Inspiration
Shopping is often a social activity, and people value the opinions and recommendations of their friends and family. CollabVerse brings the social aspect to online shopping by providing a platform where users can engage and collaborate with their trusted circle in real-time. It enhances the experience by allowing users to shop together virtually, share thoughts, and receive feedback, mimicking the offline shopping experience. Making purchasing decisions can be overwhelming, especially with the vast array of products available online. CollabVerse simplifies this process by enabling users to seek opinions, advice, and recommendations from their chat room members. Collective decision-making helps users make more informed choices and reduces buyer's remorse. CollabVerse's mission is to make online shopping seamless and fun through real-time group connections
What it does
Product Browsing: CollabVerse provides a user-friendly interface for browsing through various products, similar to an ecommerce website. Users can search for specific items, filter results based on preferences, and view detailed product descriptions, prices, and images.
Chat Room Collaboration: The app incorporates a chat room functionality that enables users to invite their friends and family members to join a dedicated chat room within the platform. This feature facilitates real-time communication and collaboration while shopping.
Product Discussions: Within the chat room, users can discuss products, share opinions, and seek advice from others. This allows for collaborative decision-making and helps users gather insights from their trusted circle before making a purchase.
Product Sharing: Users can easily share product details directly to the chat room from the CollabVerse platform. This feature enables seamless sharing of interesting products with others, initiating conversations and gathering feedback.
Like System: Users can express their preferences by liking or disliking products attached in the chat. This feature helps the person who shared the product gauge the interest level among others. Additionally, users can leave comments to provide further insights or ask questions about specific items.
Shared Shopping Cart: CollabVerse allows users to share their current shopping carts with the chat room. This feature lets users showcase the items they are considering buying and seek opinions from others regarding their potential purchase.
Invitation System: Users can invite others to join the chat room by sharing a unique chat room code through email within the CollabVerse platform. This makes it easy to expand the collaborative shopping experience to include more friends and family members.
Enhanced Discovery of Relevant Products: CollabVerse's recommendation system leverages the collective preferences of chat room members to suggest products that align with their interests. This feature enhances the discovery process by introducing users to items they might not have come across otherwise. It promotes serendipitous findings and expands users' horizons, exposing them to a broader range of products they might genuinely like.
Streamlining Decision-Making: With the help of tailored recommendations, users can navigate through the vast selection of products more efficiently. By presenting them with options that are likely to resonate with their tastes, CollabVerse minimizes decision fatigue and helps users narrow down their choices. This streamlining of decision-making saves time and provides a more satisfying shopping experience.
How we built it
We used Catalog API of Square to create catalog, fetch details of item and add those items to chat. Socket.io was used to create the collaborative chat. Backend was developed using Node.js, Express.js. Database used MongoDB. Frontend using EJS templating engine, CSS, javascript.
Challenges we ran into
It was a challenge to maintain the chats between page refreshes and page loads. It was also a major feature to fetch data from Square catalog API to add product cards in chats.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
CollabVerse is a Reinvention and perhaps, unification of in-person and online experiences It has a huge potential of bringing a positive change. CollabVerse bridges the gap between online and offline social interactions. It strengthens relationships by providing a dedicated space for friends and family to engage and share experiences. The app encourages meaningful conversations, strengthens social bonds, and cultivates a sense of community, even when physically separated. This aspect contributes to overall well-being and happiness. CollabVerse can be justified as the best reinvention and unification of in-person and online experiences for several reasons:
Real-Time Collaboration: CollabVerse brings the collaborative and social aspects of in-person shopping experiences to the online realm. It allows users to engage in real-time conversations, discussions, and decision-making with their friends and family, mimicking the spontaneous interactions that occur during in-person shopping trips. This real-time collaboration bridges the gap between physical and digital experiences, creating a sense of togetherness and shared exploration.
Trusted Circle of Influence: In traditional in-person shopping experiences, people often seek advice and opinions from their trusted circle before making a purchase. CollabVerse leverages this concept by enabling users to invite their friends and family members to a dedicated chat room within the platform. This trusted circle becomes a valuable source of recommendations and guidance, replicating the familiar dynamic of seeking opinions from loved ones.
What's next for CollabVerse
- We plan to launch it as an add on Square marketplace
- Add more features like transferring loyalty points, and joining old sessions.
- Suggest AI based recommendation products to the user.
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