reLink Medical is a company that sells used medical equipment to B2B and B2C customers, offline, on eBay and through their reLink Online platform.
When reLink Medical set out to build an app, they knew they would face certain challenges. They were still relatively new to B2C ecommerce, and the mobile app world was even more fresh to them.
On top of that, their business model meant a lot of app development options wouldn’t work for them. They needed a partner who really knew mobile apps, and could help them navigate this new arena.
We talked to CIO/CTO Scott Campbell about how and why they trusted MobiLoud as their mobile app development partner.
About the Company
reLink is a company that sells used medical equipment. A large part of what they do is B2B wholesale, and much of this business is done offline.
The other side to their business, which is expanding, is B2C ecommerce. They started by selling on eBay, and have expanded to selling products on their own site, which also features an auction platform.
The Challenge
By looking at their customers on eBay, Scott and the team realized they needed an app.
“About half our buyers on eBay are using mobile. If you're gonna play in this world today, you need an app, you need that kind of experience.”
Launching an app presented a number of challenges. It meant jumping into two new areas: mobile apps and B2C ecommerce.
They had some experience with selling online, but not a lot. And they hadn’t built apps before. They needed a company that could partner with them and help them grow and understand both these areas.
“We've scaled every other aspect of our business - work supply, hospital management facilities, everything else can scale. We now have to figure out scaling the selling of used medical equipment and it's going to require this B2C approach. We've just never done it, so we could use good partners that help us navigate this.”
On top of that, their business was far from a standard ecommerce business. They’d a partner that understood and was flexible enough to do what they wanted to do in the app.
“We're not like a lot of other companies. Our catalog, our business is just weird.”
Why MobiLoud Was the Best Solution
MobiLoud ticked all the boxes for Scott and reLink. We came with vast experience in mobile app development, in-depth ecommerce expertise and the flexibility to adapt to their needs.
All of this without needing any technical skills, time investment or a large investment from them.
They did look at other options to convert their online platform into an app. Creating an app with these platforms was straightforward, but they’d have to sacrifice some of the key features from their website, and the end result would be something that was a poor imitation of their web platform.
“The ability to have all the features in the app was what was different. We had some where it was easy to build the app, but then we wouldn't be able to have our ‘make an offer’ feature, or it wouldn't show the custom parts of our product pages. MobiLoud was the only one that translated the full site with all the features that we found.”
MobiLoud was the only app development solution that fit everything they were looking for, and was able to convert their site into an app while retaining all the unique, custom-built features that their B2C business relied on.
Results
In 18 months since launching, the reLink Online app has been ticking along and helping scale their B2C ecommerce business.
One of the best things about it is that it’s been almost entirely passive on their part. MobiLoud has managed their app and kept it running smoothly, letting them maintain their focus on sales, marketing and their website.
Even as they keep experimenting with features on the website, their app remains up to date and fully reflects the web experience.
Scott had some concerns that constant tinkering with the website might have caused problems with the app, but we assured him that any changes they made would work fine on the app without any extra effort.
“We've not really thought about the app at all here. The person who knew everything about it left and we just kept messing with the store, and you were like, don't worry, so there's a lot to be said for that.”
MobiLoud is the App Development Partner Your Company Needs
MobiLoud didn’t just give reLink a way to convert their site into an app. We gave them an app development partner; someone who could hold their hand through the experience of building, maintaining and selling through their app.
“We're glad to have you as a partner and helping us figure this out.”
Partnering with an agency or a team of developers on a project like this, and being able to convert all the features of their site into a native app, would usually cost $50,000 up front plus $10,000 per year in recurring costs, at a minimum.
Many companies pay six figures yearly just keeping their app up to date.
For reLink, they have a partner who handles this side of their business for just a small percentage of this.
MobiLoud allows them to experiment in this new area affordably, and without losing key features or devoting a huge amount of time and effort to their app.
If you want to do the same, get in touch with us and schedule a free consultation. MobiLoud is the perfect app development partner for any ecommerce business, and we’re able to convert your site and all its unique features in a way that most app builders cannot.
reLink Medical is a company that sells used medical equipment to B2B and B2C customers, offline, on eBay and through their reLink Online platform.
