Jersey Customization for The South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs, one of Australia’s oldest and most iconic rugby league clubs, were looking to improve the in-store experience for their fans. With strong merchandise sales and a dedicated supporter base, the club wanted a more engaging and efficient way for customers to explore and personalize team jerseys.

The Rabbitohs approached us with the idea of developing an interactive TV kiosk system for their retail locations. These touchscreen kiosks were intended to allow fans to:

Browse and select jersey styles and team colors
Choose their preferred size and fit
Enter a custom name and number
Preview the final design in real time
Place an order for delivery or in-store pickup

Challenges

Although the idea behind the interactive TV kiosk was simple and compelling, bringing it to life came with several technical and practical challenges. The project required careful planning and creative problem-solving at every stage.

Together, these challenges shaped the project’s technical direction and influenced our key decisions about architecture, performance, and user experience.

The key challenges included:

Outdated Android operating system

The touchscreen TVs used for the kiosks ran on an outdated version of Android, which introduced several roadblocks:

Incompatibility with modern development frameworks and libraries
Limited support for newer touch and graphics features
Security concerns due to the lack of updates or patches
Restrictions around integrating secure, up-to-date payment solutions

Low-performance hardware

The hardware powering the TV kiosks lacked the processing capacity required for a responsive, media-rich interface. This introduced several performance-related challenges:

Laggy or unresponsive touch input during interaction
Slow loading times for UI elements and customization previews
The need to carefully optimize every aspect of the app for performance efficiency

Integration with Squareup for inventory management

To ensure accurate inventory and seamless payments, the system needed to connect with Squareup’s APIs. This task brought the following challenges:

Squareup APIs had to be integrated into the kiosk application to fetch live inventory data
Syncing customized orders with Squareup’s backend in real-time required careful handling of product variants (e.g., sizes, names, and numbers as custom fields)
Authentication, rate limits, and error handling for Squareup’s API required robust backend logic Ensuring secure credit card payments through the kiosk interface while maintaining compliance with payment processing standards
Coordinating updates across Squareup, the kiosk, and the printing system demanded a reliable and consistent data flow architecture

Solution

To address the Rabbitohs' requirements and overcome the technical limitations, we proposed a solution built on proven technologies, designed for performance, reliability, and ease of use. Our goal was to create a seamless in-store experience for both fans and store staff. Here’s what we designed and delivered:

Main Kiosk Application

React Native interface for Android TV devices, optimized for performance and user experience with lightweight components and responsive touch input.
- Lightweight components with minimal animations
- Fast, responsive touch input for browsing
- Real-time jersey customization previews
Secondary Order Management App

Companion mobile application designed for internal staff to monitor, verify, and manage incoming orders with real-time status updates.
- Order verification and preparation workflows
- Real-time order status updates
- Internal staff notifications system
Cloud Backend Service

Node.js backend service hosted on AWS, acting as the central hub for managing communication between all system components.
- Central hub connecting kiosk and inventory
- Data flow management and order validation
- API interactions with Squareup integration
Squareup Integration

Custom integration with Squareup platform for inventory management and secure payment processing with real-time data synchronization.
- Real-time inventory data synchronization
- Custom product variants management
- Secure credit card payment processing
SMS Notification System

Automated SMS notification system to keep customers informed throughout the entire order process, from placement to pickup.
- Automated order placement notifications
- Ready for pickup and shipping alerts
- Improved post-purchase customer experience

Main Kiosk Application

React Native interface for Android TV devices, optimized for performance and user experience with lightweight components and responsive touch input.

Lightweight components with minimal animations
Fast, responsive touch input for browsing
Real-time jersey customization previews

Secondary Order Management App

Companion mobile application designed for internal staff to monitor, verify, and manage incoming orders with real-time status updates.

Order verification and preparation workflows
Real-time order status updates
Internal staff notifications system

Cloud Backend Service

Node.js backend service hosted on AWS, acting as the central hub for managing communication between all system components.

Central hub connecting kiosk and inventory
Data flow management and order validation
API interactions with Squareup integration

Squareup Integration

Custom integration with Squareup platform for inventory management and secure payment processing with real-time data synchronization.

Real-time inventory data synchronization
Custom product variants management
Secure credit card payment processing

SMS Notification System

Automated SMS notification system to keep customers informed throughout the entire order process, from placement to pickup.

Automated order placement notifications
Ready for pickup and shipping alerts
Improved post-purchase customer experience

Tech Stack

/mobile

React Native

/back-end

Node.js

/hosting

AWS

Features

Jersey Customization
Cart
Order Confirmation
Order Management (Secondary App)
Order Details (Secondary App)

Jersey Customization
Cart
Order Confirmation
Order Management (Secondary App)
Order Details (Secondary App)

Results

As a result, we successfully deployed a complete in-store system that allows fans to customize and order jerseys directly through a touchscreen TV kiosk. Staff manage orders using a companion mobile app, while a Node.js backend keeps inventory and payments in sync with Squareup in real time.

Through careful optimization for low-spec hardware, we eliminated performance bottlenecks and delivered a smooth, responsive user experience. Integrated SMS notifications further improved communication by keeping customers updated throughout the order process.

The outcome is a seamless, fully integrated retail solution that enhances both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.