Current Product Limitations
This document outlines the known limitations of the marketplace template and highlights areas where the platform can evolve. It is intended for product leaders, CEOs, and CTOs to assess scalability gaps and plan enhancements.
1. Marketplace Experience
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| No rescheduling support | Guests must cancel and rebook to change dates | Allow in-place date changes with Seller approval |
| No messaging cutoff post-event | Users can message indefinitely | Add cutoff window (e.g. 7 days after event ends) |
| No two-way reviews | Only Guests can review Sellers | Enable Hosts to review Guests for trust + accountability |
| No review moderation | Reviews cannot be flagged or disputed | Introduce moderation queue for admin and reporting tools |
2. Search & Discovery
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| Static space type search | No relevance or partial match logic | Implement keyword tokenization and fuzzy search |
| No personalized recommendations | No behavioral logic for suggestions | Add “Recently viewed,” “Similar listings,” or AI suggestions |
| Location is static | Searches based on a fixed database | Integrate Google Maps or Mapbox for real-time autocomplete |
| No SEO structure | No city or category landing pages | Create SEO-rich URLs for search-indexable categories |
3. Messaging & Engagement
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| No notification system | Users aren’t alerted about changes in booking status or new messages | Add push notifications or WebSocket service |
| No email integration | Important actions not followed up via email | Integrate with Postmark, SendGrid, or Resend.io |
| Static Seller response time | Currently just a placeholder | Track time between Guest message and Seller reply |
4. Seller Tools
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| No calendar view | Sellers can’t visualize their upcoming bookings | Integrate a native calendar UI or sync external calendars |
| No multi-listing dashboard | No unified view across listings | Build Seller-level dashboard to aggregate metrics |
5. Payments & Refunds
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| No partial refund interface | All refunds are full or fixed % only | Add manual refund flow with item-level controls |
| No payout buffer logic | Payouts occur instantly after confirmation | Introduce payout delay (e.g. 72 hours post-event) |
| No split payments or commissions | All funds go to Seller directly | Allow platform cut, service fee, or affiliate share |
| Refund logic not tightly coupled to policy | Calculations may become inconsistent | Tie cancellation policies directly to item-level refund rules |
6. Platform Access & Authentication
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| Web only | No mobile app for long-term retention | Build native apps or deploy via wrappers like Expo |
| Google-only auth | No Apple or other social login options | Add Facebook, Apple, and email magic links |
7. Admin Controls
| Limitation | Why it matters | Suggested direction |
|---|---|---|
| No admin dashboard | No tooling for moderation or platform insights | Build admin panel for disputes, content control, payouts |
| No analytics or usage tracking | Platform lacks visibility into usage patterns | Add dashboards for traffic, bookings, conversion, churn |
This document will continue to evolve as new features are added.