ShopXchange
Safe, local used item exchange, facilitated through existing retail stores, with no communication between traders.
CLIENT
ShopXchange & SquareSix Technologies
SERVICES
UX Research, UX & UI Design
INDUSTRIES
Used Item Resale
The clients presented an idea which had briefly been hashed-out in a discovery workshop. We were brought in to spearhead research, find a product-market fit, further develop the idea, implement tasteful revenue models and design the UX and UI.
Background
At Creative Studio, we believe that every project is unique and requires a personalized approach. That's why we take the time to understand our clients' goals and objectives before creating a customized plan to achieve them. Whether it's a logo design, website development, or a complete branding overhaul, we work closely with our clients throughout the entire process to ensure that their vision is brought to life.
Revenue Streams
Commission on sales going to business and “Xchange Site”
Ad revenue (Added later)
Customers
Occasional traders of used items who feel unsafe meeting strangers to negotiate and exchange items. Typically waste-conscious and would prefer not to donate items so they can make some money back from them.
Side hustlers, focused on making a few dollars on the side of their regular occupation. Often “flip” furniture and other used household items they find online, at thrift stores or garage sales.
(Less so:) Professional used item resellers who frequent online marketplaces like eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Mercari in search of bargain collectibles and niche items to resell on their platform of choice. Values high-quality listing details and specifications. Has had some bad experiences trading and is always looking for safer options that are fair to the seller.
Key Partners
Xchange Sites: Local small businesses who are willing to facilitate trades within their storefront for a percentage of the sale, foot traffic, and an opportunity to advertise their business on the platform.
Stripe Payment Processing
Empathizing
We gained some valuable insights through the course of research with traders: what traders expected to see when analyzing a deal; how far they were willing to travel and how long they expected to wait to drop off or pick up an item; when and how they expected to pay or be paid. There were, however, some challenges we uncovered that would need to be solved for launch.
Growing competition for non-meetup used item sales
Some users were already accustomed to using no-contact methods for trading used items online, with shipping options available through Facebook marketplace and another option which was even more convenient: Mercari, which facilitates local pickup and delivery via rideshare couriers. With established brands already making waves in the market, we needed to find a compelling unique selling point for our product.
A focus on anonymity and a lack of negotiation
Sellers save time and stress by not having to communicate with buyers
Traders retain their anonymity by using a username and not needing to meet the buyer themselves
Large Item Sales through select “Xchange Sites”
An affordable, convenient, zero-interaction option for local used furniture and appliances
Users were unsure about ZERO communication
We found that some users were uneasy with the idea of zero communication with traders on the other side of a deal. They saw the merit in it as many had experienced harassment, “flakiness” and inevitable haggling regardless of the listing price. They just couldn’t shake the need to receive requests for information when selling an item and felt that they may lose sales due to missing details. Some also felt a need to speak with a buyer to determine their trustworthiness.
Suggest an Edit
We landed on the idea to allow buyers to anonymously “suggest an edit” for item listings using an open text field, set to disallow phone numbers and email addresses. Sellers would be notified of the suggested edit and have an opportunity to change their listing.
User Stats & Reviews
We implemented a “description quality” review system whereby users can simply give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down for the quality of a seller’s item description and imagery. Additionally, we showed how many times a seller had failed to drop off an item.
Low revenue projections at launch
The revenue stream wasn’t going to be significant enough to support ongoing development of the product in the short term, and the MVP budget was wearing thin. We needed to pivot to implement an additional revenue stream that wouldn’t impact user experience.
We decided to integrate Google Ad Manager into the app - we changed from allowing Xchange Sites to have free ads in perpetuity through the platform, to linking out to run ads through Google Ad Manager as a direct sale. This also enabled us to expand our reach and allow a broad range of advertisers to make the most of our audience via Google’s ad Network and Ad Marketplace solutions.
No Time or Budget for Item Cataloguing
Another problem arose in the course of the project - the revenue stream wasn’t going to be significant enough to support ongoing development of the product in the short term, and the MVP budget was wearing thin. We needed to pivot to implement an additional revenue stream that wouldn’t impact user experience.
A focus on anonymity and a lack of negotiation
We decided to implement a tagging system on top of categories and sub-categories which we had aggregated from competitors. We will watch popular tags over time and develop our specification attributes as needed.
Gallery
Castro Capital is a company that seeks to be a trusted partner for its clients in the real estate world.
Feedback is key
By staying close to the development team during the design process and throughout development, we were able to pivot to make adjustments and compromises that would be more efficient in the development of the project. Working this closely forged a great deal of trust between design and development.
ShopXchange is set to launch October 2023 in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith Metro area. We’re excited to hear more feedback from customers and add new features as needs arise.
We're dedicated to delivering exceptional results
