E-commerce
customer engagement
PAJO: Omnichannel experiences in retail stores, hotels, and art galleries
Cross-platform is fast. But with our team, it’s right on time.
PAJO is a marketing tools suite that empowers brands to boost customer engagement through beautiful, interactive content. The QR codes available inside physical stores, art galleries and hotels allow brands to connect with their users instantly and on any device. No download, no installation – just a seamless customer journey and immediate access to personalised offers, loyalty programs, stories and events.
PAJO consists of a no-code CMS platform and a library of customer engagement tools. An all-in-one marketing suite makes it easy for companies to manage brand experiences and share them with users via a convenient web application. Read on to discover how our team leveraged the potential of an emerging Google technology, Flutter Web, to deliver a complex web application that perfectly captures a mobile experience for maximum user engagement.
Challenges
Developing web app with a mobile feel
The creators of PAJO approached Miquido while searching for a technology partner fluent in cross-platform application development, capable of delivering a web app with a mobile-like feel. Together, we decided to take advantage of the emerging Google technology, Flutter Web. At the beginning of our cooperation with PAJO in 2020, Flutter Web was still in its early days. However, we knew that paving new ways in Flutter Web development would allow us to quickly integrate the best omnichannel practices, such as evoking a native-like mobile experience in an instant web application. So, we took up the challenge!
Fast delivery of Proof of Concept
PAJO is a data-driven start-up for which it is crucial to make business decisions based on market research and analytics. What does this mean in practice? Firstly, PAJO enables brands to use digital marketing tools to investigate their visitors’ behaviour inside brick-and-mortar locations. Secondly, the start-up itself is also developing iteratively, based on UX research and testing. Therefore, one of the most important objectives of our cooperation was the flawless, efficient, and timely delivery of Proof of Concept – to enable its fast verification, improvement and scaling.
Solution
App-like experience
60%
of estimated time to deliver a Proof of Concept
2 project phases
Already completed
Flutter Tech Lead support
Delivering PoC of a web application with Flutter required the ability to think outside the box to beat early-stage framework limitations with SEO, scrolling performance, initial loading time, or proper library support. After collecting the client’s requirements and estimating the scope of work, we agreed that PAJO needs full-time support of a seasoned cross-platform developer. Therefore, our Flutter Tech Lead immediately took care of the project.
Creative approach to emerging technology limitations
Kicking off the web development project with emerging Google technology, Flutter Web required a good amount of creativity. Due to occasional bugs in the Flutter Web engine, the Miquido team had to search for workarounds or slightly modify product requirements. We have also coped with debugging problems by first running the web application on native Android – the first platform supported by Flutter since 2018. Even though keeping off the beaten path required greater effort, it allowed us to deliver a web application with a native-like mobile feel in a fraction of the time.
A well-planned development process
Initially, we split the project into two phases and started with the PoC development with the primary objective of verifying the task-technology fit. During the first project phase, Flutter proved so effective in terms of web development that our team completed the initial project assumptions just 5 weeks after receiving the first briefs. We quickly delivered a web application with a native-like mobile feel, and thanks to the well-planned development process, the client could easily adjust his plans – and start the second phase quicker!
Services & tech stack
Web application development: Flutter Web
Analytics: Firebase Analytics & Segment
Passwordless Firebase Authentication
Crash reporting: Sentry SDK
GetIt Service Locator Dart package
CI on Github
CD with Firebase Hosting
BLoC state management library
PHASE 1
Minimum Viable Product delivery
During the first development stage the Miquido team verified how Flutter Web works in conjunction with the design provided by the client and with the QR code scanner. We smoothly delivered all the requested features, including:
- User sign up, sign in & sign out
- Complete user onboarding
- Home main screen implementation: integration with QR codes system
- Themes implementation: UI themes with personalised brand colours
- User profile settings
- Language support: English and Chinese
Additionally, as part of PAJO Moments – user engagement tools available in PAJO’s marketing tools suite – we have implemented two mini-games: Memory and Product Hunt. The fast introduction of fun, engaging gamification elements allowed our client to attract the first users quickly and has contributed to positive feedback regarding the MVP.
PHASE 2
Web application scaling
In PAJO, the user engagement process takes place in real time – so each stage must be hyper-efficient and intuitive. Our client decided to use a Flutter-based web solution that does not require downloading. During the second development phase, we have suggested raising the stakes and delivering secure, password-less registration via email: Firebase Anonymous Authentication. As a result, PAJO achieved seamless customer onboarding that smoothly leads users to personalised PAJO Moments.
Results
As part of our partnership, PAJO received an engaging website with elements of gamification and password-free, secure user registration. Getting the best out of Flutter, Miquido delivered an efficient product that flawlessly reflects the experience of using the mobile application – while retaining all the benefits of the web version. The most tangible results of the project involved:
Fully functional PoC
The cooperation with PAJO aimed to provide a fully functional Proof of Concept with the potential for further development. After the 1st phase of the project, we delivered a complete MVP with user sign-up, onboarding, profile settings, and English and Chinese language support. Thanks to this, our client was able to start exploring two key markets quickly – and tested his new product in a fast and effective way.
40% faster delivery
Cross-platform is fast. But Flutter Web? It’s right on time! In the 1st phase of the project, Miquido completed all the initial project assumptions 40% faster than expected. This optimisation allowed our client to allocate the remaining budget to diversifying the PAJO content library even more.
Impressive content library
After the second stage of the work, PAJO released three new Moments (Links, Events & Coupons), a comprehensive Wallet for coupon codes, and launched a quick user registration and onboarding feature.
“Miquido has become a great extension of our team here at PAJO. Setting up communication and aligning workflows was a breeze, which helped us accomplish the first phase of our project twice as fast as estimated. The good basis we have built with Miquido allows us to quickly outsource work when needed to a partner we know we can rely on”
Alexander Hein, CEO at Pajo
