Smart or crappy?Review on deliver Addis

In my last writing on the tech in Ethiopia, I mentioned the tech-backed service provider companies that are rising up. In this one, I will pick and go through the tech products of the company known as Deliver Addis.

After reaching out through email to the Deliver Addis Team to get more information I was left hanging on what to write on who is the brain behind. I was mesmerized by the smartness of going around your service’s success, even though not the best of its capacity. I have found out that the investment of your company shouldn’t just be on your tech products rather more on marketing. It ultimately means, even though you have a crappy tech product you can still make it by channeling your investment more on the marketing. Which is what this thriving company did. I mean, have you seen their new mobile app.

I remember the first time I saw their web-based service thinking to myself why don’t they have a mobile application in which they can have a better user experience and, in technology terms, even use native features to boost their user experience. After all, what is a company if the customer isn’t satisfied? . . . Government office? Most private health centers? Never mind, but I remember finding it strange that a company that most evenings used to close its service because of an overflow in demand, doesn’t have a mobile app. Which in my tech mind are a norm and a must-have for a location-based service provider company that strives to deliver goods to their customers?

So, after months, the wait was over and they finally got the mobile app and don’t get me wrong even without the mobile application that I was looking for, I was still a seldom customer and admirer of the service (not their pricing nor distance calculation). Even though I am logged out of the system to log in every time. Who in the world wants to order food and remember the login password at the same time. It is better to just only have a call center and nothing else.

Anyway, the moment of truth arrived and I got the app from the Play Store. And guess what, it is the same replica of the web app which looks the same if you minimize your browser window to a mobile size. As you can see in the screenshot from my browser, it is the same as the app with all the problems that existed before. Don’t get me started on the location issues.

All in all, the manner of using the same web platform to also display in the mobile app can have both positive and negative sides to it. While the speed of the mobile app, can’t be as a native mobile app can be. And thus altering the user experience.

On the negative side, there is the redundancy of bugs, design, and functionality across all platforms. That means a bug somewhere is a bug everywhere. This can also mean a bug fix somewhere is a fix everywhere. Secondly, there will also be a limitation in access to the native platform features on which you will be deploying it. Last, but not least, design and functionality will be the same across platforms which means nothing special to offer at the tech end of design and functionality. This also means just work on the web app and the rest will be working as the web app does. Thus, ease in the investment and hustle of mobile application maintenance.

So, who can disrupt and compete with this ‘smart investment on tech’ approach of our subject the ‘Smart or Carpy?’ edition? I am not sure. Let me know if you do. But, one thing is for sure, what are they going to do in this rainy season with all their delivery based on motorbike drivers? Drenched their bikers in the rain? Expose them to the increased rate of accidents caused by the season? Let’s see what the mind can create.