SmartCart

SmartCart's early stage challenge was finding the right software development partner. Previous vendors they worked with failed to deliver a world-class order management system that was optimized to cover all use case scenarios in the golfing industry.

In addition, SmartCart's objective was to provide an innovative food & beverage ordering management system for the golfing industry. A task made even more daunting by the lack of early technology adoption in a mature vertical.

After much struggling to penetrate the market, SmartCart determined it was time to re-brand & work with a new development firm (which is where Squareball came to the rescue).

SmartCart's objective was to provide an innovative food & beverage ordering management system for the golfing industry.

Our team deployed custom software development services under the creative in-house (CID) approach. A strong relationship was forged between our organizations; a collaborative effort. This was vital in order for us to come up to speed quickly on the golfing industry and our client's vision.

Architecture

Before embarking on the actual design and development phases, we planned out the architecture strategy. We did it in a way that allowed for simplicity of the development and future system's scaling.

UI/UX Design

With a holistic approach in mind, we designed the solution across multiple platforms: mobile for golfers and cart staff and a web based dashboard for the clubhouse staff and management. Specifically for the consumer's mobile app, we designed the UI using simple bold lettering in order to cater for the senior demographic. In addition, golfers spend the time playing on the course; we ensured the combination of a light user interface would allow for increased time spent on the app during bright outdoor conditions.

Key Solution Features and Functionalities

• Native Mobile app for golfers.
• Native Mobile app for cart staff.
• Web based clubhouse dashboard.
• Highlights of the Mobile app for golfers - food ordering & tracking, course navigation with integrated GPS positioning for hole distance calculations, score card for private or team based competition, and most importantly in app tracking of the cart girl so golfers can see their order as it arrives.
• Mobile app for the cart delivery staff - provided the ability for cart personnel to view the ordering golfer's exact location. Let's face it, it is not always easy to track a moving target. Also, allowed for easy recalling of order details both being delivered and waiting for pick up and delivery back at the clubhouse.

• Back at the clubhouse orders were printed in the kitchen for the needed preparation to customer specifications. Once orders where picked up, by the cart personnel, they could be easily tracked on the course just in case a thirsty or hungry golfer were to inquire. The solution also included a module in the dashboard for club based golfing events complete with team assignments and a leaderboard that was displayed on large screens throughout the clubhouse - real time golfing tournaments in the club house and in every golfer's hands.

Back End Development

We provided a failover and redundant cloud based environment utilizing AWS which met our client's 24x7 availability requirement. The backend consisted of PHP based services (on-demand API and CRON for batch processing) and MYSQL Cluster CGE for linear scalability and availability.

Mobile App Development

The application was developed using native languages with tight integration with the mobile hardware. For the Android devices we used pure Java and Objective C for the Apple devices. Connectivity was a challenged due to dropped signals. Let's face it, cell reception is not the same as when connected to a fixed WIFI signal. We met the challenge by designing and coding a buffering mechanism that provided near real-time communication! No more hungry or thirsty golfers!!

The Result

In less then six months, SBS delivered a world-class solution that scaled with the company for 5 years during its time of operation.

In 2017, SmartCart went into negotiation and was acquired by a point of sale company whose niche complimented the golfing sector.

We improved ability for golfers to easily order food, keep track of scores, and improve overall golfing experience. On the other hand, golf clubs increased revenue, exposure, and efficiency.