About Sports Corner
Sports Corner is a market leader in retail sports goods and accessories which holds 17 brick and mortar outlets in Qatar. The retail giant offers sportswear for men, women and kids from the top 60 brands in the world.
Sports Corner's Requirements
Sports Corner wanted an app solution to fuel its mobile-first approach in order to increase customer touch points and brand reach. The retail giant wanted the app to be furnished with options for users to find fitness trainers, coaches for sports on-demand, locate retail outlets and check availability of preferred goods.
The Challenge
Contus had to perform an API level encryption to ensure the safety of product and user data furnished in the app.
Conceptualizing UI and UX for the app was formidable task as the retail major's portfolio consisted of multiple range of products from 60+ brands for people of diverse ages and genders.
An interactive on-demand trainer consulting system was another tricky part which Contus had to develop.
Contus' Solutions
The encryption part in order to fortify the user and product data was carried out by Contus' tech experts using AES/CBC/PKS5 Padding encryption technique. This made sure the information furnished in the app are safe from hacks.
Contus design brains came up with UI and UX designs that interpreted the brand's retail store experience and housed 1000s of products with several category classifications based on gender, brands, sports etc to enable users with different search preferences find and locate products within few clicks and swipes.
The 'On-demand Trainer' system was built by classifying trainers based on the sports they specialize at. Contus developers, in order to make it more utile, complemented with features that lets users call, text, rate trainers, find out their previous projects, certifications, cost, training session types and book appointments. These added advantages collectively made the trainer consulting feature interactive and easy.
Cross-channel Connect
To provide a consistent brand experience along a user's purchase journey irrespective of the sales channel they toggle between, Contus provisioned a few features that established a smooth cross-channel connect.
At A Glance
Sports Corner, a Qatar-based sports retail major with 17 store outlets wanted to create a mobile app to provide users with consistent shopping experience across online and offline sales channels.
Contus app experts developed flawless, technically sound and interactive mobile app on Android platform empowering the brand to fulfill end user's needs across various customer touch points.
Industry
Ecommerce Retail
Key Results
Sports Corner experienced a significant increase in online and offline sales as customers were able to connect across channels to complete a purchase as per their convenience. The apps kept customers glued to the brand which improved the brand's popularity and enrollments in training programs offered and average sales figures.
Technologies Involved
- OS - Linux & Android (mobile)
- Mobile Script - Android
- Web Server - Nginx
- Database - Mysql 5.5
- Server side script - PHP 5.5
- Data Interchange format - JSON
- Cloud platform - AWS Service
- Security - AES/CBC/PKS5Padding Encryption
A QR code scanning feature was one such idea which allows users to scan a product while on a physical store visit, bill and pay for it immediately on the app to walk out with the product avoiding avoid queues.
Users were also bestowed with the facility to check for the availability of a product in retail stores through the app. The list of stores with the stock availability will be listed along with navigational guidance on Google map from the current location of the user.
Quick Links
'Offers', 'New Arrivals', 'Best Sellers' - The most happening things of the store like festival offers, latest collections, and top selling products were placed first to give users a quick access to the best among the best offered by Sports Corner right away.
Menus
For customer segmentation the app was given category-wise range of collections include 'Men', 'Women', 'Kids' and for those who are brand-specific, we had a separate menu which provides access to all brands of sportswear and goods.
Search
A smart keyword-based search system was provided for users to search, find and shop products easily based on their preferences.
Push Notifications
Notification pushes for delivering information on deals, offers, seasonal sales, new arrivals and any other happenings which would interest customers was provided for the brand to stay connected with its user base and build better customer relations.
Push Notification
Augmented Reality
GPS
Geofencing
High level Architecture
Result
The ecommerce app helped the retail sports leader in Qatar realize its dream of creating its first digital selling medium on mobile app. The additional capabilities rendered through the app were well received by the vast spread global customer base of Sports Corner making it a better choice to stay connected with the brand.