LiveAuctioneers is an online auction marketplace. Auction houses typically sell a wide range of unique items, making it difficult to calculate shipping in advance. As a result, buyers don’t see shipping costs before bidding. In fact, 62% of buyers say that not seeing shipping costs would stop them from placing a bid.
We already have the technology to:
• Calculate shipping based on item dimensions, allowing quotes to be shown pre-sale
• Generate shipping labels that sellers can easily print
We know the feature will inevitably change sellers' work processes. We want to make sure sellers can use it as hassle-free as possible.
I talked to several sellers to learn about their workflows. The outcome surprised me.
• Sellers usually don’t pack items until they’re paid for
• Most items are not pre-packed
• Sellers follow a strict schedule and streamlined workflow
• Sellers don’t expect to profit from shipping—they just want to break even
• Fewer clicks, fewer files
• Faster order searching
• Quicker turnaround times
• Reduced buyer inquiries
Shipping quote is only a feature. Sellers will only stick to our service if it makes their shipping process better and easier.
We agreed to build an MVP that has just enough essentials to fit into the seller's workflow. We omitted the things sellers don't need based on the research, such as accurate shipping quotes or email notifications.
The MVP included the following features:
We saw +11% bidders, +16% visits, +27% bids per item, and +19% bids per bidder in sellers who participated in our MVP.
Based on the research, we know there are things we can to to help sellers achieve their goals:
The current dashboard is outdated and hard to read. And most importantly, almost impossible to build new things on top of it.
Current shipping dashboard
(Click to enlarge)
The MVP only allows sellers to print shipping labels one by one. But based on the research, we believe allowing sellers to print labels as soon as they're available will significantly improve efficiency.
We have learned that many sellers operate auctions across multiple marketplaces. We believe centralizing orders in one place would save them a lot of time and effort.
• Interview sellers to learn about their experience with this solution.
• Clean up prototype, and test it with sellers for feedback.