Jackalope Mobile App – A Unified Mobile Experience for a Global Action Sports Community

Introduction

Jackalope is a lifestyle and events brand by Tribu Expérientiel known for its high-energy festivals and culture-driven content. With a passionate global following, Jackalope wanted a mobile app that would keep fans engaged year-round, drive memberships, and unify news, video, shopping, and ticketing in one seamless experience.

Phico partnered with Jackalope to design and build a production-ready mobile app that blends media, community, commerce, and tiered access, all within a scalable architecture optimized for future growth.

The Challenge

Jackalope had a passionate community and rich content, but no dedicated mobile presence. Fans were engaging with newsletters, social feeds, and web pages, but the experience was fractured. The client asked for:

• A unified app experience spanning news, video, shop, and events
• A flexible yet powerful membership system with tiered benefits
• Native commerce and checkout that felt smooth and secure
• An interface that matched the brand's premium, energetic identity

This had to be done while keeping the first MVP launch focused, performant, and achievable in a reasonable timeframe.

The Solution

Phico delivered a cross-platform iOS and Android application built with React Native and Expo, integrating content feeds, native shop and checkout, events and ticketing, tiered member benefits, and notifications with global accessibility.

Shopify was used as the primary backend and CMS, powering commerce, articles, events, and user entitlements. Where customization was required (such as push notifications and membership logic) a custom API built with AdonisJS on Google Cloud Run was introduced.

This hybrid approach allowed the team to focus on user experience and engagement while leveraging the stability and ecosystem of Shopify.

What We Built

Onboarding and Account
Users can sign in via email and link to their Shopify identity. Once inside, they see their membership tier and associated benefits.

Account screen showcasing membership tier and benefits

Feed
A single place for Jackalope-branded content including news, blog posts, merch drop announcements, and member-only articles with rich media embeds (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, etc.).

Newsfeed with rich media and segmented content for public and member audiences

Shop
Fully native merchandise storefront powered by Shopify with a seamless checkout experience using the React Native Shopify Checkout SDK. Member discounts and exclusives are applied automatically.

Native Shopify storefront with real-time pricing and member discounts

Events & Experiences
Users browse up-to-date festival schedules, experiences, and can purchase tickets directly inside the app.

Events overview with festival details and ticket access

Watch
A video hub with both public and membership-exclusive content. Video embeds use YouTube currently for fast performance and easy updates.

Video content section with public and premium clips

Tiered Membership
Jackalope offers multiple membership levels. Phico implemented custom logic to enable premium content access, discounts on merch and ticket purchases, and personalized perks.

Membership overview showing tier benefits and access levels

Technical Highlights

The platform is built on modern mobile infrastructure and designed for performance and scalability:

• React Native with Expo and Expo Router for cross-platform iOS and Android
• AdonisJS API hosted on Google Cloud Run for custom logic
• Shopify as primary backend for commerce, CMS, and user management
• React Native Shopify Checkout SDK for native payments
• Apple IAP and Google IAP for in-app membership purchases
• Custom push notification service for member engagement
• Google Analytics and Shopify tracking for user insights

Using Shopify as the backbone allowed Jackalope to manage content, shop, and events from a single central platform. Where Shopify's capabilities needed extension, custom APIs filled the gap with efficient, maintainable logic.

Design & Polish

The UI was built in close alignment with Jackalope's brand guidelines. One notable inclusion was the Liquid Glass effect, added to elevate the experience and give the interface a premium, tactile feel without distracting from content.

Consistent visual language and motion throughout the app makes navigation feel fluid and intentional. Special attention was given to performance optimization so the app remains responsive even with heavy media content.

Current Status and Outlook

The app is currently in closed alpha, with ongoing testing and incremental tweaks to layout and stability. A future feature planned is the Golden Ticket voting system, a mechanism tied to Jackalope's international skateboarding talent discovery initiative.

For Phico, this project demonstrates how content-driven brands can create deeply engaging mobile experiences that unify commerce, media, and community without compromising on performance or brand identity.

If you are looking to build a mobile app that brings together content, commerce, and community in a seamless package, this project shows what is possible when strategy, design, and engineering come together.