The pet industry market, having grown over the past few years, has actually created new exciting opportunities for nearly all the market participants.
The American Pet Product Association (APPA) in Pet Industry Market Size, Trends & Ownership Statistics have figured out a continuous growth of the total U.S. pet industry expenditures. The records show a corresponding increase in outlays from $90.5 billion in 2018 up to $103.6 in 2020, with the estimated figure of $109.6 in 2021. The report has confirmed a consistent increase in the pet annual expenses year-on-year.
The COVID-19 conditions have also contributed to the pet industry development, having pushed hundreds of vet industries to build businesses online.
Respectively, the sector of mobile pet care applications is rapidly moving forward.
Providing a range of various services, apps for pet care have already simplified the way the pet parents get in touch with their vet care professionals.
The diversity of the modern software capabilities has resulted in technological stack dilemma. What programming language to choose to create the best app for dog care? Or what functionalities distinguish good pet apps from the mediocre ones?
An optimal way to get stared avoiding possible pitfalls is to craft an MVP version of the application. This pilot option enables business owners to watch over the strong points and detect the downsides.
In this article, we will go through a list of the top must-have features which every vet mobile app should capture in its MVP release.
9 features the best veterinary mobile app should have
It’s worth mentioning that a vet care app really implies two sides of interaction – a pet parent and a veterinary clinic. So, you will need to develop two types of applications as well. Each app has to hold a bit of a different set of functionalities.
Here come 9 must-have features for the MVP solution. They are:
Admin panel for owners
To efficiently maintain the interaction process between the clinic itself and pet parents, the administrative panel appears as an absolutely essential feature.
It allows vet professionals to handle all the incoming requests, text or video messages, as well as various notifications.
In the admin dashboard, veterinarian staff observe new bookings and manage actual appointments.
Plus, as all the details regarding a pet and its owner are documented in one place, it couldn’t be more convenient for pet care providers.
Onboarding / authorization options
To obtain services, the consumer needs to create a personal account and to authorize as a user. Embedding a log-in option may also encourage members to keep up using the service.
Pet’s profile
The pet profile section displays the general information about a pet. A pet parent can disclose a pet’s character, behavior and nutrition habits.
The general data, such as the breed, color, age, and weight should similarly be defined in this section.
The vet professional can insert and update information concerning a pet’s possible ailments and its health situation.
Coming in really handy, this option definitely allows the pet parent to be terribly bitty about the pet’s background.
Payments and Order history
Having a few plans available for the subscription, the pet owners can freely opt for that one, which is the most appealing.
It is possible to set up a monthly payment or an annual subscription. The consumer can just as well go for a flat fee.
The vet clinic usually determines the payment terms and methods by taking into account the veterinarian staff qualification, the type of the consultation services and the subscription period.
Book a consultation
This feature enables the pet parents to choose a vet doctor and set up a convenient time and date for a visit.
The consumer can also refer to the preferred veterinarian in text or email messages on simple questions.
An appointment can be held either in person or via a video or audio call.
Video and Audio calls
Carrying out a video or audio call with a vet doctor can appear most important in case of possible symptom onsets or injuries a pet may have.
A pet parents can schedule either a video and audio conversation with vet specialists, or pay a personal visit.
Online Chat
An online chat feature enables pet parents to directly get connected with pet care providers.
The required data concerning a pet’s variable medical conditions can be sent to a veterinarian in a text, voice, or video message.
Google map integration
A pet’s parents can look for a veterinarian clinic nearby. The search results will be displayed on the map in the most convenient way.
The so-called heat map index, the option of displaying the current workload on every vet station, can obviously come out as a nice little bonus.
Pet’s health records
This section contains all the official medical data on a pet’s chronic conditions, vaccines received, and allergies diagnosed.
Here a pet’s parents and the vet staff can check a pet’s health records or get a summary of the previously paid visits.
The application designed for vet service providers may include extra functionalities. Such as:
- order management
- earnings
- daily reports
- active/inactive user status
- heat maps index.
Nice to have mobile app features and extra functionalities to implement throughout the next stages of the product evolution may include:
- reminders
- push notifications
- educational articles and videos
- PDF reports
- Facebook events
- food monitoring
- exercise
- reviews and ratings
- support
- GPS tracking
- first aid.
Respectively, these handy features will enable both the business owner and the pet parents to interact with each other in an efficient and cost-effective way.
The aforementioned core set of functionalities has also been implemented in the following vet applications:
11Pets App Store and Google Play, PetCoach App Store and Google Play, Rover App Store and Google Play, PetDesk and Vetsie for Vets App Store and Google Play.
Hereinafter, we will get a closer look at Vetsie for Vets pet health app.
Vetsie mobile pet services app developed by TBR Group
Vetsie for Vets – a veterinary telemedicine mobile application, available in App Store and Google Play. Crafted by the Ukrainian IT development company – TBR Group – Vetsie for Vets is mainly oriented to the Canadian market.
You are most welcome to read our article Building a pet care app with Flutter: TBR Group guide. The entry describes the development stages performed and may give you a hint on how to craft the best pet care app.
And to get more technical overview of the implementation, please, refer to Vetsie case study page.
So, realized in 2 versions, Vetsie for Vets (App Store / Google Play) offers an expedient set of functionalities to the pet parents and a practical admin panel for the vet clinic.
Opportunities for users and administrators offered by Vetsie for Vets and the key features of the application
Vetsie for Vets is a user-friendly environment for any consumer. The key features of this pet services’ app are the following:
- Video and audio calls;
- Chat (file uploading, unread messages, voice messages);
- Book consultation;
- Google map integration;
- Charts;
- Reviews;
- PDF reports;
- Push notifications;
- Stripe payment integration;
- Facebook events.
The functional capabilities offered by Vetsie for Vets (App Store / Google Play) make it easy for the pet owners to connect with a pet care expert.
Vetsie for Vets mobile app – Text / Audio Call feature.
Plus, thanks to the push notifications, the pet parent receives all the vital data concerning the pet care services.
Being able to schedule a visit or immediately speak to the doctor in times of emergency, the user obtains a highly qualified consultation and thus a sense of security.
Vetsie for Vets mobile app – Book Consultation feature.
The administrative section provides vet business owners and the medical staff with an attractable Admin Dashboard.
It displays general statistical data, earnings obtained, appointments scheduled and the flow of the incoming requests.
The app keeps all the metrics together, tracking a pet’s medical history in one convenient place and at the tip of the fingers.
Best of all, the communication is held right through the application, simplifying the pet’s health care involvement.
Technological Stack
Vetsie for Vets (App Store / Google Play) – a veterinary mobile application that is cross-platform and cloud-based.
To obtain the most relevant software realization of the project, TBR Group used the Flutter framework and the Dart programming language.
Being relatively brand new, Flutter has already evolved into one of the most widespread programming languages.
Wonder why? You are welcome to check our article on Why choose Flutter for mobile app development in 2023? You will find out the reason for Flutter’s growing popularity among developers. As well as why consumers themselves love applications build with Flutter.
To enable video and audio broadcasting options, TBR Group implemented a robust Agora SDK technology. Respectively, Agora Real-time Communication (RTC), Agora Real-time Messaging (RTM) and Agora Web SDK library have been integrated.
Just as Agora SDK itself does not support chat features for Flutter web options, our team had to use a Flutter web plugin combined with the JavaScript language.
This way, TBR Group have succeeded to craft a highly productive pet health mobile app, with a reliable and secure interaction between the vet business owners and the pet parents on one single platform.
Summary
Having successfully crafted multiple cross-platform mobile applications, the TBR Group IT Development company each and every time takes care to deliver a top-quality software product.
Check our projects as a proof. You can find and download the apps, such as Swishboom, Neural Reader Most Natural TTS, Śpiewnik Wywroty from the App Store and Google Play.
You are most welcome to ask anything you want at any time right through our Get In Touch contact form. We will always be happy to assist in your project realization.