Plastic membership cards worked fine. Well, until they didn’t. That’s what a regional grocery chain realized when customer engagement started slipping through the cracks. Shoppers had no idea how many reward points they had. Special offers often went unnoticed. And every promotion required either printed signage or another round of email blasts.
As you can imagine, all of that is too slow for today’s mobile-first world. Having realized that, the company’s IT manager saw just how much more their loyalty program could do with a mobile app. But without in-house mobile expertise or backend infrastructure, it also felt like uncharted territory.
In this blog post, we share how the story unfolded.
A Growing Business Facing Growing Gaps
This Chicago-based grocer, serving a devoted Asian-American community, had ambitious plans. In essence, their goal was to digitize the entire loyalty experience, replacing plastic cards with scannable barcodes in an app. They wanted shoppers to see real-time reward balances, receive weekly promotions on their phones, and even access recipes or sales flyers without visiting a website.
Read the case study on Mobile App Development with Built-In Barcode Scanner
Unfortunately, they were blocked on all sides. The series of challenges they faced included the absence of a mobile development team, no backend infrastructure, and a modest $25K budget to get everything up and running on both iOS and Android.
What they needed wasn’t just a developer but a partner who could help them plan, prioritize, and future-proof their investment.
Turning a Vision Into a Realistic, Ready-to-Build Plan
That’s where Velvetech stepped in with a structured, strategy-first approach.
We began by narrowing the focus. Together with the client, we prioritized the most valuable features: secure login, barcode scanning at checkout, real-time reward point display, push notifications, and a simple content management system for recipes and promotions. Anything outside of that, like payment integrations or live chat, was flagged for a future phase to keep the budget in check.
Once the scope was locked in, we moved to architecture. While hybrid frameworks might have saved money upfront, they often fall short on performance and user experience. For this client, we recommended native apps for iOS and Android to ensure fast barcode scanning, smooth animations, and fewer bugs on the customer-facing side. You see, when you’re building an app that represents your brand, cutting corners isn’t an option.
To handle backend operations, we proposed Microsoft Azure: a cost-effective, secure, and scalable solution. This enabled a lightweight content management system, so store staff could easily upload weekly flyers, manage promotions, and track user engagement. All of that is possible without a developer.
Discover How to Drive User Engagement and Retention
On top of that, to support long-term success, we offered post-launch maintenance at a predictable hourly rate of $65/hour, covering future updates, enhancements, and user-requested improvements.
A Mobile Idea that Translates Into a Competitive Edge
By the end of the engagement, the client walked away with a strategic roadmap. They now had a clear understanding of the total cost, timeline, and effort required to bring their mobile app to life. Their IT leader had the confidence to present a thoughtful, future-ready proposal to company leadership.
Most importantly, they avoided the common mistake many retailers make: launching a low-cost hybrid app that underwhelms users and eventually requires a costly rebuild. Instead, they now have the tools and plan to compete in a mobile-first retail landscape on their terms.
Where Loyalty Programs Meet Real Loyalty
If your loyalty program still depends on plastic cards or disconnected systems, the time for digital modernization is now. Customer expectations are mobile, real-time, and personalized. And your brand experience should be too.
At Velvetech, we don’t just build apps, we help you build the right one. Let’s map your journey from idea to execution with zero guesswork. Book a mobile strategy session with Velvetech today.
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