Date: 04/2024 - Present
TL;DR
We wanted sellers to use our platform to print shipping labels. I researched about sellers' shipping process and proposed a product vision.
BACKGROUND
👩🏻⚖️ Who we are
• LiveAuctioneers is an online auction marketplace
• Our sellers are auction houses based in the US
• Our buyers are mostly art and antique collectors
• Our sellers are auction houses based in the US
• Our buyers are mostly art and antique collectors
🚚 Shipping: non-transparent and confusing
• Most auction houses can only provide a shipping quote when the items are sold*.
• Buyers don't know how much shipping costs before they bid.
• Buyers need to pay for the items and shipping separately after they win.
• This pain point has been stalling the bidding rate for a long time**.
• Buyers don't know how much shipping costs before they bid.
• Buyers need to pay for the items and shipping separately after they win.
• This pain point has been stalling the bidding rate for a long time**.
• Auction houses usually sell a wide range of unique items and have a fast turnaround. It's a lot of work to calculate the shipping for each item.
•• 62% of buyers say that not showing the shipping price would stop them from bidding. In a previous A/B test, we saw an 11% increase in the bidding rate when showing shipping quotes.
A seller's shipping policy
NEW PRODUCT
✨ Transparent fees and easy payments
• We work with a third-party API that can calculate shipping costs based on the item's dimensions.
• Buyers can see the shipping fee before placing a bid.
• Sellers don't need to calculate and charge shipping separately.
• Buyers can see the shipping fee before placing a bid.
• Sellers don't need to calculate and charge shipping separately.
RESEARCH
🎯 Mapping out sellers' experience
We know this product must fit into the sellers' shipping process and we need answers to the following key questions:
1. How do sellers calculate shipping fees?
2. How do sellers pack items?
3. What do sellers care about in the shipping process?
4. What are sellers' pain points in the shipping process?
2. How do sellers pack items?
3. What do sellers care about in the shipping process?
4. What are sellers' pain points in the shipping process?
I sent out two different types of surveys and conducted interviews with four sellers for nuanced details.
Survey on Sprig
In the interviews, I got to ask a lot of "WHY do you choose to do it this way" type of questions.
📝 Key takeaway: Sellers are very busy
Sellers have many tasks to complete at a fast pace:
• Pay attention to what has been sold and paid
• Print, collect, mark, pack, and ship
• Answer bidders' questions ASAP
• Pay attention to what has been sold and paid
• Print, collect, mark, pack, and ship
• Answer bidders' questions ASAP
💬 "I want to prepare the orders faster so my customers don't have to wait long." - Sellers usually promise a shipping time and receive many "where is my item" inquiries."
💬 "I need to quickly know which orders are paid so I can pack and ship immediately." - Many sellers have very streamlined processes. Once the order has been paid, they want to get it out as soon as possible so they can prepare for the next auction.
💬 "I don't care about making a profit from shipping as long as I don't lose money." - Many sellers said they set a few fixed rates for different types of items and don't have time to customize shipping for each order.
PRODUCT VISION
🔄 A simplified and streamlined process
We learned that our busy sellers don't need accurate shipping for each order. What sellers need is to ship out 200 orders with fewer clicks, easy navigation, and centralized information.
Current process and pain points:
• Jumping between multiple platforms
• Spent long time calculating costs and communicating
• Jumping between multiple platforms
• Spent long time calculating costs and communicating
New process:
• Do everything on LiveAuctioneers
• No cost calculations
• Buyers contact LiveAuctioneers for questions
• Do everything on LiveAuctioneers
• No cost calculations
• Buyers contact LiveAuctioneers for questions
✅ What should we build
One file that can be used throughout the shipping process - Sellers would print out documents at different stages of the flow. After learning their goals, I believe we can create one document that can be used for various tasks like collecting items, packing orders, confirming addresses, etc.
(Wireframe)
Easy-to-read payment and shipping status - Sellers' actions are closely related to the order status. If it's unpaid, they need to contact buyers for payment; if it's paid, they need to start packing.
Batch print shipping label for paid orders - Batch action is essential in a streamlined process.
(Wireframe)
❌ Backlogs or not needed:
Accurate shipping fee settings - Sellers don't need it and it requires a lot of information such as box inventory and category tiers.
Improve current email notifications for sellers. - Email content is not up-to-date and hard to print in batch.
Label editing function. - Not in MVP, but maybe in the next version. Most sellers say they need to modify a few orders in each auction.
🔁 Updates:
Jun 2024: Final design is in progress, backend work has started.