App that Facilitates the Return of Merchandise

Case Study: Returns on Demand

Returns On Demand and Melt Studio turned the founders’ app idea for online returns into a functional product to validate and refine for Product-Market Fit.

Projc

THE CHALLENGE

We Needed to Create a Mobile iOS Application First

in 3 months, to be delivered to real customers and receive feedback to be able to iterate the product and find an MMP Minimum Marketable Product.

INITIAL STATE

OUR SOLUTION

The first step in this project was to develop a prototype of the consumer application.

Requirements

Simplification

This technology stack avoids the risk of high-cost development teams and high-speed development, by keeping the requirements in skills simple.

Application

Building

For this, we built an application using React Native/Expo and a simple Firebase backend to create an initial iOS app allowing users to initiate the returns.

Prototype

Release

After the initial prototype release, we created a simple admin system using React, keeping the whole platform in Javascript/Typescript. Over time we have also released the application to Android users.

DELIVER STATE

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

There have been multiple improvements

The first one is a Gmail integration allowing users to import purchases directly from their email. This required an audit from Google to ensure security practices in handling people's data. The audit was performed by a partner of Google in close collaboration with the melt development team and successfully passed.

Trusted by Startups Across the U.S.

We have delivered products for startups from Anchorage to New York.

Alex Vans

Choros

October 29, 2025

I was crawling; I’m walking now. I finally have the peace of mind to stop worrying about crashes and start listening to my users.

October 29, 2025

Avani Kanubaddi

Brandtuit

December 30, 2025

Thanks, everyone, for the hard work that went into this first beta client. We have now officially released our first Zena report to a client. We will meet with him on Monday to review his candid feedback on what is working well and what needs improvement.

This was a significant step, so we should take a moment to commemorate and celebrate it. We will have two more beta tests in the new year, so the work continues. As we turn the calendar, I wanted to take a moment to appreciate this team. I wish everyone a fantastic start to 2026, and I hope we can continue to build on this promising start.

December 30, 2025