Solving Integration Challenges for a UK-based Retail Startup

About the Client

Our client is a UK-based startup operating in the retail industry. As an industry newcomer, the company plans to redefine traditional retail experiences with a dynamic auction-based form of selling and buying. The envisioned B2C auction platform aims to add excitement and competitiveness to the shopping process while providing brands with a unique marketplace to expose and advertise their products.

Goal

The client planned to launch a new online auction platform within their retail business and required software development help. They envisioned features that enabled a live bidding process between brands and consumers. The client also wanted to integrate rich advertising capabilities for their partners – retail brands selling products on their platform.

The ultimate goal was to evolve into a unique auction-based marketplace for buying and selling products. Additionally, it must allow brand advertising and marketing teams to set up and manage retail media campaigns.

One of the project’s primary challenges was ensuring seamless integration of the platform’s internal and external endpoints. Addressing data synchronization and system compatibility hurdles was necessary. Besides, it was technically difficult to map out the architecture including current and new systems.

The company required a trusted partner to meet these demands and implement the platform according to its vision. Geomotiv became an ideal match due to extensive experience overcoming non-trivial integration challenges.

Work Description

Scope of work:

Geomotiv’s developers conceptualized, designed, and developed a feature-rich digital auction platform with retail media capabilities. We implemented a scalable architecture ready for high-load system performance, supported core auction functionalities, and integrated seamlessly with external systems.

A well-thought architecture was necessary to facilitate a live bidding process, process multiple concurrent bids, and accommodate numerous lots within an auction. Besides, it would have given the client’s platform room for prospective user base growth and overall business expansion.

The architecture featured modules for managing retail media campaigns. These components enabled the platform to set up targeting, integrate with data analytics tools, and optimize campaign performance based on continuous metrics monitoring.

Key functionalities we developed include:

User account management:

• User accounts for businesses, individuals, and retail media managers.
• Authentication and verification mechanisms (KYC and KYB) to reduce fraud.

Inventory management:

• Ability to add items in bulk, ensuring easy and efficient compilation of product listings.

Real-time bidding:

• Real-time bidding functionality to facilitate the live-stream bidding process.

Retail media campaign management:

• Services for launching and monitoring retail media campaigns.
• A user-friendly dashboard for overseeing campaign results.

Integration challenges and solutions we provided:

• Payment integration complexity. Integrating the platform with multiple payment providers was a complex task. It was necessary to establish compatibility with external services, enable secure transactions, and focus on user convenience. The client prioritized a seamless and reliable checkout experience, as it boosts user satisfaction and reduces abandonment rates.
  • Solution:
    Our specialists ideated the most optimal approach to tackle these challenges. The team developed and embedded a custom API to facilitate the checkout experience. They monitored and optimized API interaction to prepare the system for peak loads. Our developers also applied authentication and encryption mechanisms to protect transactions from unauthorized access.
• Integration of retail media capabilities. The client planned to allow brands and advertisers to manage their retail media campaigns within the auction platform. They wanted to provide intuitive tools for campaign serving, analyzing, and orchestrating. The client turned to Geomotiv to envision the most efficient implementation of this functionality. 
  • Solution:
    After studying all clients’ needs and preferences, our team proposed an API-driven approach to developing retail media capabilities. This strategy helped reduce integration complexities, minimize technical risks, and shorten the development timeline. Instead of tightly coupling retail media features (campaign management, ad serving, and analytics) to the core platform, our team designed them as standalone components. We created a modular API architecture, which provided a flexible framework for quick adjustments.

Other challenges and proposed solutions:

Our team identified and overcame the following roadblocks in the course of development:

• User verification and audit. The platform required extra measures for verifying users and conducting due diligence on businesses to prevent fraudulent activities —> Our developers implemented advanced verification mechanisms. The team implemented KYC and KYB processes, utilizing advanced algorithms and data analysis techniques to verify user and business accounts.
• Compliance with data regulations. One of the core platform’s requirements was addressing stringent regulations around personal data processing —> Geomotiv’s developers adopted solutions to ensure full regulatory compliance. The platform’s design focused on data privacy and security, adhering to GDPR and other relevant regulations.

Results

Geomotiv’s API-first approach to development successfully addressed the client’s integration challenges. Thanks to our help, the client brought a feature-rich digital solution with robust functionalities and high-performing architecture to market.

The new auction platform combined powerful features for buying and selling retail products online. During its first year, it facilitated over 18,000 transactions and supported up to 1,100 concurrent payments without downtime and UX issues.

Seamless integration of retail media capabilities also contributed to impressive outcomes. Within the first two years of its launch, the platform delivered over 1,600 campaigns with 99,9% uptime. Advanced ad management, targeting, and analytics capabilities attracted many brands and advertisers.

These impressive results strengthened the startup’s funding prospects. The client created a strong business plan that has become a starting point for securing new investment rounds to support the platform’s growth.