Validate your problems, startup ideas to create products which people want

Shopify alternative #eCommerce #website

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 15:51:00 +0000

The story is same as with Patreon ( /problems/390 ) and Gumroad ( /problems/399 ) with Shopify, The small businesses are at mercy of obscure policies and lackluster support often leading to payment delays and account blocking.

Famous TV critic Matt Zoller Seitz had recently shared his ordeal with Shopify where it froze his bookstore account while continuing to take payments from his customers.

There are numerous other stories from those who have faced similar issues with Shopify. It's clear that there's large need-gap in the space of eCommerce websites in-spite of numerous alternatives.

3 points posted by Abishek Muthian

Doubts about fit when shopping online #clothing #eCommerce

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 12:15:00 +0000

When I shop online it's so hard to make a choice! Not only I can't understand what would be the right size (when I'm shopping for a brand for the first time), but also I don't understand how the particular garment will look on me. On the other hand, I find shopping online so much more convenient than in stores.

3 points posted by Ekaterina Ulianova

Small business's dependency on eCommerce giants #eCommerce #SelfReliance

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 05:10:00 +0000

Small businesses sell their product on large eCommerce websites for their discovery and ease of use but are subject to their monopolistic behavior and loose out when the algorithms of the giants decide that their product is not good enough for their profit margin.

The solution for this has been for the businesses to have their eCommerce platform and there have been plenty of hosted or self-hosted tools to enable that.

Yet vast majority of small business are yet to venture into having their own eCommerce platform for various reasons such as,

Awareness: Many just don't know that they can have their own eCommerce platform where they have better control over their sales.
Discovery: They feel their product wouldn't be discovered on their own platform and they could be right. So discovery for products from small business needs to be addressed.
Setup & Maintenance: Although the barriers to setup eCommerce platforms have come down drastically, It's still not accessible to someone who's not technically inclined. So they are forced to spend money on companies which would do it for them and often lock them to sub-par proprietary software and expensive life-long maintenance fees.

3 points posted by Abishek Muthian

Online marketplace for hardware-tools in India #eCommerce #hardware

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:44:00 +0000

There aren't any large scale McMaster-Carr type online supplier for hardware, tools or raw materials in India. With eBay gone, there seems to be an absolute vacuum in this space.

Large businesses can bulk-order hardware tools and materials directly from the source but makers, tinkerers and small businesses are dependent upon importing through overseas eCommerce sites which are often plagued with shipping issues and exaggerated costs.

eCommerce businesses selling electronics components and compute hardware catering to makers and tinkers in India seem to be doing very well, In fact Raspberry Pi foundation sells its product in India on day one through several suppliers like in developed markets and so there's no reason for why an online hardware marketplace catering to the same people shouldn't work out.

Now that Chinese eCommerce websites are also banned in India, It seems like a perfect opportunity to address the need-gap in online hardware marketplace

3 points posted by Abishek Muthian

Selling hardware products as a solopreneur #sales #ecommerce

Wed, 30 Jun 2021 14:16:00 +0000

I want to sell hardware products internationally, But as a solopreneur meeting compliance for hardware locally and internationally is a nightmare and hence I settle for building SaaS products like most other indie hackers.

There are hardware product marketplaces like Tindie which help solopreneurs get their customers, But the seller has to still maintain the inventory and ship directly to the buyer. Today hosting a eCommerce website as an individual is not the limiting factor even for those who don't know to code, So the real need gap exists in removing the compliance and shipping hurdles.

With tough competition in SaaS industry, Building hardware products is a great way to differentiate our product line-up. With the rising number of solopreneurs I think it's high time this need gap gets addressed.

I have couple of ideas to address this which I'll share in the comments and would like to hear more from you.

3 points posted by Abishek Muthian

Personal advice for online shopping #shopping #eCommerce

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 19:28:00 +0000

Online shopping is great but often I miss the advice by a professional sales worker, especially on higher priced / more complex products.

Think anything electronics (smartphone, laptops, etc.) for example - before I buy something these days, I have to go through rigorous research before making any decision. Used to be easier where you would go into 2-3 stores and talked to the local sales rep.

Especially true for non technical people like me. In the end, I find myself reading some benchmark tests I have no idea what they mean.

That being said, you do get some advice at some online retailers but obviously only for products they have in store.

They don't compare it to other items and even if you have settled on one item, the price comparison only begins...

1 points posted by crispin

YouTube like public chat for ecommerce websites #chat #eCommerce

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 13:21:00 +0000

I like how public chats on YouTube, Twitch can be used to discuss about the content with several others. When I buy something online, I wonder why there is no public chat facility on these websites and only person I could chat with about the product is the store employee or a bot.

When I buy something online, I search for reviews, competitive products and possibly lower price elsewhere; it would be nice if there was a public chat on Amazon or other ecommerce sites where I can discuss with other buyers directly instead of unreliable and often fake reviews on the ecommerce websites. 4 points posted by Natasha Taylor

No brand products #marketing #ecommerce

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 05:13:00 +0000

Brands have made developing cult following as the way to do business. This creates lot of negativity as I constantly see consumers fighting each other for their favorite brand over Internet forums, Private businesses shouldn't be able to command this much hold on their customers.

I think one way to address this would be the consumer choice to let go of the brands completely and buy high quality nondescript items without any brands. When I search for such no-brand products I see couple of websites pop up, many of them for just T-shirts with one difference being https://brandless.com/ which seems to be offering products from different categories.

I feel there's a need for more brandless type eCommerce websites, especially since the manufacturer can pass on the savings from brand development, marketing to the end consumers. Would you assert your consumer choice to buy products without any branding to reduce the hold private business have over you? If you are a manufacturer would you sell your product without branding through such eCommerce website?

3 points posted by Rakesh

Disinfecting amazon packages #hygiene #ecommerce

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 14:40:00 +0000

Everyone is ordering from Amazon or other ecommerce sites to stock up and prepare for the next lockdown. But when I see the packages on my door step, I'm worried whether they have COVID-19 virus on it and I'm sure there are many others who feel the same way.

I'm spending an awful lot of time disinfecting the Amazon delivery packages, before taking it inside the house. Some days, I have to repeat this 4-5 time; each time I get a package delivered. Disinfecting the package isn't an easy task as well, I have to gear up each time, ensure that the disinfectant doesn't get inside the package and dispose the protective gear carefully.

I wish there was an easy and safe way to disinfect the packages received from ecommerce sites or any other postal delivery. How are you all solving this problem? 3 points posted by Nancy Ilias

Alert me when slots in BigBasket is open #India #ecommerce

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 04:57:00 +0000

Online grocery delivery sites such as BigBasket to Grofers are operating at 60-70% capacity due to manpower shortage and supply constraints from COVID-19 lockdown. But the demand for online grocery delivery has sky rocketed for obvious reasons.

BigBasket has a slot system, which opens up at random for booking and so I have to keep checking the app for open slots and I'm rarely successful. This activity is very depressing, I have spent several sleepless nights on this already.

I wish, someone could build a solution to alert the users when the slots in BigBasket is available for booking. I'm not sure why BigBasket itself hasn't provided such a feature.

I'm sure this problem is being faced by thousands in India and so a solution for this would be much welcomed.

3 points posted by Ellakiya Raju

Identifying fake reviews in Amazon, other sites #ecommerce #reviews

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:22:00 +0000

Almost every review for accessories of a newly launched product I see on Amazon India is a fake review e.g. Smartphone case, Tempered glass etc. I see that reviewers have left similar, positive reviews with 5 stars rating for several other products.

I'm sure this is not just limited to Amazon India, as I could find other news detailing the ways the sellers employ common people to give fake reviews in the promise of free goodies. So, this practice must be common among several sellers across different ecommerce sites.

I would want a service which can differentiate fake reviews and genuine reviews seamlessly in the ecommerce sites.

3 points posted by Asra Banu

Amazon for high quality products #ecommerce #quality

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:10:00 +0000

Amazon is flooded with fake, cheaply built, low quality products. I spend lot my of my time sorting out good products from poor quality products.

How about an Amazon for just high quality products? A eCommerce platforms where the products and sellers are thoroughly vetted for quality, other aspects valuable to the customers (e.g. Environment, Ethics etc.), So the customers need not base their buying decisions just on customer reviews which are often fake themselves.

2 points posted by Ricardo

Amazon for local retail #retail #ecommerce

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 06:52:00 +0000

I'm imagining a platform for local retailers where customers can search for products in a similar way they do on Amazon and see where those products are available in their neighborhood.

They can then reserve or pay directly and pick them up later or get them delivered to whereever they want.

I know some retailers offer to check store availibility on their website but this quickly turns into a comparison across mulitple websites and then you still have only some of the potential results.

2 points posted by crispin

discovery platform for small businesses #eCommerce #discovery

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 16:24:00 +0000

I am thinking this in the context of d2c e-commerce. in the present situation, if you start a brand today, most of the discovery takes place on social media (primarily fb/insta) or marketplaces (primarily amazon). post covid, as bigger players are entering online space, the once democratic nature of internet which helped small businesses to thrive is not so anymore. due to monopolistic nature of these platforms, businesses with bigger capital is winning (not the ones with the best products). 1 points posted by curiouspm

Find made in India products on ecommerce sites #India #ecommerce

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:54:00 +0000

I would like to support Indian manufacturers and small industries in India. So, I deliberately buy India manufactured products on ecommerce sites like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm Mall etc.

But finding India manufactured products on ecommerce sites in India is not a straightforward affair, I need to dig around the manufacturer to find the country of origin. Luckily, the government ordered these ecommerce sites to display the 'Country of Origin' for all items. Which they are slowly complying to, but now I have to search for Country of Origin : India in the product description of every item I'm interested in manually as these ecommerce sites do not display it at a prominent location.

I would like to find an easier way to find products with Country of Origin : India on these ecommerce sites and I have seen several others expressing similar views.

1 points posted by Rahman