How to make an app for a cosmetics shop

A cosmetics shop has hundreds of small items, many in several shades, and each with an expiry date. An app keeps your product list with shades and prices, warns you before stock expires, and lets regular customers send an order on WhatsApp without listing everything by hand.

Updated 2026-11-09

Who uses the app

The owner and counter staff, and optionally regular customers who order from the product list. If customers or a second staff member use it on their own phones, connect your own Supabase database so everyone sees the same products and prices.

The screens a cosmetics shop app needs

Products: Search by name or type; each product with its shades, price and how many are on the shelf
Expiry: Stock that expires in the next 30, 60 or 90 days, so you can move it or return it to the supplier
Customer order: For customers: pick products and shades, add a note, and send the list to the shop on WhatsApp
Hampers and kits: Bridal kits and gift hampers with their items, price and orders due this week
Regulars: Customers with their usual shades and products, so the next order is quick
Purchases: Stock bought from each supplier, with the date, quantity, expiry and amount due

Features worth asking for

Shades saved under one product, so a lipstick in twelve shades is one entry, not twelve
An expiry list sorted by date, worked out from what you enter when stock comes in
Scan a product's barcode with the phone camera to find it in your list (installed app only)
A customer's usual shade saved on her name, so staff don't ask every time
Hamper orders with a pickup date and a WhatsApp 'your hamper is ready' message
A low-stock list to send to your supplier on WhatsApp
A UPI QR code at the counter screen for quick payments to your own UPI ID

Where the data lives

If only the counter phone uses the app, the data can stay on that phone. If customers send orders from their own phones or two staff members use it, connect your own Supabase database from the chat.

How to make it with AppCub, step by step

Decide what the app does. List the screens you need, for example: Products, Expiry, Customer order, Hampers and kits, Regulars.
Describe it to AppCub. Paste the request below, changed to your own business and details.
Check the plan. AppCub shows the screens and features it will build. Change them in the chat until they are right; seeing the plan is free.
Try it on your phone. The app runs live next to the chat. Scan the QR code to install it, and ask for changes.
Share it. Share it as a web link, an APK file, or publish it on Google Play from your own developer account.

Copy this request, change the details to match your cosmetics shop, and paste it into AppCub:

Make an app for my cosmetics shop, Roop Cosmetics in Indore. Screens: products with shades, price and stock; an expiry list for the next 90 days; purchases from suppliers with expiry dates; hampers and bridal kits with orders due; regular customers with their usual shades; and a customer order screen where a customer picks products and shades and sends the list on WhatsApp to 98XXXXXXXX. Let staff find a product by scanning its barcode. Add a low-stock list I can send to my supplier. Pink and white colours.

Tips for a cosmetics shop app

Enter the expiry date when stock arrives, not later; the expiry list is only as good as what you type in.
Start with your fast-moving items, like lipsticks, kajal and face wash, and add the rest over a few weeks.
Keep product descriptions plain, such as 'matte lipstick, 4 g'; don't write skin or hair results in the customer screen.
Barcode scanning works in the installed Android app, not in the web preview, so test it on the shop phone.
Ask for Hindi labels if your counter staff prefer them.

What it costs

Describing your app and seeing AppCub’s plan for it is free.
A new app usually takes 60 to 110 credits. Start with the 2-day trial for ₹99 (150 credits, enough for one app and a few changes) or the one-time App Pack for ₹499. Starter is ₹1,599 a month for 700 credits.
Google Play needs a paid plan (it includes the Play Store bundle and your app’s signing key) and your own Google Play developer account, a one-time US$25 fee to Google.
Work that fails or is rolled back costs no credits.

See all plans

Good to know

AppCub doesn't connect to your billing machine, label printer or accounting software, and stock is not updated by your billing counter; staff update it in the app. It doesn't send offers to customers by itself.
AppCub builds Android apps. You can also share the app as a web link that opens on any phone; for the iPhone App Store, AppCub’s team can do it for you.

Questions

Can the app warn me before cosmetics expire?

Yes. Enter the expiry date when stock comes in and the app lists what expires in the next 30, 60 or 90 days.

Can I scan product barcodes with the app?

Yes, with the phone camera in the installed Android app, to find a product in your own list. It reads the code; product details come from what you entered.

How do I handle one lipstick in many shades?

Ask AppCub for shades under each product, each with its own stock count, so the product list stays short.

Can my regular customers order from the app?

Yes. They pick products and shades and send the list to your WhatsApp. For them to see your current products and prices, connect your Supabase database.

Can the app track gift hamper orders?

Yes. Ask for hampers with their items and price, and orders with a pickup date and a ready message on WhatsApp.

Will the app update stock when I bill at the counter machine?

No, AppCub doesn't connect to billing machines. Staff mark sales in the app, or you can make the app your counter bill as well.

Make your cosmetics shop app

Seeing the plan is free. Building starts with a 2-day trial for ₹99.

Start building