Building a Flexible, Scalable Mobile App for a Global E-Commerce Platform

METRO BRAZIL shopping app.

+70%

Daily active users

Growth recorded in the first three months after the app went live.

+50%

Customer satisfaction

Improvement following the launch of the cross-platform app.

+40%

International and GCC orders

Growth in orders placed internationally and across the GCC region.

The client

METRO BRAZIL app on phone screen.

METRO BRAZIL sells premium Brazilian products abroad, starting with authentic luxury Brazilian shapewear for the Middle East — the first e-commerce platform to specialise in that category.

It is now expanding globally, with its strongest growth still in the Middle East and the GCC, markets it serves with localised experiences in several languages and currencies.

The challengeWhat the teams actually needed

Mobile commerce ran on native apps that were expensive to maintain and drifting away from the web platform, leaving the shopping experience inconsistent and slow to update.

Challenge 01Native apps that were hard to maintain

The existing mobile apps lacked maintainability and flexibility, and keeping them updated across platforms was costly.

Challenge 02A mobile experience out of step with the web

UI and UX differed between the apps and the web platform, and the apps had no multilingual or multi-currency support.

Challenge 03Little visibility into mobile sales

Tracking specific to mobile was limited, and performance gaps showed in transitions and animations.

METRO BRAZIL app on phone screen.

What we did

A Flutter app that reuses the platform it sits on

The build ran in three phases — design, development, then launch and support — with Flutter keeping one codebase across iOS and Android.

Area 01 · Product design

Design

Designs reworked around the brand

Existing graphic designs were reviewed and brought in line with the METRO BRAZIL brand. The team mapped how customers move through the app, then wireframed the layout, the core screens and the key native UI components.

Area 02 · Mobile app development

Flutter

One codebase, the web experience reused

Navigation was designed from scratch and WebViews reuse the existing e-commerce screens while keeping a native feel, so the app carries the same experience as the web platform, in several languages and currencies.

Area 03 · Go-live & maintenance

Release

Launched on both stores, then tuned

The app shipped to Google Play and the App Store with final assets and animations, UTM tracking and Firebase remote configuration in place for targeted updates and A/B testing, followed by bug fixes and support through peak traffic.

Area 04 · VIP programme

Feature

An exclusive tier for GCC customers

The app carries an exclusive METRO BRAZIL VIP PROGRAM for VIP customers in the GCC.

Client testimonial

We aimed to provide our customers with a seamless shopping experience across all devices, especially on mobile. The new Flutter-based application created by Netguru gave us the flexibility, performance, and user engagement we were looking for. It not only aligned with our platform’s design but also significantly boosted user retention and sales.

Joseph Raphael

CTO at METRO BRAZIL

Tech stackThe tools that made it possible

01

Flutter

One codebase across iOS and Android, chosen for fast cross-platform development.

02

Shopify

The e-commerce platform the app integrates with.

03

WebViews

Existing e-commerce screens reused inside the app, with custom mechanisms handling interactions within them.

04

Firebase

Tracking and remote configuration, used to push updates to specific audiences, run A/B tests and tune the app while it is live.

What’s next

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