Affinity Wall - OLX Customer Experience
Introduction
What can be enhanced for OLX users in order to improve their customer journey experience? OLX is an online exchange platform for both buyers and sellers who are looking for either buying or selling products online, ranging from cars, furniture, electronics to jobs and services. Users used to face some serious problems previously with OLX concerning their safety however some of these problems were solved and the website now offers some useful information to help users in the Help Center section and customer service contact, it's also available for download from different mobile app stores.
Two Findings
The two high-level findings discussed here are: implementing safety measures that can more protect online users and how to improve users experience buying or selling products online.
1st
There were some problems concerning the safety of OLX users so some convenient solutions were provided such as displaying safety tips and introducing delivery service. However there are still some issues related to the pricing of products and services on OLX offered by different users, these need to be addressed in order to eliminate any possibility of encountering scams.
P01: “I know someone who didn’t want to use OLX because his/her friend got scammed, this was before adding delivery to OLX.”
P01: People are more likely to buy products from anyone they can trust.
P01: Safety tips displayed on the product’s page provide useful guides for OLX users to follow.
P01: Most users opt for the delivery of their purchases because it’s much safer for them.
P02: “When I use OLX to sell any product, I have often some worries concerning privacy. I don’t want to display my contact info to everyone.”
P01: "Users must verify their mobile number before sending a message or viewing the seller's phone number.
Recommendations: Payment processing functionality should be implemented online through OLX platform, so that all payments can be made online without the need for cash payments. Also, this way can ensure monitoring the payment process and even allow for immediate charging of reported accounts as a guarantee against possible scams.
2nd
OLX online platform encompasses a wide variety of products and services for buying and selling, and the main point here is how to improve users experience when buying or offering their products for selling. What do users do in order to make sure the information they find about any product or service is credible, and how can they verify information about any product or service?
P02: “One way to verify the product’s price is to check the purchasing receipt, but I think no one keep it after making any purchase.”
P02: It’s impossible for buyers to know the exact pricing without previous knowledge of the prices of similar products.
P01: Users can’t compare product’s price to similar products on the website to verify it
P02: "I usually compare similar products so I can finally find what I am looking for."
Recommendations: There a number of possible solutions for this case. First, submitted products can be reviewed by OLX platform before being published. The act of reviewing is very common on many well- known platforms, such as freelancing, that ensures providing high quality services for its users. Secondly, some other functionalities such as comparing multiple products can be useful for users as this tool helps buyers see differences clearly and make quick decisions. Also, personal reviews and testimonials can provide liable reference in such cases.
Conclusion
Ensuring safety and privacy is essential for retaining users and growing customer base. Relying on online technology has proven useful in many ways, because it provides more alternatives than traditional solutions plus it’s much easier to use. Adopting solutions used in well-known e commerce platforms can help solving many of the existing shortcomings, such as platform review, product comparison tools, testimonials, etc.
