Peer-to-peer (P2P) apps have become an increasingly popular way to rent and share everything from homes to cars. A P2P application lets you list your place, service, or event and get paid. They are easy to build and require little technical knowledge. Most of them allow users to create their listing pages where they can post pictures, videos, and text descriptions. If you’re considering building your P2P app, this guide will walk you through some key considerations that go into creating one.
1. Write Down Key Features Your Peer-to-Peer Reservation App Should Have
Create a user-friendly interface
Create an attractive user interface backed up by a seamless user experience. This simplifies things for users on your app. Use a simple design. Keep everything as simple as possible while still having it look good on all platforms and devices, including desktops, laptops, and phones of different sizes. Ensure the user can easily find what they are looking for by displaying only relevant information and removing all unnecessary clutter.
Build an easy-to-use and secure payment system
You’ve built a reservation application, which is awesome! But now you need to find a way to collect the payment for reservations. You’ll need to build an easy, secure payment system that you can integrate into your reservation application. The payment system should accept multiple types of payments and currencies and have a return policy in case something goes wrong with the transaction (e.g., if someone pays but never shows up).
Offer customer support functionality
One of the most important features of a peer-to-peer platform is customer support, and you should build it into your app. A good reservation app will provide various channels for users to interact with the company, whether that’s via email, phone, or live chat. You may also want to create a dedicated FAQ page where customers can read answers to common questions before they contact the support staff. Another valuable feature is an ‘About’ page that explains who you are and what you do as a company to build trust with potential customers.
Identity verification protocol
One of the key requirements for a reservation app is identity verification. You can do this in several ways, but you must choose a protocol that is easy to implement and maintain. It will also need to be secure and scalable, which means using the right technology for your specific use case. I recommend using a two-factor verification which sends notifications to a user’s phone or email in case a new login device is used.
Designed for mobile devices and browsers
With over 52% of internet traffic coming from mobile phones (set to rise to 72% by 2025), your peer-to-peer reservation application must work on all devices. Developing android and iOS versions will increase its marketability and improve your business. Your application must be compatible with phones, tablets, and even PCs.
Reviews
Adding reviews to your booking page is a great way to help potential customers decide. Reviews can also help you improve your service, increasing the likelihood of repeat customers. I would recommend a feature where users can write reviews directly from their phones on the go.
Booking management and availability calendars
Integrate with e-calendars to allow users to book travel directly from their calendars. This is an excellent way for people who don’t use a booking app to book their trip. It also gives you an easy way to import all their existing reservations into your platform. Users can also use this feature to check the availability of rooms or houses in the future and make travel arrangements based on this.
Listing pages with pictures, videos, pricing, and text description
For people to easily find and reserve listings, you’ll want to ensure hosts have listing pages with pictures, videos, pricing, and text descriptions. Listing pages are the most important part of the application. They should be easy to read and understand. They should also be easy to navigate so that users can efficiently find what they’re looking for.
Available anywhere in the world
While building your reservation system, ensure it works anywhere in your targeted market area. While at it, ensure your application works in areas with degraded networks like 3G.
User Profiles Section
The User Profiles section is a great way to build community and trust. You can use it to learn more about your users and understand their needs to improve your product or service. It is also a non-invasive way to collect user data that will help you fine-tune your app and streamline your marketing strategies.
2. Make design mockups of your app
After listing the functionalities your reservation app needs, it’s time to get down to work. You should mock up your app before you build it. Mockups are low-fidelity prototypes of the final product. They’re often hand-drawn, but some designers use computer software to create them. Mockups are great tools for communicating to others what the app will look like and how it will work and making their expectations clear before development begins.
The design process can sometimes seem overwhelming, especially when learning new skills and techniques. Using mockups will help get you started faster by allowing you to focus on one thing at a time rather than having everything come together all at once right away.
3. Build Your App
From the mockup, you came up with, research the tech stack you can use. When developing your P2P app, it is important to note that it will be the cornerstone of your business. A functional app could see your reservation business kick on fast, and a dysfunctional one could kill it. The key consideration in your choice of tech stack should be the business needs. Your app should serve its purpose while remaining simple and light enough for all phones.
I would recommend using the open-source MERN technologies:
- React – A library for building user interfaces. Use React.js to build your application front-end.
- js – An open-source JavaScript runtime environment for executing server-side scripts on the back end of the web application.
- MongoDB – A NoSQL database compatible with Big Data and will allow scalability.
- Javascript as the programming language
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4. Create your app’s graphic design
Design your app’s graphic elements, including its images and text. Make sure to keep the app’s look consistent across all devices so that users won’t be confused by what they see on their phone versus another device. Designing an icon for your application is important because users who have downloaded your app from an online store such as Google Play or Apple’s App Store will often be seen.
5. Put together an app marketing plan
The most important thing you can do as an app developer is to get your app noticed by users. Your marketing plan will help you promote your product and get people talking about it. This can be done on social media, with ads and banners, or even through giveaways or contests requiring participants to enter their email addresses.
6. Submit your app to the App Store.
After you’ve completed all of the above, it’s time to submit your app. create accounts on Apple Store and Google Playstore. Submit your app details, including pricing, and then wait for approval.
7. Market your app for maximum exposure.
Build a website for your app: It’s important to have a home base that can help you promote your app. You could also use social media for marketing your app. When setting up your website blog, you must consider Search engine optimization (SEO). This refers to writing content in such a way that search engines will rank it highly when someone searches for keywords related to the topic of your article or video blog post.
There you go, all you need to know before building your P2P reservation app. This can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Talk to us at plecco.net, and we’ll get your app online in no time!
