Online marketplace for second-hand furniture that incorporates location and social identity.
Target Audience: Everyone looking to buy or sell second-hand furniture (consumers and local businesses).
Website URL: www.furnishly.com
Feedback sought:
- First impressions on the homepage
- Ease of understanding the value to platform provides
- The registration process
- The process of listing a new item
- The search capabilities within the site
About Furnishly:
Furnishly is a local online marketplace to buy and sell second-hand furniture. Listings can come from consumers and local businesses. Listing an item on Furnishly is free, and the ability to connect with an interested buyer comes at no charge. Furnishly hopes to integrate value-add services to the second-hand furniture buying process to make an inefficient transaction much more seamless. By creating an environment exclusive to sale of furniture, Furnishly will enable an experience that optimally serves the transaction requirements.
First impressions on the homepage
The homepage looks a little sad not too much to see, the homepage should be more active looking to attract people while at the same time keeping it simple.
Ease of understanding the value to platform provides
The idea of buying and selling furniture in specific areas is easy to understand and how it makes the sales process easier for the individual.
The registration process
Short simple registration process is very nice. People dislike when you have to list every single detail about yourself just to register.
The process of listing a new item
The register an item button is very easy to spot and makes it fast to list your items.
The search capabilities within the site
I liked the option of the forward and back arrows, but when I chose to look at a different city the loading of the map slowed down my internet speed a good deal.
First impressions on the homepage:
While I like the clean look of the layout on the first page, there is some wasted space on the left and right sides
of the screen. It also would be nice if the homepage had a bit more information about the site. If one is not paying
enough attention they may not exactly understand that anyone can buy and/or sell second hand furniture. The about us section, which is brief and to the point, should be featured on the homepage instead of being a separate page on the site.
If some positive reviews of the site from both buyers and sellers were featured on the homepage this would assure both buyers and sellers know that the site is a good way to buy/sell second hand furniture and encourage them to use the site.
The scroll sections should also be divided into categories instead of being a mixture of rooms and/or types of furniture.
For example one row could just be bedroom furniture so that one can just scroll through that row if they want
bedroom furniture. You could also set up the rows by types of furniture such as tables, lighting, etc.
Ease of understanding the value the platform provides:
While it was not difficult to determine the value the platform provided, there should be more information on the home
page on the purpose of the site just so that one can quickly understand that anyone can buy/sell from the site. It would also be nice if there was a FAQ section for buyers and sellers to get answers to what would be common
questions (thereby saving you time from having to respond to the same question again and again).Some such questions would be what if any cost is there to use the site to buy/sell, what are the way one can resolve
disputes that occur, how one can leave feedback, and so forth.
The registration process:
The ability to quickly connect through Facebook is a great option and is quick and simple. The normal registration process was also very simple and quick. There should be more information required during the registration process
It would be a good idea to get more than just an email address for a seller and a phone number should be required in case there are any problems with the listing or any disputes and the seller is not responding to emails. The address should also be required during the registration. This could be used to automatically populate the address when one is listing an item and shorten that process for sellers. I noticed after registering that one
can then go to their account and add a screen name, profile, and avatar. I think this should also be included as an option during the registration processes instead of having to go in seperately and add it later. Some individuals might not even realize they can do this with their account.
The process of listing a new item:
It was very simple to list an item but the steps could be shortened. The category should not be its own separate page and just as easily could be an option in the first page of the listing. The option to pick more
than one category should be an option for the seller. For example if one was selling a lamp one could chose the categories bedroom, living room, or office. It fits all three categories and should belong in all three. It would also be beneficial to have major furniture groups as option in category such as lighting, dining room tables, beds, etc.
The listing process could just be shortened to just two pages. If the address was required during registration, this could automatically be populated in the address of the list and will save the seller some time. You could then have all the listing information be completed on the first page and the second page of the listing could just be the preview and the submission.
The search capabilities within the site:
The sorting of the furniture into rooms is a great idea and is very helpful for those individuals looking to furnish a specific room. There are however some issues with the keyword search. When I entered end tables into the search field the results included dining room tables which is not what I was searching for.
It would also be helpful for there to be additional categories for the major types of furniture one would be looking for. Â Some examples of these categories are: Lamps/Lighting, Dressers,
Dining Room Tables, Chairs, etc. This would be a quick way for one to find what they are looking for. Â
The Google map is a great feature for one to quickly find what is available close to their home/office.
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First impressions on the homepage
My first impression of the homepage is that I don’t see enough pictures of furniture. In my opinion if it is mandatory that members selling furniture post pictures then people would want to keep coming back to the site.
The registration process
I like that the registration process is short. It would be great if members had the option to list if they are looking for furniture, just posting furniture or both options and have it displayed on every profile. I think that would make it easier to sort through the members.
The process of listing a new item
The process of listing an item was pretty simple and answered all of the questions that a potential buyer would ask.
The search capabilities within the site
My only complaint about the search capabilities was the lack of furniture in all of the locations I looked up but once Furnishly becomes more popular there will be a lot more search results.