ProductSearch: Optimising online local product inventory search and facilitating ecommerce purchasing for local businesses

亚马逊和eBay等在线平台的定价和垄断权意味着，在线消费者的支出正被引导到这些平台，这些平台从商家那里榨取了巨大的定价权。例如，30%的交易价格通常是亚马逊的手续费，而且亚马逊赞助的Word广告经常将成本推高到购买价格的100%以上，这意味着零售的65%的货架价格被亚马逊上销售的总成本所掩盖。像Shopify这样的网站能够创建DIY在线电子商务商店，但与商业街上定位良好的商店不同，获得客流量需要大量的广告和营销支出。考虑到优化算法，通常是支付最多的客户，最终排在榜首的是那些拥有最大在线足迹的客户，他们青睐那些拥有大公司等大预算的客户。随着更多的零售支出进入在线，小型零售商正越来越多地被挤出市场。在封锁期间，这些公司因突然失去客流而遭受的损失最大。然而，这些商店是社区生活的重要组成部分，还具有许多其他竞争优势，如本地农产品、便利性、即时商店提货、使用Deliveroo或其他送货方式在一小时内送货。然而，要利用这些好处，消费者必须能够搜索当地产品。Facebook Marketplace和Gumtree为所有类型商品的私人卖家提供了这一服务，但这并不专业，如果有人正在寻找一辆新的戴森，就像在AutoTrader上搜索一辆新车一样。我们已经在Zoopa上搜索房地产，带有最高价格或房间数量的过滤器。这些都是参数，但在在线寻找产品时缺少这些参数。产品搜索和零售商列出商品的能力(不是在亚马逊或eBay上，而是在他们自己的网站上，或者只是通过一个基本的在线库存页面进行购买)都不可用。这意味着在线消费者的支出流向了巨头，而戴森也储存在乔的硬件上，消费者的流量将流向亚马逊，除非乔的硬件有一个网站，并在营销广告和生成内容上花费了大量资金，使其能够在谷歌上走得更高。Joe‘s硬件的客户获取成本，以及它是一家小型零售商的事实，意味着它无法与亚马逊竞争。也就是说，除非ProductSearch支持搜索其库存中的可用性和筛选器。Joe‘s Hardware的Dyson可能略贵一些，但能够在当地购买意味着消费者可能会为一小时内的送货支付一点额外费用。“最后一英里送货”是最贵的，这是有原因的，亚马逊的快递员一直在努力想办法降低成本，并维持较小的当地枢纽。这些中心基本上是我们在商业街上的零售店，通过ProductSearch，我们将把在线收入从亚马逊等大型平台重新定向到当地商店网站和库存清单。

The pricing and monopoly power of online platforms such as Amazon and eBay means that online consumer spend is being directed to these platforms, which extract significant pricing power from merchants. For example, 30% of the transaction price are typically Amazon fees, and further Amazon sponsored word advertising frequently pushes costs above 100% of the purchase price, meaning that the 65% shelf-price of retail is eclipsed by the overall cost of selling on Amazon. Sites such as Shopify enable DIY online eCommerce stores to be created, but unlike a well positioned store on the high street, getting footfall requires significant advertising and marketing spend. Given the optimisation algorithms, typically the customers that pay the most, end up on top of the rankings, those with the biggest online footprint, favouring those with large budgets, such as large companies.Small retailers are increasingly being squeezed out of the market as more retail spend goes online. During lockdown, these were the companies that suffered most from the sudden lack of footfall. Yet, these shops provide a vital component of community life and also have many other competitive advantages, such as local produce, convenience, instant store pick up, delivery within the hour using Deliveroo or other delivery. However, to capitalise on these benefits, consumers have to be able to search for local products. Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree do this for private sellers of all types of wares, but this is not professional and if someone is looking for a new Dyson, just as searching for a new car on Autotrader. We have search for real estate on Zoopla, with filters for max price, or number of rooms. These are all parameters and these parameters are missing when looking for products online.Both product search and the ability for retailers to list their items, not on Amazon or eBay, but on their own websites or simply enable a purchase through a rudimentary online inventory page are not available. This means online consumer spend goes to the giants, whereas the Dyson is also stocked at Joe's Hardware, the consumer traffic will go to Amazon unless Joe's Hardware has a website and has spent significant amount on marketing ads, and generating content to enable it to go higher on Google. The customer acquisition cost for Joe's Hardware, and the fact that it is a small retailer, means it cannot compete with Amazon. That is, unless, ProductSearch enables the searching of its inventory for availability and with filters. The Dyson at Joe's Hardware may be more expensive marginally, but the ability to buy local means a consumer may pay a little extra for delivery within the hour. There is a reason the 'last mile delivery' is the most expensive and couriers to Amazon have been trying to work out how to reduce costs and maintain smaller local hubs. These hubs essentially are our retail stores on the high streets, and with ProductSearch, we'll re-direct online revenue from large platforms like Amazon to local shop websites and inventory listings.