VERO MODA is a huge fashion brand, serving an international audience in both brick and mortar and online.
They also have branded shopping apps on the iOS and Google Play stores. These apps were originally custom-coded apps, with separate native apps for each operating system.
Yet in 2022 they pivoted away from native apps to switch to a simpler, more affordable solution, with MobiLoud. Read on to learn why, and how it worked out for them.
Part of the BESTSELLER Family of Brands
Launched in 1987, VERO MODA is one of the top BESTSELLER brands today, serving an international audience both online, and through more than 600 retail stores across Europe.
BESTSELLER was founded in Denmark in the 1970s by the Holch Povlsen family. It’s among the world’s largest privately-owned fashion companies, with a global customer base and multi-brand umbrella.
The company’s resume includes:
3000 branded retail stores in 32 countries
More than 20 individual brands under the BESTSELLER umbrella
A presence in 70 countries, across Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Oceania and the Middle East
Positioned in 17,000 multi-brand and department stores worldwide
18,000 BESTSELLER employees around the world
Moving from Custom Apps to MobiLoud
VERO MODA’s native apps worked well. They were able to draw customers who, once on the apps, spent more and purchased more often.
But the apps were a headache to maintain. Native apps meant each app had its own unique code base, and a significant cost to keep up to date.
They wanted a more efficient and cost-effective way to maintain their apps. That option was MobiLoud.
MobiLoud condensed the majority of their code into one lot. The result was a much lower cost, both in terms of time and money, to run their mobile apps.
The Native App Experience for a Fraction of the Investment
While VERO MODA wanted to cut down the investment required to run their apps, they didn’t want to do so by sacrificing the user experience.
With MobiLoud, that wasn’t an issue. Their MobiLoud apps delivered a seamless user experience, virtually indistinguishable from what they had with custom native apps.
The VERO MODA mobile app built by MobiLoud
They were able to integrate push notifications in their apps, which is something that other wrapper app solutions had struggled to do.
“Through history we’ve tried doing what MobiLoud does. But we wanted a solution that could enable push notifications, and MobiLoud has a way of doing that with OneSignal.” – Svend Hansen, Product Owner at BESTSELLER
In terms of feedback from their customers, there was none – they continued to shop as normal, and app users continued to provide a boost in revenue and retention over those who shop on the website.
“No feedback means good feedback. People are shopping so that’s fine. Something we’ve noticed is that users who use the app are better customers, either they spend more, they spend more often, they come back and we’ve higher retention.”
The key takeaway is that VERO MODA was able to replicate the same success that their native apps had, with significantly lower cost and time investments, by using MobiLoud to build new mobile apps.
Launch Your Own E-Commerce Apps Today
VERO MODA, along with other BESTSELLER brands such as Jack & Jones and ONLY, were able to find the sweet spot between feature set, simplicity and affordability with MobiLoud.
“We couldn’t find another company that could offer the same features at the same price point, same time to market, and make it as easy as MobiLoud could.”
If you’re running an e-commerce business – whether it’s an international brand or a small, niche store – you can benefit from launching mobile apps and entering the app stores.
Take VERO MODA as an example of what’s possible. Get in touch today for a free, personalized demo, and see how the process will work for you.
You can go live in the app stores in less than a month. There’s virtually no risk – try it out today and see how apps will grow your business.
When you’re selling fresh seafood with complex delivery windows and real-time inventory, your mobile app can’t afford to break. That’s the challenge Svenfish faced after their previous app provider was delisted, leaving them with frustrated customers and broken integrations.
Key Takeaways
Achieved seamless integration of complex delivery scheduling and real-time inventory management
Achieved seamless integration of complex delivery scheduling and real-time inventory management
Maintained 70-75% customer retention rate while transitioning app platforms
Preserved critical features including Apple Pay, Route integration, and custom checkout
Successfully migrated without disrupting existing backend operations
Enabled future scalability through simplified update process
Svenfish, an eight-year-old fresh seafood delivery business based in Boston, has perfected the art of just-in-time ordering and delivery. Unlike traditional e-commerce, their entire operation depends on precise scheduling and seamless integration between their systems.
Sreevats, Product Manager at Svenfish explained:
“Our entire backend includes inventory reporting – we don’t hold inventory at all. Everything’s on demand. We only purchase what customers order from us on the day of delivery.”
A Growing Technical Challenge
After their previous app provider was delisted, Swenfish faced mounting issues. Customer service complaints increased, integrations broke, and features like Apple Pay and their crucial delivery scheduling system stopped working properly.
Despite trying both native and hybrid approaches, they couldn’t find a stable solution.
Seamless backend communication for just-in-time ordering
Sreevats noted:
“With businesses like ours, if you don’t perform as expected, you just lose a customer.”
With a 70-75% customer retention rate, Svenfish couldn’t afford technical hiccups in their mobile experience.
Finding a Sustainable Solution
After evaluating several options, Svenfish discovered a different approach with MobiLoud.
Instead of rebuilding their entire system in a separate app, they could maintain their existing functionality while adding native mobile features.
Sreevats explained:
“We want to make sure everything works exactly like the website. This integration approach gives us full control. Rather than managing multiple platforms or compromising on features, we can focus on building new functionality using our existing workflows.”
Launching with Confidence
Working with MobiLoud, Svenfish can now maintain their complex systems while improving their mobile experience:
Preserve all existing integrations and custom functionality
Maintain real-time delivery scheduling
Add push notifications for order updates
Keep their backend systems in sync
Enable easy updates through their website
This way they can continue improving both their website and app experience without worrying about technical limitations. As long as it works on their site, it’ll work in their apps.
For a business handling fresh seafood delivery, having technology that works reliably means they can continue focusing on what they do best, without adding to their tech debt.
Curious about launching a mobile app for your brand like Svenfish?
After 15 years of building their brand around personal connections and in-store experiences, HouseFloral needed a way to bring their unique personality-driven shopping experience to customers’ phones.
With MobiLoud, they found a solution that let them maintain their carefully crafted brand while expanding their digital reach.
Key Takeaways
Achieved 50-50 revenue split between retail and online channels
Maintained 40% year-over-year online growth for consecutive years
Successfully transitioned from previous app platform with zero customer disruption
Extended their personalized shopping experience to mobile customers
Leveraged push notifications for targeted engagement and cart recovery
The Personal Touch at Scale
HouseFloral started as a brick-and-mortar business founded by three partners who believed that personality should be part of the product.
Jeremy Rice, co-founder of HouseFloral explains:
“We focused on the product but we started focusing on the three of us and our identities and really making us one of the products as well.”
Their store became known as customers’ “happy place” – somewhere they could visit for joy, color, and personal connection.
While this model proved successful locally, they faced a challenge when considering expansion: how do you scale something built on personal relationships?
Jeremy added:
“We were approached by a lot of people about opening franchises or other stores in other cities but because we are part of the product, how do you duplicate that? That’s when expanding online really helped – we can integrate ourselves into the marketing and maintain those connections.”
Finding the Right Mobile Solution
After successfully building their online presence, HouseFloral knew they needed a mobile app to stay connected with customers.
However, their first attempt with another platform created more problems than solutions.
Jeremy explains:
“I was taking all this time putting apps into Shopify, but with our previous app provider, it was so limited. If I did the work on Shopify and it was beautiful, when I went to the other platform it felt really clunky. I had to redo everything two or three times.”
The maintenance burden became so significant that updates started slipping:
“I realized I hadn’t changed any images on that platform in almost a year because I wasn’t used to thinking about having different platforms! It was just too much work.”
The MobiLoud Difference
What drew HouseFloral to MobiLoud was the seamless integration with their existing Shopify setup and the ability to maintain their brand experience.
“When I discovered MobiLoud, the ease with which changes on our site would automatically be reflected in the app was amazing. With the same price range as what we had been using, it was a no-brainer.”
The transition process was smooth, with particular emphasis on maintaining their existing customer base.
“I didn’t want customers to have to delete and re-download a new app. MobiLoud made that transition seamless.”
Impact on Daily Operations
The switch to MobiLoud has dramatically simplified HouseFloral’s digital operations.
Jeremy explains:
“Before, we were basically maintaining two separate stores. Now, any changes we make to our Shopify store automatically reflect in the app. It’s saved us hours of repetitive work.”
Push notifications have become a crucial tool for staying connected with customers.
“Having that direct line to customers is really important. When they abandon carts or first download the app, we can reach them instantly with relevant messages. We’re careful not to overdo it – there’s nothing worse than notification spam – but it lets us stay connected in a meaningful way.”
The app has also transformed how customers shop with them. Regular customers particularly appreciate the improved navigation and filtering.
“People actually prefer using the app to shop and filter products. Just like I prefer using Wayfair’s app over their website because the filtering works better, our customers find our app easier to navigate than the website.”
Looking Forward
HouseFloral is leveraging their app as a cornerstone of their digital growth strategy. They’re planning several initiatives:
Expanding their live shopping features based on strong customer engagement
Developing more sophisticated push notification strategies for different customer segments
Integrating the app more deeply with their loyalty program
Exploring new ways to bring their in-store personality to the digital experience
Jeremy added:
“We’re seeing online and retail revenue split almost exactly 50-50 now, trading off each year who makes more. The app is becoming a crucial part of how we grow the online side while maintaining those personal connections that made our store successful in the first place.”
“We’ve learned that you can scale personality-driven retail – you just need the right tools to do it. Having an app that feels as premium as any major retailer while still letting us be ourselves… that’s been game-changing for us.”
Curious about launching a mobile app for your retail brand like HouseFloral?
Get started with a free preview and see your store transformed into an app with:
Seamless Shopify integration that maintains your brand experience and all features
Push notifications for customer engagement and cart recovery
Native mobile shopping experience for your best customers
We can have it ready in as little as 24 hours – no technical work or commitment required.
With the vast majority of GameLoot’s traffic coming on mobile, there’s nothing more important to them than the mobile user experience.
Their smartphone users needed a better way to navigate their store. Their analysis, and the feedback they were getting from real users, was that they needed an app. But as a bootstrapped company, Gameloot didn’t have the budget to go all out and build a mobile development team.
Instead, they found MobiLoud, which was the perfect solution. MobiLoud let them convert their existing website to an app, with small changes that went a long way to improve mobile UX.
We talked to GameLoot’s co-founder about their experience, why they needed an app, and how MobiLoud helped them launch an app, grow their brand and streamline the shopping experience for GameLoot customers.
Why GameLoot Needed an App
For some time, GameLoot’s customers had been asking about an app. The Indian market is app-centric, and consumers are used to using apps for all kinds of products and services.
“It’s become an app world in India, there’s an app for everything, literally everything. You have to go to a doctor, you can install an app of a doctor and book an appointment, that person gets a notification and he’ll approve the appointment via the app.”
Their need for an app went deeper than this, however.
When GameLoot started, they dealt exclusively with PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo products (games and consoles).
But as they grew, they started adding more product categories, as well as complementary services.
Today, they sell new and pre-owned gaming consoles, games, electronics, smart phones, PCs and laptops, digital products, as well as running a repair service.
With all these elements to their business – buy, sell, repair, plus multiple product categories – mobile users were getting confused.
“It becomes more user friendly for the customer. If you want to sell something, they can just click on the sell button in the app and go to the sell category. And if they want to buy something, they can go straight to the buy category. Before the app, it was a bit confusing. When we saw the tab menu in the app, I realized it becomes very easy for customers to choose between ‘buy’, ‘sell’, ‘repair’”.
Just a small change in the app would make the user experience much more straightforward. And with 70-80% of their traffic coming on mobile, a small improvement could have a huge positive impact.
The Challenge
As mentioned earlier, GameLoot is a bootstrapped company, with no outside funding.
Profitability is important to them, and they don’t have the means to go out and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a custom mobile app.
Initial research into app development solutions showed that if they went the custom route, not only would it mean incurring a huge cost, but they wouldn’t see their app for a long time.
“The development time was very long. We were told it will take a minimum of six months just to get the app ready for a demo, maybe, and to go live it will take eight to ten months.”
There were cheaper options, but dealing with cheaper developers meant they wouldn’t get ongoing support for the app, or that it wouldn’t be compatible with their business.
“If you see what kind of business we do, it’s very complex. It’s not a straightforward eCommerce website, where you just list products and start selling. We have a buy section. We have a sell section. We have a repair section.”
“I was also trying to get in touch with some freelancers, where they could do it for us for a one-time cost. But I realized an app is something which requires support on a monthly basis, on a weekly basis.”
The Solution
GameLoot’s co-founder was turned on to another eCommerce business, who had built an app that was fully integrated and synchronized with their website.
He did some searching to find a company that could do this for them, within their budget and time constraints.
This search brought him to MobiLoud. He soon discovered that MobiLoud could do exactly what they needed.
They would be able to create an app from their existing website, with the small touches like a tab menu that would go a long way.
Best of all, it wouldn’t take 8-10 months to launch, and wouldn’t cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They could continue to manage everything from their website, without hiring mobile app developers or making wholesale changes to their business.
The Result: Hundreds of New App Users Each Day
Since making the decision to launch an app, GameLoot has seen a profoundly positive impact on their business.
Mobile users have taken to the app in large numbers, validating their assumption that many customers would prefer to use an app.
“The response has been really good. We have seen a spike in traffic and sales. We have around 20,000 downloads in one month. Daily we’re getting around 700 new users. By our calculations, we should touch 100,000 in the next three months.”
And from the snapshot provided by their app store reviews, these users are more than happy with the user experience on the app.
On top of these metrics, they’re seeing many higher-level benefits of having an app. Having an app has provided more authority for their brand, and made it easier for them to grow through referrals and word-of-mouth.
“It’s easier when you can tell someone, just download the app called GameLoot. You don’t have to remember the domain name, you don’t have to go to Google and look for the right website. You just need to know the brand name and then just go to the app store and search for it.”
Another huge benefit has been access to push notifications. Push has given them a far more effective communication channel, which resonates more with their target audience.
“A push notification is something people will not miss. When we send SMS, a lot of numbers are blocked in India. Emails go in the spam folder, or Gmail has a promotion folder, which is kind of hidden.”
“If you look at our target group of 18 to 25 year olds, they prefer push notifications. We already got feedback from a customer. We have a section on our website which says notify me, where you put an email on the product which is out of stock, and once it’s in stock, you get an email. Customers were like, why are you sending me an email? I don’t check my emails, just notify me via the app.”
Get All the Benefits of an App, With None of the Risk
By launching an app you can:
Improve your mobile user experience.
Enter the app stores, adding a new user acquisition channel and building authority and trust for your brand.
Get access to super-effective communication tools like push notifications.
Many companies think the cost, time investment and complexity to build and maintain an app is an insurmountable hurdle.
But with MobiLoud, as long as you have a fast, responsive and mobile-friendly website, you can launch your own app for a minor cost, and with little to no risk.
MobiLoud converts your existing website into an app, which is all that most eCommerce businesses need.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when you launch an app. Just being able to package your website as an app, get into the app stores and start using native push notifications is enough to boost your revenue and deliver a positive ROI.
The best part is that it takes almost no work to maintain – your apps update automatically with your website, and you can use your existing web development team to manage your apps.
“My IT guy is very happy. It’s easy for him to manage because he is a CSS guy. He did a lot of changes in the app for us, it was very easy for him to understand the whole layout and how to do things in the app.”
“The good thing about MobiLoud is that even if you are doing a small change on your website, it immediately reflects on the app. So we don’t have to go through the whole process of submitting a build and then waiting for the build to go live. I just did a minor change on the website and it’s already reflected on the app. It could be anything, it could be a design change, a feature or anything.”
GameLoot is one of over 2,000 businesses who realized how easy it is to build and maintain high-quality mobile apps with MobiLoud.
You can do the same for your eCommerce business – just get in touch with us and book a free demo to find out.
We’ll walk you through the process, show you some examples, and even give you a preview of what your site can look like as an app.
Ready to build an app, with none of the headaches and expense that’s typical of app development? Get in touch and book a free demo now.
Booking app Kazderni had a great idea to make a splash in app-centric Lebanon. But they ran into roadblocks in the app development process that threatened to hold them back, or worse, derail them completely.
They’re now the #1 travel and tourism app in Lebanon, and have done so without taking on the cost and complexity of developing and maintaining native apps.
We talked to Mohamad, Kazderni’s CEO, about their journey, and how MobiLoud helped them reach the top.
Kazderni’s Story: Launching an Airbnb-Type App for the Lebanon Market
Kazderni is an Airbnb-style booking app specifically designed for the Lebanese market, leveraging the country’s unique geography and tourism appeal.
The app allows users to find and book guesthouses, as well as restaurants, taxis and a wide variety of activities in the country.
Naturally, a business like this is designed to be mobile-first. They needed people to be able to find and access Kazderni via the web, but the market in Lebanon leaned heavily in favor of apps, so launching and maintaining a high-quality app was priority number one moving forward.
The Challenge
Mohamad faced a tough decision on how to move forward with developing the app.
The marketing plan and roadmap were both app-first. However, he recognized that building mobile apps, even using cross-platform frameworks like Flutter and React Native, was so much more complex than building apps on the web.
“My case is very unique because a lot of what I needed had to be custom made. I know how complex it is to build apps. As an example, a sign-in module needs a week of development and testing. But I can install a plugin on WordPress and it’s done.”
To complicate matters further, Mohamad’s team from an earlier development attempt had failed him, leaving him in a hole and with a tight timeline to get a product out there.
The Solution
Mohamad’s day-to-day was overflowing with the tasks of running his team, and managing the app.
He knew he couldn’t manage two teams (one for the web and one for the app). And with the complexity and time investment it took to build and maintain apps, the only option forward was to keep working from the website and find a way to convert that into an app.
“I thought, the easiest way is if I can find a WordPress theme that does what I need, and find a way to reliably turn it into an app. I found 20, 30 companies that did this. I read some reviews, I talked to some of them. And, I’ll be honest with you, MobiLoud was easily the most expensive. But I knew some of them didn’t work, and some of them were kind of, ‘you’re on your own.’ Something went wrong, the app store changed a particular library? Best of luck to you, you had to figure that out on your own.”
The hybrid app approach allowed for faster development, easier maintenance, and the ability to leverage existing WordPress plugins and features.
As mentioned, there were many options that did this for WordPress sites, but most made big claims, flaunted attractive pricing, but would lead to headaches down the road.
MobiLoud proved the best solution to turn their web app into mobile apps, coming with the support and care they needed, to be able to focus exclusively on one set of code, without the extra complexity that came with managing an app.
Leading Their Market with 400k+ Downloads
So far, Kazerni’s WordPress to app strategy has worked incredibly well.
Within two years of launching, they have more than 400,000 downloads, putting them at the top of their market.
“17 apps in Lebanon do what we do. We have more downloads than all of them combined.”
Their average session time of roughly eight and a half minutes is more than many other high-profile apps, and this level of engagement is proof that they lose nothing by not building a standalone native app.
All the Benefits of Web and App
Much of the app’s success is down to simplifying their development process, and being able to iterate and build features far quicker than they could with traditional mobile app development.
“Flutter is near-native on both Android and iOS, and you can easily make a web replica of it. But it’s not even about that, it’s about these native core features and how difficult it is to develop them on any framework, in comparison to an existing WordPress or Shopify website.”
Instead of spending weeks building and testing each feature for the app, they’re able to leverage the significantly faster development workflow with WordPress and WooCommerce and the ecosystem of tools they provide.
With MobiLoud, they can build features for the web in a fraction of the time, and have these features seamlessly carry over to their mobile apps.
“The web market is just so much more mature, and it’s so much easier to build a website than it is to build an app. The web business has a 25-year head start on the app business. And there isn’t the complexity of having to build for Android and iOS and then build for the web.”
Launch an App Without the Headache
Kazderni’s business model is app-first, and MobiLoud allowed them to live up to this without getting into the murky waters of native app development.
They now have an app that gives them a new level of credibility – credibility they’ve parlayed not just into new users, but also key partnerships that move their business forward, and have them thinking about expanding into neighboring markets.
Mohamad describes an app as “the ultimate piece of free marketing” – a billboard that sits on the user’s phone all day, and helps set them apart from the free for all of the booking app market.
MobiLoud was the catalyst that let them do it, in a short space of time and with none of the headaches that come from juggling multiple platforms.
If you think the time is right to enter the mobile app market, get in touch with us. No matter what platform you’re on, no matter what your goals, MobiLoud will help you build amazing apps while adding virtually nothing to your operational workflow.
Ecommerce businesses in highly regulated industries have to contend with a lot of hurdles, as Florida-based medical cannabis store The Flowery knows very well.
They came to MobiLoud to help ship a mobile app that would give them an owned channel they could use to cultivate their customer base and expand their business.
Learn how we helped them begin the next stage of their business by launching their own mobile app.
The Challenge
Because of the regulatory hurdles they have to deal with, and the complexities of their industry, the ecommerce side of The Flowery’s business has a lot of moving parts.
Their site is a custom-built headless WooCommerce site, which is essentially a web app rather than a static online store.
Their tech stack and setup allows them to do a lot of things that set them apart from other cannabis stores in their market, such as the ability for customers to store their medical card information and for the site to automatically pull up and validate this info whenever the customer makes a purchase.
So they would need a mobile app solution that worked with their unique tech stack.
Another key reason to do an app was push notifications.
The Flowery are trying to recreate the “Uber Eats experience” and give regular delivery updates to provide a great experience each time someone buys from them.
Email wouldn’t work for this, as it’s not “instant” enough. And they ran into problems with SMS, as mobile carriers would throttle them, due to the industry they’re in.
That left push notifications as the best option. Like a mainstream delivery app, they wanted something that could send notifications directly to the customer’s home screen to give them a direct line to their delivery status, to the minute.
For that, they needed an app.
And in the end, the greatest challenge was doing all this with minimal technical background. As their CEO told us:
“At the end of the day, The Flowery is not a tech startup. We’re a factory. We’re a cannabis company. We’re just leveraging technology.”
Companies like The Flowery usually don’t have mobile app development experience in-house, which means outsourcing development, which adds a new level of complexity.
That’s why a lot of ecommerce companies call MobiLoud to help.
The Solution
“I know there’s other companies that do the same thing but only for Shopify, but you’re probably the only one that I found that does it for WooCommerce/WordPress.”
MobiLoud fit everything The Flowery needed. We were able to build an app with their complicated tech stack, letting them bring all their custom features into the app, which nearly any other app builder would struggle to do.
We also came with push notifications included out of the box, and handled all the work for them, letting their team’s focus remain on maintaining their web app.
Results
The Flowery mobile app built by MobiLoud
There was skepticism. Their CEO was unsure that the project would work out, and had a feeling that the app would not get app store approval and would die before going live.
“My main concern was just that I’m going to invest a lot of time in it and I want to make sure that it goes live. I don’t want it to be a sunk cost, like you invest and invest and then it never goes live. I was super skeptical that we could get this out and that’s why I honestly wasn’t too invested in it because I didn’t think we were going to get it approved.”
However, we were able to navigate all the app stores’ requirements and get their app up and running with no hitches at all.
We’ve helped them tweak their app to look and feel the way they want, even being able to add small touches to provide an experience unique to their website.
All this with no dev work from their team. We gave them more than just an app; we gave them a mobile app team that they can call on at any time.
It’s still early days for their app, and they’re in the very early stages of rolling it out to their customer list.
But it’s given them a new range of possibilities for the future direction of their business.
Launch Your App With MobiLoud Today
“The investment is minimal, and it’s worth spending $700 and waiting two months to see if you can get an app. It’s the best value for money that you can get, no doubt, it’s the fastest way to go to market.”
We did for The Flowery what we’ve done for more than 2,000 successful businesses – helped them ship an app in less than a month, without spending hundreds of thousands on development, without sacrificing key features from their website, and without adding a crippling maintenance load to keep the apps running.
If you want to do the same, and have your very own app in the app stores in as little as two weeks, get in touch with us today.
When reLink Medical set out to build an app, they knew they would face certain challenges. They were still relatively new to B2C ecommerce, and the mobile app world was even more fresh to them.
On top of that, their business model meant a lot of app development options wouldn’t work for them. They needed a partner who really knew mobile apps, and could help them navigate this new arena.
We talked to CIO/CTO Scott Campbell about how and why they trusted MobiLoud as their mobile app development partner.
About the Company
reLink is a company that sells used medical equipment. A large part of what they do is B2B wholesale, and much of this business is done offline.
The other side to their business, which is expanding, is B2C ecommerce. They started by selling on eBay, and have expanded to selling products on their own site, which also features an auction platform.
The Challenge
By looking at their customers on eBay, Scott and the team realized they needed an app.
“About half our buyers on eBay are using mobile. If you’re gonna play in this world today, you need an app, you need that kind of experience.”
Launching an app presented a number of challenges. It meant jumping into two new areas: mobile apps and B2C ecommerce.
They had some experience with selling online, but not a lot. And they hadn’t built apps before. They needed a company that could partner with them and help them grow and understand both these areas.
“We’ve scaled every other aspect of our business – work supply, hospital management facilities, everything else can scale. We now have to figure out scaling the selling of used medical equipment and it’s going to require this B2C approach. We’ve just never done it, so we could use good partners that help us navigate this.”
On top of that, their business was far from a standard ecommerce business. They’d a partner that understood and was flexible enough to do what they wanted to do in the app.
“We’re not like a lot of other companies. Our catalog, our business is just weird.”
Why MobiLoud Was the Best Solution
MobiLoud ticked all the boxes for Scott and reLink. We came with vast experience in mobile app development, in-depth ecommerce expertise and the flexibility to adapt to their needs.
All of this without needing any technical skills, time investment or a large investment from them.
They did look at other options to convert their online platform into an app. Creating an app with these platforms was straightforward, but they’d have to sacrifice some of the key features from their website, and the end result would be something that was a poor imitation of their web platform.
“The ability to have all the features in the app was what was different. We had some where it was easy to build the app, but then we wouldn’t be able to have our ‘make an offer’ feature, or it wouldn’t show the custom parts of our product pages. MobiLoud was the only one that translated the full site with all the features that we found.”
MobiLoud was the only app development solution that fit everything they were looking for, and was able to convert their site into an app while retaining all the unique, custom-built features that their B2C business relied on.
Results
reLink Online mobile app built by MobiLoud
In 18 months since launching, the reLink Online app has been ticking along and helping scale their B2C ecommerce business.
One of the best things about it is that it’s been almost entirely passive on their part. MobiLoud has managed their app and kept it running smoothly, letting them maintain their focus on sales, marketing and their website.
Even as they keep experimenting with features on the website, their app remains up to date and fully reflects the web experience.
Scott had some concerns that constant tinkering with the website might have caused problems with the app, but we assured him that any changes they made would work fine on the app without any extra effort.
“We’ve not really thought about the app at all here. The person who knew everything about it left and we just kept messing with the store, and you were like, don’t worry, so there’s a lot to be said for that.”
MobiLoud is the App Development Partner Your Company Needs
MobiLoud didn’t just give reLink a way to convert their site into an app. We gave them an app development partner; someone who could hold their hand through the experience of building, maintaining and selling through their app.
“We’re glad to have you as a partner and helping us figure this out.”
Partnering with an agency or a team of developers on a project like this, and being able to convert all the features of their site into a native app, would usually cost $50,000 up front plus $10,000 per year in recurring costs, at a minimum.
Many companies pay six figures yearly just keeping their app up to date.
For reLink, they have a partner who handles this side of their business for just a small percentage of this.
MobiLoud allows them to experiment in this new area affordably, and without losing key features or devoting a huge amount of time and effort to their app.
If you want to do the same, get in touch with us and schedule a free consultation. MobiLoud is the perfect app development partner for any ecommerce business, and we’re able to convert your site and all its unique features in a way that most app builders cannot.
When you’re connecting emergency services with life-saving equipment, accessibility matters.
That’s why Savvik, a non-profit buying group serving public safety agencies across the country, is launching a mobile app to put critical purchasing power directly in first responders’ pockets.
Key Takeaways:
– Making bulk discounts and public bids accessible to emergency services
– Building mobile-first experience for on-duty personnel
– Streamlining procurement processes through the app
– Unifying multiple purchasing channels in one platform
– Creating a direct connection to the first responder community
More Than a Buying Group
Savvik bridges a critical gap in emergency services procurement. From uniforms and trauma equipment to ambulances and cardiac monitors, they help departments of all sizes access bulk discounts and simplified procurement processes.
Christina Brand, Savvik’s Digital Technology & Content Manager explained:
“We’re a nonprofit buying group exclusively for public safety personnel. We help departments bypass complex bid processes by doing it for them, saving them time and money in resources, and ensuring every agency gets the best prices.”
This unique approach transforms how emergency services acquire equipment.
By aggregating buying power and streamlining procurement, they help everyone from small-town departments to major cities access better pricing and simpler purchasing processes.
Where Mobile Meets Mission
Savvik serves three distinct audiences: procurement professionals managing contracts, department leaders handling operations, and front-line personnel needing immediate equipment. Each group’s needs are unique, but they all increasingly engage through mobile.
Christina notes:
“Most of our email engagement happens on mobile. We need to be right there in their pockets when they need us.”
This insight into their users’ behavior highlighted a clear opportunity: by making their platform more accessible through mobile, they could better serve each audience while strengthening their competitive advantage against mainstream retailers.
The Technical Challenge
With content ranging from contract documentation to e-commerce, Savvik needed a mobile solution that could handle their complex requirements without creating additional overhead. Custom development wasn’t feasible, but they couldn’t compromise on functionality.
“The solution is incredibly straightforward, anything we do on our website reflects immediately in the app.”
This approach allows their lean team to focus on serving their community rather than managing multiple platforms. Updates made to their website appear instantly in the app, ensuring all users have access to the latest information and offers.
Launch Strategy
Savvik’s approach focuses on delivering immediate value to each user group through features like app-exclusive access to limited stock items, easy contract documentation access for procurement meetings, and conference-specific features.
Christina notes:
“A lot of our issues with membership are awareness-based. Having this in their pockets changes everything.”
Their strategy extends beyond just having another sales channel. By integrating push notifications, special offers, and future continuing education resources, they’re building a platform that serves their community’s complete needs.
Looking Forward
For organizations looking to expand their reach without disrupting existing systems, Savvik proves that mobile solutions can combine simplicity with robust functionality.
With their new app, Savvik is making life-saving equipment more accessible to first responders exactly when and where it’s needed. By leveraging this new channel, they’re streamlining procurement and empowering public safety agencies to stay focused on their mission: protecting communities.
Curious about launching a mobile app for your organization like Savvik?
When COVID hit in 2020, getting fresh groceries became a major challenge in the Philippines. Safe Select saw an opportunity to transform the traditional palengke (fresh market) experience into a premium online service, delivering hand-selected fresh produce directly to customers’ doors.
Key Takeaways:
Turning high mobile website traffic into long-term customer relationships
Replacing expensive remarketing campaigns with cost-effective push notifications
Building customer loyalty through biweekly ordering patterns and personalized service
Launching a mobile app in the app-dominant Philippine market
Strengthening connections with a premium customer base through an intuitive mobile experience
Reimagining the Fresh Market
Ralph Natividad, who co-runs the family business with his mother, said:
“We started Safe Select when we were struggling to get groceries during the lockdown. We wanted to recreate the palengke experience but make it premium, fresher, and more convenient.”
Rather than braving crowded, hot markets, Safe Select’s customers enjoy hand-selected produce delivered in air-conditioned vehicles, ensuring peak freshness upon arrival. This personal touch extends to their customer service.
“We personally call and text customers about any issues, even for small discrepancies of just a few pesos. It’s about trust.”
Their quality guarantee offers immediate refunds for freshness concerns, building confidence with customers who see Safe Select as a reliable partner in their grocery needs.
The Retention Challenge
Mobile apps are central to daily life in the Philippines, from banking to food delivery.
For premium services like Safe Select, meeting customers where they are – on their phones – is crucial.
But customer acquisition costs (CAC) are high. Ralph explained:
“Changing someone’s shopping habits is expensive. The key is to retain them long enough to see a return. If we get a customer to order biweekly, their lifetime value (LTV) is significant.”
With 70% of traffic coming from mobile devices, Safe Select needed a mobile-first strategy to retain customers and reduce dependence on expensive remarketing campaigns.
Finding the Right Mobile App Partner
After researching competitors, Safe Select decided on a mobile app to strengthen their presence. But they needed a solution that wouldn’t add operational complexity.
“It’s a solution where you don’t have to do anything. Anything you update on your website reflects immediately on the app. The MobiLoud team handles everything.”
This hands-off approach allowed Safe Select to focus on their core business while leveraging push notifications to replace costly Google Ads retargeting. Ralph explained:
“Having your brand’s icon on someone’s phone is powerful. It keeps you top of mind and reduces customer churn.”
Launching the SafeSelect Mobile App
Safe Select rolled out their app with a focus on providing immediate value to their most loyal customers:
Exclusive Flash Deals: App-only discounts on fresh produce.
VIP Benefits: Seamless integration of their loyalty program for discounts and monthly gifts.
Push Notifications: Timely updates on restocks, fresh arrivals, and limited-time offers.
Shopify Integration: A seamless connection between their app and existing Shopify store.
By prioritizing premium customer segments, Safe Select ensured their app was a natural extension of their service, enhancing convenience and driving biweekly orders.
Moving Forward
Traditional palengkes remain popular, but Safe Select is betting on their app to deepen relationships with their growing customer base. With MobiLoud, they’re simplifying retention while reducing CAC – a winning combination for long-term growth.
