Restel Oy is the leading restaurant chain in Finland, owned by Tradeka-yhtiöt Oy. Its network covers some 200 restaurants across the country. Restel offers a wide range of restaurant concepts, including the fast food restaurant Burger King.
Restel wanted an application for the Burger King brand.
Burger King’s customers had been waiting for their own app for a long time. The Burger King brand did not stand out and reach its target group via Restel’s conventional channels. Therefore the client wanted a customised app for the brand that would bring the loyalty programme closer to Whopper fans.
The design and development drivers of the Burger King app were:
- Highlight the Burger King brand through a separate sales channel where Burger King has full control of the customer experience.
- Make the loyalty programme more easily available: offering relevant campaigns to customers and making them return for delicious Whoppers time after time.
- Utilise Restel’s existing Flutter code and build the application as cost-efficiently as possible.
Creating an app in just three months.
The Burger King app was created quickly. It was designed and developed in close cooperation between the Burger King and Rebel App Studio by Codemate teams. This is how we did it:
01. Feasible design that brought the brand to life in the app.
Design and development was done in close cooperation with the Burger King team. The end result of the seamless collaboration was a feasible design for the app.
The first challenge the designers solved was how to bring the Burger King’s beautiful renewed brand guidelines (that were primarily prepared for printed and traditional channels) to the world of mobile. It is still relatively common that brand guidelines do not cover interactive digital applications. At Codemate, we have extensive experience in interpreting brand specifications, and we know how to convert the spirit of the brand into user interfaces, as we did in this case.
As soon as elements of the design were completed, they were quickly turned into code. The designers and developers iterated the code together in an agile manner, tossing around different ideas. A high-quality user experience is in everyone’s best interests, and in order to achieve an outstanding end result, each team member’s expertise is needed, along with the customer’s. Naturally, the developers know the challenges and opportunities of the technology, which is why the best way to present things is found through cooperation.
02. The end users validated the details of the loyalty programme and the application.
Restel wanted a better tool for developing the customer relationship and experience of the Burger King brand. In addition to improving the experience, another aim of the application was to serve as a channel for finding, fostering and rewarding loyal customers.
The UI was finalised for implementation based on end user feedback. The end users validated the following details, among others:
- How do end users feel about the different loyalty levels and scores? Do they find the programme appealing and useful?
- Do end users understand how they can earn loyal customer points? Are the “rules” of the programme easy to understand?
- What kind of an experience does the path to purchase offer? Do the different features work together as a coherent whole?
03. About 95% of the Flutter code was re-usable.
In addition to close cooperation and good customer understanding, the wise choice of technology was one of the reasons why we achieved the result within such a short matter of time. Restel uses Flutter also in the applications of its other restaurant concepts. We did not need to start the development from scratch, but we could design the majority of the functionalities based on the other services.
Learn more about the development of Restel’s Food&Events App
Up to 95% of the code for the Burger King app already existed. Just two weeks after making the draft it was possible to order the first meals with the application.
The Burger King app is available for download, but the development is far from over.
As we know, application development does not stop at the first release. Continuous application development includes, for example, tracking feedback and sales trends, and testing. Existing features undergo functional upgrading, and new features are added, ensuring that the application stays clear to use and attractive as a whole.
The Codemate team helps Restel keep the app fresh and interesting in the highly competitive market of food apps. User feedback and business needs and wishes drive the further development.
“Codemate has professionally solved tough problems and met deadlines. The results are always top-class!”
Erno Onatsu, Group CIO, Restel
Would you like to build a user-centred mobile app?
Minna Karvonen can tell you more about user-driven mobile development and how digital mobile and online services can be seamlessly integrated into your customer experience. Contact Miika Toljamo to find out if agile Flutter could be the right technical solution for your app.
