Supply Management Web App For Restaurants & Hotels

Client location

Vienna,
Austria

Tech Stack

Python, React.js, Typescript,
PostgreSQL, Elastic Search

Team

2 Backend Developers
1 QA Engineer

We delivered an B2B supply management platform that allows restaurants and hotels to achieve more control in their purchasing, inventory, and warehousing operations.

Client
Challenges

The founders of platform realized that the hospitality industry has a problem with efficient management of inventory and purchasing orders. They came up with a solution that would allow them to digitize and simplify the chaotic and outdated process of keeping inventory and purchasing food, beverages, and supplies.

A comprehensive inventory management software tailored to hospitality needs would allow hoteliers to lower procurement costs and keep track of their inventory by automatically updating purchase volumes based on sold and bought products. This would grant hoteliers drastically improved insight into their inventory, help them predict future needs, save time, and make informed decisions.

Key challenging areas:

Building a functional MVP in four months
Improving usability to take away the complexity from the user
Creating a purchasing software that is able to visualize price comparisons and send orders to suppliers
Developing an inventory management suite that includes stocktaking, delivery check-ins, and stock take-out functionalities
Establishing a complex inventory database to facilitate analysis and decision making
Accessing a partner company’s master data through a Web Services.

Solution &
Result

The app had to be functional for both hoteliers managing inventory and suppliers providing the platform with their data.

Moreover, it had to be ready for future iterations and new features, including integrations with Property Management Systems that manage hotel bookings.

After analyzing the client’s needs it was decided that React.js would be used for the frontend because of its versatility and flexibility. It’s also easy to combine with Typescript and allows for fast implementation of new features.

For backend development— Python and the Django Web framework for their consistency and the rapid MVP development capabilities they offer. PostgreSQL was selected as the database of choice.

Elasticsearch, with its fast and complex full-text search capability, powers the search functionality in the app.

Core efforts included:

Building an MVP in 4 months, using primarily React.js and Python
Building a user-friendly, intuitive Web interface with React and making it responsive on tablets
Creating a functional supplier tool

The development process resulted in a completely functional MVP, ready for testing by end users and ultimately the market introduction. The Web app is also responsive on tablet devices.

Future plans include expanding the analytical side of the app and introducing additional features with the help of machine learning.

Client is about to be released for its pilot customers and introduced to the European market, where it will hopefully revolutionize inventory management and procurement in the hospitality industry.

The app offers hoteliers complete control over food, beverage, and supply inventory.
It also enables property owners to purchase goods directly from suppliers and easily find the best deals.
It’s user-friendly and provides a comprehensive inventory overview for both individual hotels and big hotel chains.