John Dory. Multifunctional loyalty programme app for a large seafood retailer

We created a cross-platform mobile application for a fast-growing seafood retail chain that combines a loyalty programme, customer support chat, product showcase, interactive map of all points of sale and unique promotional offers.

Using plastic cards as a loyalty programme solution will be outdated by 2025. Going digital with loyalty program software for retail stores allows you to onboard new members faster, with fewer resources and more freedom to add new features.

What was the client's need?

Our client was one of the pioneers in introducing innovative loyalty programmes in retail, rejecting standard plastic cards in favour of a mobile application.

What do we offer?

We've added a number of features to the standard bonus accumulation to increase functionality and add value for both the retailer and their customers:

• Showcase the retailer's product range.
• Increase browsing to purchase conversion.
• Promote personalised offers to increase customer loyalty.
• Organise services to quickly resolve problems and requests for assistance.

And more tricks that we'll tell you about next.

• 8k+

  New users per month

• #2

  in App Store

Since 2013, John Dory has been the market leader in the supply of chilled fish and seafood. In the retail sector, the company is represented by the largest network of specialised fish shops, united under the John Dory brand of the same name. The chain now has 20 stores.

The loyalty programme is based on earning cashback on purchases. Customers can use the bonus points to pay for part of their next order. The programme also offers discounts, the amount of which depends on the category of goods and the amount spent.

The problem our client faced was the inconvenience of using plastic cards: from registration to carrying them around to be scanned at the till. So we digitised the loyalty programme and added features to increase customers' engagement.

Let's take a look at what makes loyalty programmes in retail so special.

The percentage of cashback and the number of points earned are displayed on the home screen. To redeem them, the user simply scans the QR in the store. We are also adding the ability to add a loyalty card to Apple Wallet for quick access. This integration also allows customers to see the push with promotions on the lock screen when they are near the store.

In the days of plastic cards, taking advantage of someone else's discount was a bit sloppy. They were replaced by phone number discounts, which made it a little easier, but you had to get a confirmation code from the owner of the discount. John Dory went the other way, offering to form family groups to save and spend bonus points together.

Although it is not possible to make purchases within the app itself, we have thought of the user's convenience by integrating a simple map showing the closest shops where the necessary items are available. So users can find out how long the journey will take from within the John Dory application and open the route on Google Maps or Yandex Navigator. This simple solution acts as one of the stages of the sales funnel: capturing the customer's attention online and natively driving the customer to purchase offline.

According to a Euromonitor survey, 50% of consumers expect personalised offers from stores. That's why we've implemented a promotions section as an additional marketing tool: it's integrated with a service that allows you to collect analytics and monitor at what stage users fall off, then build hypotheses and improve the funnel.

Front-end. React Native is our main front-end stack.

Back-end. PHP, Laravel — our main back-end stack, the most popular PHP framework at the moment.

Server: Docker, Kubernetes — allow you to reduce the cost of maintaining the server infrastructure, building CI / CD processes.

The project was launched 8 months after the start. After the application was uploaded to the stores, in a couple of days it flew into the TOP in the Food and Drinks category.

Firstly, the application as software for the seafood industry is often cheaper than producing membership cards. Secondly, it is a constantly updated customer base that is self-sustaining: current phone numbers, dates of birth, names, purchase history. In the hands of a good marketer, this information can be used to increase sales. After all, acquiring new customers is known to be much more expensive than retaining old ones.