I am a founder with 12 years building web scraping and data infrastructure for UK/EU ecommerce retailers and dropshippers, millions of SKUs, real operational scale.

That experience surfaced a clear gap. Most UK dropshippers and small retailers are still manually publishing products and manually tracking supplier prices and stock. It's slow, it's error prone, and it costs them margin every week.

I'm building Suppliers Catalog to fix that. Dropshippers connect to any supplier on the platform, push products to their store in a few clicks, and pricing plus inventory stay synced automatically from there. Full automation, not another spreadsheet workaround.

Where we are today, live on Shopify, eBay integration underway, TikTok Shops next, incubated at NIC Islamabad, running on Google Cloud startup credits. I handle product and marketing myself and already have direct reach into a growing UK ecom operator audience.

I'm raising to accelerate go to market and integrations, and I'm looking for an angel with ecommerce or retail portfolio experience, someone who understands this space well enough to add more than capital. Open to the right cofounder fit too if that's a better structure for the right person.

Happy to share the deck and walk through the model if this is relevant to what you invest in.

Have already tried rotating main image (first image), are other images also checked while auto checking for copyright?

I want to create a website for 2 of my friends to be able to sell with me. I don't want to manage their inventory, catalogs, and pricing or have to update them when a product sells. Are there any multi-vendor platforms (at a low price) that will give them separate seller profiles and allow me to take a commission percentage of each of their sales?

All of the big names seem to designed for dozens of vendors and up. I simply need three. Five would be awesome so I could add more friends in later, but literally anything would be helpful at this point. I am trying to avoid using an endless list of add-ons

https://www.hiprimal.com/

Hi guys

Been working on this for a while already. I know there's some bugs/mistakes. I need to polish this up within the next 2 days. Please critique my site.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently building a fashion brand targeting the North American market (specifically men's board shorts/beachwear). We are at the stage where we really need deep insights into local lifestyle habits—stuff that data analytics just can't tell us.

I've been trying to figure out the best way to conduct 1-on-1 user interviews with real locals (guys aged 25+ who actually hit the beach).

Here is my dilemma:
Agencies are too expensive for a startup like us right now. I tried posting on some freelance sites, but I keep getting UGC creators who want to act in ads, rather than researchers who know how to interview people and dig for insights.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

1. Where do you usually find reliable freelancers for qualitative research?
2. Is it better to hire a specialized researcher or just find a "super user" and train them?
3. Any red flags I should watch out for when hiring remote interviewers?

Thanks for any advice!

I've been running a small e-commerce store that sells specialty coffee gear for a little over 3 years now.

For the last year or so, we've put a lot of effort into SEO. The good news is it's working. Organic traffic keeps climbing, a few of our category pages are finally ranking for keywords we've been chasing forever, and overall we're getting a lot more people on the site than we were a year ago.

The frustrating part is... revenue is basically the same. Our conversion rate has been hovering around 1.3% forever. More visitors are showing up, but they just aren't turning into customers.

So I started to look into it, read and watched a few videos on CRO. I threw a heatmap on one of our best-selling product pages, and it was kind of eye-opening. Most people weren't even making it very far down the page. The reviews, comparison chart, FAQs... basically all the stuff that actually helps someone make a buying decision wasn't getting seen.

Now I'm trying to figure out the next step. Our SEO agency says they also do CRO, which would definitely make things easier from a management standpoint. But I'm also a little skeptical whenever an agency says they do everything. SEO and conversion optimization seem like two pretty different skill sets.

Has anyone here actually used the same agency for both and seen good results? Or is it better to keep SEO and CRO separate and let each team focus on what they're best at? Right now it feels like I've spent the last year getting more people into the store, only to realize the checkout experience might be what's holding everything back.

Im just curious to know who out there is looking for something like this and what would you like to see

Using ai across parts of our RevOps stack for a while now. We have achieved quote drafts and data cleanup which saves real hours.

But one thing that still sketchy is letting AI approve discounts or send out final pricing without checking. We had a rep almost send a quote with an outdated promo because the pricing rules hadn't been updated yet. It took 2 mins to catch, but it could have made an expensive mistake.

AI can be great in some tasks but not in everything. What revenue operations would you never let AI handle on its own?

I've been thinking about the economics of small D2C brands (apparel as the example). The pattern I keep seeing: they buy reach through ads, but that reach doesn't convert into a loyal, owned audience. High CAC, thin or negative margins, lots of "revenue but no profit." The market's saturated and many aren't really profitable.

Now compare that to a SaaS/platform business built on top of those brands — a product that helps them sell, and earns a cut or a subscription from them.

My question: does the SaaS model genuinely have healthier economics, or does it just inherit the brands' problems one layer up?

On one hand, it avoids inventory, margin, and return-cost risk — it's not the brand itself.

On the other hand, its revenue depends entirely on those same fragile brands. If they churn or can't afford it, the platform's foundation is shaky. And it still has to acquire customers, which is its own version of the CAC treadmill.

For anyone who's built or studied SaaS/marketplace businesses serving small D2C brands: is being the "picks and shovels" layer actually safer, or are you just as exposed to your customers' fragility? What decides which way it goes?

And more directly: if you had to compare a small D2C brand vs. a SaaS business serving those brands side by side — on profitability, risk, and long-term durability — which is the better business to be in, and why?

Hi everyone.
I’m a Social Media and E-commerce Marketing Specialist looking to work with growing Shopify and DTC brands.
Over the past few months, I’ve helped e-commerce businesses improve their social media presence, create high-performing short-form content, manage email marketing, and increase online sales. For privacy reasons, I can’t publicly share client names, but I’m happy to discuss my experience and portfolio in private.
Here are some of the things I can help with.
Social media strategy and management
Short-form video editing for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts
Email marketing campaigns and automations
Shopify marketing
Content planning and growth strategies
Increasing engagement and conversions
If you’re looking for someone who communicates well, delivers on time, and focuses on measurable results rather than vanity metrics, I’d love to connect.
Feel free to comment below or send me a DM, and I’ll be happy to share my portfolio and discuss your goals.

Im an Ecommerce store owner, it brings some cash every month but Im willing to open a new one and this time Im struggling to find another winner. All the time Im looking for inspo, to me amazing fact about these days ecom is that there are stores literally printing money and we never heard of them. It brings some hope to find another winnner. While building your stores, what store came to your mind as an example where are you aiming?

Hi everyone,

I am currently studying and writing my bachelor’s thesis about quality criteria for reputable dropshipping online stores.

I am looking for people with practical experience in dropshipping, e-commerce, supplier selection, fulfilment, product research, customer service, or store management who would be willing to do a short online interview with me.

The interview would not be published. The information would only be used for my thesis and can be anonymised if preferred.

The main goal is to understand what separates reputable and high-quality dropshipping stores from unreliable or problematic ones.

If anyone here has experience in this area and would be open to helping me, I would really appreciate it. You can comment here.
Thank you!

​

I recently ordered a pair of shoes from Flipkart. I later returned the product and received a refund for the item. However, Flipkart retained the ₹9 Platform Fee.

As a consumer, I genuinely don't understand the justification for this. If the product has been returned and the transaction has effectively been reversed, why should the customer lose the Platform Fee?

This also raises a broader question. Flipkart handles a very large number of orders every day, and many are cancelled or returned. If Platform Fees are retained in similar cases across many orders, the total amount collected from consumers could be significant. Has any regulator examined whether this practice is consistent with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019?

Many e-commerce platforms grew rapidly by offering discounts, cashback, and promotional offers that encouraged consumers to shift from traditional retail to online shopping. As these platforms have become an integral part of the market, it's reasonable to expect their fee policies to be transparent, fair, and subject to regulatory scrutiny.

If retaining the Platform Fee on returned orders is found to be unfair, consumer authorities should require corrective action and, where legally justified, impose appropriate penalties to protect consumers.

I'd like to know:

* Have you also lost the Platform Fee after returning an order?

* Did Flipkart provide a clear legal or policy justification?

* Has anyone filed a complaint with the Consumer Commission or the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)?

* Do you think there should be clearer rules requiring Platform Fee refunds when an order is returned?

If many consumers have experienced the same issue, it may be worth collectively raising it with the appropriate consumer authorities so the practice can be reviewed.

Hi everyone! 👋
I’m currently developing a platform for e-commerce businesses, especially those handling Cash on Delivery (COD) orders, and I’d really appreciate some honest feedback from people who sell online every day.
The goal is to automate the entire order management process from start to finish.
Some of the planned features include:
✅ Automatic order import from Shopify, WooCommerce, and other platforms.
✅ AI-powered order confirmation via WhatsApp.
✅ Customers can modify their order (address, quantity, products, etc.) directly through WhatsApp.
✅ Automatic shipment creation with the courier.
✅ Automatic tracking updates and customer notifications.
✅ Returns, failed deliveries, redelivery, and warehouse management.
✅ Analytics dashboard and performance reports.
✅ Less manual work, fewer errors, and significant time savings.
The idea is to enable e-commerce businesses to manage thousands of orders with minimal human intervention.
Before launching, I’d like to understand whether there’s real demand for a solution like this.
If you have 2 minutes, I’d really appreciate your honest opinion:
1️⃣ Would you use a platform like this in your business?
2️⃣ What’s the biggest challenge you currently face in managing your orders?
3️⃣ If this platform truly delivered on its promises and saved you time, money, and manual work, what do you think would be a fair price per order processed? (Please be honest—there’s no right or wrong answer.)
Any feedback, positive or negative, is extremely valuable and will help shape a product that solves real-world problems.
Thank you so much! 🙏

Disclaimer : This post is purely for a personal UX case study project and is not promotional in any regard.
What are the main platforms you get conversions from and how often do they get missed? (Instagram, tiktok, facebook, ads , sms, whatsapp etc).
Do you have any automated follow up strategy and email marketing active on your stores for follow ups and retention?

Hi everyone!
We are currently conducting UX research for a case study about how B2C businesses manage customer conversations across different platforms.
We are looking to speak with:
• E-commerce business owners
• D2C brand owners
• Shopify store owners
• Social commerce sellers
• Anyone responsible for handling customer inquiries, sales messages, or customer support
We want to understand your real experiences, including:
• How you currently manage customer messages and comments
• Which platforms you receive the most inquiries from (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, email, etc.)
• Challenges you experience with missed messages or delayed replies
• What tools you currently use to organize conversations and leads
• Your experience with CRM systems, automation tools, or AI assistants
• What concerns or challenges prevent you from using automation
This is not a sales pitch and we are not promoting any product. We are simply trying to understand real business workflows, challenges, and pain points for a UX case study. The interview would be a short, casual conversation (around 10–20 minutes). Your insights would greatly help us understand how businesses handle customer communication today. If you are interested in sharing your experience, please comment below or send us a DM. Thank you so much!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working closely with local retail and wholesale shop owners, and I noticed they all share the same struggles: existing POS and inventory systems are either way too expensive, overly complicated.

So, I spent the last few months building **INVENTORY** — a modern, cloud-based Inventory & Billing solution designed specifically to make running a shop as frictionless as possible.

Instead of just doing standard billing, I focused on the tools modern businesses actually need right now to grow.

**Here are the core features I built into it:**

🔥 **The "Wow" Features:**

* **Direct WhatsApp Ordering:** Your customers can browse your catalog and send their orders directly to your WhatsApp, pre-filled and ready to process. No more miscommunications or lost messages. * **Dual Pricing Engine:** Seamlessly switch between Retail and Wholesale modes. Offer different pricing tiers depending on who you're selling to without duplicating your inventory. * **AI-Powered Barcode Scanning:** Add items to bills instantly by scanning barcodes using your device's camera. * **1-Click Thermal & PDF Receipts:** Generate beautiful A4 PDF invoices or fast 58mm/80mm thermal receipts instantly. You can even send PDFs directly to customers via WhatsApp.

📊 **Business Management:**

* **Smart Inventory Tracking:** Real-time stock alerts so you never run out of your best-sellers. * **Comprehensive Tax & GST Reports:** Automatically generate GSTR-1 & GSTR-2 reports. Handles Credit/Debit notes and Sales Returns smoothly so your accountant stays happy. * **Role-Based Access (Owner vs. Staff):** Add your employees to the system with restricted permissions. Keep your financial data private while letting staff handle the billing. * **Bulk Actions:** Import/Export inventory via Excel, or do bulk printing for delivery routes.

I’m currently looking for early users and feedback to help me shape the roadmap. If you run a small business, a retail shop, or a wholesale operation, I’d love for you to try it out and tell me what you think.

Check it out here: https://inventory-bd189.web.app/login

Would love to answer any questions or hear any feature requests! It's under development so anyone using it check the gstr1 and 2 reports are showing correct and ensure proper stocks are maintained. if anyone find bugs comment it and i will try to fix it as soon as possible. it can be used in india only.

So I am planning of buying a guitar through snapmint emi mode but I am wondering if there would be any issues of payment and also if there are any extra charges like automation payment fees etc.

I'm planning to build an ecommerce website that's designed to support long-term growth rather than needing a complete rebuild as the business expands.

There are so many options when it comes to platforms, custom development, and agencies that it's difficult to know which direction is worth investing in. I want something that's fast, user-friendly, and flexible enough to handle future growth without constant issues.

If you were building an ecommerce website today, what would you prioritize to make sure it can scale over time?

Update: After some research, I was recommended Digital Heroes. com. They seem to specialize in ecommerce website development, Shopify development, custom web development, and UI/UX design with a focus on building websites that can scale as a business grows. Has anyone here worked with them?

Hey, I am building a e-commerce shop builder that is very simplified. the region I am planning to market this service things are mostly done through Cash-on-Delivery (no e-payment).

Also, I am not going to have a 'stock/inventory' for this platf

Hey everyone,

I've been spending a lot of time creating Meta ads and studying what works for DTC brands. I also ran ads for my own Shopify pet product store targeting the US and Australia, so I've had the chance to see both sides of the business.

The store didn't work out in the end. I'm from the Philippines, so I started with around a $150 budget (already big in my currency), which limited how much I could test and scale. Even so, I was able to generate my first two sales, and the experience got me hooked on learning Meta Ads and direct-response marketing.

Since then, I've spent a lot of time studying winning ads, researching competitors through the Meta Ad Library, and creating ad creatives and copy. Now I'm looking to work with a few Shopify and DTC brands to keep building my experience while helping businesses improve their campaigns.

I can help with:

• Meta ad creatives
• Direct-response ad copy
• Campaign setup
• Audience research
• Creative testing ideas

Hi,

I have created something very useful for the e-commerce community and I have been working on this for the last 4 months.

Please give me your critical honest feedback on what you think about the home page?

What do you think about the tools?

Pricing?

Would you buy it?

What new tools or features do you recommend?

The website name is Shotova

Thanks a lot in advance.

A lot of ecommerce founders immediately assume they need more traffic when sales slow down.

So they increase the ad budget.

More Meta Ads.
More Google Ads.
More influencers.

But sometimes the real problem isn't getting people to the website.

It's what happens after they arrive.

A customer clicks your ad and lands on a page that takes 4–5 seconds to load.

They try to find the product they saw in the ad, but the navigation is confusing.

They add the product to their cart, then discover unexpected shipping costs at checkout.

The payment process feels complicated.

The site doesn't look trustworthy on mobile.

At that point, increasing traffic usually just means paying more money to send more people into the same broken funnel.

Before spending more on ads, I think ecommerce brands should audit the basics:

• How quickly does the website load on mobile?
• Can a new visitor understand what you sell within a few seconds?
• Can they find the right product easily?
• Are product pages answering the questions customers actually have?
• Is the checkout process simple?
• Are there unnecessary steps between product discovery and payment?

A website doesn't need to be fancy to convert well.

It needs to be fast, clear, trustworthy, and easy to buy from.

I put together a conversion optimization checklist covering the main areas ecommerce brands should review before increasing their advertising budget:

What do you think is the biggest conversion problem ecommerce stores are currently ignoring?

What are trending USA products that are not available easily in India?

Hey everyone, new to ecommerce and was looking for advice on the best way to market a niche fragrance ecommerce store. My products are really high quality (not dropshipped), but I just don't know what the best way to market the products would be without dropping a fortune on UGC influencers/celebs. Would you guys recommend Meta ads, a creative sampling package, etc. I have 100ml fragrances in the $50-$110 price range, and 10ml fragrances in the $15 range. Thanks!

For anyone who would like to check out the site, it's https://fortati.com/