True Cost

Simplifying the eCommerce backend management experience

Designers

Christian Bistany

Zeek Nwizu

Caroline Hall

Marwa Saad (Me)

Duration

3 week Sprint

Tools

Figma

Zoom

Milanote

Pen and Paper

Research Methods

Client Facing Research

Market Research

Comparative and Competitive Analysis

Usability Tests

Introducing True Cost

True Cost is a web app that allows eCommerce sellers to track their (hidden and unhidden) platform fees, shipping costs, and revenue in order to maximize profit margins and increase the efficiency of their business.

Research Questions

How can we streamline the backend processes of eCommerce selling through design?

How can we account for existing painpoints of eCommerce platforms?

Client Facing Research

Erica Harris sells African fabrics and accessories on Amazon, Etsy and Shopify.

We recorded painpoints such as 'hidden fees' across different platforms, how to price items respective to each platform, and expensive minute shipping fees.

Market Research

I researched the user experience of eCommerce sellers by conducting a literature review of existing research, market segmentation research and contextual inquiry to gain additional information on pain points and which tools might have met their needs.

Competitive and Comparative Research

In terms of shipping cost breakdown, we found competitors such as ShipHero, Shipstation, and EasyShip. For inventory and material management we found sites such as Sellberry and Sell Bright.

We examined Quickbooks and Certify aswell, as although the services these tools offered were somewhat different than what we were working towards, they were still tools eCommerce sellers often use. This offered us a glimpse into the spreadsheet display and backlog management patterns our customers are familiar with and may be comfortable using.

When it came to platform fees breakdowns, we found that this is something users generally have to do themselves. Some fees were easy to find, but there were hidden fees that we needed to go deep into the flow of the eComm selling platforms to uncover.

Commonalities Competitive Platforms Share:

• Intuitive and detailed onboarding to enhance a personalized experience
• Import and sync options for mutiple carriers and sellers
• Dashboards that were content heavy and rich in data visuals 
• Provided extensive business metrics and insights, such as revenue, item popularity, carrier fees, improvement stats, etc.

User Insights

We interviewed 8 eComm sellers to collect additional feedback

"I want to be able to organize my costs"

"I am most interested in seeing how I can save money"

"I need a way to view and understand the platforms I use"

"I need a way to see how my shipping habits affect my business"

Persona Development

Sarah is a fairly new business owner and is wanting to expand her business over multiple platforms, however, she is having some difficulty figuring out how much it costs to sell and ship on one platform versus another. She's tried creating her own excel sheets and formulas, but it isn't really helping. She is facing a lot of anxiety regarding the profitability of her new business, so she's looking for a tool or service that can show her an accurate cost breakdown across multiple platforms.

Alex is a local business owner of an in-person/online art streetwear shop. He strives to ensure that his products arrive on time while maintaining reasonable shipping costs. He calculates his weekly expenses for package handling via a spreadsheet, but ever since his shop began booming, he began to struggle in calculating his shipping costs. He has begun to pay money out of pocket to keep up with shipping demand.

Problem Statement

Users need a way to track platform fees, shipping costs, and revenue in order to maximize profit margins and increase efficiency of their business.

How can we account for user needs?

   Visual    Analytics

Shipping Management

Inventory Management

Platform Management

Early Sketches

Now that we identified user needs, as well as brainstormed solutions/features that would potentially aid our users, we took to sketching our solutions.

Lo-Fidelity Wireframing

Once we narrowed down our solutions and workflows, we created lo-fi wires.

Usability Testing and Iteration

We conducted a total of 17 usability tests over 3 rounds of testing. Our initial round was on our lo-fi wires, our second round was on mid-fi wires, and our third round was on our hi-fi wires. We iterated after each round of testing.

True Cost After Iteration

Landing Page + Onboarding

When users visit the True Cost website, they are provided with information regarding what True Cost is, how it works, pricing options, testimonials and sign up CTAs.

Once users sign up for True Cost, they begin the onboarding process where they can select their business needs, import their inventory from an existing spreadsheet and/or connecting their platform/carrier accounts to recieve accurate data analytics regarding their business.  

Analytics Dashboard + Customer Support

The dashboard allows users to view their revenue across platforms, shipping stats and trending items through visuals that are easily digestable. 

Throughout testing, many users highlighted that they would appreciate a mini version of the shipping calculator (which is in the shipping tab) on the main dashboard, as it's a feature they particularly enjoyed. As a result, we added it into the main dashboard and tested further. We recieved highly positive feedback. 

In addition, something we found common across competitors and users highlighted as well was customer support.

Shipping Rates + Shipping Calculator

Users want the ability to see the domestic and international weekly shipping rates per connected carrier, as well as calculate exact carrier shipping costs including the added cost of packaging materials for exact products.

Inventory

Users can view their item inventory and their packaging materials inventory. During testing, we noticed that although there is an array of information that users need to input and keep track of, they do not need all that information apparent at the same time, So, as to not overwhelm the users with an array of tabs, we included 5 main rows that users can customize based on their current need. Throughout testing, we noticed high satisfaction rates across users.

Platforms

Users can view expenses, revenue, and trending items per connected platform though data visuals. This flow is still a work in progress and is to be tested further.

Compare Platform/ Shipping Carrier Costs Per Item

Different platforms and carriers have different fees (both hidden and unhidden). Each platform generally has different fees, and within each one, the costs can additionally vary by item, dimensions etc. Users would like to know what these fees are, so they can price their products accordingly.

The compare costs flow allows users to input their item details, which platforms they would like to sell on and then continue to see the fees at a glance or broken down further. The fee breakdown table itself is still a work in progress and is to be further tested.

Next Steps

• There a few screens that need further testing, such as the fee breakdown tables and the platform overview screen
• Erica will be interviewing developing firms shortly to begin building True Cost
  
• She might be contacting us again as she develops the web-app for help

Client Testimonials

"Hi all, 

I am overjoyed and impressed with the work that you all have done. Thank you for being thoughtful, listening to my painpoints and designing a solution. Y'all are amazing!"

- Erica Harris

"Hi Marwa, 

Thank you so much for the amazing work you have done. I really appreciate you."

- Erica Harris