Cherryz

The problem:

Cherryz makes shopping for everyday essentials affordable and accessible to everyone across the UK, regardless of income or location. To start with, Cherryz sold products through their website, but in August 2019 they produced and released an initial React Native mobile app, with the goals of:

• directing users from the WordPress / WooCommerce website to install the mobile app
• driving customer acquisition through social media advertising
• improving customer retention through the use of push notifications, alongside app-only features and offers
• providing an enhanced experience that rivals much larger brands

Whilst Cherryz had produced the initial app internally they, when starting to scale, needed to bring in an experienced mobile consultancy to deliver much-needed improvements - whilst also producing revenue-driving features.

Our solution:

We helped Cherryz build a world-class shopping experience for audiences traditionally ignored by online retailers; delivering affordable quality products directly to their phone.

We embedded within the existing engineering team, and began on much needed improvements - such as performance enhancements through a series of incremental refactor stages, including:

• dynamic loading states - the app would no longer wait for all data before showing the home screen.
• bespoke Redux state management - in order to handle data more efficiently and in a unified manner, we developed a lightweight Redux wrapper specifically matching the requirements of the Cherryz app, with a focus on handling async network requests and persistence across sessions.
• migration of product feed data from Redux to Realm. As part of the MVP, all data was handled via Redux. In order to remove the potential for data duplication, and to improve the user-experience on lower spec devices, we began to investigate various mobile database solutions, profiling against iOS and Android performance, ease of development, cost of ongoing maintenance, and longevity. Ultimately, we decided to migrate product data to Realm. This eliminated the vast majority of crashes on Android devices.
• pre-bundling product data at release time, with delta updates at runtime - in order to provide the best user experience, we developed a unique system where at build time, the full product catalogue would be bundled within the app (~1mb of data, zipped), and then placed into the app's cache upon installation. On launch, any changes since the most recent database update would be requested and patched into the database. This greatly reduced the amount of data the app needed on launch, reducing time-to-active and reducing the network traffic across Cherryz's infrastructure.

By implementing those features, alongside other changes, we reduced the app's time-to-active from ~40s to ~0.5s. Beyond this, we also were responsible for the implementation of various well-loved features:

• Live Shopping - in order to bring the advertising of the Cherryz range in-house, we developed the mobile implementation of a live-streaming service that allowed internal presenters and external influencers to produce shows that customers could watch. As products were shown, customers could add them to their basket without leaving the show.
• Team Buying - friends and families could join private or public teams, and after one of the members ordered, if a subsequent member placed an order, they would receive cashback. As more members order within a given timeframe, the percentage of cashback would increase.
• Referrals - customers could refer their friends and family to the Cherryz app and, on them placing their first orders, receive credit redeemable against purchases in the app.
• Delivery Pass Subscriptions - repeat users of the Cherryz app could sign up for a delivery subscription, and receive unlimited free deliveries for the lifetime of their pass.

These features, the majority of which were built during the Covid-19 pandemic, helped to:

• reduce the cost of living, especially as unemployment rose and reduced-pay furlough was common.
• reduce the risk of buying everyday essentials, especially for those with health issues; as after ordering in the app, the items would arrive within 2-3 days to the customer's front door.
• improve accessibility of everyday essentials, especially for those in the UK in more rural areas with more limited options.

Next...

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Services:

• React Native (TypeScript) app development
• iOS app development
• Android app development
• Mobile strategy
• Mentoring