How to Build An App Like UrbanClap

Launched in the year 2014, Urban Clap is a home-services marketplace that connects various service seekers with service providers. Its value proposition ranges from electrician, plumbing, carpentering, painting, cleaning, salon, spa and beauty treatment services. In the financial year 2020, the company witnessed a reputation boost and also a 103% growth due to its reliable business model that majorly remained unaffected by the pandemic.

In this blog, we have elaborated the business model, revenue model and value proposition of UrbanClap. To help entrepreneurs launch a similar home services app like UrbanClap, this blog also contains some important features and software solutions that you can consider. Business Model of UrbanClap

UrbanClap has three user types on its platforms, which are:

• The admin
• Service provider
• Customer

The three work in the following way to make business operations possible:

• Service providers register on the platform and create profiles
• Customers browse a home service and enter the time slot for booking
• The service provider contacts the customer one-hour before the service for further coordination
• After the service provider has completed the service, the admin deducts his/her commission from the services fees and pays the remaining to the service provider

Note that the business model changes when the selected payment method is cash. In such a scenario, the service provider collects the entire payment (service fees plus admin commission) and keeps it himself/herself. All pending admin commission is then deducted from the next online payment service.

Also, UrbanClap does not share the personal details of customers (such as phone number and address) until one hour before the booked slot for security reasons.

Revenue Model of UrbanClap

UrbanClap earns profit from multiple revenue streams. Some of these streams are:

Commission

The most significant source of income for UrbanClap is its service commission. The company charges a total commission fee of 25% to 30% on every service rendered.

Reverse Auction

Under this revenue stream, UrbanClap charges service providers to enlist their various services on the platform. When a user searches for the service, he is shown five service providers for selection. In case if a provider’s profile isn’t deployed to a user, all his money is returned. Once the user places an order, the service provider has to pay some fees to Urban Clap in order to accept the order. In this way, Urban clap also charges service providers for lead generation.

Second Group Registration

UrbanClap also charges its registered professionals for registering under a secondary or multiple categories.

Display Ads

UrbanClap also earns money by displaying third-party advertisements on its platform. It charges businesses, suppliers and various providers to use the platform to promote their businesses. Furthermore, the pricing varies for each and every snippet and ad placement.

Types of Solutions to Develop a Home Service Marketplace App

There are three approaches to develop a functional home services app that can help you launch a profitable business in your target market. These approaches are:

Custom App Development

This approach requires selecting a list of features for the app, which will be added into the Software Requirement Specification (SRS) sheet. With the help of this sheet, a custom app development company will develop your app. The company can suggest a tech stack for the development or you can opt for any specific technology.

Pros of Custom App Development

• Self-hosted
• Highly customizable
• 100% original and unique
• Tailored to your requirements
• Personalized admin dashboard
• Unlimited listings, user profiles and transactions

Cons of Custom App Development

• Time-consuming
• Can be costly depending on business requirements

Readymade Self-Hosted Solutions

Readymade self-hosted solutions are developed with all essential features required to launch a home services app. The solution provider conducts an in-depth research of the industry to find out common requirements of the majority of businesses before developing the app. This way, the provider is able to provide entrepreneurs with a highly-functional platform. Some of the readymade solutions are also fully-customizable.

Pros of Readymade Self-Hosted Solutions

• Feature-packed
• Time and cost-efficient
• Customizable
• Unlimited listings, user profiles, and transactions
• Customer support easily available
• Tried and tested

Cons of Readymade Self-Hosted Solutions

• Tailored for the industry as a whole, but not for specific businesses
• Fixed admin dashboard

SaaS Solutions

SaaS refers to Software-as-a-Service and that is what exactly SaaS-based home services solutions provide. These are developed after in-depth industrial research and are available at a small price. However, SaaS solutions often have a limited number of users, listings, transactions and even transaction fees.

Pros of SaaS Solutions

• Cheap for initial startup
• Time saving
• Cloud-based
• Solution provider manages the hosting
• Tried and tested by thousands

Cons of SaaS Solutions

• Very expensive in the long run due to never-ending monthly recurring payments
• Very basic design and functionality despite adequate research
• Choice of hosting is never provided to the business owner
• Developed apps and marketplaces lack originality
• Only suitable for small-sized businesses

Features to Look for in an On-Demand Home Services Marketplace App

Entrepreneurs wanting to launch an UrbanClap like a business should look for the following features in their software solution. If not present, they can customize their software to add these features. Those who want to opt for custom development from scratch can also consider these for the development of an apt and efficient home services platform.

Admin Management Features

The admin should be provided with these features for conducting smooth home service business operations:

Listing Management

• Create, edit or delete listings
• Set hourly or fixed prices for listings

Order Management

• View order history
• View pending and completed orders
• Cancellation and refund requests

Tax Management

User Profile Management

Portal Management

Discount Management

Notifications Management

Commission Management

Payment Gateway Management

Data Analytics

Backup and Restore

Service Provider Features

Service providers mainly need features to coordinate with customers and deliver satisfying services. Along with this, some general features will also assist them in managing their work.

Registration and Login

Profile settings

Order Management

Miscellaneous

Features for Customers

On an on-demand home services app, customers require features that simplify search and order booking. To help them out, you can consider the following:

Search

Booking Management

Customer Support

Review and Rating

Miscellaneous

• Multiple payment options
• Save preferred payment method
• Save payment and billing address details
• Discounts and promotions
• Whatsapp sharing button

Cost Structure of On-Demand Services App Development

The cost of any software depends on various factors such as select features, tech stack, development method, development country, developer’s reputation, and experience. The costs can also exceed an entrepreneur’s budget in case of iterations or last stage customizations. In this blog, we have mentioned cost estimations:

Cost Estimates for Custom App Development (Hourly):

Country - Hourly Rate

USA - $75 - $150

UK- $100 - $200

Brazil- $20 - $50

India- $20 - $50

Israel- $20 - $50

South Africa- $25 - $40

Poland- $20 - $ 75

Australia- $100 - $150

Brazil- $25 - $50

Price Source: daxx, youteam.io

Cost Estimates for Readymade Software: Starts at $1,500 and goes up to $5,000. Any customizations will cost extra.

Cost Estimates for SaaS solutions: Start at approx. $15 and go up to $599 per month. However, customization and transaction fees will be charged additionally.

Strategic Plan to Launch a Home Services Marketplace like UrbanClap

After figuring out the business and revenue model of UrbanClap, it is time to put all the pieces together. Below is a methodology to help you launch your startup:

Conduct Research

Market research of the target audience, competitors, growth rate and availability of service providers will help you define various elements of your business. It will help you start pre-launch promotion campaigns and figure out the most profitable business proposition. Competitor analysis will help you get the required competitive edge and jumpstart the business in a well-established industry.

Some other important things to consider while conducting your market research are:

• Figuring out your ideal customer profile
• Finding the current and upcoming market trends
• Finding the most immediate competition, such as other startups and small scale businesses
• Figuring out the pricing strategy
• Conducting important analysis such as PESTLE and SWOT

Prepare an MVP

MVP is Minimum Viable Product that is used to validate the market demand for a business idea. An MVP is only inclusive of the bare minimum features required to make the product functional and then the MVP is deployed to a subset of customers for usage and testing. After using, the subset provides an honest feedback on whose basis the MVP is improved incrementally. If the subset likes the product then the market demand for the product is validated.

To prepare an MVP, entrepreneurs will need to find a software development company that will assist in the MVP’s proper deployment.

Benefits of developing an MVP:

Market validation of the product

Highlights shortcomings and scope for improvement

Increases chances of investments

Speeds up production

Prevents significant financial loss

Helps in branding and pre-launch promotions

Prepare the Final Product

After validating the MVP, the final product can be prepared with the help of agile methodology. The end-product will be based on all the suggestions and recommendations given by the early adopters while testing the MVP. It is in this stage that additional features and improvements are made to the app. The design is ameliorated for providing a better browsing experience and branding elements are applied.

Prepare the Marketing Strategy for App Launch

The deployment of the marketplace should be done in a well-planned and strategic way. Effective marketing will assist you in reaching out to the most accurate target audience. In the marketing strategy, increasing brand awareness will need to be your primary concern followed up by introducing various discounts and promotions. We can divide branding and marketing for your home services marketplace into the following categories:

• Brand awareness to inform your target audience about the existence of your marketplace. This will involve the creation and distribution of various collaterals through multiple channels to convey the value proposition and USPs.

• Promotion and discount coupons to target customers. These will include first time usage discounts or referral points. Launching a referral program is immensely beneficial for startups as the statistics have proved there is 37% higher customer retention rate amongst the users invited through referrals.

• Being a multi-vendor marketplace platform, business owners will also need to conduct promotions to attract service providers. These promotions can include writing cold calling emails, providing free featured listings, low commission rates and referral programs. Another option is to partner with a human resource company who can provide you with enough service providers to get started.

Establish the Customer Support Structure

Being a service-based marketplace, your home-services marketplace will require a proper infrastructure to provide efficient customer support. The first and most cost-effective lines for the support can be a simple FAQs page and AI chatbot integration. Afterwards, depending on the requirement, business owners can hire dedicated professionals for providing the customer support.

Conclusion

With the comfort that home services provide along with the time efficiency, it is evident for the online services booking model to gain popularity in the near future. Also, observing the trends, there will be more and more requirements for on-demand services and in many geographical regions there is not even a single organization to give the competition. Thus, it is recommended that entrepreneurs who are aware of any such regions where launching an app like UrbanClap would be highly profitable should not delay the opportunity and begin early investment.

For the software technology, Yo!Gigs is a readymade on-demand home services marketplace platform. It comes with three different dashboards for the admin, customer, and service provider, and also has advanced features like booking calendar, schedule management, and order management to streamline business operations. It is also fully customizable and comes with one year of free technical support.