Mashup #1: Software/Software – Mister Softee App
Google Maps API + Live GPS Tracker + Mobile/Web App
Background: Mister Softee has over 600 trucks and over 350 franchise dealers operating in 15 states plus China. Mister Softee was founded in 1956 and has now become America’s most recognizable mobile ice cream vendor.
Concept: I have so many memories as a child waiting for Mr. Softee to come around to my block – but as soon as I would go inside to eat dinner, I would hear the famous Mr. Softee song. I would be playing at the park with the other kids who all wanted Mr. Softee, just to be disappointed when he never arrived. I would be indoors at a friends’ house when we’d hear the truck, and run outside only to find out we were a minute too late. I’ve searched online and found there are other people who feel the same way as me – Mr. Softee needs a GPS tracker.
Precedents
Mister Softee himself, of course
Mobile Apps such as Street Eats also use Google Maps and GPS to track the location of food trucks. However, Mister Softee is not present on here. Another issue is that Street Eats only takes into account major cities (in New York, there is only an option for Manhattan). I would say Mister Softee may be more popular in more suburban areas – for instance near my house he is very popular because there are no other mobile food trucks in the area. He has been around long enough and has become popular enough to deserve his own app.
Objective:
- Make Mister Softee more readily available to his customers
- Maximize sales – less time driving around looking for business, more time actually getting business
The mobile/web app would basically do this by providing their customers with Mister Softee locations for when they want to go get Mister Softee. Additionally, you can request Mister Softee to come to you. The trucks can customize if they want to only receive requests from a group of 3 or more people, for instance, so they do not get a lot of requests for one person unless business is really slow. This maximization of time and customers would definitely bring in more revenue for Mr. Softee, while additionally keeping their ice-cream lovin’ customers happy.
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