Mini Store
An e-commerce solution built for small businesses.
Problem Space
Covid-19 had a huge impact on the Canadian economy and in particular, small businesses. We realized our small local businesses were getting hit the hardest. While big box stores were sold out of certain items, some of the smaller local businesses would have stock but consumers didn’t even realize these businesses served the community. We started putting together a directory of local businesses to help locals, shop local. We wanted to pair customers with items they needed and help drive traffic to local businesses at the same time.
Mini Store started as a directory of local businesses
www.heartlocal.ca was a website we created at the beginning of the pandemic to serve as a directory of local businesses for locals. To make the website long lasting, it has since transformed into a feature style website, like getting recommendations from a local friend. However, this was the starting point for Mini Store.
Why Mini Store?
Small businesses were getting left behind. In a world that was quickly transitioning to more e-commerce, these small businesses were struggling to get online.
Speaking with businesses, their frustrations were organizing orders they were receiving from several different mediums and having to do things manually with already low staff.
For customers, the process of finding availability and purchasing took time. They had to call in, or email and wait for a response. In a growing world, of e-commerce and 1-day delivery with Amazon Prime, we wanted to make it just as easy for small businesses.
What Were People Saying?
Despite already existing e-commerce platforms, not everyone was adopting them. We asked ourselves why.
“It’s a pretty big learning curve and not super intuitive. I had to learn it by trial and error, reading articles, and calling support.”
“It’s too expensive and overkill for my needs. I don’t really want to be a full out e-commerce provider.”
“I don’t want to pay additional fees on top of what I’m already paying for payment processing. Switching would be too painful.”
“I only sell local, so I don’t need the whole logistics integration.”
“I already have a merchant account, specialized POS, and accounting integration.”
Could we create a simple platform that allowed small businesses to get online fast and integrate within their current work processes?
E-commerce without the bells and whistles
Based on what we were hearing from merchants, we wanted to create a simple and lightweight e-commerce platform that would help merchants quickly get online and streamline orders they were receiving. Having an online storefront would also make it easier for customer to browse products and place their orders.
Merchants are able to quickly add and edit their product offering. When a new order is placed, merchants will be notified. They have the option to edit, cancel or fulfill the order as well as contact their customer. They can also see a history of their orders including orders that have been cancelled. They are given a unique URL that they can share or post to give customers easy access to their storefront.
Customers can easily browse and shop products online. Every step along the way, they will receive automated emails to keep them updated on their order process.
Testing and feedback
Currently, Mini Store is being tested with a small group of merchants.
Mini Store was developed by UGO and designed by Stefany Pantuso and myself.