Miesięczne archiwum: styczeń 2017

Mobile app integrated with e-commerce system

The e-commerce systems, created in responsive web design, are standard today. Online store with matching layout to mobile devices is a kind of must have in online sales. However, modern customer is demanding and needs more and more efficient forms of online shopping. A mobile app, integrated with online store of the brand, meets the demands of today’s consumers.

Previously, problems with updates were a nuisance for the companies, which made mobile apps available for their customers. Therefore, very often application did not show the actual state, it was not integrated with e-commerce system, so it became outdated. In the case of mobile app, created by i-systems, all the information is collected au courant form the online store of the brand, hence inventory or discount data are always valid.

The advantage of the mobile app over RWD

First of all, mobile application is an additional sales channel, which increases the number of mobile customers, thanks to the possibility of efficient and convenient shopping.  In comparison to the online store, adjusted to mobile devices, mobile application has a lot of advantages. There is no need for the users to login to the online store each time, and thanks to push notifications he or she receives information about the latest discounts through the application. Research shows that up to 58% of mobile customers would prefer to use mobile app if there was such a possibility, generating at the same time 3.7 times higher conversion rates.

Meeting business needs

While creating a mobile app, dedicated to a particular brand, it is important to become familiar with the objects and business processes, which will allow to adapt the application to the needs of consumers. Department of analysis at i-systems prepared thorough workbook that describes the particular elements of the mobile application.

SIPOC diagram - “Account management” business process

SIPOC diagram – “Account management” business process

Workbook indicates business actors – logged in and logged out customers and the store’s admin, who manages settings in mobile app. It also indicates 5 key business processes. The main processes include: account registration, login, account management, product search and order registration. Characteristics of business processes has been developed on the basis of prepared SIPOC diagrams, which are a tools for description of suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers.

For each process the main goal and specific scenarios have been described. Example: account registration of the retail customer is a basic scenario, whereas the possibility of introducing corporate data for business customer is a detailed scenario. In each process business objects were created – 18 for the current version of the mobile application. Each business object has a name, a special designation, type – that is the division into a standard object, which is in each version of the application, or special one. For business objects a brief description was created, as well as attributes, meaning the scope of information which are possible to assign to the given object, such as: name, surname, e-mail, phone number, password, shipping address, invoice data etc.

Building mobile app

Performing an accurate description of the processes and business objects occurring in the mobile application is the first step of its creation. If a company, which already has the e-commerce system, is interested in mobile application, it places an order and i-systems employees begin work on recognizing business needs and fitting actors, objects and processes to them.

Mobile app, built by i-systems, is available for iOS and Android. Two versions of the mobile app have to be prepared for those systems. In addition, each company selling online, wants the application to be consistent with the visual identity of the online store, which is why it has to be personalized each time, so as the template, colors and icons harmonized with online store of the brand. Functions are matched to the individual needs of the company. Next the application is integrated with e-commerce system, and payments are configured from online store level. After building the mobile app, based on business needs of the company and adapted to its e-commerce system, i-systems team submits the application to the App Store and Google Play. Therefore i-systems customers can have their own dedicated applications, ready to be shared with their target customers.

The information about the mobile app can be published on the online store. After clicking the icon, App Store or Google Play is displayed, where the user can download the app.

The main functionalities of the mobile app

There are several ways of logging in to the mobile app built by i-systems. It can be done in a traditional way – by entering e-mail address and the password obtained while placing an order in online store. While entering data, one obtains a token, so that later the user could log in the application, without the need to re-enter personal details. Another form is log in by individual Facebook profile.

After starting the mobile app, a potential customer will see two banners, showing new and recommended products. Next version will be extended, so as the admin of the store could create the home page by his own by choosing the categories he would like to place there. There would be also more than two categories to be chosen.

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Application integrated with e-commerce system does not have to be manually updated along with every change in the online store. Updating e-commerce system does not mean having new version of mobile app. Moreover, building application by the same company that implemented e-commerce system, allows to develop and modernize application, so as it was always updated and met customers’ needs.

The customer can also sort products according to the newest, cheapest or the most expensive. He or she can also add product to favourites, in order to get back to them in time. While opening the product sheet, the user will see exactly the same information as in online store of the brand. Also, below product data, recommended products can be found.

An interesting feature of the mobile application are filters, built automatically for the category and the flag. The mobile application has exactly the same filters as e-commerce system. Filters are built dynamically, so if something changes in the online store will also be updated in the application. There is no need to enter new data manually and submit an app to the App Store or Google Play once again.
Shopping by mobile app is exactly the same process as in the case of online store. There is a possibility to find product by using the search engine based on SOLR, add product to cart, use a discount coupon, modify delivery data and select the payment method. Each purchase is shown in the „orders” tab.

Prospects for development of mobile application

Mobile application, built by i-systems, is most of all a new sales channel, allowing more efficient and safer shopping. Application integrated with online store will be developed and updated according to individual needs of the brand. Currently, it is adapted to the latest version of e-commerce system.

In the nearest future, it will be possible to login with touch ID, as well as pay by credit card. The development also covers work on implementation of push notifications, which are alerts about discounts and sales. The administrator of the store will be able to create discount offer in e-commerce system, and the user will receive it directly on mobile app. It is extremely interesting form of reaching the customer, because only 10% of customers open e-mails, while 90% of them open push notifications. Beacons will be another novelty. They will allow to strengthen omnichannel actions, connected with the use of mobile app. Beacons are devices which allow communication with smartphones or tablets. The customer while walking past brick and mortar sales point of the given brand, in which the beacon has been mounted, will receive notification about discounts or interesting offers of the store.

There are not many e-commerce companies which build mobile apps, as the separate mobile department has to be created. If the company does not have such a department, it has to subcontract building an app to other company. In such cases it is very common that problems with integration arise and application cannot be updated. There is a risk that the product range would not be actual, and the product purchased via mobile app would not be available. Beside the problems with data exchange, there is also an issue of costs, which are much higher than in the case of building mobile app by the company which implements e-commerce systems.

The online store, created by i-systems, which is integrated with ERP system and mobile app is a efficient and safe sales model.

Matching recommended products depending on the weather

Selling seasonal products is still a challenge for online stores. In this case, the demand lasts from 3 to 4 months, so the time limitation forces sales optimization. Integration of the online store with Weather Module is the solution. Its sales effectiveness can be seen especially in the following sectors: clothing, cosmetics and outdoor.

Even well-planned advertising campaign can not bring expected results if the offer of an online store is not personalized. An effective solution is a combination of measures and tools for matching product offerings to customer needs in real time. Dedicated Weather Module offers the choice of products, depending on the location, type of weather, temperature and sex.

Advantages of Weather Module

The solution can be used in two ways. In the first case, the system indicates the appropriate products on the basis of geolocation specified by the customer. A forecast service, configured with an online store, makes data updates on the prevailing weather conditions in different localizations exactly every hour. In the second case, the customer determines the weather, for which he would like to find the relevant products.

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Online stores, equipped with Weather Module, facilitate shopping for their customers, for which components of the product and its use under varying weather conditions play an important role. Weather Module will help people traveling to different climate zones – select products from the appropriate categories, to suit the prevailing weather conditions at a particular location in the best way.

Cross-selling

Weather Module has three functions: basic – sales function (in real time) and two additional: it builds loyalty among customers and develop cross-selling. The last function allows to determine products in order to increase sales records, by offering complementary products. For example: someone who bought ski goggles may also need windstopper gloves and skipass holders.

Know-how

Implementation requires from the administrator to enter a category of products, that will be displayed, depending on the selected weather or city. In the tab of the product to be matched to the weather, it is worth choosing several options, among others: availability – whether the product is to be available in search by weather; category – whether the product is for man, woman; kind of weather – cloudy, sunny, rainy; temperature – temperature range for the specific product. Full configuration of the module allows the customer to search, for instance, all the rainproof clothes for women. In addition, Weather Module is equipped with mass editor, which allows mass attribution of the parameters to the specific groups of products. It is a convenient and time-saving functionality for the administrator of an online store. The module makes a weather updates every hour. Weather forecasts are configured with http://openweathermap.org service, making the solution ideal for travel planning in different latitudes.

i-systems once again in Deloitte Technology Fast 50

This is the second time, i-systems was a part of Deloitte Technology Fast 50. The ranking affiliates the fastest growing technology entrepreneurships in Central Europe, based on the growth rate of annual operating revenues. Technology Fast 50 is a part of Technology Fast 500 EMEA, organized by Deloitte – international company, specializing in audit services in the field of economic consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax advice.

17th edition of Fast 50

In this year’s ranking of the fastest growing technology companies in CEE, there were 21 companies from Poland. The dynamics of revenue growth of all companies equaled 1057% in 2015, and it was almost two times higher than a year before. i-systems company took 43 place in the ranking with 373% growth and was one of the seven European companies, which managed to appear in the ranking for two consecutive years.

Our company specializes in creating dedicated e-commerce systems for retail and distribution. Being among 50 most innovative technology companies in CEE for the second time is a great honor for us. We hope that in the upcoming years we will take higher and higher places in the ranking – says Krzysztof Jaciw, CFO at i-systems


As in previous years, this year’s Technology Fast 50 ranking was dominated by companies dealing with use of information technologies, however in different applications: marketing, analytics of large databases, Mobile UX. They constitute up to 74% of all companies from the ranking (50% a year before).

Criteria of the ranking

To be a part of Deloitte Technology Fast 50, except from dynamic growth, the companies had to develop or create proprietary technologies and/or spend a significant amount of capital on research & development, have an ownership structure that excludes majority-owned subsidiaries of strategic entities, have its headquarters in a participating country, be a technology company and be active in one of the categories: IT and digital solutions, internet, media and telecommunications, clean technologies & energy, and biotechnology, nanotechnology and medical technologies.