The Problem We Were Actually Solving
We were trying to sell tutorials, ebooks, and courses to users from over 150 countries. Our target market is primarily in Africa and Southeast Asia, where there is a growing demand for online education but often limited access to Western payment systems. The problem was not just that Gumroad and Payhip did not work in these countries, but also that the payment processors they relied on, like PayPal and Stripe, had their own restrictions and limitations. For example, PayPal only allows users to link a credit card if they are in a country where the card issuer is located, which severely limits the number of countries where this is possible.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
At first, we tried to use traditional platforms like Gumroad and Payhip to sell our digital goods. We thought that these platforms would take care of the payment processing and delivery of our products, so we could focus on the content and sales. However, we soon realized that these platforms were not designed to handle the complexities of global digital commerce. In particular, we encountered issues with currency conversion, local taxes, and payment processing fees. For example, Gumroad takes a 3.5% + 30cent fee on every sale, which adds up quickly when selling small digital products. We also had issues with user authentication and verification, which is crucial when selling sensitive information like password-protected ebooks.
The Architecture Decision
After trying traditional platforms, we decided to develop our own custom commerce solution using Unchained Commerce, a platform that allows us to create our own custom digital storefronts without relying on third-party payment processors. This decision required significant engineering effort, but it gave us the flexibility and control to design our own system from scratch. We chose a microservices architecture with separate services for payment processing, order management, and product delivery. This allowed us to handle each function independently and scale them separately as needed. We also implemented our own currency conversion and local tax handling, which significantly reduced our fees and improved our user experience.
What The Numbers Said After
After implementing our custom commerce solution, we saw a significant reduction in fees and an improvement in user experience. Our average sale price increased by 15% due to reduced fees, and our user satisfaction ratings increased by 20% due to improved authentication and verification. We were also able to expand our market to countries that were previously restricted by traditional platforms. For example, we now have a significant user base in Nigeria and South Africa, where Gumroad and Payhip do not work.
What I Would Do Differently
If I were to do it again, I would build our custom commerce solution from the start, rather than trying to use traditional platforms first. This would have saved us significant engineering effort and time. I would also invest more time and resources in testing and debugging our custom solution, as this was a major challenge for us. Finally, I would consider using a hybrid approach, where we use a third-party platform for low-value transactions and our custom solution for high-value transactions. This would give us the best of both worlds: the convenience of a third-party platform and the flexibility and control of a custom solution.
Top comments (0)