Subzi Mandi, a 20 year old New York based grocery retail chain reached out to us during the lockdown to digitize their business. They didn’t have a clear vision but had a determination to move online digitally. We faced a variety of challenges faced by those in the grocery tech industry after which we developed niche technological solutions to help them.
Challenge at the Start
Managing Inventory Digitally
Problem
Subzi Mandi never had a digital management of their inventory.
There were no defined product categories.
There were 12000+ products and no time to create a digital database manually. Losses in lockdown had to be minimized.
Solution
We extracted all their raw data of inventory from Point-of-sale into a CSV file.
The extracted and organised data was entered into the system from the back-end With our solutions, we not only created a digital inventory for them without much manual work, but we also did it within a record time.
We as a technical provider used data analysis to categorize their inventory and import it into the digital system.
Challenge to build a Catalogue
Uploading Images of 12000+ products
Problem
Subzi Mandi had a product range of 12000+ items without images. For mitigating their operations to the digital markets, they needed to have a photo to show online but they didn’t.
Traditional approach of
Click Photos
Change Image Name
Upload on FTP would take a few months.
Solution
In the mobile application that we have developed, we have added a direct photo uploading functionality with an embedded camera to solve this issue.
Scan bar-code of the product in the application and capture the image after scanning
Real-time upload on the website and mobile app
A task that would have taken months happened in a week’s time.
Challenge during Order Processing
Orders of Items Already Sold
Problem
Subzi Mandi dealt with items that were in regular everyday use and thus there was very high rotation in offline physical sales which became a big headache while migrating online and created many problems.
The store processed and delivered orders in the next 24 hrs after receiving orders. Items meanwhile got sold physically
This led to a lack of inventory as compared to the number of orders
Manager had to manually process the refunds
Cancelled orders led to negative customer reviews and less customer retention
Oil/Ghee
Organic Grocery
Oil/Ghee
Rice
Solution
We have integrated a stripe payment gateway with the functionality of authorization and capture. In simple terms,
Step 1
We authorize the order amount from the credit card.
Step 2
The store manager confirms the order and the availability of the product
Step 3
In the capture process, the system won’t be able to charge the customer more than the authorized amount.
Step 4
The final amount is debited from the customer after the confirmation from the store manager.
This way, the manager does not have to refund manually
Happens real-time and without delay
Avoids orders cancellation and negative reviews
Better customer service and high customer retention
Challenge during Operations
Managing orders with 80+ items
Problem
Each order the store received had 80+ items in the basket on average.
Staff missed a few items during packing.
Managing large, multi quantity item order is time-consuming
Logistical challenge to provide alternate for non-available items
Negative reviews due to missed items
Solution
We developed a mobile application for the staff with two panels on the same screen- one containing a camera and one with the order list.
Step 1
The camera scans the item barcode. Multiple scans for multi-quantity orders
Step 2
The device ticks ‘yes’ or ‘no’ based on the availability.
Step 3
Provide an alternate for the non-available items to the customer.
Step 4
30 minutes time limit for the approval of the alternate items by the customer.
This ensures that orders don’t miss any items.
The store manager gets the opportunity to ask for alternate items in real-time
Ensure hassle-free order packaging and better customer service
Challenge during Logistics
Maximum order delivery in 1-hour span
Have a logistics facility only for one hour to avoid extra cost.
Mismanagement limits the capacity of the orders that can be delivered thus leading to limited business
Delivery persons repeat routes while on the field thus wasting time
Solution
The store delivers orders in a 15-mile radius with delivery outsourced to gig-workers such as Uber delivery persons at a minimum wage of USD 15 per hour.
Step 1
We divided the deliverable area of a 15-mile radius into four equal zones- A, B, C and D.
Step 2
We sorted the zip codes as per the divided zones.
Step 3
Sorted the orders in one zone in ascending order of radial distance from the store
Step 4
Assigned one delivery person for every zone.
This route optimization ensures that delivery boys don’t repeat routes.
Maximum orders get delivered in minimum time.
Ensures profit for the store owner.
For example
The store charges USD 15 per delivery
Gets 4 orders from a zone. i.e. 15*4 = USD 60
Store assigns one delivery person to cover the zone at the wage of USD 15 per hour.
Subzi Mandi came to us at a time when the whole world was shaken by the pandemic and lockdown. The digitization of businesses that had been slow till now had now accelerated all across the world and there was no time to waste. Subzi Mandi needed to go ahead with their online business before the lockdown opened or risk missing the bus.
We were able to support Subzi Mandi in their journey and provide innovative and comprehensive solutions to them for all the challenges faced in all steps of the order cycle such as order processing, logistics etc. Their large product catalogue, large order quantity and high rotation made it a daunting task but we were able to generate an average monthly sale of USD 80,000 in the first 3 months after we began working with them. Thus, we solved their problems and helped their 20-year-old offline business to venture into e-commerce.
Native Milk always had to deal with route optimization to maximize profit and frequent changing of delivery boys. While this was easily manageable manually in offline business, it was a big headache when their business went digital.
Solution
We developed a mobile application for the drivers with route optimization. The total delivery area is divided into various routes and orders are sorted according to different routes. A driver is then assigned a single route.
Platform Availability
Construction Project Management Software
Construction Software
Technology
Synopsis
PlanTech, (Construction Project Management software Case Study) a well-established US based construction company with huge projects, needed an improvement of their business processes and better optimization of their resources. As their business expanded, projects continuously got delayed which resulted in lawsuits by unhappy clients. We faced a variety of challenges to develop niche technological solutions for a company involved in the construction industry.
Solution
We designed separate web and mobile applications for foremen i.e. project managers and for construction staff (labourers).
The applications has synchronized features such as calendar, attendance etc.
that were updated real time Simple user interface for the layman was developed after many iterations and approval from the client.
We developed a dedicated central project management panel. The purpose was to have a centralised system update where all team leaders from different departments could update on their tasks at work.
Platform Availability
Betfair Trading Software Development
Trading Software
Technology
Synopsis
We needed a fast technology to synchronize the source data to our system.
We had to run our programs real time during the horse race.
We ran our calculations on the given data, but by the time we generated an analysis of the probable winner, the market trends and positions of the race horses altered so our result had no value.
Solution
We used the Node JS as it as an open-sourced JavaScript run-time environment that has the fastest libraries.
The reason behind using node.js is that we were able to establish a swift and persistent connection between betfair and our algorithm.
We could run our program with race data and generate results using the latest trends up-to-the-second with more than 99 % of the source data matching with our index.
Platform Availability
Getit
On-Demand Delivery App
Technology
Synopsis
The client was clear with their needs but was not tech savvy enough to state specific requirements.
In GetIt the driver and vendor are treated as separate entities unlike a regular taxi application where such division does not exist.
Solution
We initiated brainstorming sessions with the client to plan out the project.
We built application functionality to optimize the process while simultaneously taking all stakeholders into account.
Platform Availability
SMART Digital BusinessCard
NFC
Technology
Synopsis
The client had an understanding of NFC but they had no idea of how the technology behind NFC works.
The client needed a secure platform as they wanted to keep the customer data secured.
Solution
We did a knowledge transfer with the client and explained the technology behind NFC and QR code.
We undertook a variety of security measures to prevent any leakage of user data.
Platform Availability
Money App
Loan
Technology
Synopsis
The oldest insurance company of Lebanon reached out to us. They needed to digitize their operations and develop a lending application.
The target customers of the bank were mostly laymen with not much technical know-how. They consisted of old people, rural families, middle class urban families etc. Thus digitization was a challenge.
Solution
We developed a mechanism for the bank to directly disburse the loan amount to the customer’s bank account. This saved a trip to the bank of the customer and saved a lot of time for both the parties.