.
2. The flexibility of communication/reaction – Agile healthcare eliminates unnecessary correspondence and reduces the time for organization and coordination. Different departments that consistently relate to each other can communicate effectively, resulting in simplified mechanisms and innovations that were not even planned for at first.
3. Introduces clear metrics, encouraging the team to self-organize, empowering it – all team members must clearly understand the scope of their responsibilities, which depends on their actions and on whom they depend (so there are no blockers and bottlenecks). KPIs are better tied to some kind of unit expression to make it easier to measure efficiency. Your staff must be trained to organize themselves and make decisions at critical moments.
4. Innovations – when introducing a new process, going through the cycle faster always plays into your hands. For example, developing and testing a new drug will be much more effective with constant checking and correction, rather than blindly following a plan that may end up being very different from reality. Agile teams quickly respond to difficulties and lapses, correcting them promptly.

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In moving to Agile, teams work directly with users for development and feedback, IT team members continue with initiatives rather than withdrawing from projects after the initial launch, and budgets and strategic plans remain as flexible as possible to accommodate the uncertainty inherent in the process. All of these initiatives have been woven into the fabric of the health systems using Agile methodology.

Teams do not follow prescribed practices or established tools, although they do use some organizational frameworks, such as Scrum, to plan their work. Prototypes, or minimally viable products, are prioritized to ensure early launch and experience; they are often initially deployed in a small area for improvement and data collection. Documentation in workflows, training materials, or code development is created as part of an innately collaborative process, fostering sustainability but with the initial goal of communication.

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Teams focus on vision and goals, both short-term and long-term, define key metrics and performance measures and engage in iterative work cycles. For example, teams change direction when data and user reports show that tools or services are not being used as intended initially, or when the user needs change.

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Implementation of Agile Principles: Step-by-Step Guide

How to implement Agile methodology in your medical institution? Here are some tips from McKinsey:

1. Define the goals – meet with the team leading the organization’s transformation into Agile. Then identify the overall strategic objectives of the enterprise and discuss how applying agile will help you achieve them. Plans may include targeted segment/market growth, improved value-based service models, and cost recovery opportunities.

2. Determine which part of your company is easiest to introduce Agile – for example, the development department. Start with changes there, gradually moving to more “conservative” teams.

3. Create a new model – identify the specific aspects that make up the stable backbone of your organization, then overlay dynamic capabilities and a model for agile teams and departments.

4. Introduce Agile gradually – start with general features and patterns and then refine those processes with each new iteration through feedback. Create space to learn and adapt in the field, then scale by moving target areas to a more agile model.

5. Improve – using the standard features of the methodology, use it in a way specific to your company.

Outcomes

Healthcare organizations can accelerate the introduction of new ideas and learning through the following key elements derived from Agile principles: using user-centered design to clarify the problems to be solved, key metrics, and potential solutions; empowering the team to quickly develop a usable prototype using a collaborative, disciplined approach and testing the initial implementation of early work; and adopting new ideas Agile includes testing and validation as an integral part of the product improvement process.

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In this way, Agile innovation tangibly contributes to revitalization in healthcare by helping:

• Multidirectional development of the industry as a whole

• Shorten the lead time for product MVPs

• Diversify the range of solutions by investing in new features or products

• Improve efficiency and reduce costs through productivity

• Respond quickly to customer/user requests and feedback

• Increase transparency in both clinical and non-clinical areas

• Qualitatively improve staff skills, promote staff autonomy

The APP Solutions builds any project based on Agile methodology because it has proven its effectiveness in communicating with clients and getting feedback from users. You can see the results of our work in the Portfolio. See also our case studies in the field of healthcare.

If you want to create a freelance platform, it’s time to get to work! According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the share of freelancers in the United States alone, from 2014 to 2020, grew by about 1 million per year. At the same time, Website Planet has put forward a bold estimate that the share of outsourced workers will increase to 67 million by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, ¾ of the respondents stated that they are looking for work through specialized websites.

Freelance Platforms vs. Covid 19

The global pandemic has shaken up the labor market across the planet. Online businesses have left their offices and moved to the video conferencing format. With the change in work form, it has become clear that many services, previously done exclusively in-house, can be painlessly outsourced, and this can result in various savings. On the flip side, a significant number of offline workers were left behind and forced to seek jobs online.

And here, gig marketplaces entered the scene because employers and employees needed guarantees of work done on time and fair pay. The revenues of the top 5 marketplaces in 2020 speak for themselves:

Upwork: $290 million

Fiverr: $104 million

Toptal: $100 million

99designs: $60 million

Freelancer: $52 million

In addition, the steady increase in the proportion of freelancers suggests that the profits of such freelance platforms will only grow. The market is not yet complete. If you build your product correctly, you won’t have to spend a long time looking for your place in the sun.

What is a Freelancer Marketplace, and How does it Work

A freelancer marketplace is a platform where businesses are looking for contractors for remote projects. Some of the obvious business benefits:

• Guaranteed safe execution of the contract (both parties are insured)
• Quality assurance (the customer can cancel the payment if the contractor is justly caught providing poor quality services)
• Concentration of talents of different skills and value, which are selected individually for each new task
• No need to hire an employee for specific one-time work

The customer places an order announcement and waits for a response. First of all, the most relevant candidates are shown as suitable for the price or with experience in the desired niche. Also, the client can offer a job to a specific contractor himself, having studied his portfolio and reviews from other employers. Even if AI fails to find a contractor for some tricky project, the freelance marketplace attracts live employees who manually help to find qualified candidates for the perfect (or at least acceptable) match between the customer and the contractor. A listed freelancer strives to earn a good rating to take on more expensive and attractive orders.

Marketplaces can be divided into:

For example, Upwork, which was founded back in 1999, is a general international freelance marketplace for both types of projects, full-time and part-time. Here you can register anywhere in the world and order/perform any kind of work – from engineering to graphic design, from copywriting to link building.

How to Develop a Freelance Marketplace Like Upwork

Before building your own similar project, think carefully about exactly what you want to create, and which specifics your website will have. After all, Upwork already exists.

Step 1. Shape your business idea

Define the audience you will work with – learn all about their needs. There is no perfect freelance marketplace. Take advantage of the merits and take into account the disadvantages of your competitors; bring novelty. The value proposition is based on:

• Availability. There are two approaches to the selection of freelancers who will work on freelance platforms. The first (as they do on Upwork) is to allow everyone to create a profile. The second (like Toptal) is to arrange a kind of interview, selection using test tasks so that you can cut out low-skilled workers. The second case looks more attractive because you are creating a pool of professionals. However, it needs a solid resource base because you will need to hire employees with a sufficient qualification level to check the test.
• Time. Carefully work out the payment acceptance mechanism to attract as many freelancers as possible from different regions where different payment systems are available. Make sure that payments get to them as quickly as possible without prejudice to the customer’s interests.
• Price. You need to decide on a list of services provided which will be included in the basic package, those in the premium package, what can be offered, and what is not available on other freelance marketplaces.

The next step follows from the last point.

Step 2. Select a business model

The most common model for a marketplace is commission. Some websites charge commission only from the contractor, others from both the service provider and the customer. There are eight monetization strategies for your freelance marketplace.

Commission model	Every milestone in the marketplace is subject to a commission. Its size can range from 5% to 20% (like on Fiverr or Upwork).
Gigs and Packages model	Fiverr offers a similar type of work. The contractor offers a price for a certain service, and the client decides whether to buy it or not, according to the principle of an online store.
Subscription model	There are several packages to choose from with different sets of services. First, the customer selects an acceptable monthly subscription, which can be downgraded or increased depending on their needs.
Freemium model	Free model with a basic package of services that expand upon payment. Most often, the model is used in combination with a subscription.
Deposit model	In this model, the customer must show his “solvency”. For example, the Toptal marketplace requires a $500 deposit from the start. The deposit can always be returned if the work performed does not suit the customer.
Advertisement model	The model a freelancer needs if he/she wants to advertise him/herself. You can pay for a promotion for a month, and then the profile will be displayed as a top contractor.
Custom price	A special offer for a certain period of time, when it is difficult for the clients to immediately assess the scale of work for the order. In this case, the clients can be offered a fixed price.
Mixed model	The best decision. You can combine the above models depending on the specifics of your freelance marketplace.

Step 3. Identify core features 

Having studied in detail the principles of how your competitors’ work, you will be able to determine the main characteristics that have to be included in the MVP version.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

User profile

The user profile should be transparent on both sides. The contractor sees who orders the work from him, and the client sees what the contractor is doing.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

How much he charges per hour and what experience he already has. The client can get acquainted with the portfolio, statistics on completed projects, and customer reviews.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

The freelancer can be offered payment for a specific project or per hour. A time tracking program will then be installed on his computer.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

Search and filters

The employer should be able to select candidates by price, skill level, geographic location (proximity), etc. 

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

Messengers

Those freelance marketplaces where the customer does not have an opportunity to communicate with the contractor through personal correspondence are greatly inferior in usability. Before starting any work, it is important to discuss the details in private messages.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

Payment systems

This is the soft spot of many freelance marketplaces, which most often focus on payment systems popular in developed countries, while completely ignoring possible payment methods for residents of developing countries. When working with a global marketplace, it is important to consider, not only as many universal payment methods as possible, but also currencies. It will attract the attention of many freelancers who are not ready to lose a huge percentage due to conversion fees.

Security is also important – funds from the client’s account are held in a neutral account for several days before reaching the contractor. During this time the customer manages to approve the contract, and the freelancer will not be left without money since it is impossible to order something without the required amount on the account.

Reviews

The employer, as well as the contractor, can leave feedback about each other’s profiles. In an ideal scenario, only a verified user can write a comment, and only once.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

Algorithms find contractors for a client according to his geographic location, rating, and price list. They can show both the best candidates for work and those best suited for the client’s jobs (for example, when the customer is ready to decline a well-qualified professional but hire a lower-cost talent).

One of the significant drawbacks of Upwork is the admissibility of the deadline being overdue. The contract is concluded on a specific date, but if the freelancer does not meet the deadline, he will not face penalties. But, for example, the copywriting marketplace iWriter, after the expiration of the agreed period, automatically takes away the refusal and transfers it to others. Because of this, authors often send low-quality articles just to be on time. What’s better? The progress bar gives a correct idea of ​​whether the contractor is in process or not.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

Allow video calls within platforms, let users record voice messages, and share important files here. Screen sharing is also essential.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

This will allow you to resolve issues faster. For example, on Upwork, a client can plan a meeting with a contractor, as in Google Suite. An excellent solution for people who do not speak English well can be live translation (Google Translate API).

Sometimes the customer is dissatisfied with the quality of the work performed, and the freelancer claims that he did everything according to the requirements. In such situations, referees are needed who can understand the situation and decide who is right.

Your dream team should consist of front-end, back-end, DevOps, designer, QA, PM. Choose the right technology stack – architecture, development, database, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

[The APP Solutions layout for a freelance marketplace project]

Step 5. Give timely feedback during the development phase

The client and developer need to define sprint points at which it will be possible to make edits if necessary.

Step 6. Launch the app’s MVP and continue the mobile app’s development

The team should not bring the project to “perfect perfection”. Otherwise they risk never launching.

Step 7. Sign an ongoing support contract

Support (at least for several months) is necessary, not only to fix bugs, but also to understand what can and should be added to the platform to improve usability and expand the functionality.

Pitfalls to Be Aware of During Upwork-like App Development

Delayed payments

To prevent incidents, a transparent account verification system is needed from both sides, so it will not be possible to install a random photo from photo stock. Оne of the significant disadvantages of Upwork is that there are very strict restrictions on customers’ payment cards and payment methods by which contractors can receive their payment. Consequently, if one of these methods is temporarily unavailable, almost half of the Upwork is “frozen.” Therefore, it is crucial to think over several universal payment systems that work throughout the world.

Working with payment methods that only work in US dollars is not a winning strategy. E-wallets already take away a percentage of a freelancer’s earnings. If you consider the percentage spent on conversions, it may turn out to be a completely ludicrous amount. As a result, freelancers will look for a marketplace that works with their own currency, or at least a payment method that works legally in their country.

The problem already mentioned above regards the passage barrier to work on the freelance marketplace: not to moderate at all or conduct a strict selection? It seems that a platform which has just started working, and has no credits, will find it challenging to get good freelancers – experts in their fields. A rating system can solve the quality dropout problem. Having handed over several projects, the performer receives feedback from employers based on which his rating is formed. Before submitting a project, the client can familiarize himself with the candidate’s experience.

Another dilemma is that beginners do not understand how much their services should cost and may unconsciously overestimate or underestimate themselves. In the same way, any entrepreneur who has not previously encountered a specific type of activity may not know a fair price for the job he offers. Therefore, an algorithm that gives both the client and provider an understanding of the  usual price of services would come in handy.

Developing a Freelance Marketplace like Upwork with The APP Solutions

Although there are already more than enough platforms, you can still find your way, as the number of freelancers around the world is growing every day. So you can create both an all-for-all platform and a niche product. The APP Solutions can help you with this. 

There are two options for creating a marketplace:

• Template
• Own development

The first option is suitable if you are not completely sure of your idea and want to test what will come of it. However, if you have a clear business strategy, and fully-fledged roadmap in your hands, you need to work according to the second option.

FAQ

How does Upwork work?

The AI algorithm analyzes a customer’s ad and suggests freelancers best suited for a specific project based on job type, order value, and other individual wishes. Furthermore, those who have found each other conclude a contract and work on the project begins.

The main source of income is the commission charged to the contractor. Clients can also cover some of the costs through a premium account. This immediately makes him more attractive in the eyes of the contractors. 

Depending on the amount of the transaction, the commission itself also varies (20% for orders up to $5,000, 10% – up to $10,000, 5% – from $10,000). In addition, the platform charges contractors for payment processing and an administration fee of 2.75%.

Here is a common set of features for freelance websites like Upwork:

• Registration and user profile
• Advanced search
• Payment processing and transaction fees
• Job listing
• Bidding mechanism
• Messenger
• PM tools
• Payment methods

It depends on the feature list. If you need a simple service provider marketplace, it will take 6 to 8 weeks only, and if you need a complete clone of Upwork, it will take 3 to 3.5 months.

We’ll stand behind your platform and provide you 6 months of support for any code-related errors. In addition, we will be available to you anytime when you get issues or want to extend further.What is covered in the maintenance period?

Free support includes fixing of any code related errors for 6 months but if you need any upgrades or want to add any new features then that will be chargeable.

Among the many different applications, games have been the undisputed market leaders for several years. However, this does not mean that smartphone owners prefer only to have fun. According to Google, back in 2016, 73% of smartphone users used at least one finance management app. And already AppsFlyer pointed to a 354% growth in the popularity of personal finance apps in the 5 years from 2014 to 2019.

In addition, the emphasis is on the fact that it is mobile applications, not web versions, that are now a more promising segment. According to Allied Market Research the U.S. personal finance software market size was valued at $232 million in 2018 and is expected to reach $343 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 5% from 2019 to 2026.

What is a Finance App and Why do People Need Them

Al finance app, also known as money management or budget app, is a mobile personal income/expense tracking application with a variable functions set that allow you not only to control personal spends, but also advise where to invest. So the user can not only save, but also earn.

All accounts, bank cards, e-wallets, and other money custodians are collected in one place. The information is systematized, analyzed, and the user observes his/her expenses on charts and diagrams ad oculos. If the first created financial apps required a person to contribute all their income and expenses, everything could be done automatically. Every cup of coffee and every donut counts – they shall not pass! However, manual versions of money management apps are still in demand. Financial apps help:

• Take control of your spending
• Save money for a substantial purchase
• Collect an amount for a rainy day
• Deal with tax charges
• Get out of debt with the least losses

The same Google statistics suggest that users abandon half of the applications because they find something more interesting, suitable in functionality, and meeting current needs. On average, users who decide to control their finances tend to download 2-3 apps because they cannot find all the functions they need in one place. Is this not a reason to create the “perfect” application for your target audience? And The APP Solutions can meet this challenge.

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Types of personal finance apps

As we have already mentioned above, most often, budgeting apps are divided into two types:

• Manual (simple)
• Automatic (complex)

In the first case, all data is entered by the user himself. In the second, electronic transactions provide such information to the personal finance app.

The advantage of manual budgeting apps can be called a “psychological” moment at which the person driving all the expenses realizes that some of them could have been avoided. Accordingly, he/her has a better idea of ​​what to save on and where to fork out. Such applications are more secure in terms of security. Plus, their interface is much simpler. Among the minuses is the human factor. The user can not only make a mistake when entering data, but also banally forget to enter something.

In contrast, automatic management apps do not forget anything (unless the payment was made in cash and is not registered) and save time. Security issues can arise, but if you invest in good cyber defense, nothing will happen.

Accordingly, the first type of personal finance app is much easier and cheaper to develop. But in the future, the second may be more advantageous due to broader functionality.

Note that fintech applications also include:

• Peer to Peer Payments App
• Full-Service Banking App
• Money Investment Management App
• Financial Management Software
• Bookkeeping Software
• Financial Forecasting Apps

However, here we will be talking solely about personal money management apps.

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How a Personal Finance App Makes Money

How can you earn money on a finance app? Well, the most obvious way is to pay for it, invite potential customers to get a monthly or yearly subscription. However, for users to understand what they are paying for, they need to be given a trial period or make the basic set of features free for all time – the so-called freemium model.

For example, one of the most popular personal finance apps in the world, Mint, is available for free, but for a fee, you will receive, not only a set of more advanced features, but also personalized offers. The AI ​​of the application, based on the financial situation, makes calculations and, based on them, offers the most relevant investments, loans, credit cards and types of savings that would ideally suit a particular user. And U.S. users for a separate monthly subscription get the opportunity to communicate with a live financial advisor.

Another easy way to make money on a financial application is an affiliate program (advertising, which can be turned off for a nominal fee).

A personal finance app vs. Covid 19

Deprived of the opportunity to spend money offline for a long time, confused people worldwide have reduced their spending. However, now, when the market is slowly recovering and people are happy to leave their homes, the mood to spend what they have not spent encourages impulsive purchases. To control themselves, many users download personal finance apps.

Even without the peak of Covid restrictions in 2019-2020, the Asian market grew significantly – weekly use of fintech applications in Japan grew by 55% between December 29, 2019, and March 1, 2020. Whereas in Western Europe and the United States (only 20%), money management applications were used less often. In France and Spain, the growth was zero.

This suggests that emerging markets are more promising for budget mobile apps. So, among the attractive countries, Apptopia analysts named Brazil, Turkey, and Ukraine. That is, countries where the general level of financial literacy of the population and its training in educational institutions leaves much to be desired, which causes users to need money management apps.

What is the Best Personal Finance App

According to Investopedia, the best financial mobile apps at the moment are:

At the same time, in addition to the budget management apps listed above, Forbes advises Personal Capital, Good Budget, Stash, Honeydue, Digit… All of them received a score of 3.5 out of 5 and higher. Each personal finance app has its own strengths.

How to Create a Budgeting App that People will Want to Use

What do users want to see in the perfect finance app? In fact, many of them initially don’t even know what they want. They just download the apps recommended by friends or ratings and see how easy or difficult it is to figure out how to use it, exclaiming along the way: “Oh, this is an interesting thing, I didn’t even think it was possible. Well, I’ll use it.”

Remember that finance isn’t always a deeply personal, intimate topic. Many couples have all their accounts in common. Also, a lot of parents want to teach children from an early age financial literacy through gadgets, because in the digital era, not textbooks, but smartphone screens for children have become the best teachers.

So, when developing a concept it is best to contact competitors who are already working with your target audience. Your money management app should balance between information content and simplicity that won’t scare an uninformed user the first time they open it. Keep in mind that a financial application must meet these criteria:

• Minimalistic interface. Study your audience. Your task is to ensure that any option in the personal finance app is within a 3-step accessibility maximum. Make the home page as simple as possible, and at the same time, visually attractive so that there is a desire to download your budgeting app from the first screen.
• Comprehensibility. Each hierarchy should be logically built. Each schedule should be clearly substantiated. The financial due diligence process should be as fast and straightforward as possible since people use financial applications on the run.
• Micro animation. It helps to better explain what you want to focus the user’s attention on. Various buttons, sliders, dynamic charts, and other interactive elements, help to  show more clearly the success and gaps in a person’s budgeting.

Separately, we’d like to note how important two-way communication with the client is. If your finance app has technical support (even if not round-the-clock, and in a chatbot-form), this will significantly elevate you over competitors.

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Trends in personal finance app development

In addition to the standard set of options found in every second budget app, it is very important to keep up with the times and try to win with attractive features that will make your budget application even more attractive.

Consider implementing artificial intelligence first. Algorithms will help the application form personal advice for users: indicate excessive spending, suggest how best to manage the rest of the monthly budget, advise how to build your budget in accordance with the goals of each specific user…

Another important point that a wide variety of personal finance apps have increasingly begun to implement is voice commands. Agree that voicing your expenses and the categories you need at the moment is much faster than typing them.

The easiest way to achieve the maximum simplicity of the money management app mentioned above is to place the expense history on the main page. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this is exactly what users come for, so now it has become a trend among budget apps.

Do not offer users a simple cost calculator – often, these are people who have no idea how to save their money. Instead, give them a clear outline that will allow them to streamline their spending, see their gaps, and correct mistakes from the very first month of using the budgeting app.

Finally, to attract as many users as possible to your side, introduce an element of gamification so that the boring practice of balancing an account will become an extraordinary incentive for the user. Reward the user for fulfilling the plan on a monthly budget, help the user playfully achieve the desired result:

• Add the option to “compete” with family and friends
• Make an attractive visualization of savings growth so that the user can literally feel and see the increase in their income
• Add a strategy element to the application.

 

For example, personal finance apps like Nestlings and Fortune City may entice you to make smart financial moves to advance your virtual characters’ storylines. If this approach is made correctly, the application is bound to succeed!

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Psychology of personal finance management

For the target audience to hire us for jobs to be done, you need to understand what an ordinary user expects from personal finance applications. There are two main groups among users of budgeting apps.

• Spenders
• Savers

 

Those who cannot control their budget without help, and those who know how to distribute their expenses correctly, like to track the dynamics of cash receipts and spending visually.

As practice shows, it is better not to be limited to one of these two groups but to work with both at once. Help spenders keep their money within limits so that they don’t exceed their salary. And show savers what useful things they can do with their saved money. Debt is bad. Emergency funds are good. Overdrawing your account is bad. Earning interest on your savings is good.

With a set of useful options and minimalistic design, you should be able to catch even people who are not interested in financial applications, who are scrolling through Apple Store or Google Play Market in search of useful applications.

What people expect from a money management app

In order that your budget app is wanted to be downloaded and not abandoned after the second entry, you should focus on the user’s needs, both in form and in content. An application should not only keep up with the times in terms of technology and UX/UI design but also offer users the options they need, including:

• Simple authorization and personal account without redundant functions
• Ability to bind to bank cards, integration with banks, scan checks
• Transactions history, as well as their tracking, viewing balances on accounts and cards
• Limit on spending – per day/week/month
• Categorization of expenses for food, clothing, rent, taxi, household appliances, unplanned expenses
• All conceivable and inconceivable reports and statistics in dynamics (comparison of spending with other family members or a certain product in different stores)
• Setting goals and tracking progress
• Tips on financial literacy, such as how to save up for a large purchase
• Reminder about paying taxes, fees, fines, etc.
• Standard features of any fintech app: calculator, currency converter, exchange/cryptocurrency indices, regular payments calendar, etc.
• Payment templates
• Search
• Backup (is a must!)

But the most important thing is safety. According to Google statistics, 30% of financial applications succumbed to hacker attacks. In this regard, always build budgeting apps with a secure cloud infrastructure, conduct penetration testing and security audits. When building a personal finance app it’s important to pay attention to PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). And, of course, choose trusted developers to collaborate with.

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Personal Finance Management Mobile App Development

First, you need to understand what kind of team you need to develop a financial application. This usually includes:

• Project manager
• Android developer
• iOS developer
• Front-end developer
• Back-end developer
• QA engineer
• UI/UX designers

You will work closely with this team for the next six months (the time may vary depending on the number of team members and your willingness to invest).

App development process: a step-by-step guide

The algorithm for creating a budget application is not very different from making any other. Specificity with emphasis on safety. Otherwise, as always, you need to go through a similar algorithm of actions.

1. Market research and analytics 
2. Development process
3. Security
4. App design
5. Testing and launching

Now a little more detail about each step.

Market research and analytics

First of all, you need to study your target audience. What needs should your proposal cover? What are they waiting for? An analysis of competitors’ financial applications follows from this. What have they not yet managed to offer the public, and what are their strengths? What interesting features can you take on board for yourself, and what weaknesses can you improve? It is important to study the market itself to understand where the industry may move in the future and, as a result, your application.

It is also essential to analyze marketplaces and other advertising spaces to place your personal finance app.

Development process

The technology stack should focus on adaptability, scalability, debugging capabilities, and security. At this stage, experts decide which technology and platform to choose and determine the desired functionality. This phase also includes the technical specifications for creating the application and the product information model. But it’s not just technical nuances that play a role in this step. Business processes need to be modeled as well.

Security

When developing a security system, there is never “too much.” This delicate process should be carried out by real professionals who, among other things, could establish:

• Bank-grade data encryption
• Two-factor authentication
• SSL and HTTPS protocols
• Bio authentication
• Reverse for inactive sessions 

This is just a basic package of precautions, you can always discuss additional measures with security experts that would add more security components and, at the same time, will not slow down the operation of the mobile app.

App design

What have we already mentioned several times? Simplicity rules! The clearer you explain complex fintech questions for users, the more likely your budget app will be downloaded.

For example, a familiar hamburger menu, loved by many users, can play a bad joke in this case since it only shows a few functions. There is a chance that the user simply will not see what he needs (although in fact it is) and will leave. Menu bar tabs looks more organic, but there is also a priority issue here.

Speaking of priorities – Priority + Navigation Pattern seems to be the best combination for a financial application. However, only if these very priorities are set as logically as possible, otherwise the venture risks failing. Likewise, a floating button menu can only work profitably if its design is really damn good.

There are also options for gesture-based navigation and full-screen navigation – we do not recommend this. However, this type of design can work with proper design.

Testing and launching

Now it’s time for QA engineers. Before launching a financial application it is important to check the correctness of all calculations, the order of transactions, and test performance. It is important to check the application’s update ability and normal operation in case of complications in functionality. 

But security testing is an absolute priority to ensure that personal data is transmitted after encryption and that the data transmission channel is secure. After that, you can move on to production.

To avoid wasting time on cooperation with each freelancer separately, it is better to turn to outsource services where there is already a well-coordinated team of specialists sharpened for the development of such projects as in The App Solutions.

Thus, creating an application like Mint or YNAB will take at least 2,000-2,500 hours of work. 

Outcomes

The personal finance app market offers many solutions, but none are perfect. Each of them, offering a certain range of services, chose a specific feature that performed best. This is exactly why people download the application following their needs.

You can still find an unfilled niche and become a leader there. To do this, you need to monitor the market, decide on a concept, draw up a roadmap and contact our company for development. The App Solutions will make an MVP version, gradually adding new useful options, as well as help with project support.

Could you have imagined 15 years ago that you would be able to talk to a phone and it would perform tasks by itself with only voice commands and no actions on your part? Supposedly not. Maybe it would have sounded crazy at that time, but now it’s real and available for everyone – Artificial Intelligence has no limits if talking about solution integration in the tech world.

Voice assistants are not fantasies of our imaginations any longer. While people are busy with their lives, and usually lack time for searching and basic phone and life management, virtual assistants save people time and accomplish these tasks for them. Moreover, virtual assistants are not just smart software for users, but a friend whom they can ask for help. 

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Siri, Aleksa, Cortana, and Google Assistant have become some of peoples’ best friends today and the fact that they are not real people doesn’t make them less important to us. Life gets easier with voice assistants, as they are here for us any time we wish to use them. All we have to do is to say ‘Hey, …” and they will immediately do what we want or search for what we need. 

[Source: xChip]

Voice Assistants: What Are They and Why Are They So Popular?

Voice assistants are software agents that can perform tasks based on audio commands, which makes them irreplaceable in life today.

Voice assistants can help a person with the following tasks:

• To call, send a message, open and read messages sent to you
• Find news, weather forecasts, currency, definitions
• Create reminders, notes
• Add events to a calendar, schedule meetings
• Perform general screen actions (i.e., set an alarm, increase the brightness of a screen, turn on/off Wi-Fi connection, play music)
• Navigation searches: to show the road from point A to point B
• Entertainment: interesting events in the city, what film to watch, where to go on the weekends

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Let’s discover together what brings voice assistants such popularity among users, and why they’re the right tool for your business development:

• Simple to find and use: screen usage is no longer required to do something on your phone. Your voice is the key instrument.
• Fast: in the traditional format, you have to unlock your phone, find Google, type what you want to find, wait for a search, read several titles to choose what link is the most suitable for you, and then search for a specific part of a text. With a virtual assistant, it takes requires only the time for you to say what you want and immediately get a result
• Effective: users are more likely to find the right answer to a request with the help of a voice assistant rather than by themselves. The system built inside a voice assistant allows to define the most suitable answer and provide this to users while being checked and confirmed.

One more important reason to mention here is that voice assistants can help people fulfill their need to feel important. Voice assistants can serve as personal secretaries, so people can imagine themselves as business people who are always busy and have much to do. Furthermore, searching for how to cook a grilled chicken, for example, makes them feel that they are doing something more important than just making dinner.

The Guide on How to Build Your Own AI Assistant

Nowadays, the inclusion of virtual assistants in an app’s functions is a good advantage for an app, but in a couple of years, it will become an essential demand to keep an app competitive on the market and worth the users’ attention. This is why you should start planning your mobile app development immediately with an included virtual assistant.

We have prepared a step by step guide in order to help you create an AI voice assistant:

Step 1 Plan your voice assistant app strategy

Your voice assistant app should be created with a specific goal while focusing on your target audience. Some voice assistants are working mostly with work tasks like Cortana, and others with daily routine activities like Google Assistant. Your task at this stage of voice assistant app development is to define what will be the unique service you will offer to your users, and based on this, we will talk about what features to include.

You can go through the most time-consuming tasks people are performing every single day and discover how your voice assistant can automate these tasks.

[Source: Voice Assistant Consumer Adoption Report]

Keep in mind that the purpose of creating an AI voice assistant should lie not only in helping your business but in helping your users who will later use your app if it’s helpful to them. That’s why it’s important to include the users’ preferences in app development. The kind of tasks a voice assistant can help with, the tone of voice, manner of speaking,  duration of pauses – all of these matters. 

The idea here is not to become another feature-packed technology but to achieve a user-friendly experience so users can feel like talking to their friends via phone, not just to phone. What makes people return to an app is a personality they like and are comfortable with 24/7.

Step 2 Integrate a voice assistant to your app with custom APIs and AI tools. 

Adding and integrating an existing voice assistant like Siri and Google is now recommended by MindMeld research, as they are among the leaders according to user opinion. So let’s take a look at these 2.

Siri

Since 2016 it is possible for third-party apps to incorporate Siri, as it launched a special tool – Apple SiriSDK which provides 2 types of extensions for Siri integration: Intents which is responsible for doing tasks such as calling and messaging, and Intents UI which visually controls brand and custom content on the user’s interface.

These Intents extensions are possible tasks a user can request. The system processes them as classes with certain properties. For example, a user wants to know the weather forecast for the next week in a specific city. Having received a voice task to perform, the system defines the properties for it – here we have properties such as specific dates and the indicated location – which then transfers them to the app extension that gives us an appropriate result.

[Source: Quora]

However, Apple has some restrictions for design, so it can be a problem for developers if creative solutions need to be added.

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Google

Google works almost the same as Siri but it is much easier as it doesn’t concern developers with design limitations or set boundaries regarding their imagination.  Basically, it offers 2 ways of how to make your own AI assistant within it – Google Now and Voice Actions.

Google Now is a highly technological voice assistant that can understand, process, analyze, and complete requests from users. However, only selected apps such as eBay and Airbnb can be granted the possibility to use Google Now and create their own Now Cards while using special APIs.

In any case, you still can register and use Voice Actions API to create the possibility to use voice commands both on phones and computers for your users. This is simpler than Google Now but can only perform requests through voice recognition. However, there is a specific requirement in order to use Voice Actions – you have to register an app on Play Market and have it approved. In fact, the approval process in Google is shorter than in Siri’s case. Follow the guide on how to start using this platform.

Step 3 Add essential features

Here is a list of requirements needed for the creation of an AI voice assistant from scratch:

Voice/speech to text (STT)

Voice assistants as software agents can process only digital messages. So, they convert voice tasks given by users into the text to be able to analyze them and perform them. This process can be implemented by a software called CMU Phoenix.

TTS process

The TTS process works the same as the STT process but in the opposite way. With TTS, text data, such as information on weather, can be translated and provided in human speech. CMU Phoenix program is a tool to be used.

Decision Making

This process defines your voice assistant app’s effectiveness at this stage, the AI technology analyzes a user’s request, interprets it and gives the answer. The response is made through tagging elements that can be relevant for the user.  For example, if a user wants to find a film to watch in a cinema, a voice assistant gathers all possible options that may be interesting for the user based on his/her previous requests. The smarter a voice assistant is, the more it is aware of the user’s preferences, so the more relevant answer it can provide. 

Noise elimination

People use their phones on the streets, in a cafe, in general, in crowded and noisy places. This feature defines how clearly your AI assistant will hear a user despite all the noise in the background. Noise control minimizes or absolutely eliminates sounds that are not related to the user’s voice or the request itself. 

Voice recognition

If you don’t add voice recognition technology to your voice assistant, your users will likely be misunderstood by assistants and given the wrong answer as a result. This also helps you to prevent such comic situations where a voice assistant responds to voices from TV shows, animal sounds, etc. 

Compress the speech

This feature is responsible for the fast delivery of an answer to the user. The server on which the communication with the user is recorded should be reliable and safe. It’s recommended to use the G.711 standard to avoid losing data.

UI/UX experience

The Voice interface is what a user receives in response to a request: a screen, voice,  manner of speaking, etc. All of this creates the user’s experience as the user doesn’t want just to have an answer, but also, high-level service. So, think about the visual and audio representation a user will receive as feedback from your app.

You can find plenty of platforms to build your own AI assistant on, but you have to be sure that this group of people can provide a set of features you’re planning to include in your app. Contact us to, not only build a voice assistant but to ensure its efficiency for your business.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CREATE A CHATBOT: PLATFORM VS. CUSTOM

Conclusion

Voice assistants tend to be a good addition to mobile app development, which leaves us with no doubt that voice assistants must be considered while building a mobile app.

Your task as a business owner is to take care of your target audiences’ needs and help them in organizing their lives. This will make your app the first thing users turn to for information and help. Let’s leave simple tasks to voice assistants – they already know what the answer is, just ask them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous challenges to the healthcare system across the globe, including a lack of medical equipment, beds, and personnel to provide adequate care to patients. At the same time, the global transport lock-down and the threat of being infected in crowded places, such as waiting rooms in hospitals, has made offline consultations with medical specialists almost impossible. 

The bright side is that crises bring great opportunities for innovations, making telemedicine software no longer just something nice-to-have, but instead, a must-have for private clinics and healthcare organizations.

There are two ways you can implement a telehealth solution to your medical practice. In our previous article on how to develop a telemedicine app, we talked about developing such software from scratch. But, if you have a lack of time and resources for developing telehealth apps, do not despair, you still have an opportunity to leverage a ready-made telemedicine app and provide medical consultations via video, while paying affordable subscription fees.

In this article, we will share handy tips on how to narrow down your needs and wants on a platform and select the most suitable telemedicine app for doctors from the number of solutions on the market. We also review five telemedicine platforms in terms of security, features, and pricing. 

Essential telehealth features to pay attention to 

The choice of the right telehealth platform will significantly influence not only the quality of video connection, but also the loyalty of your patients, the time you save on manual data input, and the security of your patients’ sensitive data. Below we’ve listed features we believe are most important to telehealth technology selection. 

Regulation compliance on data security 

Different countries have different data security policies for storing patient-sensitive data. There are HIPAA, PHI, and HITECH regulations for the United States, GDPR, and The Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive in the European countries, The Data Protection Act (DPA) in the United Kingdom, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act in Canada. All of these regulations concern saving patient data on mobile devices that could be lost or stolen. Thus, to avoid million-dollar penalties for patient data breaches, pay extra attention to data encryption and regulation compliance for your telehealth vendor. 

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE ON MOBILE APP HIPAA COMPLIANCE

Business association agreement 

A Business Association Agreement is an integral part of adopting telehealth software to your practice. The BAA ensures that the platform does not record your sessions with patients. Also, the agreement includes specified conditions of how your telemedicine provider will store and care for your patient information on their servers. Thus, you need to find a telehealth platform that will sign a BAA with you without hesitation. 

Video calls 

Video appointments are an essential feature of most telemedicine software. Be aware that the platform should have secured video streaming of high quality. We also think that screen sharing features, and secure group calls with other medical professionals or patient relatives will be handy for complicated cross-disciplinary cases and bring more value to your patients’ treatment plans. 

TELEMEDICINE VS. TELEHEALTH: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE ON THE DIFFERENCES & BENEFITS

Instant messaging

The platform should include instant messaging and file-sharing features to enable communication with patients before or after a video appointment. If your practice requires a connection with medical specialists from other departments, consider telehealth software that includes a group chat feature that follows all regulations on data security in your region. 

Virtual waiting room

Often, medical consultations may take longer than expected or a patient may be late. Your telehealth solutions should include a virtual waiting room to avoid mismatching on electronic lines. This looks like a landing page where patients can wait for their digital appointment to begin. Such a virtual waiting room shows your patients their place in line, and the estimated time for when their video consultation will begin. You can customize such a waiting room by adding information relevant to your practice, such as notes for patients, educational articles, videos, or infographics. From your side, you can see the number of patients waiting in queues sorted by the time they entered the waiting room. Thus, you can easily estimate your time and effort and provide high-quality consultation to each patient. 

HOW TO MAKE EHR/EMR EPIC INTEGRATION WITH YOUR HEALTH APP

Technical support

The telehealth software provider should understand that you trust them with your business, and any technical errors or downtimes impact your practice and income. Thus, the telemedicine vendor should provide you with technical support during your working hours and be able to solve any issue via online-chat, video calls, or at least via email.  

Onboarding and demos 

Adopting new software is always a challenge, especially for non-tech people such as medical specialists. That is why video demonstrations, staff training, and learning materials by telehealth platforms are essential. The sooner you and your medical staff learn how to use the software, the faster your medical organization will start providing video consultations to patients. 

AGILE HEALTHCARE: HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE APPROACH

Telehealth cost 

Depending on your healthcare organization’s size, you need to find a platform with the most suitable pricing. Thus, when selecting your telemedicine platform, consider that some providers charge different fees. Some of them charge a monthly-based subscription fee (from $30.00 to over $900.00), while others apply a per-consultation pricing policy. Also, the telehealth platform’s subscription fee may depend on the number of medical specialists in your organization. On average, the costs vary from $75.00 to over $150.00 per organization. Thus, to avoid paying extra fees, select the platform with the most comfortable pricing policy for telemedicine services. 

Integration into the existing ecosystem 

If you use EHR, EMR, or another system to keep track of your patients’ records, ask a platform’s salesperson whether their telemedicine solution could be integrated into your existing ecosystem. At this stage, also consider that such an integration is a job for professional web developers because not all platforms provide a dedicated development team to integrate telemedicine into your working environment. Another vital feature to ask about is an online payment gateway and electronic billing to send invoices to your patients and enable them to pay with their credit cards. 

KEEP A PULSE ON EPIC APP ORCHARD AND HOW IT BENEFITS THE HEALTH SYSTEMS

Now that you know about the essential features of your telemedicine software, let’s find out more about solutions currently presented on the market. 

Related reading: 

Calmerry Telemedicine Platform Case Study 

Nioxin Consultation App for Coty-owned Brand Case Study 

5 Best telemedicine software solutions overview

Our clients often ask us to integrate telemedicine software into their existing environments. While some clients have several solutions in mind, others ask us to do market research and find the best possible option. Below we have gathered reliable telemedicine software companies our clients chose for their practice.  

Doxy.me 

Doxy.me is a HIPAA-compliant telemedicine software, available for web, iOS, and Android platforms for running video appointments with patients. Thus, to use Doxy.me, you don’t need to download it to your device or desktop, and the platform does not store any information about your patients. The platform has a point-to-point NIST-approved AES 128 bit encryption along with SHA256 used for all video & audio communication and encryption and 256-bit AES encryption used on all data stored at rest with secure backups. Doxy.me has a full-set of telemedicine features, including video calls, text messages, voice calls, and waiting rooms, secured over TLS (HTTPS). 

[Source]

The platform has a separate section for Business Association Agreement, where you can add information about your organization, its members, and upload a signed agreement. Doxy.me has numerous learning materials on its Youtube channel, but person-to-person training sessions are also available. 

Doxy.me has a free version and two paid tiers. With the free version, you receive a full set of telemedicine software features, including 

• Personalized room URL
• Unlimited number of sessions and minutes 
• Video calls 
• Text chat 
• Meeting history 
• Patients queue 
• Waiting room
• Online help pages and email support

Free Doxy.me version is your perfect choice if you want to try the platform before paying a monthly subscription. 

FEMTECH IN HEALTHCARE: HOW TO MAKE IT EFFECTIVE

As for paid plans, Doxy.me has two options. 

• For individual providers $35/month 
• Clinic providers from $50/month

Paid versions offer more advanced features, such as 

• Room passcode 
• Edit waiting room 
• Text & email notifications
• Payments 
• Group calling 
• Screenshare
• On-demand chat with a technical support team

And others. You can see the full paid feature list at the official Doxy.me website. 

comjoodoc

сomjoodoc is an on-premise platform, which means you can run it on your physical hosting server. It includes a set of communication tools to integrate depending on your needs. Mainly, the platform serves the German region. Thus, it meets all the regulations of European data security, including GDPR. But soon, сomjoodoc will also be HIPAA-compliant. The platform’s security package includes anonymous personal data, end-to-end encrypted real-time communication, and encrypted data storage. 

[Source]

сomjoodoc offers a set of tools not only for video appointments with patients, but also for creating a networked collaboration with other medical specialists. 

• Meet for secured video appointments with patients or group video conferences with other medical specialists via a web application
• Call for voice calls via telephone systems, smartphones, tablets, or laptops. 
• Chat with a secured message exchange among your patients or medical specialists network, appointment confirmations, and so on. 
• Community for topic-specific group chats with other medical specialists
• Data for secured file exchange only with authorized users. 
• Easy patient mobile app for video consultations and text chat, the transmission of appointments, vital signs, well-being, medication plans or laboratory results, digital prescriptions, or disability certificates

[Source] 

In case of the platform’s downtimes, you can receive technical support via online chat during working hours. 

Since comjoodoc’s feature set is tailored to your specific needs, the price of such a solution is calculated individually by the platform’s representatives. 

Spruce Health

Spruce is a HIPAA-compliant platform for video and messaging communication between you and your patients. This telemedicine software also ensures secured notes, VoIP phone communication, and voicemail transcription. 

[Source] 

You can choose among free and paid Spruce versions. 

The Basic Spruce plan includes a trial period for 60 days per user, per month, then the platform will charge $24. This tier includes essential features for successful telemedicine consultations

• Video Calling
• Spruce Visits 
• Secure Team Messaging 
• Spruce Phone Number 
• E-Fax 
• Business Associate Agreement (BAA)

Communicator plan will cost you $49 per user, per month. In includes the same features as the Basic plan, and several advanced functions

• Custom Inbox Configuration 
• Phone Trees 
• Practice Hours 
• Workflows 
• Mobile Payments

Spruce provides all users with free learning materials and supports integration with your existing EMR system. Also, Spruce includes resource management capabilities for workflow automation, which is handy for medium to big clinic owners. Spruce also includes a built-in payment gateway for billing patients after video consultations. 

Mend (Mendfamily)

Mend, also known as MendFamily, is a secured telehealth platform that meets HIPAA, HITECH Act, E-Sign Act, COPPA, ADA WCAG 2.0, CAN-SPAM, TCPA, & 42 CFR Part 2 regulations. The platform will sign a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) with your organization before you start providing video consultations with your patients. To keep information about your patients and appointments secure, the platform leverages API, HL7 (Health Level 7 for transfer of clinical and administrative data), and SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol). 

[Source]

If you own a medium or large healthcare organization, Mend is your platform of choice. 

The platform includes all functions for effective health services and convenient communication with patients: 

• Patient access to video appointment via the link
• Communication via audio, video, and instant messaging 
• Screen sharing feature 
• Electronic paperwork
• Integrated payments
• Electronic queue
• Appointment scheduling and reminder
• Profile customization for your clinic identity

The platform’s support team has an average response time of 23 seconds, so in case you or your patients face some technical issues, you will immediately receive support. 

Before you decide that this is the best telehealth solution for your practice, you can run demonstration sessions with Mend’s representatives. 

The platform offers three pricing options, different in length and features provided: 

• A monthly subscription of $59, includes a 7-days free trial and a full package for telemedicine software features. 
• Annual Subscription is 17% cheaper than the previous option, so you pay only $49 per month. 
• Mend Pro Telehealth includes EHR/PMS integration and is calculated on demand. 

OnCall Health

OnCall Health is compliant with both HIPAA and PIPEDA regulations. The platform encrypts all video consultations with a 256-bit encryption protocol and does not record or store them. Before you start using the platform, you must sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). 

[Source]

The platform provides visitors with a full-stack feature set for telehealth:

• 1-on-1 or group video appointments and group video calls up to 25 participants
• Encounter-based instant messaging
• File sharing 
• Provider-led or patient-led appointment booking
• Digital custom intake forms
• Automatic billing and appointment reminders
• Payment processing 
• Custom, branded receipts

OnCall Health offers three payment options for clinical practices of all sizes. All plans include one on one training and full-time technical support.

• Basic plan (from $49.00/month) includes a primary feature set for telehealth appointments.
• Premium tier has more advanced features, including a roster to manage patient records, charting, and session notes, including templates, custom digital intake, and assessment forms. Prices are provided by request. 
• In the Enterprise plan, you will find EMR integration, analytics dashboard, patient-provider matching, configurable workflow, and multilingual interface, available in English and French. Prices are provided by request.

Premium tier also includes a white label feature, which means you can customize your account on OnCall Health with a custom domain and change the design to meet your clinic’s identity. 

Telemedicine software platforms comparison 

To help you select the most suitable telemedicine platform, we gathered their essential features and pricing policies in the comparison table below. 

Platform	Doxy.me	comjoodoc	Spruce Health	Mend (Mendfamily)	OnCall Health
Practice size	For small, medium, and big	For medium and big	For small, medium, and big	For medium and big	For medium and big
Region	The U.S.	Europe	The U.S.	The U.S.	The U. S. and Canada
Security and BAA	HIPAA compliant, with Business Associate Agreement	European data security compliant, GDPR, will be HIPAA-compliant soon	HIPAA compliant, with Business Associate Agreement	HIPAA compliant, with Business Associate Agreement	HIPAA and PIPEDA-compliant, with ith Business Associate Agreement
Telemedicine software features	Video calls  Text chat  Meeting history  Patient queue  Waiting room Personal training sessions Payment gateway  EMR integration	Video conference  Document sharing  Instant messaging  Voice calls  EMR integration	Video Calling Spruce Visits  Team Messaging  Secured phone number Payment gateway  EMR integration	Audio consultations   Video consultations  Instant messaging  Screen sharing feature  Electronic paperwork Integrated payments	Video appointments  Instant messaging  Document sharing  Session notes Branded receipts Appointment booking Appointment reminder
Technical support	Online help pages  Email support Online chat	Online chat during working hours	Phone calls during working hours Email support	During 23 second via online chat	Full time technical support
Pricing	Free version available  Basic from $35 per month  Clinic providers from $50 per month	By request	60-days free trial  Basic from $24 per month Communicator $49 per user per month	7-days free trial  Monthly subscription from $59  Annual subscription from 49$ per month Mend Pro Telehealth- by request	Basic plan from $49.00 per month Premium – by request  Enterprise – by request

Adopting a telemedicine software system during COVID-19

With the number of telemedicine solution providers on the market, you can easily find a solution that will meet your practice’s needs, suit your budget, and offer the most relevant feature set. You can select from the ready-made solutions we have listed above, or start your telemedicine software development project, perfectly tailored to your clinic.

Related reading: 

Case Study: Video Streaming App Proof of Concept

What our clients say 

Thanks to the on-demand economy, you can order delicious pizza via UberEats and watch your favorite series on Netflix any time you want. You can apply this business model to your logistics business and create an Uber for trucking. 

By providing on-demand transportation services, you can reduce the number of empty miles, thus, increase your business profitability. 

The considerable success of on-demand transportation services shows us that such apps bring benefits for both shippers and drivers. Shippers send their freight anytime, while logistics companies earn extra revenue. 

 If you’re considering building an Uber for trucks app, let’s find out how it works. You will also need to learn about your competitors and the reasons for their success. In this article, we will also highlight the list of essential features and costs of building such an app. 

How does the Uber for trucks app work?

An on-demand truck sharing app works as a digital broker. It matches shippers, who need to deliver cargo, with carriers who drive to the same destination. 

Such a platform consists of two separate mobile applications (app for shippers and app for drivers). It also includes a web portal for the admin to manage both types of users. Let’s see how it works in more detail. 

• The shipper creates an order via a Shipper app. Here, one adds information about the type of cargo, its size, and height, pick up and drop off location, and the delivery date. 
• The driver sees a list of orders in the Driver app. Depending on their location and load, one accepts or rejects the order placed. After the order is accepted and picked up by the driver, the platform charges the delivery fee to the shipper. The driver receives money only after the cargo is delivered.
• The platform calculates the delivery price depending on the cargo size, weight, and distance of delivery. 

How to monetize a logistics delivery app

There are several ways you can monetize your Uber for trucking apps. 

If you have your own fleet, you receive money directly from shippers. At the end of the month, you give your drivers a bonus earned through on-demand delivery. 

If you don’t, you can offer premium app features for both types of users. They could include real-time vehicle tracking, packaging, insurance, ERP integration, and so on. You can also charge 10-20% service fees calculated from each order placed via a platform. 

Now, let’s take a look at the existing on-demand logistics industry leaders. 

Prominent players of the on-demand trucking industry

Trucking is a huge business. In the U.S. only, it generated $260 billion in revenue, 20% of a global total of $1.2 trillion, according to  McKinsey & Co. Trucks deliver two-thirds of all products shipped each year. Inefficiency attracts technology. So, entrepreneurs and investors have stepped into the market with technology-driven solutions.

Related reading:

• How to develop an application like Uber 
• HYPR taxi app development case study 

To be successful in an on-demand trucking business, you need to be aware of your competitors. And, to be ahead of them, you need to give more value to your customers. Here are the leading players of the U.S. on-demand delivery market and the services they provide. 

Uber Freight 

Uber Freight was launched in 2017. Since then, Uber Freight has attracted over 400,000 drivers and carriers, and over 1,000 shippers. Uber for trucks also partners with big players, such as AB Inbev, Niagara Bottling, and Land O’Lakes. Currently, UberFreight is in the top 15 U.S. freight brokers with a $1bn annualized revenue level. 

The platform has standard logic for an on-demand trucking platform: 

• Truck drivers receive requests from shippers. Such requests include load type, size, and weight. Then, depending on the truckloads, drivers book loads and receive delivery pricing upfront. 
• Shippers can order cargo delivery beforehand via an app or web app. They see different carriers in the Matching section, read reviews, and have their shipment delivered on time. 

Convoy 

[Source]

Convoy is another digital freight network, available for mobile and web platforms. The Convoy logistics app was founded in 2015 in Seattle. Now the platform has 500 employees, has earned $265 million, and reached a value of more than $1 billion. Convoy’s main investors are CapitalG, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and venture capital firm Greylock Partners. 

Like  Uber Freight, Convoy matches shippers and companies with trucks using drivers’ locations. 

• To start receiving requests, drivers need to register in the app and give details about their truck. Carriers also add the pickup and drop off locations on their routes and available updates. 
• Then, the driver sees a shippers’ requests in the Bids section. It includes detailed information about the cargo, the money they will receive for the delivery, and haul length.
• Once the driver has delivered the order, Convoy suggested other shipments nearby in the Reloads section. 

To reduce the amount of paperwork, Convoy has a digital Shipping documents section. Here, shippers can upload all cargo-deleted documents via the web or mobile application. 

Doft

Doft is a small yet prospective on-demand truck sharing platform. It allows freight shippers to book trucks from independent commercial truck drivers via a mobile app. 

App for shippers includes the following functionality: 

• Book regular or prepaid on-demand loads
• Estimate freight rates
• Ask and answer questions via a built-in chat
• See active shipment in real-time and get notifications on the delivery status 

The app also allows shippers to track their cargo in real-time and rate the driver after the delivery.

For drivers, the app offers a bunch of handy features, such as 

• AI-powered Freight market rate forecast
• Rate check – free freight rate calculator & average market rate forecast
• Fuel surcharge calculator
• Calling brokers and shippers right from the app
• Upfront pricing for prepaid loads 
• Loads search based on driver’s favorite lanes, city, state, zip code, or GPS data

Now, let’s look at your app for truck delivery, its essential features, and development costs. 

Essential features for an on-demand trucking app 

As we said earlier, Uber for commercial trucking consists of three main parts. They are the driver app, the shipper’s app, and the web-based admin dashboard. 

As mobile app developers, we recommend starting your app small. This means you need to focus on the most critical functions that will be the core of your app’s first version (MVP). You can then add other features later. We apply this proven project development approach for all sophisticated projects. 

Below, we list essential features for each part of your project and give a list of “nice to have” functions you can add after the project launch. 

Driver app for finding loads 

[Convoy driver app, source]

The main goal of a driver’s truck logistics app is to show new shipping orders and their information (size, weight, description), and allow them to accept or decline orders. 

The app also must include a map with the pickup, drop off location, and allow the driver to receive payments for each order delivered. Thus, essential functionality for a driver’s application is the following:

• Driver registration 
• Vehicle information 
• Current orders list 
• Accept or decline orders functionality 
• Order search section with filtering option
• Order details with shipper contact information
• Build-in payment gateway to receive payments 
• GPS-based map with routes, fuel stations, and motels 
• Digital documentation section to upload the bill of lading 
• Real-time notifications for upcoming job and payment

Shipper app for posting freight 

[Convoy shipper app, source]

An app for the shipper could be web or mobile-based. As a shipper, you need to place a shipping order and provide information about it. Then, select the carrier with the best rates, track your delivery, and pay for it. It would also be great to receive notifications at the end of delivery. Thus, the shipper app should include:

• Shipper registration 
• Order placing section with cargo weight, size, destination, pickup and drop-off location, date of delivery, etc. 
• Online documentation section to upload delivery-related documents 
• List of offers from carriers with estimated delivery time, rates, rating, contact details 
• Payment gateway to pay for the delivery 
• Real-time order tracking on the map 
• Delivery confirmation via uploaded photos 

Admin panel for managing platform 

[Uber Freight fleet management dashboard, source] 

The admin panel is a web-based app to manage the interaction between shippers and carriers. Here, managers will supervise current and finished deliveries, payment transactions, and delivery rates. Admins can also gather and maintain information about users. For these tasks, the admin panel should consist of:

• Two-factor authentication to prevent data breaches and unauthorized access 
• Dashboard with the list of upcoming orders, current orders located on the map, as well as completed deliveries 
• Carrier queries with a list of new drivers who want to register on your platform
• Matching algorithm to match shippers and carriers based on location, freight details, etc
• Billing and invoicing service to approve invoices and billing generated by drivers and shippers. 
• Trip Log Reports to record the duration of every trip booked via your platform. It should include start and end dates and time, miles covered, and orders fulfilled. 

Advanced functions for Uber for trucking applications

Apart from the essential features listed above, you can also integrate some advanced functionality to stand out from your competitors. We suggest such functionality, as 

• Built-in messaging to connect shippers and drivers in real-time
• Real-time traffic analytics and route optimization algorithm to suggest the driver the best route 
• Weather updates to show more realistic delivery time 
• Fuel prices map to offer driver stations with the lowest fuel costs 
• Built-in calendar to allow shippers to schedule the delivery beforehand 
• Suggested shippings to offer carriers new orders on the basis of their current location

For more ideas on how to improve your project, read our article about A.I. in the logistics and transportation industries. 

How much on-demand logistics app development costs  

Several factors impact the cost of a shipping app like Uber. Here are some of them: 

• Number of features 

The more features you want to install, the higher the cost you will pay to your development team. That is why we suggest implementing essential functions first. In this way, you can prove your business idea and check whether such an app would be demanding among your audience.  

Besides this, some features vary in the cost of implementation. For instance, functionality, like calendars, payment gateways, and maps can be implemented via API, which costs about $2,000. On the other hand, sophisticated custom A.I. algorithms need a considerable amount of work and may cost from $10,000 per feature. 

• Number of platforms 

Since the platform includes driver and shipper mobile apps, you need to decide whether to build these apps for iOS or Android. You can also develop apps for both platforms, which will double your expenses. 

To make an informed decision, read our previous article iOS VS Android, where we talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both platforms. In a nutshell, your choice will depend on your audience, the region you launch your transport delivery app, and the essential features of your app. 

To dig deeper into other price-forming factors, check out our article on how to estimate mobile project costs. 

• Location of your development team 

While developers from Eastern Europe and the U.S. have similar skill sets, the prices of their services differ. For example, Ukrainian mobile developers charge $30-45 per hour, while developers from the United States will cost you from $90 per hour. 

To receive handy tips on how to select the best development team, read our previous post. 

Conclusion

Examples of Uber for trucking, Convoy, and Doft, show that the on-demand trucking platform is an excellent way of investing for a startup. Besides this, such a platform can reduce the number of empty miles for an existing logistics business. Thus, you can make your own pickup truck app like Uber and earn money on every mile driven.

To develop a logistics delivery app, you can use the feature list described in this article, or create your feature list to meet your business needs.

What our clients say 

COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, and communicate, such as changes to educational institutions that are seeking for more practical and convenient ways to educate students. Luckily, to provide online education services, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, since E-learning already has proven solutions to offer. Such an e-learning platform allows you to run online courses and earn money for your knowledge. 

In this article, we tell you how to start an online learning platform, their types, and business models you can apply. We also highlight typical features of such a platform and share tips on how to develop an e-learning platform from scratch. 

Types of E-learning Platforms

There are three major types of online education platforms. To start your e-learning business, you need to choose among the following options:

• Open-source online e-learning platforms

Such platforms are ready-made solutions for online learning that have both free and paid tiers. As a rule, SaaS learning platforms have monthly or annual subscriptions. Online e-learning platforms, such as Moodle, Litmos, and BrainCert, are already equipped with many useful features, including interactive exercises, file uploading, books, support forums, online chat with students, and so on. 

With such a platform you can create your teacher profile, upload learning materials, and receive payments from students to your credit card or bank account via an online payment gateway. 

The main disadvantages of open-source learning platforms are lack of customization, online support only for premium members, and a limited number of modules with additional functionality. 

• Online course marketplaces

E-learning marketplaces, such as Udacity, Coursera, and EdX, include numerous courses from different universities and educational institutions. Online learning marketplaces provide both teachers and students with a variety of advanced built-in tools. 

You can upload your video course, create quizzes, grade students, and even give them certificates once they finish your course. 

However, on such a platform, you will have numerous competitors. Thus, to stay competitive and earn money, you should provide a unique course no one else has. 

• Custom E-learning content management systems

You, with your development team, can create an e-learning platform from scratch and empower it with all the functions your educational business needs. In this way, you have total control over your project. Moreover, you can add necessary functionality using third-party plug-ins and APIs at any time. 

[eLearning platform’s architecture outline by The APP Solutions]

This option has more earning potential, compared to previous e-learning software types. Apart from your educational material, you can integrate online courses from partner universities, charge students fees directly without intermediaries, run ads, and grow your platform over time. 

To sum up, all of the e-learning platform types described above are legit for online learning providers. Make your choice depending on your needs, such as customization, features, and future business perspectives.  

E-learning platform business models 

If you are serious about developing your custom e-learning platform, you can apply one of the business models described below.

• Freemium. You can provide students with a limited amount of courses and lessons for free. However, if your students want to receive full access to classes or get a certificate from your educational organization, they must buy a premium account. 
• Subscription. You charge a monthly fee from your students for a monthly or annual subscription. In exchange, you provide students with unlimited access to all courses, learning materials, forums, etc. 
• Advertising. You can run a cost-per-click or cost-per-view advertising campaign and show ads from your partners. However, we recommend running education-related ads, like e-books, workbooks, or textbooks, or at least ads from stationery businesses in order to not compromise your reputation. 
• Sponsored courses. You can charge other educational organizations for promoting their classes at the top of search results. 

Now, let’s see what features you should add to your custom-built e-learning platform. 

Common features of an online learning platform

While e-learning software varies in its type and business models, there are some core features that every online learning platform should include. Below, we list features of the e-learning system’s MVP, i.e., the first version of your project. 

Login 

Registration is the first thing both students and teachers will do on your e-learning platform. The ‘old-school’ way of registering on any website is a combination of email and password. However, most e-learning platforms also provide user authentication via social networks such as Facebook, which is a more streamlined option. Check out how Coursera’s login page looks. 

Profile 

Once the user is registered on your e-learning platform, one needs to fill in a profile. Here, the user needs to give such details as full name, photo, work experience, education, career goals, birthday, gender, and so on. 

Consider that the more the platform knows about your users, the more relevant course recommendations your platform will provide. Thus, you can add as many fields to the user profile as you need. 

Online payments

In this section, your students give information about their payment methods. You can choose among such popular solutions as:

• Debit/credit cards. With this option, the platform will charge fees directly from students’ bank accounts. 
• PayPal. To receive money using this online payment system, both you, your students, and teachers need to have a PayPal account with a virtual visa. Note that PayPal is not available in some countries.  
• Stripe. This payment gateway allows paying via Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Alipay, and even Apple pay. Your developers will integrate it using API, which requires several hours. This payment gateway has a pay-as-you-go pricing policy (from 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). 
• Braintree. This online payment provider allows accepting PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and most credit and debit cards. Braintree pricing starts from 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. 

[The payment gateway in Masterclass e-learning platform]

Home page

Here, users will see a list of course categories, the section with the most popular online courses, recently launched courses, and classes they are currently enrolled in. You can also add a section with Top Free Courses, as well as recommended courses based on the student’s preferences and interests. 

Search, filters, and categories

To make the searching process more convenient for platform users, you can integrate filtering features. In this way, users can filter search results by course level, duration, language, skills, and other parameters. 

Check out how searching filters work for the Coursera website. 

You can also divide courses by categories, which will help students in their search. 

Course page 

After the student has selected the course, they are taken to the Course landing page. 

This page will contain learning materials, a library of pre-recorded videos, a related materials section, grades, and a timeline with the student’s progress. 

To make this page information for your students, consider adding course description and skills it improves, instructor’s picture with a small bio, length of the course and number of students enrolled. 

It’s also handy to add a FAQ section at the end of a Course page where your students will receive answers on the most popular questions, and/or browse related articles. 

Notifications 

Notifications will keep students engaged. You can send notifications right to the students’ browsers, or to their emails. If you consider developing a mobile app version of your platform, you can also send push notifications to their mobile devices. 

Your goal here is to provide essential updates but not to become annoying. For example, the platform can notify students about the beginning of the course, upcoming payments, new courses on topics relevant to students, and so on. 

Quiz 

By using the quiz section, students can check their knowledge after each video lesson. This section could look like a simple test with Yes or No answers, open questions, or even a programming field if you have a developer-oriented e-learning platform. 

You can even integrate a tool with Artificial Intelligence, such as Gradescope, that will check your students’ work and automatically grade them. You can learn more about the use cases of AI in education from our previous articles. 

[Gradescope user interface]

Review and rating 

In this section, users that graduate courses on your e-learning platform can leave reviews about their experience and share how they liked the course. They can also rate the course and its instructor from one to five stars. Students’ ratings, and the number of reviews, will further impact the course position in the search. 

Teacher dashboard 

This section is essential if you allow other teachers and educational organizations to add their courses to your e-learning platform. Here, teachers can manage video courses, add descriptions, check the number of students enrolled, see students’ work, and grade them. 

The teacher dashboard should include a section to upload additional resources, such as PDFs, videos, and audio files.   

Admin panel

Even if you are not going to engage with other educational institutions, you still need an Admin panel to manage your platform. Here, you will control students’ payments, all information about courses, add new classes, maintain information about existing lessons, and so on. 

Now, let’s see how to start your online education website. 

Steps in developing an educational website 

Here we describe all the steps you need to go through for creating web-based training courses and launch a successful e-learning platform. 

Step 1. Create content 

You and your educational organization should create an educational plan for every online learning course, and break it down into lessons. 

Next, you need to start creating online learning content and record video lessons. Consider that such lessons should be both informative and short enough not to bore your students. 

Then, you need to create quizzes or tests for each lesson from your course. Also, think about additional materials and resources so students can receive in-depth knowledge of the topic.  

Step 2. Hire developers 

Finding a great web development team is always challenging. There are thousands of IT teams that claim to be the best in software development. At the same time, having a reliable and qualified tech partner is essential for your e-learning platform’s success. 

In the article about outsourcing web developers, you will find handy tips on how to research, select, and start working with developers that suit your project needs the best. 

For your search, you can use websites with client reviews, such as Clutch and Goodfirms. Don’t forget to check out the team’s portfolio and developers’ tech stack on the team’s Linkedin profile. 

Step 3. Develop an e-learning platform  

After signing an NDA, your development team gathers your requirements for the project and launches the Discovery phase.

During this phase, business analysts, project managers, and project architects will create technical project documentation. Such a document includes a detailed description and business goal of your project, its architecture, tech stack to be applied, and the project milestones and deliverables. 

Another deliverable of the Discovery phase is a clickable prototype of your project with essential elements. 

Once you agree on technical documentation, the e-learning web development team will start developing a project MVP version with only core features. 

To ensure timely feedback from you, and report about the work done, most IT development teams run demo sessions. 

Step 4. Launch eLearning website 

After a final demo, your development team will deploy your eLearning platform’s MVP to the live environment and make it available for your students. Your main goal at this stage is to get as many users’ feedback as you can. In this way, both students and teachers can share their experience with the platform, its usability, and even suggest other features to implement. 

You can gather users’ reviews by sending newsletters to emails, running quizzes in social media like Facebook, or using an integrated Feedback section on your platform.

Step 5. Increase partners network 

To make your e-learning platform successful, you need to partner with other educational organizations. There might be high schools, colleges, universities, other educational institutions, and so on. 

Thanks to such an approach, you will enrich your e-learning platform with unique content on various topics and bring new audiences. 

Now, let’s find out the costs to build an online learning platform. 

Cost of e-learning development

There is no single answer to this question because the cost of an e-learning platform depends on which features you want to integrate, the hourly rates of your software developers, and project timeframes.
For example, if you’re going to launch the platform within 3-4 months, which is half the normal duration of such projects, your team needs to engage two types more developers, which doubles the project’s cost. 

In our experience, the cost of e-learning development varies from $60,000 to $120,000, depending on its complexity.

Conclusion 

The need for online educational software, for all educational organizations, has emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are several options for providing education online, only custom-built e-learning platforms have the most significant earning potential. Applying one of the aforementioned monetization strategies, you can turn your platform for online learning into a profitable business.  

From a developer’s point of view, online education platforms are sophisticated projects. Thus, we recommend launching such projects as MVP, which significantly reduces the time to market and development costs. Such an approach will also help you receive feedback from users and add only those features they need, thus avoiding unnecessary costs.

What our clients say 

Related reading:

CASE STUDY: VIDEO STREAMING APP PROOF OF CONCEPT

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DISCOVERY PHASE OF SOFTWARE PROJECTS WITH THE APP SOLUTIONS

Today, as the Coronavirus outbreak comes to an end, economic activities are starting to normalize. More and more grocers are taking their first steps toward re-opening and customers start shopping offline with less fear. However, not all shoppers are ready to leave their homes to buy fresh groceries. The main reason is that crowded grocery stores remain potential places to be infected. Besides this, many shoppers have tried shopping for groceries via on-demand apps and liked it. 

Thus, you may wonder, “Should I start an app for ordering groceries after COVID-19? Would an online grocery delivery business bring profit once the pandemic is over?” The answer is Yes. And we have some figures to prove it. 

According to Bain & Company’s research, before the pandemic, only 3%-4% of customers used online grocery apps. During the pandemic, this number surged to 10-15%. As a result, established grocery delivery businesses such as Instacart had to hire additional workers to meet the demand. The Instacart app, in particular, received 300% more orders during the first week of March, compared to February’s figures. 

Besides this, 50% of grocery shoppers who currently use on-demand grocery delivery apps claim to continue using these services after the end of the pandemic. Since consumer demand is higher than ever before, it is time to reconsider your grocery infrastructure and adopt a new way of serving customers with an on-demand grocery delivery app.  

We’ve already written about on-demand service apps and apps like UberEats. Now, let’s concentrate on the development of grocery delivery applications similar to Instacart. Below, we’ll talk about types of grocery delivery apps, how they work, and features to consider for on-demand grocery delivery app development. Moreover, we’ll share tips to ensure safe grocery delivery amid COVID-19. 

A GUIDE ON STARTING A FOOD MEAL KIT DELIVERY SERVICE

How on-demand grocery delivery apps work

Online grocery shopping apps connect buyers with local grocery stores to shop, then send a “personal shopper” to fill and deliver the order. 

Such platforms include three types of users- buyers, shoppers, and admins. Each type of use requires a mobile or web app with different functionality. Let’s look at the mechanisms of a grocery shopping app in more detail. 

• Buyer. As a buyer, you can log in to the app, create your profile, and fill in the delivery address. Now, you add groceries from the product catalog to the shopping cart. Next, you choose the delivery window and pay for your order via a credit card. Once the shoppers gather your order, you receive a notification with the delivery status and can track the delivery process via GPS in real-time. 
• Personal shopper. In the shopper app, you see deliveries ordered as well as lists of products to buy. Then, you start collecting products from the buyer’s list and pay the cashier with the buyer’s money. If the buyer’s list includes out of stock items, you can contact the buyer via the phone or built-in messenger to suggest similar products or return money to the buyer’s account. After you’ve bought all the groceries from the list, you change the order status from “Picking” to “Delivery” and deliver on-demand groceries to the buyer’s address.   
• Admin. From the Admin panel, you can manage both types of users (shoppers and buyers), product categories, new and processing orders. You can also do a money refund to the buyers and help users with any issue which arises. 

With this in mind, let’s look at different business models and choose the one that will best suit you.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CLOUD KITCHENS: PROS, CONS, AND TECH STACK

Business models for a grocery delivery service app

You may wonder, “Why do you think about the business model before the app is developed?” The answer is that your business model will influence the number of features to add to your grocery shopping delivery app, the project’s complexity, and the monetization strategy to apply.

Below, we have gathered the most popular business models for an on-demand grocery delivery app, currently applied. 

HOW TO BUILD A FOOD DELIVERY APP LIKE UBEREATS

Aggregator model

The aggregator is your business model of choice if you don’t own a warehouse with groceries. Instead, you bridge the gap between grocery stores and buyers. Apart from order gathering, you will provide a delivery service from local grocery stores to the user’s doorstep. 

Instacart, an on-demand grocery delivery app leverages this business model. The app has a team of local shoppers who deliver orders from different stores and markets nearby. The app’s users can shop at major grocery chains, such as Mariano’s and Whole Foods. Besides this, Instacart users can shop by recipe, order on-demand delivery, or schedule their deliveries in advance. 

Store-pick model

With this business model, your users do not need to wait in long queues because your shoppers will buy everything from their list. The main difference between store-pick and aggregator business models is that store-pick does not provide delivery services. Thus, your customers can pick-up the order near your store. Peapod, an online grocery supermarket, applies this business model. Peapod has its inventory. Therefore, it works much like a standard grocery store but provides customers with more convenient shopping. 

[Peapod product categories]

Warehouse model

In the case of having your own warehouse or grocery store, you want to set up an online presence, this is your business model of choice. With this business model, your team of shoppers will pack orders from your inventory and deliver them. Walmart, one of the most popular grocery retailers, applies this business model for its Walmart Grocery mobile app. The app provides both an order pick-up option at the nearest shop and free order delivered within several hours. 

Now, let’s see how you can monetize your on-demand grocery delivery services.

How on-demand delivery apps make money 

To make your online grocery delivery app profitable, you can leverage one of the following monetization options:

Paid membership

Paid membership or subscriptions are popular among grocery delivery companies and businesses like Netflix and Youtube. The main benefit is that you can predict your revenue, thus, gradually invest in technologies for your grocery delivery app. The company that uses paid subscriptions is Shipt. To start using this app, you buy an annual subscription for $100 or a monthly subscription which costs $14. Then, you receive free grocery delivery on orders that exceed $35. If the order is less than $35, you pay a $7 flat-rate delivery fee. 

Delivery and service fees

This monetization strategy is valid for warehouse business models. It means you charge users fees for your shopping services and order delivery based on the order total and delivery distance. For example, the online grocery delivery app FreshDirect charges delivery fees depending on the buyer’s location. Delivery fees start from $6 on a minimum order sum that is $30.

Hybrid approach 

You can apply both monetization models for your on-demand grocery delivery business. For example, users who bought your membership pay fewer delivery fees than users who don’t. To get a better picture of such an approach, let’s look at Instacart. 

This grocery delivery app offers two types of membership priced at $99 annually or $9.99 a month. A paid subscription helps you to avoid extra fees that non-membership users are subject to. For example, customers receive free one-hour delivery, which is a paid service for non-membership users. Another example is busy pricing. This type of fee occurs when Instacart shoppers increase demand from customers. 

You can also shop at Instacart without a membership fee. But, you’ll pay higher service and delivery fees. The app calculates prices based on one’s subtotal, the delivery urgency, and the number of orders currently in operation. 

The next step after choosing your business model and monetization strategy is to gather features for your app. 

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Essential features for on-demand grocery app development

Since the app includes several types of users, you need to carefully select features that would be useful for buyers, shoppers, and admin applications. Below we offer feature lists for each app to meet the needs of each part. 

Features for buyers 

The buyer app should allow users to find necessary items, add them to a shopping cart, check out, and pay for the order via the app. Thus, consider empowering the buyer’s app with the following functionality: 

• Registration via email or social media (Google or Facebook)
• User profile 
• Product catalog
• Product search 
• Product categories
• Items list 
• Completed and ongoing orders 
• Shopping cart
• Payment gateway 
• GPS tracking 
• Notifications on the order status 

[Shipt buyer app screens]

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Features for shoppers

In a shopper’s app, the user should see a list of current orders, required products, contact details of the buyers, and delivery address. If you have a reliable group of shoppers, they can register in your grocery delivery app without additional validation. If you don’t, you should give access to shoppers to download your application only after additional validation. For this, shoppers should provide you with their details via a contact form on your website. In this way, you can build a database of your shoppers to avoid fraud from unreliable shoppers who will take the buyer’s money and disappear.     

• Registration via a website 
• User profile
• List of current and fulfilled orders 
• Order description 
• Barcode scanning
• Change order status 
• Built-in messenger or calling feature to contact the buyer via an app
• Built-in map to show directions 

[Instacart shopper app with barcode scanning]

Features for admin panel 

The administration will manage both buyers and shoppers via a web application and new queries from users who want to join your platform as shoppers. You also need an admin panel to manage finances, upcoming and fulfilling orders. It would also be handy to help users via an online chat. Thus, we suggest adding the following features to your admin panel: 

• Administrator login 
• List of users 
• Review user profile 
• Manage users 
• List of shoppers 
• List of buyers 
• Manage category list 
• List of orders
• Payment and transactions 

HOW MUCH DOES AN ON-DEMAND MOBILE APP COST?

Grocery app development cost 

Since the platform consists of three main components (buyer, shopper, and admin apps), we recommend starting such projects small. This means that for the app’s first version you should integrate only essential features. In software development, such a project version is called an MVP, or minimum viable product. With such an approach, you can validate your business idea without spending too much on grocery delivery app development. Besides this, an MVP ensures a faster time to market.

Below, we share an estimate in hours for an MVP we did for one of our previous clients who hired us for grocery delivery app development. The given app’s cost includes only the Android platform. 

FeatureScreen	Design in hours	BackEnd in hours	Android in hours
Architecture		40	24
Buyer application
Splash screen, tutorial	32		16
Login signup, password recovery	4	16	16
User profile and settings	12	24	16
Orders	12	36	16
Search	4	24	16
Category	8	8	8
List of items	12	24	32
Item page	8	40	24
Shopping cart	8	24	24
Payment	2	40	16
Text pages	8	8	8
Email integration	8	40	4
Shopper application
Login signup, pass recovery	4	8	8
Shopper profile and settings	8	16	8
Orders	16	24	16
Fulfillment order	12	24	16
Web-based administrative panel
Administrator login		4
Users list		16
List of buyers		16
List of shoppers		16
Category		24
Orders		32
Payment and transaction		120

When estimating the costs for grocery delivery apps, don’t forget about project management, quality assurance, bug fixing, and technical documentation. Technical documentation is the core of your project that includes technical specifications, project installation, deployment instructions, grocery mobile app development documentation, and even a clickable prototype. We write such documentation during the Discovery phase of the project. This phase may take from one to four months, depending on the project’s complexity. 

Related reading: 

Uber truck service development 

We can build your grocery app in 8 to 10 months, and approximate project costs vary from $60,000 to $80,000. To receive a more detailed estimate, use our project cost calculator. 

Handy strategies for grocery ordering app owners amid COVID-19 

The coronavirus pandemic is almost in the past. However, people are still afraid of being infected and continue to keep social distancing. To help your customers remain calm about their health, whilst also caring about other shoppers, we suggest using the following strategies. 

Provide personal protection measures

The safety of your couriers and customers is your top priority. To keep people safe, you should provide access for all your shoppers to personal protective equipment, including masks, respirators, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Also, workers should wash their hands when required and clean frequently used equipment once an hour.

Adopt contactless deliveries

Zero contact delivery allows your customers to choose where shoppers will leave their orders: near the doorstep, in front of their home, etc. In this way, you will limit any interactions between both parties, while ensuring safer delivery.

Increase partner network

Due to the pandemic, retail sales have gone down to 30% in the U.S., and many offline grocery stores do not have enough resources to take their business online. Thus, to support local grocery businesses, you can join hands with them, which is a win-win situation for both your grocery ordering app and the local grocery stores.

Provide high-quality services

Apart from protecting shoppers and buyers, you should also consider providing excellent delivery services. Such services might include late delivery, working 24/7, a wide range of delivery windows, and fresh groceries in every order. High-quality delivery services will matter, especially after safety will no longer be an issue. Thus, try to do your best to balance the demand and satisfy every customer. In this way, loyal customers will choose to shop at your grocery store delivery app even after COVID-related restrictions have ceased. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEVELOP A DIET APP FOR IOS?

Success Story: The APP Solutions

Alfred Ibiza Case Study: How We Developed a Food Ordering Platform

Our main goal for the Alfred Ibiza project was to build a platform that would simplify ordering and delivering products on Ibiza island and help party goers to receive their orders on time. We wanted the platform to be equally useful for business owners, couriers, and customers.

We managed to develop the Alfred Ibiza platform within just three months, at a total project cost of $70,000, 50-60% cheaper than the average development cost of a food delivery app.

The platform includes an app for customers, couriers, an admin panel for restaurants with only necessary functions. Besides this, we also developed a marketing landing page to promote the Alfred Ibiza platform.

Check out our portfolio for more.