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Android mobile application for warehouse management

Slogan

Helping a powerhouse in e-commerce fulfillment to streamline QA and development processes and deliver a top-notch mobile app.

About client

Soapbox is a tech company that serves retail and e-commerce startups, scaleups, and iconic brands by streamlining their entire fulfillment process with a cutting-edge software solution that offers transparency and total control over inventory, order, packaging, shipping, and product management.

Industry

Fulfillment, logistics, e-commerce

Services

Mobile development, mobile testing

Tech stack

JavaScript, React Native, ESLint, GitLab, CodePush, Datadog, React Navigation, vision-camera-code-scanner, react-native-print

4

Dev & QA Team

USA

Country

Since 2023

Cooperation

About project

The Soapbox solution is a game changer in the world of omnichannel fulfillment. In essence, this is a one-stop shop for all fulfillment needs. With its help, brands of all sizes can efficiently manage inventory, warehouses, and orders. The software provides robust analytics and seamlessly integrates with ERPs, CRMs, and TMSs to enable clients to control the whole supply chain. With the Soapbox solution, companies can increase efficiency, boost operational visibility, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. The Soapbox product consists of a web app, a server app, and a mobile app. Our contribution has primarily focused on the development of the latter, specifically designed to facilitate efficient warehouse management.

Our engagement

Quality assurance

Soapbox approached us to help it set up an efficient QA process for an Android mobile application, which was in the prototype stage at that time.

Two of our manual QA engineers have gotten into gear. A comprehensive approach that they have applied addresses all quality assurance aspects, ensuring that every detail is carefully checked and validated. This includes thorough requirement validation to guarantee that the application meets all specified criteria and expectations. Additionally, they conduct full-cycle software testing, encompassing integration, system, and user acceptance tests.

Powered by expertise and dedication, they have successfully prevented numerous functional issues and major design glitches. Proactive measures and rigorous testing protocols have ensured that the application operates smoothly and delivers an exceptional user experience.

Our efforts have resulted in early bug detection and more than 15 successful releases of the Android application. What is important is that, with our comprehensive testing services, Soapbox has improved product quality and user loyalty.

Mobile development

Our React Native developer joined a mobile development team to help it build the Soapbox app for Android.

The first challenge we faced was inappropriate workflows and project structure, which hampered further development and maintenance of the app. We decided to begin by conducting primary code style reviews and restructuring internal processes. The latter was a daunting task as the system was large and bulky, and a lot of factors and nuances should have been taken into account to make everything work well together.

Once the basic processes were set up and streamlined, we proceeded with global code refactoring and a logic overhaul. To seamlessly integrate modifications and improvements, we worked closely with the backend and web developers.

In the course of refactoring, we optimized the code, enhanced its maintainability, and offered improvements related to providing a better user experience. This included changes in the user interface, performance optimization, and the implementation of additional options.

Further on, we also implemented a bunch of new features like stocktaking, warehouse audit, tracking goods movement within a warehouse, adding data about goods pickup and dispatch, and barcode scanning.

Challenges & solutions:

1.

The project workflows were not efficient and hindered further app development and maintenance.

  • A cloud-based JS code update system was not configured.
  • A primary automated code review and the processes of deployment and building were not set up.
  • There was an abundance of errors and conflicts during code pushing.
  • The development process was hampered due to the absence of a division into development, staging, and production versions.
  • The app wasn’t updated automatically, and users had to do it manually in the Play Store.

Solution 1

We decided to begin by restructuring internal processes in order to lay a foundation for future work.

  • A linter was set up to check a common code style against predefined rules.
  • The division into development, staging, and production versions was initiated.
  • All the processes within a version control system (GitLab) and CodePush were also set up and adjusted to enable automated application updating.
2.

The app code was poorly structured and contained numerous bugs. As a result, the implemented features didn’t work properly, while the new functionality broke down the existing one.

Solution 2

We initiated global code refactoring that suggested extensive and comprehensive revisions, including a complete overhaul of app logic and a significant portion of the user interface.

Our developer completely rearranged the code structure and highlighted those parts of the code that could be reused in other app modules. He significantly improved abstraction to enable multiple reuses of code parts in diverse app modules. Efforts were also made to optimize data processing so that the app would use minimal resources on mobile devices.

3.

The implementation of barcode scanning posed a unique set of challenges. React Native has compatibility issues with libraries required for barcode scanning via a camera. Despite selecting an optimal library and utilizing its latest version, we encounter compatibility issues with other libraries used in the app from time to time.

Solution 3

To prevent conflicts, we constantly monitor package versions. Also, we communicate closely with library developers to quickly address any conflicts that still arise sometimes.

Client success

Our collaboration with Soapbox resulted in significant enhancements across various aspects of their mobile application. By establishing a well-structured QA process and streamlining the development process, we optimized workflows, reduced development time, and increased app quality. Additionally, our efforts to simplify app maintenance made it easier for the Soapbox team to manage and update the application effectively. Furthermore, our focus on improving the app's quality, appearance, performance, and functionality led to a substantial increase in user satisfaction. The app now boasts a more seamless and enjoyable user experience.

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