G&V – Caps Energy Card app

Mobile - Discovery Bootcamp - MVP

Sweet Mustard is helping G&V Energy Group develop an app for the multi-brand Caps Energy fuel and charging card.

A leading player in innovative mobility solutions

G&V Energy Group has become the number one independent player on the Belgian market. An important pillar within the Group is the Caps Energy Card – a hybrid card with an online fleet management platform – and a network of more than 2,500 filling stations and 450,000 charging points. From CNG to LNG and electric charging: as changes in mobility occur, Caps evolves with the times. With the recent transition to electric driving, the former Caps Fuel Card and its app needed an update. Sweet Mustard is helping the company with this. Sarah Timperman, responsible for Sales & Marketing, and Project Manager Josse Desauw talk about the project.

Our approach

Keeping pace with changing mobility

Sarah: "Since 2006, the Caps Fuel Card network has grown enormously, driven by acquisitions and partnerships with companies such as Esso, Lukoil and Shell. As G&V wants to pioneer sustainability, we are always evolving with the latest forms of fuel, including electric driving. Josse adds: "One of the great advantages of Caps is that we offer both fuel and electricity. This is particularly useful for fleet managers, as everything is central. They do not have to manage different cards, but have everything on one platform and one invoice. It was all about making the fleet manager’s life easier, and Sweet Mustard has helped us a lot with this."

“Our strength lies in the fact that we are able to offer a multi-brand card. Previously, this meant it was not always clear to customers at which stations they could use our card. The app is now helping to clarify this.”
- Sarah Timperman, Sales & Marketing Manager G&V

From research to UX and internal development

We started the journey with an extensive investigation: the discovery. Sarah: "We were skeptical about this at first, but Sweet Mustard convinced us to do it anyway. In the discovery phase, we determined the needs of each user, thought about their path and laid the foundation for the app. We thought we knew everything already, but the discovery revealed things we would otherwise have missed. After that, Thomas and his team helped us with the complete development, from UI and UX to the development of the application."

Structure and challenges

How did G&V experience the cooperation? “Very positive,” says Sarah. "The sprint meetings were structured, every bug was immediately noticed and rectified, and every detail was taken into account. They question the right things, challenge us and help us zoom out and see the big picture. Furthermore, Sweet Mustard is very transparent in terms of budget. Their way of working is open and sincere. They also think about future possibilities at every stage of the development process. Ideas raised during meetings are accurately tracked for the future."

Josse adds: "The way of working creates a relationship of trust. As a result, we will also entrust other matters to sister companies from the Cronos aan de Leie Group, such as the development of our website. It is useful that Thomas is fully involved in the story, which means he will brief our web partner. It is great to have someone who knows the project background and can take a critical look."

“Everything is developed on our systems and the code remains our property. During a previous collaboration, we noticed that it is sometimes difficult to gain access when your code is with your supplier. In addition, one of our team has followed Sweet Mustard’s internal sprint meetings and worked with them on site for a few days, ensuring they are fully involved if we want to do certain things on a particular day. We appreciate this openness. The code may be yours, but if you don't know how the structure is put together, that doesn't help much. Thanks to this co-creative way of working, we were able to make the switch quickly. Of course, the fact that we are physically in each other’s environment also helps.”
- Josse Desauw, Project Manager G&V

Basics first, extra features second

G&V decided to improve the app gradually, says Josse. "We had the problem that the previous app no longer worked on some smartphones. We therefore decided to first redesign the app and launch it with its basic functions in the app stores. We then focused on providing additional features. During the most recent phase, for example, our focus was on adding a route planner.

In the next phase, we want to personalize the user experience even more, so that users can, for example, track their own transactions and block their card if they have lost it. In short, these are all things that make life even easier for fleet managers. We also want to focus on transparency by clearly displaying prices at filling stations and charging points. Elsewhere, we want to fine-tune the routing so you do not have to take major diversions just to stay on our network. Instead, you are forwarded to the roaming network if it makes more sense."

Looking back

Mobility is changing like never before. Is the updated app future-proof? According to Sarah, yes. "If an end user switches to an electric vehicle now, they do not have to change providers. With our app, we avoid charging stress by easily guiding users to the nearest or fastest charging point. This makes the threshold for switching a little lower. No matter what drive you have, our customers are at home with us. We are ready to evolve with the needs of the market."

Josse: "Some employees and companies have a lot of questions. They are not yet convinced of electric driving and/or have range anxiety. Our app helps and guides them. By the way, we do not claim that electric driving or fuel is the solution. It is an and-and scenario, as is clearly shown in our app."

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