The development of the internet and smartphones has made the lives of each one of us simpler in so many ways. For any kind of problem or query, let it be finding a place or checking the show timings for a movie, the first thing we refer to is our smartphone. Our phones provide the most accurate and fastest solutions to us. Smartphones have revolutionized the daily activities of our life. The on-demand services like Uber, Zomato, Glam Squad, etc. provide us with their superior services, which save us a lot of time and effort.
For a customer, these applications bring a lot of ease and comfort. Likewise, for the developer’s company, it brings huge profits and big earnings. In the year 2019, GlamSquad generated a revenue of $5 million. For a small company of less than a hundred employees, it is a great accomplishment to achieve this significant amount of revenue.
So in this article, we will have a comprehensive look at the business model, features, and development process of such apps. Also, we will have a closer look at how these apps are built and the cost of building apps like GlamSquad and Urban Clap.
Let’s Know First, What is Glam Squad and Urban Clap?
Urban Clap or Glam Squad is on-demand applications that provide you with a range of beauty salon services. Using these apps, you can hire a professional that visits your house and offer you services such as hair cut, hairdressing, makeup services, and much more. Urban Clap, however, has not just stuck to a particular niche but offers all kinds of home services from repair jobs to plumbing jobs to salon services.
Such apps are huge empowerment for a customer as all they need to do is just click on a few icons, and in a matter of a few minutes, whatever may be your issue, will get fixed.
There was a time when there used to be a big directory at home that had the numbers of several technicians for all kinds of service works. We had to call several of those guys to get a service done, and there was no fixed charge or specific availability.
With the availability of such apps, things have become more comfortable as you can use a single platform to order a service, and you will get the best results out of it. Not only they provide a faster solution but also will mention the approximate amount charged for the service beforehand. It is then your choice if you wish to order the service or not.
Key Features That Should be Present in On-Demand Apps
Developing an app like Glam Squad is no easy job and requires expertise and professionalism. Majorly, the app can be divided into three different panels, user panel, beauty professional panel, and the admin panel. There are a few features that must be included in these categories.
• User Panel
Some of the features that are a must for user application are:
Registration : It helps the user to create their personal account so that their history, orders and a separate account can be maintained for them.
Service List : It gives the list of various service providers of the area so that the user can select the best service according to the ratings and reviews are given to the particular service.
Salon Profile : It provides the user, information about the services that are offered by the salon. Also, it has details of all related information about the salon.
Packages: The app should offer various subscription packages to the user that covers several salon benefits. It helps to drive in more customers.
Appointment Booking : This is an essential feature for on-demand apps as it helps in fixing the time slot for the customer as well as the beauty professional.
History : Booking history helps the user to select a salon that they have previously availed the services from.
• Salon Panel
The app that is given to the salon must have the given features:
Registration : Registering yourself is needed so that the account history between the salon and the admin can be maintained.
Viewing the Customer Request : This section focuses on the request of services that will be sent by the customer to the salon.
Accepting or Rejecting a Request : This feature helps the salon to accept or reject the service request depending on the availability of the professional.
Assigning Beauty Professional : When the customer generates a request, the assigned beauty professional will be entered in the app for future reference.
• Admin Panel
The admin panel is necessary for managing the service that will be offered from the salon to a customer. Also, it will include the rating of a salon and the account of all the users and salons linked with the app company. Other than it, here are some of the essential features:
Dashboard : It is the home page of the admin app. It includes information related to the bookings made, salons and customers registered with the app, and much more.
Users Information : All the information related to the customers such as their bookings, history, payments made, ratings are stored and managed in this section.
Salon Information : There are hundreds of salons that will be registered under the app so this section is designed to manage their account.
Offers on Services : Apps such as Glam Squad require them to give various service offers to attract more customers. So this section helps in managing those offers and discount codes.
Payments : Payment collected by the customer and given to the salon is managed in this section.
Additional Features that Must Be Included in the Application
The competition in the market is already at its peak for all kinds of applications, so building a new app and making it grow requires time, effort and engagement of more and more users. This engagement can be achieved by including features that are unique and have not come in other apps so that the user can feel the newness in the app. Some of the features that can be included are:
- Feedback and Reviews of Customer : For picking the right salon for you.
- Geo Locations : For tracking the live location of the beauty expert.
- Advanced Filters : Filters that depict the price, rating, location, etc. of the salon.
- In-App Chat Support : In case of a problem, there should be a team to resolve customer issues.
- Social Media Integration : For easy registration and sharing the experience of the app on social media.
- Push Notifications : These help in giving customers real-time updates and several offers from time to time.
How does On-Demand Apps like Glam Squad Make Money?
Making money becomes easy and smooth for companies like Glam Squad once they establish their name in the market. The marketing process needs to carefully manage to spread the name of the company in the customer market. The primary approach that most on-demand companies follow to earn profits and make money is as follows:
• Commission on Services
The primary source of income for the Glam Squad and other similar companies is the amount they earn through commissions taken on the orders by different salons. For every order that app takes from a customer and gives it to the salon, there is a certain amount of percentage ranging from 10%-15% that is taken by the app company from the beauty service provider.
• Advertisements
In-app advertisement is a major source of earning for most of the applications of the app store and play store. A good amount of revenue is generated with the help of advertisements. Numerous organizations pay a generous amount of money for every click done by a user through a specific app on their advertisement.
• Paid Sponsorship
One of the good ways of earning better revenue for the app is by associating top salons with your app. In return for the payment, you can advertise them separately in the application and give discounts for their service so that more customers attract to their salon.
Cost For Building an On-Demand Application like GlamSquad
The amount of money needed for building an app cannot be generalized as the cost of building an application depends upon a number of factors. The most important factor while developing an app is the number of features those are to be included. Other than it, the platform for which the app is being built, the technology used in the process, and the location of the developers determine the cost of the app.
Before going ahead, let us find more about the process for building an on-demand app and the technologies used for building them.
Technology Stack and Process for Developing On-Demand Apps
The process of developing apps like GlamSquad requires the time and expertise of the developers. There are millions of apps on a store but only a few of them are successfully growing and making money.
This is because during the development process all the little details of the app are paid attention to and the need of a customer is analyzed. Studying the requirement of a user is important as per the user demand the app can be designed. The following process is usually followed for building an on-demand app.
• Research
Doing thorough research for the development of app is quite necessary. The research process involves the need of customers, a market study of where the app is to be launched and the targeted customer base. Other than that, you need to check your competitors in the same region and the ways to give better services than the existing apps.
• Hiring a Development Team
This is a significant step in the development of your app. Always hire a team that has good experience in the field and knows all the ifs and buts of building an app. This is essential because they are the ones who will be designing and bringing the app to live-action. So, making sure that they have good experience in the field is a must to develop a reliable and efficient application.
• Designing the App
On-demand apps require a trendy and classy looking app that can engage the customer in a look. The colors used in the app should be neat, catchy, and should make the content look attractive to stimulate the user’s mind. Although, you must keep in mind that apart from making the app look stylish, the user interface must be engaging and straightforward to use.
• Social Media Integration
A big population of people is connected with social media nowadays than ever before. So integrating with several social media platforms in the app is a smart step to take. This will give users an easy registration process, and more people will get connected with the app because of the easier connection.
• Teck Stack
Developing an on-demand app requires the usage of several technologies. For different features, different tools and technologies are used. To make sure the reliability and advancement of your app, it is necessary to use the latest technologies while building the app so that in later stages you do not have to worry about making any changes.
The most prevalent technologies used for building on-demand apps like GlamSquad these days are:
1. Push Notifications : APNS (FCM/ Apple Push Notifications)
2. Phone and SMS Verification : Sinch, 2Factor)
3. Data Management : Datastax)
4. Programming : GWT)
5. Payment Portals : Paypal, Stripe, Skrill)
6. Database : MongoDB)
7. Cloud Environment : AWS)
8. Real-Time Analytics : BigData, Hadoop, and Apache Flink
US market is usually a lot expensive than the Indian, Chinese, or Ukrainian Market. You can get work done in the Indian market for almost half the amount you will have to pay in the US market. This is the reason a number of people work with foreign markets to reduce their costs.
Wrapping Up
On-Demand apps are a good, efficient, and quick way of earning huge profits in today’s world. However, the success of the app totally depends on the research of the market, the design, features, and easy usability and attractiveness of the application. So do proper researches before jumping into the development process, and once the bigger picture is clear to you, lead to glory with success. Are you too looking to build On-Demand applications for your business? Reach out to us to know how we can transform your story into the next big thing on mobile! All the Best!