Axper

New tech tools for a pandemic-savvy world

Nuxt.js, PWA

Customers at a shopping mall on an escalator

Are you looking to modernize your company’s proprietary software, in order to not only survive, but thrive, through these uncertain times? If so, you’ll be interested in the story of our client Axper, a Quebec-based company that offers people-counting services to retail stores and other brick and mortar businesses such as pharmacy, museums and public entities.

Digital solutions PWA

How it started

Before Covid-19 hit in March 2020, Axper had already been working with Osedea since 2018 to build their application called Phoenix, which is used to track store performance and traffic patterns. Axper chose us because they were fans of the Agile Methodology, which is the basis of everything we do at Osedea.

Then, starting in 2019, we helped Axper to create the mobile version of the application, a PWA (Progressive Web Application). It features a mobile-friendly interface and a smooth, intuitive native app experience. PWAs are an excellent, cost-effective solution for those who already have a web application, but want to transition to mobile. Now store managers and district managers, who are the main end users that Axper caters to, could access an app on their mobile devices to easily monitor the number of clients or customers that are on site at any given moment.

The challenge

When the first lockdown of 2020 ended, and businesses were allowed to reopen (but forced to operate at limited capacity), Axper, like almost every business out there, had to figure out a way to adjust their offerings to the new reality we all found ourselves living in. We quickly executed an adjustment to the Phoenix mobile app to show the exact number of people who are present in a business at any one time.

We also added a functionality that allowed store managers to manually adjust the maximum capacity of their location. This would let them know instantly if they could let anyone else in, or if they were maxed out in terms of customers. Once this new feature was added to Phoenix, demand for the application exploded, and Axper became an overnight sensation across Canada, the US, and Europe.

Each time we work with Osedea, it’s fast and efficient. They always deliver what they promise to deliver, right on time

Jean-Francois Parent, Product Owner for Phoenix

Mockup of shoppers entering and exiting a store

Why it worked so well

The reason we were able to empower Axper to respond to changing customer needs with such ease was that we had taken Axper through our signature Discovery process, a key phase of the work we do with our clients. Before Axper hired us, they had the general vision for what they wanted Phoenix to be, but they didn’t have any UX or UI specialists on their team. The Discovery phase that we facilitated allowed us to show them a new direction that would make future updates to their app simple and efficient, and ensure they were solving problems that truly frustrated their customers, rather than just guessing at what new features they should add.

The end result

The success of the Phoenix PWA has been exciting to witness. Thanks to the way we built Phoenix and its new Covid-specific features, Axper was ready to welcome a huge influx of new business, confident that they would be able to handle their customers’ new and ever-evolving requirements.

As we head into 2021, we’re getting ready to develop new features for them. At Osedea, we’re fortunate to enjoy ongoing partnerships with many of our clients, and Axper is no exception.