Sticker Market Integration for a Global Messaging App
Summary
A global messaging app needed a way to stand out in a crowded market beyond competing on price. INNERLUXES built the backend in-app purchase service behind its new Sticker Market, letting users download free sticker sets and buy paid collections. The service validates purchases across Android, iTunes, and Windows Phone, manages the sticker catalogue, and ships with per-environment deployment and monitoring — helping the app become more engaging and take a leading position in its market.
About the Client
The Client is an international company and the developer of a leading instant-messaging and VoIP app with more than 900 million active users worldwide.
A Crowded Messaging Market Demanded More Than Low Prices
With many similar apps competing for the same users, the Client realized it had to stand out not only on price but on functionality. It chose to add a Sticker Market to the app, and — already working with INNERLUXES on custom mobile app development — asked the team to build the backend service for in-app sticker purchases.
A Backend In-App Purchase Service Powering the Sticker Market
INNERLUXES delivered the full backend behind the Sticker Market, covering the following work:
- Specification for the service.
- Purchase validation service, built on the Android, iTunes, and Windows Phone in-app purchase APIs.
- Add product, remove product, and get products services to manage the sticker catalogue.
- Deployment scripts with separate configuration files for each environment.
- Monitoring of the running service.
The service was implemented on Zend Framework 1, with the purchase validation layer handling each platform's in-app purchase API.
A Sticker Market That Helped the App Stand Out and Lead
The Client enriched its app with a functional sticker market that lets users download free sticker sets and buy additional paid collections, with more than a dozen uniquely designed sets available at launch. The Sticker Market made the app more attractive to users, helped it stand out from competitors, and contributed to the app taking a leading position in its market.
Technologies and Tools
PHP, MySQL, Zend Framework 1.x, Zabbix.