Peer-eX

The Peer Ex platform required the design and development of an intuitive, user-friendly marketplace for students in the UK. The marketplace focused on facilitating the exchange of university books while incorporating features for buyer-seller interactions, secure payments, and user profile customization. Davydov Consulting developed a site using Wix Studio that fulfilled all these requirements and integrated additional functionalities to enhance user experience.

Key Features
Website Design & Development:
Responsive Design: The website design was implemented based on the provided mockups, ensuring responsiveness across all devices (desktop, tablet, mobile).
User-Friendly Interface: Focused on UX/UI best practices to make browsing, searching, and interacting with the site intuitive.
eCommerce Store & Marketplace:
Product Listings: Created categories like Books, Electronics, Sports, Furniture, and Homeware for sellers to list products, including images, descriptions, and reviews.
Secure Payment Gateway: Integrated Stripe Connect to handle secure transactions, distributing percentages of each sale between the seller, the site owner, and donations. The CMS enabled site administrators to adjust these percentages easily. Payments supported Visa, Mastercard, and Amex, redirecting to Stripe Checkout.
Bank Detail Form for Sellers: Sellers could submit their bank details for payment using a form with UK standard fields.
User-to-User Chat System:
Real-Time Chat: The platform supported real-time chat between buyers and sellers using Wix’s real-time library. Pre-programmed prompts were available to streamline communication, limiting direct personal contact before transactions.
Geo-Location Features: Integrated Google Maps API to display the user’s city and university as a meeting location, helping users coordinate in-person exchanges. Distance calculations were provided to further assist users.
Unique User Profiles:
Profile Customization: Each user could set up a unique profile featuring profile photos, purchase history, and saved chat logs. The system supported the upload of pre-designed user icons, with client-provided icons like animals or objects.
Privacy-First Approach: Usernames replaced real names on the platform, ensuring privacy in communication. Email addresses were hidden until transactions were completed.
Review and Feedback System:
Thumbs-Up Ratings: Product listings displayed a ‘thumbs up’ icon alongside a number indicating how many users showed interest in a product.
Post-Transaction Interaction: Buyers and sellers could continue chatting after the payment, but personal contact (email/phone) was only allowed post-transaction.

Challenges and Solutions
Complex Payment Structure: The project required a payment structure where a percentage of the total sale would go to the seller, a percentage to the site owner, and another portion to charity. We overcame this by using Stripe Connect, which handled the distribution of funds seamlessly, allowing flexibility for percentage changes via the CMS.
Profile Photos & Icons: The client had specific requests for profile pictures, such as combining animals and objects. Our team developed a system to pre-assemble these images, eliminating the need for real-time photo manipulation on the site, ensuring proper alignment and visual consistency across all user profiles.
Transaction Confirmation: Initially, the platform was designed to confirm transactions via a unique code provided by the buyer to the seller. After UX analysis, we proposed an additional button confirmation or photo upload feature, enhancing user convenience while maintaining transactional security.
Search and Filter Capabilities: Implemented a tile layout for product listings with a search and filter system, allowing users to easily browse and find specific university books or other items without getting overwhelmed by unnecessary options.
Privacy Considerations: In keeping with the client’s privacy requirements, we ensured that all sensitive personal details (emails, phone numbers) were hidden until the transaction was completed, while pre-programmed chat prompts limited direct address exchange.

Additional Features
Customizable Admin CMS: Administrators were given control over uploading location photos and database pictures, managing the marketplace categories, and adjusting donation and fee percentages dynamically from the CMS.
Postcode Checker API: Though outside the initial scope, we developed a Postcode Checker API to suggest nearby meeting locations based on pre-populated recommended places.
T&Cs and Privacy Policy: The footer included essential links such as Contact Details, Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and an About Us page.

Outcomes
The project was completed successfully within the 5-week timeframe. All features were implemented as planned, including responsive design, an eCommerce platform, a secure and adjustable payment system, a real-time chat function, and custom user profiles.
The client was extremely satisfied with the final product, which not only met but exceeded expectations in terms of both functionality and user experience. The Peer Ex platform now provides a seamless user experience for university students in the UK, offering a marketplace for book exchanges and more.