android · 2017 to present
elGrocer Grocery
Shopper app for UAE grocery delivery at scale
Lead Android ownership for six years on the shopper-facing app powering real-time ordering, payments, maps, and notifications for a platform acquired by e& (Etisalat Group).
Screenshots
Challenge
A regional grocery marketplace needed a shopper app that could scale orders, payments, and maps without breaking production as MAU and store coverage grew toward acquisition.
Approach
Led six years of Android ownership with modular architecture, Compose migration, Firebase and REST integrations, and release discipline tied to operational metrics.
Impact
- 150K+ monthly active users on the flagship shopper app
- Roughly 10× revenue growth and larger average basket over long-term ownership
- Daily orders scaled from about 100 to over 2,000
- Mobile platform became a core asset in acquisition by e& (Etisalat Group)
- Bravo Award and twice-granted startup equity for technical and leadership impact
Role & stack
Lead Android Engineer
- Kotlin
- Compose
- Firebase
- Maps
- Payments
- REST
Deep dive
UAE grocery delivery needed a shopper app that could handle real-time ordering, payments, maps, and notifications as daily orders and store coverage grew. The mobile platform had to stay stable while the business scaled toward acquisition.
Responsibilities
- Lead Android ownership for six years on the flagship shopper app
- Own architecture, releases, performance, and production incident response
- Partner with product, backend, and operations on roadmap and delivery
- Guide modularization, Compose adoption, and platform quality standards
- Support team growth and technical decisions through the e& acquisition
Technical challenges
- Scaling order volume and concurrent users without degrading checkout or maps
- Keeping payment and wallet flows reliable under peak demand
- Maintaining notification and real-time sync as feature surface area grew
- Migrating a large codebase to Jetpack Compose and modular boundaries safely
Architecture decisions
- Modular Android architecture to isolate payments, catalog, maps, and account flows
- Jetpack Compose rollout for high-traffic screens with backward-compatible migration
- Firebase and REST integrations aligned with backend scaling and observability
- Kotlin Multiplatform initiative to reduce duplication while preserving Android quality
Scaling efforts
- Daily orders grew from about 100 to over 2,000 during long-term ownership
- Monthly active users expanded from 2,000 to 150,000 on the shopper app
- Release cadence and performance tuning kept pace with regional store rollout
- Platform stability held as the product became core to elGrocer's growth narrative
Results
- Contributed to roughly 10× revenue growth and a larger average basket over years of ownership
- Helped the mobile platform become a strategic asset in acquisition by e& (Etisalat Group)
- Bravo Award for leadership, collaboration, and team impact
- Startup equity granted twice for long-term technical and strategic contribution