ShopX

An all-in-one, user-friendly app designed to help consumers discover nearby merchants, discounts and loyalty programs, immerse in AR experience, and order with ease.

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Inspiration

A friend of mine, a coffee shop owner utilizing Square products told us he is facing the challenge of promoting his discounts and loyalty programs and attracting customers to his store since customers often miss out on offers from Square merchants.

Based on this pain point, We conducted interviews with regular consumers and discovered their strong desire to know about merchant discounts and loyalty programs. However, online shopping platforms like Amazon, Doordash, and eBay have grown significantly and attract customers to shop online more often while visiting Square merchants less. Recent data shows that 40% of consumers are motivated to shop on Amazon/Doordash/eBay by coupons and discounts, while 25% are driven by loyalty points.

To address this issue that a lot of Square merchants may have just like my friend has, we hope to assist Square merchants in promoting their discount offers and loyalty programs, connecting them with a larger consumer base. By doing so, we aim to help merchants increase their turnover and enable consumers to save money.

Furthermore, we found the lack of comprehensive product understanding often leads consumers to hesitate when placing orders. However, AR technology presents an ideal solution by enabling consumers to visualize products in front of them while browsing through the item list and enhancing purchase inclination. This immersive experience can empower consumers to make informed decisions with confidence and enhance merchant satisfaction and reputation.

Based on these pain points, we decided to build ShopX - an all-in-one, user-friendly app to help consumers discover discounts and loyalty programs, immerse in the AR experience, and order with ease.

What it does

For Square Merchants

We support all types of merchants to join the vibrant ShopX community, no matter restaurants, retail, or beauty! By granting us the necessary permissions with just a single click, you can seamlessly become a part of our platform. While it's not mandatory to have configured discounts or loyalty programs, we recommend utilizing these features as they enhance your store's visibility and attract a larger customer base. Expanding your reach and exposure has never been simpler with ShopX!

In addition, contacting us opens up the opportunity to generate stunning 3D models for your items. It's a simple process: all you have to do is follow our instructions and send us images of your items. Using the powerful Apple object scanning program on our end, we can effortlessly convert those images into impressive 3D models. Unlock the potential of immersive visual representation today!

For Customers

Our ShopX mobile application contains four main features:

1. Explore Discounts & Loyalty Programs and Place Order

Square merchants can have two types of promotions, discounts configured for items and services, and an exclusive loyalty program. In ShopX, you will never miss these two money-saving coups. You can effortlessly explore a wide array of captivating discounts and loyalty programs from the comfort of your home. You also have the flexibility to add desired items to your virtual cart.

In addition, you can conveniently enroll in loyalty programs through ShopX. And you can also redeem rewards and maximize savings on your orders with the loyalty points you have accumulated.

When you arrive at the merchant's location, all it takes is a simple click to place and pay for the order. By showing the order detail page to the merchants, the process is simply completed.

You can also effortlessly track your accumulated loyalty points and conveniently revisit the orders you have previously placed.

2. Immersive AR Items

In addition, ShopX offers you the opportunity to immerse yourself in AR experiences no matter at home or at the store. You can visualize items in a realistic and immersive manner, allowing you to gain a deeper understanding of their features and qualities. This unique AR feature enables you to make more informed shopping decisions.

You can also seamlessly add items to your cart directly from the AR page!

3. Map and Geo-fencing Notifications

The third core feature of ShopX is map and geo-fencing notifications, ShopX offers an extensive map feature, providing you with easy access to nearby merchants and exciting offers. You can filter the distance, offer type and whether it is AR-enabled to find the most suitable merchant for you.

By enabling the notification, Within a one-mile radius of merchants that offers discounts and loyalty programs, ShopX sends location-based notifications so you never miss valuable deals.

4. Social Sharing

Guess what? ShopX also allows you to share your shopping experiences using delightful AR filters. You can share your experiences via Instagram or Facebook, recommending the merchants and items you adore and spreading the remarkable offers. ShopX makes sharing become an enjoyable and influential experience.

How we built it

Ideation

We began by identifying user pain points and researching the capability of Square APIs. Through extensive brainstorming sessions, we generated numerous ideas and then prioritized them based on feasibility and user feedback. This process led us to define our minimum viable product.

Design & Develop

Next, Yilin focused on the design using Figma, while Lingshuang built the backend and database, integrating Square API we need (Merchants, Locations, Catalog, Customers, Loyalty, Orders, Payment, and OAuth), Google Maps SDK, and Google ARCore SDK. Throughout this period, we held frequent meetings to refine designs and synchronize progress. Once the design was finalized, Lingshuang started developing the ShopX Android user interface based, while Yilin utilized the iPhone's 3D scanning feature to easily generate 3D models of items and created Instagram AR Filters with Meta Spark AR based on the 3D models.

Testing

Upon completion of development, we conducted thorough user tests with consumers and merchants to ensure ShopX met their needs. The valuable feedback we received guided iterative improvements to both design and functionality, leading to an enhanced user experience.

Challenges we ran into

Learn eight Square APIs

Our initial challenge was to familiarize ourselves with the Square API, as ShopX utilizes eight different categories of Square API. Understanding and integrating the capabilities of each API into our program presented a significant task. However, we were fortunate to have access to comprehensive API documentation and helpful debugging tools provided by Square, such as API Explore and Postman Examples. These resources greatly facilitated our development process, making these initially hard tasks easier.

Creating from ground zero

Our second challenge was to design and develop a comprehensive app from scratch within a tight timeframe of just one and a half months. Moreover, we need to integrate multiple SDKs and apply different tools, including Google ARCore, Google Maps, Google Pay, Meta Spark AR, Twilio Messages Verification, Azure VM, and Database, and Spark AR. Despite the fact that our team members had their own day jobs, we approached this project with unwavering enthusiasm and confidence. Our dedication and commitment enabled us to create a robust and feature-rich app within the given timeframe.

Build a user-friendly app

Our third challenge was to develop a purposeful product that would benefit merchants, consumers, and Square. We recognized that while there are numerous technologies and tools available, it is considerably more challenging to create a product that genuinely addresses a problem. As a result, we dedicated a significant amount of time to conducting user interviews and engaging in brainstorming sessions. This ensured that our product would have a meaningful impact on the community and the world. By actively involving the community and understanding their needs, we strived to develop a solution that truly addresses their pain points and brings value to all stakeholders involved.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Positive feedback from users

What truly fills us with pride is the overwhelmingly positive response we received during user testing. Both merchants and consumers expressed their immense satisfaction with ShopX, affirming their intention to utilize it frequently in the future. This resounding endorsement validates our belief that ShopX serves as a catalyst for consumers to discover thrilling deals and purchase with enhanced confidence, and merchants to effectively promote their offers, attract consumers, and boost sales. Ultimately, we envision ShopX can contribute to Square's ability to attract merchants to join.

Highly comprehensive output

After a month and a half of dedicated effort, we accomplished the seamless integration of Square's API, Google Maps, Google ARCore, Meta Spark AR, Google Pay, and several other SDKs into ShopX. We also leveraged Flask, Python, and MySql to construct a comprehensive back-end server, while employing Android development technology to create a user-friendly and intuitive front-end interface. The culmination of our hard work and attention to detail fills us with immense pride as we witness the fruitful results of our endeavors.

What we learned

During the hackathon, we embarked on a journey of learning and exploration in the realms of e-commerce, retail, and related technologies. Despite being relatively new to these fields, we wholeheartedly embraced the challenge and immersed ourselves in understanding Square's API and the specific needs and pain points of merchants. This experience has been invaluable, as it has not only expanded our knowledge but also broadened our horizons, equipping us with a deeper understanding of the intricacies and nuances of this domain.

In addition, throughout the hackathon, we honed our skills in seamlessly integrating diverse technologies to create a more holistic and impactful user experience. By combining Square API with powerful tools such as Google Maps, Google ARCore, Google Pay, and Meta Spark AR, we were able to establish a comprehensive usage scenario that caters to all aspects of the user's shopping journey. This experience has undoubtedly sharpened our abilities and empowered us to navigate the intricate interplay of various technologies, enabling us to deliver a more robust and compelling solution.

What's next for ShopX

Never Stop Being Better!!! Here is some future work for ShopX.

  1. Personalized recommendations using AI technology: By harnessing the power of AI technology, our aim is to provide intelligent store and deals recommendations that cater to the unique interests of each user. This personalized approach will not only enhance the exposure of merchants but also significantly improve the success rate of orders placed through ShopX. We firmly believe that AI technology holds immense potential within the usage scenarios of ShopX.

  2. Support service appointment: ShopX allows all types of merchants to join our platform. However, due to time constraints, consumers are currently able to place orders exclusively for physical goods and items. Regrettably, we do not yet support online booking of services offered by merchants. Rest assured, we are diligently working to introduce this feature in the near future. By enabling users to book merchant services online, we aim to enhance the overall user experience and extend the benefits to service-oriented merchants.

  3. Support more loyalty configuration ways: At present, our platform only provides support for merchants to configure loyalty programs based on points, while the functionality to read product category information is not yet available. We are committed to continuously improving and expanding our feature set, and we have plans to gradually incorporate these functions in the near future. By doing so, we aim to provide merchants with greater freedom and flexibility in their operations, allowing them to leverage a wider range of capabilities to enhance their offerings and optimize customer experiences.

  4. Expand AR scenarios with Square: We think AR activations can help create memories that can form emotional connections, which are key to loyalty. In fact, it’s so useful that 75% of the global population is expected to be frequent AR users by 2025, according to a joint study by Snapchat and Deloitte. We will consider more AR scenarios. One captivating example is the integration of AR message boards, which would empower users to leave personalized messages seamlessly blended with their physical surroundings.

We still have a lot of other work to do in the future, such as releasing the iOS version as soon as possible to support iPhone users, supporting Square merchants to scan 3D Models independently with iPhone LiDAR technology, supporting users to publish and browse merchant reviews, and so on. Due to time constraints, we were only able to achieve a minimum viable product. But all future work represents our endless expectations and motivation for ShopX!

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