Leobit
White-Label Location-Based Marketing Solution For Retailers
Cross-platform mobile app development that helped the first iBeacon full-service provider increase customer loyalty and sales
ABOUT
the project
Client:
Location:
Switzerland
|Zurich
Company Size:
Industry:
Marketing
Solution:
Services:
A location-based app uses Bluetooth iBeacons to help retailers run location-based marketing campaigns. This technology allows businesses to track customer movements in real time and send personalized push notifications to enhance engagement and in-store conversions.
By recommending the creation of an SDK with core functionality, we were able to reduce the setup time for new applications for our clients from two months to just one. This significantly streamlined the process and enhanced flexibility for future deployments.
Customer
A Swiss-based company specializing in location-based marketing solutions for retail businesses. Founded in 2015, it integrates digital and physical shopping experiences through its innovative technology. The company has become a pioneer in merging physical retail with digital marketing, making it a key player in the location-based marketing space.
Business Challenge
The client had an existing application but faced issues with beacon area identification and inconsistent customer experiences. After a thorough legacy code audit, Leobit recommended rewriting the app from scratch to enhance functionality, improve white-labeling efficiency, and ensure accurate beacon-based interactions.
Why Leobit
The customer chose Leobit because of our expertise in cross-platform mobile development and Microsoft tech stack. They liked our suggestions and ideas to improve the application while cutting down development efforts, so the customer chose us as their development partner.
Project
in detail
Our development approach ensured an optimized, scalable solution that streamlined app customization for multiple retail businesses and significantly reduced development time for white-label applications.
Proprietary SDK development
To streamline the deployment of white-label apps, Leobit developed a proprietary SDK using Xamarin + .NET. However, due to limitations in Xamarin’s support for iOS beacon functionalities, our developers built custom .NET wrappers for iOS-specific APIs such as CoreLocation and CoreBluetooth to enable full integration. These wrappers allowed full integration with iOS beacon features, including region monitoring and proximity events.
The SDK also standardized beacon management across platforms to ensure a seamless user experience on both iOS and Android. As a result, the setup time for new white-label apps was reduced by 50%, from two months to one month. This allowed our customer to perform faster client onboarding and more flexible app customization for various retail businesses.
Admin panel development
Leobit developed a custom admin panel using ASP.NET MVC for back-end logic and AngularJS for a dynamic, responsive front end. We tailored the panel to each of our customer clients, allowing them to configure and manage beacons, marketing campaigns, and push notifications. The panel provided an intuitive interface for setting up beacon zones, customizing notifications based on proximity, and scheduling promotional content.
Business administrators could track key performance metrics in real-time, such as:
⬥ User registration statistics
⬥ Store visit analytics, including information on how many users visited after receiving a push notification
⬥ Detailed performance of push notifications, including sent, received, and interaction rates
⬥ Conversion tracking to monitor how many users who received notifications made purchases
The integration of real-time analytics empowered businesses to optimize their campaigns, improve customer engagement, and drive sales.
Xamarin to .NET MAUI migration
As Xamarin reached the end of its lifecycle, we had to migrate all of the white-label applications from Xamarin to its successor, .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI). During the transition, we had to carefully consider the impact on the custom SDK, which was built using Xamarin and .NET wrappers.
With .NET MAUI introducing a new set of APIs and improvements in device integration, we adjusted or replaced some legacy API calls to maintain the beacon functionalities. We also adapted .NET wrappers built for iOS beacon APIs to work with .NET MAUI’s new architecture.
MAUI’s enhanced cross-platform capabilities allowed us to optimize the SDK for faster performance by reducing the complexity of platform-specific code. We refactored the beacon communication and push notification handling to be more efficient across iOS and Android.
Technology Solutions
- The use of CoreLocation and CoreBluetooth (iOS) native iOS frameworks for beacon functionalities like region monitoring and proximity detection
- Development of custom .NET wrappers to bridge the gap between Xamarin and iOS-specific beacon features
- Building the core SDK using .NET and custom wrappers for beacon integration
- Xamarin iOS/Xamarin Android migration to .NET MAUI
Value Delivered
- Reduced setup time by 50% for white-label app deployment thanks to a proprietary SDK development
- Improved user experience through beacon-based notifications
- Higher conversion rates via targeted marketing campaigns
- Improved retail analytics through the admin panel
- Increased store visits and sales, driven by push notifications and special offers
- Efficient marketing execution with easy-to-use campaign management tools
