SOCIT

PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY

The everyday, engineered.

SOCIT connects people with the neighbourhood businesses they rely on, and gives those businesses the software to run their day. Here is what we have built and how it works.

Customer app · Android

Discover, book and pay for local services.

  • Search and compare salons, pet groomers, car washes, gyms and clinics nearby
  • Book at the shop or request an at-home visit, which the provider must accept
  • Book several services in one checkout, apply coupons and loyalty points
  • Gym memberships, day passes and class bookings with a rotating QR pass
  • Doctor appointments, prescriptions and clinic bills in one place
  • In-app chat and voice calls with the business, without sharing phone numbers
Business app · Android

Run a neighbourhood business from a phone.

  • Bookings, staff, working hours and at-home service areas
  • Service catalogue, prices, seasonal pricing and offers
  • Gym desk: memberships, freezes, classes and QR check-ins
  • Customer history, loyalty rewards and reviews
  • GST invoices, earnings and payouts
  • Cooper insights: ask about bookings and customers in plain words
Operations console · Web

The tools our own team runs SOCIT with.

  • Business verification and onboarding
  • New service categories added without an app release
  • Customer support chat, with hand-off from Cooper
  • Commission, subscriptions and payouts
  • Multi-factor sign-in and a full audit trail of staff actions

HOW A BOOKING WORKS

Four steps, both sides of the counter.

  1. 01Discover

    The customer searches, browses a category or asks Cooper. Results use the shop’s live services, prices, hours and reviews.

  2. 02Book

    They pick services, staff and a time. Slots are checked against staff calendars and capacity, so two people never get the same slot.

  3. 03Visit

    The shop sees the booking at once and updates its progress. At the shop, a QR code confirms the visit. Gyms check members in the same way.

  4. 04Settle

    Payment is recorded, a GST invoice is issued and the business’s earnings and SOCIT’s commission are worked out automatically.

ARCHITECTURE

A focused stack, built to scale.

One modular backend serves every app through a versioned API. Each part of the business, such as bookings, memberships, payments, clinics and Cooper, is a separate module with its own data.

MobileKotlin and Jetpack Compose

A single Android app for customers and businesses, with light and dark themes.

BackendJava 21 and Spring Boot

A modular monolith exposing REST and WebSocket APIs, with scheduled jobs for reminders and renewals.

DataPostgreSQL

Versioned schema migrations, money stored in paise, personal data encrypted field by field.

AICooper on Claude

Large language models from Anthropic, connected to SOCIT’s live catalogue through tools. Cooper never books anything without the user’s confirmation.

Real timeWebSocket and WebRTC

Booking chat, support chat and app-to-app voice calls, so phone numbers stay private.

PaymentsRazorpay

UPI, cards and split settlements to each business. Payments go live with our public launch.

ON GOOGLE CLOUD

Google Cloud is our home.

SOCIT already runs on Google Cloud and Firebase. As we launch, the backend and database are moving onto managed Google Cloud services, so a small team can run the platform reliably as it grows.

In use today

  • Firebase Hosting for socitapp.com
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging for booking, class and membership notifications
  • Cloud Storage for GST invoice PDFs
  • Google Maps Platform and Places for maps, addresses and business onboarding
  • Cloud Firestore and Google Sign-In

Launch architecture

  • Cloud Run for the containerised backend
  • Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
  • Secret Manager for keys and credentials
  • Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring

SECURITY AND PRIVACY

Trust, built in from day one.

Local services mean strangers at your door and your health records on a phone. We designed for that from the start. Details are in our Privacy Policy.

Numbers stay private

Businesses never see a customer’s phone number, only the last four digits. Chat and calls happen inside the app.

Encrypted personal data

Phone numbers and other personal details are encrypted in the database, and sign-in codes are never stored in readable form.

Short-lived conversations

Booking chats are deleted an hour after the booking ends. Calls are app-to-app and never recorded.

Consent for marketing

Promotions are off until a customer opts in, come only from SOCIT, and are limited to daytime hours and a few a week.

Protected staff access

Our console requires multi-factor sign-in, locks after repeated failures and records every staff action.

Health data handled with care

Prescriptions and clinic bills are visible only to the patient and the clinic that treated them.

BUSINESS MODEL

We earn when businesses do.

SOCIT is free for customers to use. Revenue comes from the businesses on the platform.

  • Booking commissionSalons, groomers, car washes and gyms pay a small commission on bookings, memberships and day passes paid through SOCIT. Every new business gets its first 60 days commission-free.
  • Clinic subscriptionsClinics and doctors pay a flat monthly plan, based on how many doctors they list. There is no commission on consultations and no booking fee for patients.
  • Where it growsMore categories on the same platform, starting with home services such as electricians, plumbers, cleaning and AC repair.

WHERE WE ARE

Built, tested, launching.

BuiltCustomer app, business app and operations console

Salons, pet grooming, car wash, gyms, and clinics and doctors.

NowTesting with businesses in Hyderabad

Android early access, payments integration and onboarding our first businesses.

NextPublic launch on Google Play

Then iOS, more cities and the home-services categories.

Want to know more?

Write to us for a product walkthrough, partnerships or early access.

Meet the teamRequest a walkthrough