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How did the project start?
The concept for Goofbay was originally conceived in the Spring of 2006. Although many moments of great inspiration occur though a fantastic twist of fate, or through life changing incidents, the truly innovative concept for Goofbay was devised by a Visualsoft developer in the shower one Monday morning…
The concept behind Goofbay is fairly simple; though it would not be possible without Ebay. As the world’s most popular shopping destination, Ebay.com boasts over 100 million worldwide members with over 3 million product listings on the site at any one time.
With so many items listed, there are inevitably mis spelt, or incorrectly listed items (Goofs is our preferred term). If items are listed poorly, they are often difficult to find, rarely viewed and therefore potential bargains for Ebay buyers. Goofbay introduced a search of mis spelt items, allowing a wealth of bargain hunting opportunities to be realised. Through integrating with the Ebay API, Goofbay receives commission on sales generated.
Goofbay quickly established itself through word of mouth on the internet. What had begun as a simple idea developed into a fully automated business, steadily building its revenue stream with each passing month.
However, in doing so, the technology, built for a small test audience was becoming increasing inadequate in coping with the demands of growing activity.
What options did you consider?
At Visualsoft, innovative in house projects are encouraged to build a creative and forward thinking working environment. We felt that greater success was achievable through Goofbay and investing time into research and development to realise this full potential was critical. To achieve these goals, complete redevelopment of the Goofbay site was essential and the only course of action available.
What help and expertise did you receive?
Goofbay was truly original and therefore, it was not possible to consult with those outside of Visualsoft on the redevelopment. Though in unchartered territory, we continued to redevelop the website utilizing the same strategies implemented with our own clients. Everything, from the aesthetics, through to the underlying technology was researched and planned in detail. We took the time to understand our audience, their requirements and their movements through the existing website, as well as understanding the future opportunities and potential problems we would encounter through continued growth.
We borrowed heavily from our knowledge in eCommerce for redeveloping Goofbay, understanding what prompts interaction with a website and implementing a wealth of new options and calls to action. Essentially all of the Visualsoft team could offer expertise in specific subject areas within Goofbay.
Did you face and challenges or learn any lessons?
The key challenges were in developing new and innovative features which would add value to the Goofbay website. This proved to be one of our biggest challenges causing the web equivalent of ‘writers block’ for a number of weeks.
Encouraging Visualsoft employees to take longer morning showers produced few new innovative ideas, though the office emitted a new pleasant aroma.
Eventually, a new feature was developed as a result of a member of staff’s frustration at losing Ebay auctions with only seconds remaining. The solution was to develop a ‘sniper tool’ which would enable Goofbay users to enter bids to Ebay with only a second remaining, thus preventing others from toppling the final bid.
Further tools added to Goofbay allowed users to learn more about Ebay sellers and selling trends. The remaining problem lay in allowing for the continued growth of the website. To resolve this problem, Visualsoft called upon Rackspace, London to provide the best possible scalable hosting solution.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
Re launch of Goofbay has seen continued month on month growth in users. The success of the sniper tool in particular has seen Goofbay develop into one of Ebay’s largest affiliates in the UK. Key successes include:
Continued traffic increase from 3000 to 8000 users per day throughout 2008.
A members list approaching 250,000 with zero marketing spend to date.
A six fixture annual revenue (and growing steadily) with little/ no outgoing costs.
Used by HMRC to build evidence of Ebay shop owner turnover.
Goofbay continues to feature widely in the media, with features on GMTV and Martin’s Money Tips. A number of new businesses have been established in the UK with buying through Goofbay and relisting items through Ebay proving a highly profitable venture.
Most importantly, increased revenue through Goofbay has enabled Visualsoft to become self sufficient as a company. Therefore, greater investment can be allocated to research and development of web technologies which further benefit our clients in all industry sectors. It allows Visualsoft to excel in its services and also provides staff with a wealth of firsthand experience in growing an innovative idea into a successful online venture; something invaluable in working with future clients.
What are your plans for the future?
Goofbay continues to grow naturally; the result of a simple to use website which satisfies a need.
2009 will see the company continue to embrace new technology through the launch of the Goofbay iPhone application. This will enable users to utilise all of the key website features from their iPhone; allowing Goofs to be discovered anytime, anyplace.
A sister site to Goofbay in the form of Scrimpy.co.uk has been launched, which aims to further utilise API. Scrimpy will continue the money saving trend ('Scrimp and Save'), providing a powerful internet search and comparison of online sales/ reductions. The site put live in January '09 borrows heavily from Goofbay technology and expectations are high for Scrimpy to eventually match the success of Goofbay.
Goofbay will continue grow, with new applications being offered to its userbase. If Goofbay continues current growth trends, turnover will again double by the end of 2009. All profits will continue to be reinvested in Visualsoft, building the service offering to our clients and further building competitive edge.
