Gold Apple: From Russia to Qatar
E-commerce solutions with a strong and flexible core can quickly adapt to different markets. This is what our collaboration with Gold Apple demonstrates, beginning in 2018 with website development.
Since 2019, we have been enhancing our e-commerce platform in Russia and have helped with roll-outs to Belarus in 2021, Kazakhstan in 2022, and Qatar in 2024. Now, cosmetic enthusiasts can «embark on a transformative beauty journey with Gold Apple» in the 1,300 sqm offline stores, e-commerce website, and through the mobile apps. Read the full story below.
About Gold Apple
Established in 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Gold Apple swiftly gained prominence in the Russian beauty market. Introducing the innovative «beauty supermarket» format in 2004, the brand expanded rapidly, opening stores in cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg.
By May 2022, it ranked second in sales within its segment nationwide. The chain now boasts stores in countries including Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Qatar. Additionally, Gold Apple has embraced e-commerce, launching an online store in 2018 and integrating online features into its mobile app in 2020. The app now accounts for 80% of the company’s total revenue.
Our Collaboration
Gold Apple asked us to assist with its website development and support in 2018 and in 2019, we became engaged in native mobile application development. Initially, we were responsible for developing the product based on the Magento (now Adobe Commerce) platform.
Over time, the company developed its IT expertise, and we integrated into the in-house team, adapting to the Scaled Agile paradigm. Our collaboration extended beyond the Magento platform, encompassing analytics, development, testing, and implementation conducted jointly with the team. Our team at Oggetto handled all Magento-related modifications, from analysis to development and testing.
As a result of our work with Gold Apple, together we crafted a scalable product that, within three years, evolved into a high-load system capable of withstanding seasonal peak loads.
Challenges
Unique User Experience/User Interface
Gold Apple boasts a distinctive UX/UI, a core distinguishing feature of its platform. Our task was to seamlessly incorporate it without compromising interface responsiveness.
COVID-19
COVID-19 boosted e-commerce growth, turning it into the primary sales channel. Thus, our team had to meet Gold Apple’s business new needs and swiftly adapt to new delivery services and sales strategies. Additionally, there was a significant increase in workload due to a surge in visitor numbers and expansion of the product catalog, making optimization efforts crucial.
Qatar Solution
In 2023, in collaboration with the in-house team, we participated in the platform’s launch in Qatar as a website and an iOS app. Our main focus was delivery address normalization, multi language support, and RTL layout. Meanwhile, our contributions to scaling included multiple aspects. We integrated Magento with Weblate to source static translation data, ensuring seamless multilingual support. This included custom APIs developed for the mobile application and the new Vue frontend.
Next, we enhanced content administration tools, enabling multilingual support for various aspects such as NPS surveys, promotions, customer days, stores, cities, tickers, and pop-ups.
Moreover, we improved the checkout process, allowing users to efficiently handle phone numbers from multiple countries. We improved order import, separating multilingual data from default language data for clarity and efficiency. Additionally, we implemented an interface on the checkout page, allowing users to conveniently specify courier delivery addresses.
Furthermore, we ensured RTL layout compatibility for the Vue frontend and iOS application, including mini cart and checkout functionalities. Integration with payment gateway services was seamless, enhancing the overall user experience. Lastly, we supported multilingual product feeds, ensuring comprehensive language coverage across the platform.
Local Specifics
Venturing into Qatar presented fresh challenges, notably implementing RTL support without compromising UX/UI integrity, as well as minimizing costs. We encountered hurdles and constraints with the frameworks used, alongside testing complexities. The successful RTL implementation for the website and iOS application stemmed from the collaborative efforts of Gold Apple's UX/UI specialists and our technical team.
Conclusion
Gold Apple is currently successfully operating on four markets. Our collaboration continues as we assist the company in maintaining its platforms. Should the company aim to enter new markets, we remain available. You can also contact us for e-commerce solutions design and development. We are always open to new collaborations and requests.