- UI/UX Design
- Web Development
- Mobile App
TechyDox partnered with DLFork, which is a SaaS-powered meal subscription service. The idea is to develop a scalable and automated food delivery platform that will be able to streamline meal plan selection along with order management and recurring payments.
Overall, the goal was to simplify meal subscriptions while focusing on offering a simple yet effective user-friendly experience for all parties involved.
The client
DLFork is a subscription-based tiffin service that aims to provide its customers with healthy, fresh, and customizable meal plans that will be delivered daily.
Key Features DLFork Offers to Its Customers:
The key features DLFork offers in its subscription-based meals include the following:
- Offering customized meal plans
- Automating recurring subscriptions
- Real-time tracking of meals and delivery schedules
- Multiple payment integrations
- Admin panel for vendors
Technical Challenges in Creating the Best Subscription for Meals Platform
To make sure that this platform is flawless and the meal subscription is smooth, there are a few technical challenges that should be solved. Let’s get into these right now:
1. Automating Subscription Management & Meal Customization
The challenge was to make sure that the system would be flexible and automated, as unlike traditional food delivery apps, a subscription-based model requires both of these aspects in the system in order to allow its customers to:
- Customize meal plans (dietary preferences, portion sizes, meal frequency).
- Guarantee smooth renewals & payment deductions without mistakes.
- Pause, modify, or cancel subscriptions without disrupting service.
2. Optimizing Vendor Order Processing & Delivery Logistics
The second challenge was that the vendors needed a real-time dashboard to track all meal orders and subscriptions, including:
- Daily meal orders for different subscription plans.
- Meal preparation schedules aligned with delivery timings.
- Dynamic delivery route optimizations to avoid delays.
- Integrating a geolocation-based route planner.
3. Making the Platform Secure & the Recurring Payments Free of Stress
Just like with any SaaS based platform, there is always a challenge when it comes to handling billing cycles, be it weekly, monthly, or even custom. The main point is to make sure that the billing is accurate and the following points are met:
- Proper refund management.
- Automatic deductions without unsuccessful transactions.
- Multiple payment options for managing sales from anywhere (these include credit/debit, digital wallets, and auto-pay).
- Important notifications, e.g., failed payments.
4. Scalability & Performance Optimization
The last challenge was about scaling. The platform needed to handle thousands of active subscriptions, real-time order processing, and high-traffic meal selection. Also, all of this, during peak hours without performance drops, was going to be a big issue.
Solutions We Proposed
1. Automated Subscription & Meal Customization System
To simplify subscription handling and offer personalization to all customers according to their meal preferences, we:
- Created a dynamic subscription platform with the capacity to allow users to have full control over choosing, modifying, or pausing their subscriptions anytime.
- Built a self-service dashboard for their customers. The idea was to make it easier and smoother for the customers to manage their meal plans.
- Implemented an AI-driven meal suggestion system.
2. Vendor Management Dashboard and Delivery Management Dashboard
The idea was to optimize order processing smoothly. In addition, the delivery logistics just had to be managed properly for fast processing. This is why:
- We built a role-based dashboard for vendors through which they will be able to track their customers’ daily orders and prepare the meals on time and according to their needs. In addition, the delivery schedules will always be perfectly accurate.
- Next, we integrated a real-time order batching system. This system is amazingly useful if you want to reduce time wastage and inefficiencies in the kitchen.
- Finally, we successfully developed a delivery route planner that was based on geolocation. This means you get a timely and optimized delivery system in place.
3. Secure & Automated Payments for Recurring Orders
Now, to overcome the security and payment-related challenges, we were able to boost payment security as well as subscription billing. For this, we did the following:
- We integrated various auto-renewals that are secure for all parties involved. These include Stripe, Razorpay, and PayPal.
- Built a PCI DSS-compliant payment system to protect user transactions.
- Implemented fail-safe payment retry mechanisms for failed auto payments.
4. Building Infrastructure that is Scalable & High-Performing
To make sure that the platform is speedy and stable, a few steps were taken:
- Firstly, we used AWS cloud hosting with load balancing to make sure that all the operations were smooth.
- Next, we implemented database indexing & caching. This step helps in improving query response time.
- Finally, we applied CDN & image compression. The idea was to improve the platform’s performance.
Concluding Remarks
The scalable meal subscription system was created successfully, and customers can now subscribe, customize, and manage orders securely. Also, the management dashboard for vendors, customers, and delivery operations was a big hit. The dashboard did what it was made to do successfully.
In short, with the solutions we offered, DLFork was now able to offer the smoothest meal service experience to its customers.
