PROJECT BACKGROUND
Afroshop is an e-commerce platform connecting users to a wide variety of African stores, offering easy online shopping and direct doorstep delivery. With its initial Minimum Viable Product (MVP) set to launch in Fall 2022, Afroshop will provide customers with a user-friendly interface to browse and purchase products, while enabling store owners to manage their stores through admin capabilities. The next release, Afroshop 1.1, focuses on enhancing the platform’s functionality and user experience, especially for store owners and the Afroshop management team.
THE CHALLENGE
Afroshop needed to enhance its MVP by adding several new features to support the platform's growth, particularly the administrative functionalities for store owners and Afroshop's super admin. Key challenges included:
Managing Multiple Store Locations: Store owners with several locations required the ability to manage inventories and orders specific to each site.
No Database: Africa shop owners manage their stocks manually. No database, no documentation.
Monitoring Earnings: Store admins lacked a comprehensive dashboard for monitoring sales, returns, and net earnings.
Super Admin Control: Afroshop's management team required enhanced oversight and control to monitor all stores, as well as override capabilities to ensure compliance with platform policies.
EXPECTATION
The client's goals were clear: Afroshop 1.1 should introduce key features to improve the user and admin experience, particularly in managing multiple store locations, tracking earnings, and giving the Afroshop management team better control of platform operations. Success would be measured by the effective implementation of these features, along with increased efficiency for store owners and improved governance for Afroshop.
MY APPROACH
To meet these goals, I applied a systematic approach focusing on:
Multi-Location Management System:
Developed a feature set enabling store admins to add and manage multiple locations.
Allowed each store location to independently manage inventory, pricing, and order processing.
Earnings Dashboard:
Designed a dashboard providing real-time data on earnings, with filters by product, location, and date.
Incorporated user-friendly visuals and data analytics to help store admins track performance easily.
Super Admin Dashboard with Override Functionality:
Developed a comprehensive super admin dashboard allowing Afroshop’s management to monitor sales, user activity, and store compliance.
Implemented an override functionality that enabled Afroshop's team to intervene in store operations for quality control, policy enforcement, and customer support.
Agile Methodology:
Worked closely with the Afroshop development team, UX/UI designer, and QA testers, leveraging Agile practices to ensure timely delivery of each feature.
Continuous feedback loops were integrated into the project, enabling quick iterations and improvements.
My design/mock-ups
RESULTS
The successful implementation of Afroshop 1.1 delivered the following outcomes:
Multi-Location Management:
Store owners were able to manage multiple store locations efficiently, improving their ability to handle stock and orders on a location-specific basis.Real-Time Earnings Monitoring:
The earnings dashboard became a powerful tool for store owners, offering them detailed insights into their sales, returns, and overall financial performance.Super Admin Control:
The Afroshop management team gained complete visibility and control over all stores, with the ability to override store operations where necessary. This feature improved governance, enhanced platform security, and streamlined customer support.Enhanced User Experience:
The added functionality improved the platform’s usability for both store owners and Afroshop’s management, driving user satisfaction and engagement.
The final Solution
RESULT