At the outset of the project in early 2017, Itemize was struggling with a hybrid application solution implemented by a former vendor, which included a web-based Android application that was not optimized for mobile and an iOS application that, while serviceable, had considerable design flaws and bugs. Itemize partnered with EPAM to solve the following challenges:
- Offer a better, bug-free customer experience through its mobile applications
- Fix existing iOS bugs and develop an Android app from scratch
- Reduce the forward-looking maintenance costs of maintaining two mobile apps and a web app
EPAM suggested the React Native framework as a cross-platform development solution to save time and budget on the project. Seeing the potential and power of developing two different native applications – one Android, one iOS – with a shared codebase, Itemize agreed to move forward.