What to Consider while Building a Local Buy And Sell App?

The advent and adoption of mobile devices have narrowed down the gap between buyers and sellers phenomenally. Given the convenience brought forth by mobile devices, customer acquisition is much easier for modern businesses due to enhanced outreach and latest targeting techniques. Still, there is a big chunk of customers who are interested in buying stuff and availing services locally in lieu of averting exaggerated shipping costs. Here is a precise guide for businesses on the lookout for developing a local buy and sell the app.

 

How to Create a Local Buy and Sell App?

As more and more businesses gear up to embrace the conveniences that mobile phones bring in, the time is ripe if you are considering building a local buy and sell the app. The simple secret that defines the success of a buy and sell app is the ease with which buyers and sellers can connect with each other. We at Promatics have planned and developed many apps for our clients in the past. Here is a concise checklist of all the things you must keep in mind when working on a buy and sell app:

 

I. Analyse What Competitors Have to Offer

When we talk of popular buy and sell apps, Letgo is one of the mainstream rivals. Boasting of 100 million downloads and more than 400 million listings, Letgo connects local people who want to sell or buy used stuff on the fly. It facilitates easy communication between people and allows them to schedule meetings. There is no signing up cost involved and a user doesn’t have to pay any fee or cut of the sale price either. Another enterprise making it to the headlines is OfferUp, that allows users to sell their used stuff online in a particular area easily and quickly. Most buy and sell apps allow social media registration of seamless onboarding of users. This helps the business increase the number of user registrations.

 

II. Configure an Appropriate Business Model for the App

It’s best to allow easy onboarding of all users in the app without requiring them to pay any fees. This ensures a massive user base in long run. There need not be any restriction on the number of ads one can post. It is optional if you want to charge a commission on a number of deals that happen, however, most other buy and sell apps don’t charge any. Most local buy and sell app follow the internal advertising tactics to monetize the model. Internal advertising is of unique value to sellers to convey offers to prospective buyers. You can also opt to handle the logistics of goods sold to earn extra.

 

III. Narrow Down on the Tech Stack

What technological tools and services go into building your buy and sell app depend on the nature of features you want the app to have. Here is a list of all the important tools used to build buy and sell app category leaders like LetGo and OfferUp:

 

Server-side development: Express.js, Node.js.

Client-side development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap

Frameworks: Angular.js, Backbone.js, React.js

Languages: Swift/Objective-C (iOS apps), Kotlin/Java (Android apps)

Database: MongoDB, MySQL

Cloud architecture: AWS

Payment integration: Braintree, Stripe

Web server: Nginx

Other tools: AWS S3, Confluence, Swagger, MailChimp, PostgreSQL

 

 

IV. Decide on Details of UI and UX for the App

Having a presentable and interactive UI/UX is the basis of a thriving mobile app business. Including eye catchy images and easy to use features will be appreciated by your users. Include easy onboarding with an option of registering via Facebook or e-mail. Having an in-app chat window where buyers and sellers can write messages to each other improves the chances of transactions. A local buy and sell must have a prolific search engine to help users find the desired products. It will help a user find what they are looking for even when a large number of listings are added on an ongoing basis. Various filters and the Sorting feature can make the search process fast and customizable. It is of prime importance that users be able to click pictures of the products they are looking to sell.

 

V. Integrate a Suitable Payment Gateway

More often than not customers leave a purchase mid-way owing to difficulties they face at the check-out during a transaction. Reasons may vary from payment options being limited to a few; payment gateway being too slow and the payment gateway is slowing down the processing of a user’s cell phone device. Sometimes users are sceptic about revealing their confidential information when they suspect that the payment gateway is not secure. All developers must ensure that the payment gateway they choose has PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard) compliance. Meeting these standards ensure that users’ card information is safe and secure within the gateway and is not accessible for misuse. You are free to decide what payment gateway your buy and sell app should feature. Choose from well-renowned options like PayPal, Braintree, Stripe etc. However, you must also take into account local governmental requirements before choosing a getaway.

 

VI. Prioritise Fraud Protection

Fraud protection is a priority for all users when it comes to app usage. It is important that you ensure fraud detection and customer protection in your local buy and sell app to gain customer loyalty. Overlooking the need for fraud detection can result in a massive loss of customers of the business, in long run. Many a time sellers start selling substandard items on the portal bring in bad repute. It is best to have in place an algorithm that helps with fraud detection is best suited for long term market growth. Most sellers are accustomed to working with apps that have highly secure payment processing mechanisms in place. Always track the comments you are receiving and check if they report of some cheat seller or customers. Let these customers know about all the various measures you resort to if the rules of your app are broken.

 

Conclusion

As a business with goals to make a mark within local communities all over the world, your focus must be to create your own community of local sellers and buyers. Simply copying the concept that leading players in the field is not likely to help you make the cut in an already competitive market. Put your brains into making something unique and useful in buy and sell category. Analyse your potential customers and their demands.

 

To offer unique value to your customers through a buy and sell the app, you can focus on specialising your app. Narrowing down to a product category, helps you target your marketing strategy on your potential clients more forcefully. Additionally, instead of trying to conquer the world at one go you can begin with a particular area like a city or country first. This ensures fewer competitors and more customers.

 

We at Promatics are a team with vital experience in the field of mobile app development. If you have a buy and sell app idea, feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation with our app experts.