Are you looking for an app to sell or buy stuff in a split second? Don’t want to spend lots of time and effort on creating auctions?
Tired of the excessive functions of mobile shopping giants and big companies? Then you’re on the right track. Keep on reading!
In this article we describe our view on how to make an auction app for iOS. You’ll find out a lot of cool info about marketplace app development. Here we go!
Requirements to the app
Before building something cool you’ve got to lay the groundwork for it. Mobile auction app development is not an exception.
First thing we did was forming a list of requirements. Of course, it’s been made up together with our client. Here are the requirements for our auction app development:
- pixel-perfect UI with smooth animations
- make the process of auctioning as simple as possible
- develop UX, that any user would easily understand – particularly for creating new auctions.
- create simple and easy-to-use filter system
- fast and simple tools for searching and filtering
- social media integration
What we did
Onboarding tutorial
Our goal was to create a marketplace app that anyone could start using freely from the get-go.
In order to make first user experience as smooth as possible we developed an interactive onboarding tutorial. It visually describes basic functions of the app and makes a piece of cake out of first experience of our users.
Hints
To make it even easier for a rookie to get into the nuts and bolts of our app we created a hint system. It basically explains the ABCs of our application.
Various hints will help better understand the information on auctions. Besides, they give extra information on some terms, which an average user may be not familiar with. Those are the terms like “reserved price” or “buy now price”.
User experience comes first
As we mentioned before, good user experience is vital for any app. In order to meet the requirements described in the previous paragraph, we put a lot of thought into the app UI design.
Once you hit the app icon you’ll get neat design full of chill smooth animations. For more details on the development process go here.
Smart categorization
Find everything: local art, sports or fashion – we created all the categories you might need.
All items in our app are grouped by categories. In fact, an item can be associated with up to 3 different categories.
You can change current category anytime by simply swiping or by moving a horizontal picker in the navigation bar.
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Filter it out!
To make your searches as efficient as possible we developed a smart and user-friendly system of filters. It lets you play with the price range and location range using two-sided slider, which is really convenient.
On top of that you can sort the items by their price, popularity and the time they were put out. Besides, our BackEnd service is really fast, so all your searches will yield the results immediately.
Easy auction creation
Creating an auction is as easy as pie! You just tap on the big orange button on the tab bar, fill out all required data (we did our best to minimize the number of required fields to the most crucial ones there). Now you’re good to go and your auction is up!
Smart chat system
On an auction win a chat between a winner and a host of the auction is automatically created. That’s where all the negotiating and talking over details takes place. And, of course, submitting the deal.
Besides, you can start chatting with a host of any auction right from the auction screen in case you want to clarify any specs or details about the item.
Quick access and control
We people love having control. And we like when everything goes smoothly. These are the things we put the most emphasis on in our mobile marketplace application development.
Users can review the list of their auctions anytime by simply going to “User Profile”. On top of that there’s the possibility to check your sales history, edit profile, customize push notifications and facebook integration.
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Main features
Buyers love our:
Smart bidding system
Thanks to our smart automatic bidding system you can always win the best price for an auction you aim for. No need to wait for the best time to bid, let our smart bidding system do that for you!
Optimized search and filtering
Our developers put a lot of thought into the filtering and search systems. We created simple and fast tools for you to filter out what you want in no time!
Besides, thanks to the fast BackEnd service you’ll never have to get irritated by the long delays before you get your search results. You’ll get ‘em in a blink of an eye!
Safe shopping environment
It’s very important to be sure you’re dealing with honest and reliable people when buying or selling anything. That’s why we put emphasis on creating a safe shopping environment in our app.
Thanks to the rankings system you can pick out sellers or buyers with good rates. It keeps you away from scams and conflicts.
Sellers love our:
Absolutely free listings
Yes, that’s right! It’s out of charge! Free! Complimentary! We’re not taking a dime from our sellers! Create however much auctions you want, it’s all gonna cost you $0.
“Viral-friendly” environment
Sharing on social networks has never been easier! Our team integrated social media into the app in a way that you can’t help but share, share and share! Remember: sharing is caring 😉
Reputation first system
We created the app where honest and reliable sellers can build up their reputation and get more and more sales. It’s easy as that: work hard, earn your good rankings and your auctions will jump up sooner than you think!
“Bidit” mind map
It’s no accident that we listed user experience as the first requirement for the app. We did our best to make navigating through our app easy as pie. The thing is we don’t want the user to get lost in tons of useless screens and panels. That’s exactly why we designed the UI the way we did.
Below you can see the so-called “mind map” of our app. It depicts all different steps user can take to get where they want.
Conclusion
We tried our best to share the experience on how to make a marketplace application in the article. That’s why we highlighted the most important things you have to consider when developing auction apps.
If you have any questions about marketplace app development or just your future project, feel free to contact us. We kick asses when it comes to developing apps with smart custom design!