[Huawei Developers] Martin Bieber:
2020 was a roaring year for the food delivery sector – the already thriving industry was boosted by an increasingly digital population that had no other means to enjoy their favourite dish due to social distancing measures. According to Sensor Tower, these factors contributed to a huge 21% year-on-year growth of 1.7 billion food and drink category apps installs globally in 2020.

However, competition within this sector also intensified last year as new companies looked to stake their claim in the growing market. In order to do this, food apps need to be able to compete with the top dogs on all fronts to ensure they are equally effective at acquiring and retaining users. For many, the answer was evident – develop a more intuitive, powerful, and enjoyable app experience. Given the industry offers little space for differentiation in terms of services, companies are dependent on driving a superior user experience to build their brand loyalty.

This set of challenge holds true for two apps in Thailand – Delivery platform Line Man as well as its lifestyle services review platform partner Wongnai. Line Man was looking to expand in 2020 but the lack of robust map service features and location tracking capabilities severely hamper its ability to achieve that goal. Similarly, Wongnai’s lacklustre location tracking capability and platform manipulation issue was affecting its standing among users during a pivotal period.

Step in Huawei. The partners sought out Huawei for guidance to address their respective issues for their apps on AppGallery. The discussion then evolved to a collaboration with Huawei where the two developers integrated the open HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) Core capabilities, and were able to successfully eradicate their roadblocks and unleash better location and tracking capabilities.

Triangulating users’ locations swiftly, accurately and clearly

Wongnai, as a leading lifestyle services review platform, needed to accurately pinpoint users’ location to recommend relevant nearby shops and attractions. By integrating with the HMS Core Location Kit, Wongnai was able to leverage the kit’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Wi-Fi, and base station location functionalities to provide flexible location-based services. This allows it to make dynamic, relevant recommendations for its users.

Line Man was facing a similar situation as well – it needed to constantly provide users with the location of their food and delivery riders to provide the most optimal ordering experience. Not only does the integration with Location kit achieve this, it also enables advanced features such as geofencing and activity identification. These capabilities enable the app to share reliable updates on the status of the order unceasingly, building goodwill and positive word-of-mouth among customers.

Displaying a map that is not only relevant but intuitive

Given that both services are heavily reliant on users’ location, the developers also needed a map service that can be customised according to their needs and is capable to convey all the relevant information effectively. In consideration of this, Wongnai and Line Man chose to integrate HUAWEI Map Kit with their respective apps as well.

With Map Kit, apps can leverage Huawei’s powerful map service and route planning capabilities to provide an elevated app experience for the users. The two developers were able to introduce an assortment of map functions based on their respective userbase’s unique needs. As a result, the users are able to effortlessly identify the various participating restaurants and businesses in one simple glance, improving the overall user experience.

Huawei and HMS Core drive success for their partners

The partnership with Huawei was a resounding success for the developers, both commercially and operationally. The integration with HMS Core not only propelled both apps past the two million downloads milestone, but it also helped Line Man boost its daily user figures by three-fold in the first two months.

Huawei is acutely aware of the different operational challenges facing developers, including the cost associated with launching apps across multiple distribution platforms. As part of its commitment to developers, Huawei provides developers with free access to certain HMS Core Kits to help alleviate the operational cost. Furthermore, HMS Core offers a unique function that can identify whether a device supports Huawei Mobile Service, allowing the app to call upon the corresponding SDK. This essentially meant that developers only need to maintain one app, reducing the time spent in terms of deployment and testing, as well as the operational costs associated with these activities.

In addition, Huawei extends its support for developers across the entire operation management spectrum, including marketing efforts. Wongnai and Line Man collaborated with AppGallery on a week-long campaign last year where users were able to redeem HUAWEI points through purchases in-app. The campaign was particularly effective for Wongnai who saw its new user download figures skyrocket 10-fold. The campaign boosted the apps’ visibility among AppGallery users, leading to a significant increase in daily downloads even after the campaign ended.

Another notable feat from this collaboration is the time it took to complete the entire integration process, especially in the case of Wongnai. The developer implemented three other HMS Core kits – Site Kit, Safety Detect, and Push Kit – on top of the two examples discussed above, and despite the mountainous amount of technical work that comes with it, the team was able to successfully incorporate the five kits into their app in just three weeks. This achievement was made possible through an intimate collaboration with Huawei’s developer support team, who offered extensive support as well as technical insights to facilitate the development process.