Understanding White Label Applications: A Beginner's Guide
Our clients often search for effective ways to scale their offerings. The obvious way to do this is to create their own product through the entire production process, from identifying the market and its trends, to building a prototype and implementing the system, to continuous improvement. This approach requires a lot of resources and time. However, it is worth asking ourselves whether we are able to take such risks? What if the product is finished, once the demand for such solutions in the market starts to fade, or by the number of competing solutions it becomes difficult to achieve the desired results? Perhaps better results will come from using proven solutions created by experts who know the trends and have solutions in their portfolio that have paid off in the market. Due to the factors mentioned above, investors are increasingly using white label applications.
What is a White Label Application?
At its core, a white label application is a pre-built software product that can be rebranded and customized by businesses as their own. Think of it as a “ready-made” app that developers create, but the final product is branded with your company's logo, design, and name. The white label provider handles the coding, updates, and maintenance, while your business gets a fully functional application under your own brand. You don't have to worry about required security certifications or updates for new iOS/ANdroid versions.
How Do White Label Applications Work?
Here’s a simplified step-by-step process of how white label applications typically work:
- Purchase or License the Software: Buy the application or license for a pre-developed app.
- Customization: Customize the app by adding branding elements, such as logos, color schemes etc. and add your core product features through widgets or new screens.
- Launch and Market: Once the app is branded, it is ready for deployment. The business can now offer it to customers as a proprietary solution.
During the customization step mentioned above there could be small and complex customizations. This is usually the critical topic how deeply you can influence white label so that it fulfills customer needs. Let's go deeper on this topic.
What is considered as custom development in the context of White Label?
Custom development involves deeper, more technical modifications to the core functionality of the white label application. This goes beyond just changing the look and feel of the app; it involves altering or adding features, adjusting workflows, or integrating the app with other systems. In essence, custom development changes the app's functionality to meet specific business requirements.
Key Characteristics:
- Feature Enhancements: Adding new features or modifying existing ones to meet unique business needs (e.g., integrating custom payment gateways, modifying end-user flows, etc.).
- Technical Adjustments: Tweaking or rebuilding parts of the app's code to support new functionalities, or to change behaviour.
- Custom Integrations: Integrating the app with third-party tools like CRMs, webviews or other business platforms.
- API Integration: Developing custom APIs or integrating the app with existing APIs to communicate with other services.
- Data Handling: Modifying how the app collects, stores, or processes data.
Example: The company buys a white label app but wants to add a custom fitness tracker, integrate it with their gym's membership system, and implement push notifications. This is the custom development.
What is considered as simple customization or rebranding?
Brand change (also called rebranding) refers to the cosmetic adjustments made to the white label application to make it appear as though it was developed by your company. This process typically does not involve any modifications to the app’s core features or functionality, but focuses instead on the visual and branding aspects.
Key Characteristics:
- Logo Replacement: Changing the app’s logo to reflect your company’s brand.
- Color Scheme: Customizing the app’s design elements, like background colors, button styles, and fonts, to match your brand's style guide.
- Brand Identity: Incorporating your company’s name, slogans, or taglines within the app.
- Language changes: Implementation of new languages in the app
- Minor Content Updates: Updating in-app content (like text, images, or icons) to match your brand’s messaging, while the underlying functionality remains the same. That’s about changing the components itself - not the position of components on the screen.
Example: A new fintech provider purchases a white label delivery app. They change the app's color scheme to match their brand, update the logo, and add their business name throughout the app. However, the functionality (eKYC, payment system, transaction history, etc.) remains unchanged. This would be a brand change.
Summary:
- Custom Development: Involves altering the functionality of the app, adding or modifying features to meet specific business requirements.
- Brand Change: Involves changing the appearance of the app by applying your company's branding elements (logo, colors, etc.) without altering its core functionality.
Save time and reduce risks by choosing Verestro’s White Label solutions. With our ready-made, customizable apps, you can quickly launch your own branded product without the need for development or maintenance. Whether you need simple rebranding or more advanced custom features, Verestro’s proven solutions can help you scale faster. Contact Verestro today to explore how their expertise can elevate your business.