Say Wow
For Say Wow, we created a solution for the 360-degree management of private sales that it organizes for large fashion companies.
Services:
UX/UI Design; Cross Platform App Development; Web App Development
Technologies:
Adobe XD Prototyping, Flutter, Angular, MSSQL, .NET 6, Azure DevOps
2019 – Ongoing
Brief
Say Wow is a top player nationally and globally inorganizing and managing private sales (in-store and online) of major fashion groups and brands such as Tom Ford, Trussardi, Off – White, Palm Angels, Furla, Ginori 1735, Giuseppe Zanotti, Jil Sander, Marni, New Guard Group, Kering Group, and other renowned brands. They turned to PurpleSoft within a few months of their company’s incorporation in November 2019, with the goal of speeding up and optimizing all macro processes that affect their business: receiving items, relabeling products, shelf layout, managing user invitations and reservations, verifying admissions, selling garments, advanced reporting, and returning unsold items.
The solution developed for Say Wow is constantly evolving through close collaboration with the client from the very beginning. This approach allows us to respond dynamically to their specific needs and ensure a product that is always innovative and high-performing. To date, the solution is successfully used by more than300,000 users, demonstrating its effectiveness in supporting a company of this scale.
UX/UI Design
The management system was designed and developed primarily to be usable from tablets, the working device carried by each member of the team that manages events.
We have carefully analyzed the way all the processes related to private sales are managed, including attending many of these events in person. We have studied the different steps and usage flows, prioritizing usability for the operators.
Having completed the analysis, we understood that there are 5 basic steps that constitute a private room, namely those of: receiving goods, booking customers, checking in customers, selling goods, and finally, returning unsold goods.
Based on these phases, we designed the user experience of the solution by breaking down each phase into smaller steps, which were further divided into individual tasks. At this point, each task was developed to make the process fast and intuitive.
We created an initial demo of the solution to allow the staff to test the potential of the software in the field and gather their feedback. This process was critical to the optimization of the user experience and the success of the software.
Software Development
The solution consists of amobile app used by staff (via tablets and smartphones) and a web app that allows users to view available private sales and book themselves into them.
The solution is divided into 6 modules:
Administration Panel (back-end): The panel allows the customization and configuration of the entire solution (App and Web App) It allows the management of all modules (at the following points) and also to manage: the master and roles of the users of the solution, product master, mailing lists, private invitations, refferral queues and sales restrictions at the checkout by brand and/or category.
Product Reception and Relabeling Module (mobile app): This module allows you to scan the products received to check the bill of lading and relabel the products according to internal logic.
Booking Users (web app): Where users can view available events and book them.
The “Check-In” module (mobile app) is used to check the reservations of people attending the private sales. It involves scanning and validating the QR codes on their booking confirmations.
Cash Register (mobile app): This module enables both physical and online sales. The shopping carts are personalized to ensure accurate sales reporting for each customer.
Returns of unsold items (mobile app): This module enables the generation of a return document, organizing shipments in groups of pallets or individual units of measurement.
Reporting (back-office): All the essential data is summarized in a customized and easily accessible reporting system, leveraging the use of Power BI.
Technologies
The following technologies were used for developing the software solution:
The database, the foundation of all the data in the management system, was developed using T-SQL language and Microsoft SQL Server.
The web APIs, which serve as the communication engine between the back-end (database) and the front-end (mobile app and web app), were developed using C# language with the .NET 6 framework. The .NET 6 framework, provided by Microsoft, enables the development of secure and high-performance Web APIs.
The mobile app for private sale management has been developed using Dart language and the Flutter framework. Flutter, a framework by Google, enables the creation of cross-platform applications for Android and iOS.
The web app used by users for reservations has been developed using TypeScript language and the Angular framework. Angular, a framework by Google, allows for the creation of web applications.
HARDWARE
On the hardware side, we have implemented an integrated solution that includes:
Bluetooth barcode readers: used during the receiving phase to scan the barcodes on each product, allowing for inventory completion.
Zebra, TSC, and Brother label printers are used during the receiving phase to print new labels with discounted prices.
SumUp payment terminal: used during the sales phase to enable credit card or debit card payments.
Telematic receivers (RCH fiscal cash registers): used during the sales phase to print fiscal receipts.
ESC/POS receivers (non-fiscal cash registers): used during the sales phase to print non-fiscal receipts.
Integration with SumUp
Integration with SumUp has proven to be a convenient and successful solution; in fact, it allows both physical and online payments to be accepted, with the ability to make partial refunds or completely cancel an order easily and integrated with the system.
To complete and optimize the integration process, we developed a plugin for Flutter that we decided to publish on the official portal for flutter developers(pub.dev) in order to contribute to this great community. The plugin is open source and downloadable from the pub.dev/packages/sumup page.
A software that can be used in multiple countries
Over time Say Wow has grown exponentially and has expanded its activities abroad. For some countries it was necessary to readjust the software,Here are some examples.
United States: In this country, the Value Added Tax (VAT), equivalent to our Value Added Tax (IVA), varies based on the state and the amount. Therefore, we have implemented a percentage-based taxation system based on the zip code and the amount of the receipt. To achieve this, we have expanded the database to accommodate this additional information.
Saudi Arabia: Another interesting challenge we faced was adapting the system to comply with the simplified electronic invoicing requirements in Saudi Arabia. In this country, they have a specific system for the issuance of simplified electronic invoices, which is based on the generation of a specific QR code encoded in TLV (Tag Length Value) format. We resolved the issue by extending the web APIs to calculate the TLV value and generate an image containing the QR code.
Switzerland: We introduced non-fiscal receipts on non-fiscal printers. To achieve this, we developed a Flutter plugin capable of generating non-fiscal receipts on any ESC/POS compatible printer.
Conclusions
This project gave us the opportunity to design and develop a tailored solution for the complete management of a complex and articulated business. The system created represents one of the most sophisticated we have ever created, a constantly evolving platform designed to adapt dynamically to the needs of the client and the market.
Through the implementation of this solution, our client has achieved concrete and measurable results, such asoptimization of operational processes, better control of activities , and significant growth in efficiency and satisfaction of its users.
Taking on such an ambitious challenge was animportant growth opportunity for us, allowing us to test our skills and push the limits of technology. The satisfaction expressed by the customer, combined with the results achieved, represents for us a tangible confirmation of our ability to offer innovative, high-performance solutions of the highest quality.
