Things to Know About Souq like App Development in 2023

Published on July 6th, 2023

As an inhabitant of this ever-changing world, we could only look back and wonder how life has turned out to be this comfortable and easy. We do not have to move an inch out of our houses and things are delivered and dropped right at our doorsteps. So simple, yet astonishing, all thanks to the emergence of e-commerce apps. 

No wonder why e-commerce apps have become an integral element of our lives and have been doing phenomenally well business-wise. Just take a look at the numbers. E-commerce apps are globally expected to earn a soaring revenue of $ 8.1 trillion, especially Suoq being an absolute smasher in UAE. 

If you are someone who wishes to craft an exquisite, entrepreneurial, and economical e-commerce app, we just want to say that we get you. We would like to contribute to your app in one or the other way possible and this blog is just a sweet start to your Souq like app development journey.

What is Souq?

Till the year 2021, Souq had been a leading e-commerce platform in the Middle East region. It basically reigned over the digital marketspace of the entire Middle East. However, in 2021, its era ended when it was taken over by the global giant Amazon.

The working mechanism of Souq was pretty simple. The consumers can sift through the massive product catalogue of over 600000 products, drop the ones they like to the cart, fill in the delivery details, and simply checkout. They can make payment either at the time of making an order or at the time of receiving the delivery. 

Please keep it in mind that Souq adhered to the marketplace model of e-commerce. It implies that the platform listed all sorts of products under their unique brand names for the purpose of sale. Acting as a middleman between the buyers and the vendors, Souq did not control the pricing of the products. Amazon works on the same lines. 

Why develop an app like Souq?

Because e-commerce apps are simply too good. As we already made a cursory mention of the numbers that are totally in favour of the e-commerce marketspaces, we feel that developing an e-commerce app like Souq will reap many benefits for you. 

Take a look at the benefits of e-commerce apps that we have elucidated below – 

• Easy Shopping, Easy Sales – 

Assuming that money is not an issue, why will a consumer not shop online anytime from anywhere, when doing it is too easy? Search, select, order, and pay – that is it. Just that. 

You take care of the comfort of your consumer; your consumer takes care of your sales. This is the only principle of business that works. 

• Economical Selling, More Products

No additional payment of rent, electricity, salesperson and in return, the entire digital space is your marketplace. How is that?

Why would a vendor not want to sell products on your platform, when you are giving him/her/them an access to a wider consumer base at a very low cost? More vendors, more products, more consumers, more sales – more profits for you.

• Accessible Consumer Data, More Sales

The moment a consumer registers on your app, you start to know, categorise, and market the products to him/her/them. 

With such valuable data with regard to consumer preferences at your fingertips, devising custom marketing strategies is like cakewalk. With such laser-focussed marketing, sales are guaranteed.

Which features you must include for Souq like app development?

An app gets its identity from its diverse and dynamic features. If we do not list down the crucial features of an app like Souq, we would be doing injustice to this blog. Therefore, here for you, we have listed the indispensable features of Souq that your app cannot do without – 

• Register and Login – 

You owe it to your consumers. You must furnish them with a breezy registration and login to your app. Get them to fill in a few details and there is their registration completed. 

Another way of registration and login that is absolutely effortless is when you give your consumers an option to register and login via your email IDs, social media accounts, or contact number.

• Home Page – 

First impression is the last impression. The maxim applies well in case of e-commerce mobile apps too. The homescreen of the e-commerce app is solely responsible for setting an astounding first impression.

Therefore, it becomes your sole responsibility to make sure that the homescreen is insightfully designed with exceptional use of brand colours. Also, the home screen must have all the vital buttons such as search, product categories, sales, etc to prolong the stay of consumers on the app.

• Advanced Search – 

Make the search process easy and the next thing you know the consumer is doing is placing the order. Ensure that your app gives suitable recommendations as soon as the consumer types the search keyword.

Also, search tasks can be made super easy if the consumer has to just speak whatever he/she/they wish to search and accordingly, search options appear on the screen.

• Product Description – 

Believe us when we say that it would be a lot easier for a consumer to make a purchase decision if you furnish him/her/them with relevant product information.

In product information, you must include pictures and videos in addition to the other vital information. Do not forget to include consumer reviews because it really helps to build a sense of trust amongst the consumers.

• Wishlist & Carts – 

Not all the products shortlisted can be bought straightaway. Therefore, you need to offer a space to consumers to save such products. This space is what is usually called a ‘Wishlist’.

When a consumer is ready to finally purchase, he can either readily add the products to the cart or transfer them from the wishlist to the cart. You must enable your consumers to add or remove one or more products from the cart or increase or decrease the quantity of the products present in the cart.

• Payment and Discount – 

This is a crucial step in the whole buying mechanism. Make sure to give as many as payment options to your consumers so that they do not have any excuse left to not move ahead with the purchase.

Also, before they proceed to make the payment, inform your consumers of all the applicable vouchers and also the ones for which they are not eligible. As you provide them with such information, they may alter their purchase and buy more to avail the discount.

• Order Tracking – 

Knowledge is power. There is no denying to that, especially in the current era. By furnishing the knowledge of the movement of the order to your consumers, you are actually dousing their doubts.

Therefore, make use of the advanced location services such as Google Maps or MapBox and integrate the essential map APIs with your app.

• Augmented Reality – 

How about you remove the only hurdle in the path of consumers about to make an online purchase? We are talking about the consumers’ inability to know whether the product is apt for them or their houses or anyone else before they place their order.

Use Augmented Reality and help consumers to know whether the shortlisted apparel will look good on them or not. Not just that, the consumers can do the same with decorative art pieces or furniture to see whether they will perfectly fit into their houses or not.

• Push Notification – 

Through frequent and fancy push notifications, keep your consumers informed about the latest offers and discounts that they can avail over your app. Use notifications and never stop persuading them to be a part of a sales festival and make important purchases.

Important delivery information can also be sent to the consumers through notifications and text messages. Not just that, return pickup information can also be furnished in the same way.

• Chatbots – 

Would it not be amazing if you can use chatbots to provide all day all night consumer support and much more?

With an amusing and efficient chatbot, you may entertain your consumers by offering them recommendations, helping them make purchases, and resolving their grievances (if any).

Now you are half-way on your way to know all about Souq like app development. As you possess a comprehensive knowledge of the crucial features of an app like Souq, we can move ahead with the process involved with the development of the app. 

How to develop an app like Souq?

We have delineated the development process of an e-commerce app like Souq below. Tighten your seat belts because we are going to takeoff –

• Research – 

Nothing less than extensive research can help you go anywhere closer to making your e-commerce app. Keep sipping your coffee and collect as much information as you can on the points given below –

• Know the competitors of your app like the back of your hand
• Understand the USPs of the prominent e-commerce apps in the market
• Learn about your target consumer base and their inclinations

• Plan – 

When you have all the information you need, the next obvious task-in-hand is to plan. You have to plan out your app idea on the following fronts –

• Define the diverse features and functionalities of your app
• Do not forget to determine a unique selling point for your app
• You need to make sure that all your features are perfectly compatible
• Like strengths, knowing your app’s weaknesses is equally important

• Hire – 

You obviously will not develop your path if you do not hold any strong background in app development. You need to hire an expert or a bunch of experts for the same. We have listed below the three hiring options available to you –

• Employ an in-house team
• Hire freelancing services
• Hire a developers team

Outsourcing the development of your app to a developer’s team of an app development company is a wise decision to make. It is cost-effective, scalable, flexible, reliable, and an efficient method to develop your app.

• Design – 

When you outsource the development of your app to an app development company, they take over the app development process from here.

Design of an app is the core of its soul. Therefore, it has to be perfect so that the user finds the app experience heavenly. The design of an app includes the following indispensable tasks –

• A diligent market research
• A pain-staking wireframing process
• Getting the combination of all the elements design right to create a stimulating user experience
• Making sure that the design perfectly fits to all screen sizes

• Develop – 

Allow your dedicated developer’s team to get into an extensive development process. Development involves use of advanced technology stack to give a body to the soul of the app. Development unfolds in the following way –

• Frontend and backend coding
• Adding features 
• Integrations with multiple APIs

 Ensure that you are in constant communication with your developers’ team via a project management tool so that you can track the progress of your project and give the necessary feedback.

The responsibility of the testers is to identify any loopholes within the development process and inform the developers accordingly so that they can initiate necessary modifications. Therefore, the process of development and testing go hand-in-hand.

• Test and Deploy – 

The responsibility of the testers is to identify any loopholes within the development process and inform the developers accordingly so that they can initiate necessary modifications. Therefore, the process of development and testing go hand-in-hand.

When no more bugs can be identified in the app and it shows high performance, it is sent for the purpose of deployment. In order to deploy an app –

• The app has to be hosted on a robust and reliable server
• The app has to be released on a suitable platform such as Google Play Store and/or Apple App Store

• Maintenance and Upgrade – 

Constant maintenance is important for any app. It is essential to oversee the performance of the app via reviews and fix issues if any.

Likewise, your app will become obsolete and will ill-function if you do not upgrade its software from time to time. Make sure that your app development company takes care of it. 

What is the cost of Souq like app development?

The average cost of developing an e-commerce app like Souq comes out to be $ 65000. However, this is a very general estimate and does not represent the influence of a variety of factors that have a direct effect over the cost of app development.

The cost of app development generally depends upon the variables mentioned below –

• Size of the application
• Number of features and functionalities
• Complexity of the application
• Location of the development team
• Platform for the application
• Technology for the app development

Depending upon the factors mentioned above, the cost of the app development ranges between $ 10000 to $ 130000. 

If you are someone looking to develop an e-commerce app, we want to inform you that you are ready. With all the information given in the blog, you are well-prepared to undertake the Souq like app development. 

Do you want to develop an elegant and efficient e-commerce app like Souq?

As a world-class app development company, iTechnolabs have the ability to get you anything you want as far as app development is concerned. With our cutting edge technology, our developers have the ability to craft dynamic and profitable e-commerce apps for you. The developers at iTechnolabs have requisite skills and hunger to produce powerful app solutions. 

Get in touch with our expert consultants today and get your Souq like app development already started. We have mainly three hiring models that enables you to economise the development process of your e-commerce app. Contact us right now, right here!