A B2C product that enables anyone to build their own retail business just by sharing products they love
VideoShops is a pioneering company with ambitious goals. The product mission is to revolutionize the market by empowering everyone to effortlessly launch a profitable eCommerce business through our platform. We firmly believe in the mantra, 'If you can share it, you can sell it,' aiming to eliminate barriers and friction in the process.
I joined this startup in its early stages, before it hit the market. Although it was pre-launch, there was already significant design groundwork. My role involved creating missing user flows, addressing edge cases, improving existing flows, enhancing the overall look and feel, and establishing a scalable design system.
The platform was initially designed for web launch, with plans for a transition to a native app following the initial launch phase.
ROLE:
Product Strategy
Product Design
User Experience
Design System
Product Design
User Experience
Design System
TEAM:
2 Product Designers
Head of Design
12 Engineers
2 Marketers
Head of Design
12 Engineers
2 Marketers
VideoShops is a complex platform where the journeys of three user types—Creators, Brands, and Shoppers—are seamlessly woven together into a cohesive group of experiences.
The team had already identified user pain points before my arrival, providing me with a foundation to contribute to persona development later on. Persona development proved to be a crucial step in our design strategy. It helped us understand and empathize with our users on a deeper level.
Personas served as a guide for recruiting the right participants for user interviews and usability testing. Additionally, they helped us make more informed decisions in prioritizing features, as we could align them with clear user needs and goals.
findings
Navigating social commerce can be complex, but it doesn't have to be. We discovered that without a streamlined platform for creators, brands, and shoppers, the process of sharing, showcasing, and purchasing products was often fragmented.
We also recognized that creators wished for an easy way to curate and share products, brands needed a platform to effortlessly showcase their catalog, and shoppers desired a simplified way to explore and buy products from their favorite creators.
We also recognized that creators wished for an easy way to curate and share products, brands needed a platform to effortlessly showcase their catalog, and shoppers desired a simplified way to explore and buy products from their favorite creators.
🤔
So, we create a platform for creators to share, brands to showcase products, and shoppers to easily make purchases from their favorite creators.
So, we create a platform for creators to share, brands to showcase products, and shoppers to easily make purchases from their favorite creators.
After creating the personas, our next big step was writing user stories. I led this effort, working closely with the Head of Design and CTO. User stories are a pivotal component in product development as they helped us identify essential user flows, ensure alignment across user features, and understand requirements. This ultimately allowed us to deliver user-centric solutions.
The complexity of the product inspired me to create this unique format for outlining user stories. It helped streamline the previously chaotic process, enabling me to grasp the bigger picture and devise solutions tailored to the various user types involved.
SOLUTIONS:
Creators have ownership of their marketplace, with the ability to purchase products at a significant discount, share them with others
Creators aim to establish their own marketplace without financial barriers or brand approval requirements. They desire a platform where they can genuinely showcase and sell their favorite products. In response, we've introduced a universal merchant engine. This engine enables any creator or owner to curate a personalized, video-enabled marketplace. Through VideoShops, they can share their collection with shoppers and provide premium discounts on purchases, and earn commissions on sales.
Creators have access to a comprehensive dashboard containing various business metrics, including sales, orders, revenue, and customer information.
One of the user problems addressed was creators lacking access to critical data about their fans or customers, such as conversions, sales made through third-party platforms, and revenue. We address this by creating a centralized dashboard where all information is readily available in one place.
Similarly, we offer a centralized dashboard solution for brands, providing them with all the necessary information in one convenient location.
Any brand can seamlessly connect their eCommerce catalog into VideoShops Brand Directory
One of the challenges addressed for brands was the time-consuming process of connecting their Shopify (and other) catalogs, which deterred them from investing significant effort.
Shoppers can directly purchase products from creators without involving third-party retailers, and enjoy attractive discounts in the process.
EXPECTATIONS
The KPIs we aim for
Monthly active Creators marketplaces:
- 500 at launch through the same influencer campaigns
- Additional 15-20% growth rate monthly through network effects. This is incentivized through brand commissions on sales (very competitive at up to 45%)
Monthly active Brands marketplaces:
- 10 at launch - through network and connections
- 10-15% growth rate monthly through marketing pushes, sales outreach
Monthly active Shoppers:
- 10,000 at launch - influencer push through VideoShops founders’ network of influencers such as Eva Longoria, etc
- 5% growth rate - we would continue promoting through influencers and run marketing campaigns with up to $1m in budget
Further opportunities:
- Implementation of a search engine for brands to discover potential creators for collaboration.
- Utilization of creators' video reviews by brands, with added functionality for trimming.
