Creating a sales order app for your business might sound intimidating if you’re not a tech pro.
But in today’s digital age, building an app is easier than you think.
Thanks to no-code platforms, you can design and launch a sales order app with just a few clicks — no programming skills are needed.
Let’s walk through the process together!
What Is a Sales Order App?
If you’re in need of an app that lets clients place orders for your products, look no further than a sales order app. It doesn’t matter what you sell — here are just a few goods and services that you can sell on a sales order app:
- Clothing from your online store
- Food from a restaurant
- Services from a small business (electrician, plumber, HVAC, etc.)
- Car parts from an auto mechanic
- Consulting services
- Homemade doggy treats
- …and anything else that you can sell
What You Need To Get Started
Here are 3 things you’ll need to develop your own sales order app without code:
- An account with Adalo, a powerful no-code app builder: Obviously, you’ll need a platform to create your sales app. We recommend using Adalo, a popular and straightforward mobile app that is powerful enough to handle even complex sales order apps.
It’s such a solid platform that I’ve recommended it to freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small and medium businesses more than any other platform.
Adalo is an “out-of-the-box” app builder, meaning you can intuitively figure it out right after signing up. But don’t think that Adalo sacrifices power for ease of use. You’ll find a bevy of add-ons, plugins, and integrations that will make your sales order app pack a serious punch.
- A list of your app’s features: You know you’ll be selling products or services on your sales order app, so you’ll need to list your products and have a payment integration.
But do you want to add extra features to make buying from you more appealing, such as a chat function, push notifications, or any other experience-boosting functionality? If so, jot them down.
- Wireframes (digital blueprints): You’ll need to draw up plans for how your screens will appear and what functions you want on each one. Doing this will organize your thoughts and make the app-building process much more manageable.
Instead of drawing your plans out on paper, we recommend using a wireframing service like Figma's. You’ll be able to see how your sales order app’s structure appears on an actual screen and make seamless edits using Figma’s drag-and-drop interface.
App Fundamentals: The Foundational Parts of an App
Before we talk about the steps that you’ll take to build your sales order app, it’s time for a quick lesson about the 3 parts that comprise any app:
- The Frontend: Users will see, tap, and place orders on the front end, also known as the “User Interface” (UI). Ultimately, your frontend is every screen, button, color, text, and more. It’s important to deliver a good-looking yet simple frontend — failing to do so might result in fewer app users.
Adalo has everything you need to build a gorgeous frontend: Premade screens, fancy elements, places to upload pictures, and more. And yes, you’ll have the power to customize and rejig every part of your frontend to match your brand and tastes.
- The Backend: Think of the backend as your app’s “brain” — it answers commands by retrieving data, delivers messages, connects to third-party platforms and APIs, and more.
With Adalo, you’ll be able to design and configure your backend to execute the precise tasks you want.
- The Database: Your database is an app’s storage center. It contains every byte of information found in your app. Here are a few database items you might find in a sales order app:
- Clients: Names, dates joined, products purchased, and more
- Products: Product name, type, inventory level, and more
- Payment history: Products purchased and the amount paid by each user
- Other data types: Messaging history, coupon usage, special offers, and more
Like your frontend and backend, Adalo comes with a prepackaged database that you can customize, expand, and edit to your liking. If you already have a database with a service like Airtable, Google Sheets, or Xano, you can connect it to your Adalo account in just a couple of clicks.
Adalo’s Ecosystem
Now that I’ve shown you what you need to do for e-learning mobile app development, I’ll introduce you to a few resources that Adalo provides to help you get the most out of your app-building experience.
If you’re looking to learn more about Adalo and its app-building platform, or if you have any questions, consult the following:
- Adalo’s Coaches: Want one-on-one tutoring from a bona Adalo expert? Connect with a coach, and they’ll help you with your app-building for an hourly rate, answering any questions and providing expert tips along the way.
- The Adalo Forum: Want to connect with others who are first-time app builders? Or do you have a few questions? You’ll be able to do both on Adalo’s forum, allowing you to become a part of the Adalo App-Building Community.
- The Adalo YouTube Channel: Packed with about 200 videos, you’ll get visual lessons showing you how to leverage all the unique functionalities of Adalo’s app-building interface.
- The Adalo App Academy: Visit Adalo’s “school” to learn Adalo properly. You’ll find enough classes to teach you every little in and out about Adalo.
Now, let’s jump into building your sales order app!
7 Simple Steps to Crafting Your Sales Order App
Step 1: Get Your Sales Order App Template
When you build with Adalo, you can start with a premade template, including all screens, databases, and backend functions. Adalo has a specific template for sales orders of all kinds: The ordering template.
Although it’s initially designed for restaurant ordering, you can customize the ordering template to create nearly any sales order app you can imagine.
Step 2: How to Customize Your Sales Order App to Your Tastes
Just like medical school transforms (smart) people into doctors, you can use Adalo to transform your ordering template into a sales order app for your business. Leveraging the power of Adalo’s app-building interface, your final product will appear much different than the template you started with.
Before we get into how to configure, rejig, and customize your app, let’s talk about Adalo’s building interface, which is comprised of these 3 components:
- The Building Canvas: This is your app’s “living blueprint,” where you’ll find all your app's pages at the center of your screen. To edit a page, simply click on it from the building canvas.
When you change any page, you’ll see it on the building canvas. You’ll be able to use your cursor to position pictures, text boxes, buttons, and more on all of your apps’ pages.
- The Horizontal Ribbon: The horizontal ribbon stretches horizontally across your upper screen. This is probably the part of the building interface you won’t use too much. Its main functionality allows you to access your Adalo account information and preview your app as if it were live.
- The Editing Dashboard: Arguably the most essential part of Adalo’s Building Interface, this vertical drop-down dashboard, located at the left of your screen, is where the building happens.
The Editing Dashboard contains buttons for adding or deleting pages, publishing to the app stores, configuring colors, connecting APIs and integrations, accessing analytics, and performing other vital functions.
The Pieces of Your Editing Dashboard
Your editing dashboard has a total of 9 buttons. To see each functionality, hover your cursor above each one, and the job will appear. Here’s a shortcut that names the function of each button, starting from the top:
- Add Component/Add Screen (“+”): Use this to add new pages (also called screens), buttons, integrations, forms, etc. When building your sales order app, you’ll often press this button.
- The Branding Button (which resembles an artist’s palette): Use this function to switch your colors and fonts.
- Screens (looks like a screen): This will display a comprehensive list of all your app’s screens. Click on this to swiftly navigate to the screen you want to edit.
- Database Collection (appears as a spreadsheet): As the name suggests, this is your database’s home. We’ll discuss database customization in Step 3.
- Settings (looks like a bicycle sprocket): Use this to write quick meta descriptions for the app stores, access APIs, and more.
- Publish (a double checkmark): You’ll press this button only once your app is ready for the app stores. We’ll discuss publishing to the app stores in Step 6.
- Analytics (a chart): Want to see your daily users, where they’re from, and your most popular screens? Just push this button.
- Version History (a circled check mark inside a rectangle): Adalo allows you to create up to 10 versions of your app (but you can only publish one). You can access your app iterations here.
- Hire an expert (check mark inside a spiked circle at the bottom of the page): If you decide you don’t have time to build your app, press this button to connect with an Adalo pro who will build it for you.
Step 3: Configuring Your Sales Order App’s Database
Adalo comes with its very own built-in database, and, like your app’s screens, you’ll be able to customize it to your needs. Here are the 3 parts of your Adalo database:
1. Records: Records are your sales order app’s actual data, and they’re found inside the database’s cells. These can be items, purchase dates, users, etc.
2. Properties: These are at the top of each database collection — they’re the title of each row. You can add or delete them by pushing the “Add to Properties” button in your editing box.
3. Collections: Collections are groups of similar data stored in a spreadsheet. You can change each collection’s name in the editing box that you see after you click the “Screens” button.
Want to build a brand new collection? Just click “Add to Database” and start customizing the properties you need.
How To Plug In an External Database
As we mentioned earlier, you can connect your pre-existing database to Adalo with each. All you need to do is push the “Add External Collection” button in the editing box, follow the directions, and your database will be good to go.
Step 4: Creating New Screens
Because sales order apps vary significantly from industry to industry, you’ll probably want to create a few new screens to meet your business's needs.
Press the “Add Component/Add Screen” button at the top of your Editing Dashboard and select “Add New Screen.” A brand-new, customizable screen will appear on your building canvas.
Let’s talk about customizing all your screens and components with everything you want so it’s 100% congruent with your tastes. After you click the “Add Component/Add Screen” button, you’ll find functionalities to customize components and screens at the top of your editing box.
The “Add Components” section includes fonts, submission forms, elements, lists, and the option to add plugins from the Adalo marketplace. You’ll be able to tailor-make your very own payment submission forms, workflows, and anything else you need from the “Add Components” section.
Similarly, the “Add Screens” button lets you duplicate or add blank screens. Ultimately, adding new functionalities is as easy as dragging them to the desired screen on your Building Canvas.
If you want to delete a screen, press the “Screens” button, go to the screen you want to dump, click the 3 vertical dots button near the screen’s title, and then hit “Delete Screen.”
Step 5: How To Preview Your Sales Order App
You can see how your sales order app looks and functions on mobile and desktop devices by pressing the green “Preview App” button in your Horizontal Ribbon. Next, click “Staging Preview,” and a live version of your app will appear in a new tab.
Click through your app and ensure everything is up to par. If you encounter any issues, get them fixed on the fly. Nipping issues in the bud can make your life easier before publishing to the app stores, which we will discuss next.
Step 6: Publishing on the Web in the App Stores
Here’s the cool thing about building with Adalo: You can publish your app on the web, the Apple App Store, and Google Play Store. Adalo’s app-building interface allows you to publish the same app version to both the web and app stores, though slight adjustments may be needed for an optimized experience across platforms.
Because it involves very few hoops to jump through, you’ll most likely publish your app to the web first. Folks will find your web app using their phone browsers.
Follow these directions to publish your app on the web:
- Go to your profile in the Horizontal Ribbon.
- Click “Settings,” scroll down to “Domain,” and enter your domain (www.domain.co) — if you don’t have a domain, buy one on the cheap from GoDaddy.
- Navigate to the Click “Publish” on the Editing Dashboard
Once you’ve completed these steps, your app will be live on Google.
Publishing to the Apple App and Google Play Stores
Unfortunately, publishing your sales order app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store isn’t as easy as publishing it on the web. However, the hard work will pay off: The Apple App Store and Google Play Store have a combined monthly visitor count in the billions. Getting your app in front of such a potentially large audience can pay enormous dividends.
But first, you’ll need to put some work in. Get the following done before undertaking publishing procedures:
- Competitor research/description writing: Go to the app stores and search for “sales order apps” similar to yours. Read their descriptions, look closely at their screenshots, and jot down meticulous notes. Specifically, write down keywords you find in their app descriptions.
Start writing your app description and slip in their keywords and your synonyms. This will help you reach more users in app store search results.
Although the app stores limit your description to 4,000 characters, you don’t need to use every character. Err on the side of brevity, and make your description short, sweet, and to the point. No one wants to spend 10 minutes reading and figuring out an app description.
- Build a fantastic app icon: Because your icon will appear to the side of your app’s title in the app store search results, you’ll need to ensure your logo is well-done and original.
And yes, you can build your app icon yourself! Try an online app-icon-building platform like Looka and create something beautiful.
- Take gorgeous screenshots and videos: Only submit the best-looking screenshots and videos that show your sales order app’s functions, such as the ordering and checkout process, messaging features, profile creation, and more.
Keep this in mind: Submitting poor videos and screenshots will reflect poorly on your sales order app and professional reputation. So, only provide the best videos and screenshots.
Once you finish these, it’s time to begin the publishing process.
Publishing a Sales Order App to the Google Play Store
Head to the Android developer account page and create your account. Then, pay your one-time $25 fee and enroll in Google’s app-testing program. Several people will download the app, test it, and provide feedback.
This is important because you’ll get valid third-party opinions about how well your app works. We highly recommend that you take the advice testers give you and implement changes.
Once you’ve made the necessary changes, return to your Adalo account and go to "Publish” and Android’s directions. Luckily, Google’s app approval generally takes 1-7 days, depending on the complexity and your developer history.
Publishing a Sales Order App to the Apple App Store
Just like with Google, go to Apple’s iOS developer page and create your developer account. Then, pay the $99 fee — the required yearly fee.
Like Google, Apple has its testing program, Testflight, so sign up for this. Get feedback from users and tweak your app as necessary.
Once you’ve made the updates, return to Adalo, select the “Publish” button, and follow Apple’s directions. Apple’s approval process tends to be a bit more strict than Google’s and usually takes around 1-3 days, though delays can sometimes extend this timeframe.
Step 7: How To Integrate Payments
Now that your sales order app is published, it’s time to start making cash with Adalo’s Stripe integration. To get paid with Stripe, navigate to the Stripe homepage and set up a Stripe account.
Return to Adalo’s Editing Dashboard and select the “Add Components/Add Screens” button. Scroll down and find the Stripe form, drag it over to your payments screen, and it’s time to watch that bank account grow.
Next Steps: Expanding Your User Base, Checking Analytics, and Upkeep
Now that you’ve published your app, your main focus will shift from building to maintaining it. Luckily, Adalo is designed to do just that.
On your app-building interface, press the button that was neglected during your app-building: the “Analytics” button. This will show you how well your app performs, how many users you’re getting, and your most popular screens.
Bugs, glitches, and other issues may occasionally arrive. Address these problems at once. If your user experience is poor, your reputation will suffer, and no one will want to use your app.
Interested in marketing your app to get an eye-popping number of monthly downloads? Read our app-marketing guide. You’ll learn tricks, strategies, and tactics that will help market your app to the masses.
Keeping your app humming is a marathon, not a sprint. If you stay consistent in your marketing efforts and don’t neglect your maintenance, you’ll increase your chances of having your own highly successful and super-functional app. Best of luck!
Frequently Asked Questions
What Can I Sell on a Sales Order App?
Ultimately, a sales order app can be used to sell anything. You can upload pictures of your products directly to your app, allowing customers to create client accounts, take payments, and integrate with delivery platforms.
Do I Need Any Technical Knowledge To Build My App With Adalo?
Nope! Even the most hardened Luddite, who got their first smartphone in 2022, can build an app with Adalo. You’ll need no coding background to make your app, as the building interface functions quite similarly to creating a PowerPoint.
Can I Take Payments From My Sales Order App?
Yes, taking payments with Adalo is simple because Adalo has a Stripe integration built into every template. To use it, you only need to set up a Stripe account and follow the directions in Adalo.
Conveniently, Adalo integrates with PayPal, Square, and others through Zapier, although additional setup is required, and the integration may not provide all payment functionalities.
