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The vast majority of our clients are coming and originating directly from the USA (where basically every success story starts). This time, however, we received an inquiry from a Sweden startup entrepreneur around. The two founders of “Saffron Cooks” told us that they founded their startup in Stockholm and were actively backed up by Silicon Valley and 500 Startups. They wanted an app for an exclusive food delivery service. Whose main competitive advantages were a restaurant-like experience and a vast number of delicious meals. Interesting, to say the least.
The idea of creating a food delivery app with a restaurant experience at your home came after a long and exhausting working day. As he came home lingering with hunger, he understood that cooking isn’t always a thing after all of your energy was consumed during the workday. Fast food wasn’t an option either as it won’t fill him up. That’s where he imagined a buffet café and how he would love to have it right in his room. And here we are! Not long after that, he cooperated with his friend. Together they launched an idea of a premium food delivery service with a restaurant-like dining experience.
Initially, we briefed the client regarding the requirements and technical tasks of his project. However, after analyzing his business vision and the input data he provided, we discussed the possibility of assistance for both technical and business product aspects. This lifebuoy for their product was the Design and Discovery Phase, which later on showed how we made this project a success story.
Saffron Cooks Challenges
One of the core issues that the founder’s team has encountered is a long customer journey before the payment screen. Even though the customer is presented with a massive Swedish buffet, each of them can’t easily make quick orders, as it should be. Additionally, a customer has to wait for the food to be cooked, so that’s an extra layer of waiting time and complexity.
During the initial briefing with a client, he shared the project’s current state and what kind of “challenges” it had. First, previously the responsibility of a software implementation was on a freelance contractor. While he was handling the development process, he left more than half of the features unfinished and unpolished. Second, after a quick code review, our CTO has explained that the core backend infrastructure was utterly messy. Thus, our development team had to redo the entire infrastructure and make sure that everything will work smoothly. And thirdly, due to the current status of the backend part, some very significant security issues were identified during a quick code review. Meaning, that we had to properly secure the platform and exclude any possibility of open security vulnerabilities.
To attract and gain a stable income, “Saffron Cooks” lacked steady and constant traffic of clients. Meaning that, even though the platform provided a range of restaurant meals, the customer’s retention was really low. Thus, they needed an in-depth analysis of their business model and practical solutions for their marketing campaign.
And so, we started a thorough implementation, which subsequently led this startup project to a success story.
Technical & Business Implementations
After we analyzed and reviewed all the product’s business information, we build the requirements required for the correct product development process. In fact, to lay a definitive path towards successful product development, we decided to propose the desired solution through the Design and Discovery Phase. We explained the value of each deliverable, which are: the product vision document, the marketing campaign, and the complete product branding. All of that and even more, could potentially benefit the future product development process and attract potential customers.
After a series of interviews with the founders, we created a business model that gave us a fundamental answer. During the break time (which in Sweden is from 11:30 a.m. till 1:30 p.m.), the marketing ads should advertise a new platform with a discount voucher! Exactly this move allowed us to gather the first round of brand-new clients?
We took the responsibility to finish the job ourselves and take on the unfinished product by the previous contractor. Our development team has wholly refactored the code and spread the relevant unit tests within the given infrastructure. Meanwhile, we looked up near the backend part and noticed various bullet holes in the security section. Thus, we closed all the vulnerable code parts, leading to SQL Injections, Data Breach, and even Identity Theft. To top it off, we restructured the frontend design, and now it runs on React, which allows faster loading time.
To solve the problem with the long ordering process, we decided to create a one-page solution. Instead of the tedious ordering process, now you can do it within just a few clicks. All with the help of integrated Braintree’s API into the website. Plus, all the debit/credit cards are saving automatically, making this process even faster!
Another excellent solution for gaining more traffic that our team and startup founders have created is a loyalty program. This enables purchasing “gift cards” and sharing them with those who haven’t yet registered on the platform. Now, whoever will receive the card can spend quite a considerable discount on any meal available. This feature was also integrated to send out the email and SMS notifications to the unregistered users. In addition to the loyalty program, our client found a way to cook snack meals much faster. Thus, we decided to create a “delivery on-demand” program. Due to the high volume of quick meal inquiries, we created and launched marketing ads & banners across Stockholm promoting various quick meals with discounts. So, now it takes just 45 minutes for food order delivery to arrive!
Success Story Results
After we have implemented the core features, the client began actively advertising his product all across Stockholm. Once the first product iteration successfully finished, within just a month, the user base gained 5,000 new clients, which is around 35% of growth. The time for ordering has shortened twice, while the number of people who abandoned cart cases decreased by 40%.
Saffron Cooks is another success story that became a well-known service in Sweden with thousands of happy clients across the country. It led our client to create other unique projects, while Saffron Cooks became a very user-friendly digital product. To this day, it offers a wide range of products that makes a simple food delivery right to your door.
“JetRuby is an agency that I can genuinely recommend. JetRuby and I have worked closely together to develop the backend of my startup. Knowledgeable, hard-working, supportive, and honest are all words that come to mind when I think of the developers whom I’ve collaborated with daily.” – Justin Drees, Co-Founder of Saffron Cooks.
