Bubble Group Case Studies NextbookIt: A P2P Book Selling Marketplace for College Students

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	NextbookIt: A P2P Book Selling Marketplace for College Students Bubble Group

NextbookIt: A P2P Book Selling Marketplace for College Students

Bubble Group

Technology Category	Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries	Cement
Applicable Functions	Procurement
Use Cases	Smart Campus
Services	Training
Challenge	NextbookIt, a peer-to-peer (P2P) book selling marketplace, was created with the aim of empowering college students to buy and sell books with their peers across the country. The platform was initially hand-coded, but the team faced numerous technical issues. The situation was further complicated when the programmer left the company, leaving CEO and Co-Founder Deric McCurry to seek a more efficient and scalable solution. McCurry, who did not have formal programming training, was initially hesitant about the limitations of no-code platforms, having had experience with WordPress. Read More
About Customer	NextbookIt is designed specifically for college students. To sign up, users must have an active .edu email account, ensuring that the platform remains exclusive to this demographic. The platform allows students to engage in a P2P marketplace where they can buy and sell books with students on their campus or at any college campus across the US. The focus on college students and the textbook buying and selling process sets NextbookIt apart from other marketplaces like Amazon or Facebook Marketplace. The company aims to be a go-to resource for college students, and plans to expand beyond just books in the future. Read More
Solution	McCurry discovered Bubble, a leader in the no-code movement, and decided to rebuild NextbookIt using this platform. Bubble's powerful point-and-click web editor and cloud hosting platform allowed McCurry to build a fully customizable web application for NextbookIt. The platform integrates user verification, payment processing, and shipping, making it an easy-to-use experience for students. Bubble's in-depth functionality surprised McCurry, enabling him to build, implement, or integrate anything he wanted. The platform also supports mobile-friendly solutions, which was a significant advantage for NextbookIt, given the mobile-centric habits of its target audience, college students. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Cement

Applicable Functions

Procurement

Use Cases

Smart Campus

Services

Training

Challenge

NextbookIt, a peer-to-peer (P2P) book selling marketplace, was created with the aim of empowering college students to buy and sell books with their peers across the country. The platform was initially hand-coded, but the team faced numerous technical issues. The situation was further complicated when the programmer left the company, leaving CEO and Co-Founder Deric McCurry to seek a more efficient and scalable solution. McCurry, who did not have formal programming training, was initially hesitant about the limitations of no-code platforms, having had experience with WordPress.

About Customer

NextbookIt is designed specifically for college students. To sign up, users must have an active .edu email account, ensuring that the platform remains exclusive to this demographic. The platform allows students to engage in a P2P marketplace where they can buy and sell books with students on their campus or at any college campus across the US. The focus on college students and the textbook buying and selling process sets NextbookIt apart from other marketplaces like Amazon or Facebook Marketplace. The company aims to be a go-to resource for college students, and plans to expand beyond just books in the future.

Solution

McCurry discovered Bubble, a leader in the no-code movement, and decided to rebuild NextbookIt using this platform. Bubble's powerful point-and-click web editor and cloud hosting platform allowed McCurry to build a fully customizable web application for NextbookIt. The platform integrates user verification, payment processing, and shipping, making it an easy-to-use experience for students. Bubble's in-depth functionality surprised McCurry, enabling him to build, implement, or integrate anything he wanted. The platform also supports mobile-friendly solutions, which was a significant advantage for NextbookIt, given the mobile-centric habits of its target audience, college students.

Impact #1	The transition to Bubble has been a significant milestone for NextbookIt. Despite McCurry's initial hesitation about the limitations of no-code platforms, Bubble has proven to be a powerful tool that has allowed him to overcome the technical challenges that the company faced with its initial hand-coded platform. The platform's in-depth functionality and support for mobile-friendly solutions have been particularly impressive. McCurry has expressed his intention to use Bubble for future projects, indicating his satisfaction with the platform. The successful launch of NextbookIt and its rapid user acquisition demonstrate the effectiveness of Bubble as a solution for building fully customizable web applications, even for those without formal programming training.

Impact #1

The transition to Bubble has been a significant milestone for NextbookIt. Despite McCurry's initial hesitation about the limitations of no-code platforms, Bubble has proven to be a powerful tool that has allowed him to overcome the technical challenges that the company faced with its initial hand-coded platform. The platform's in-depth functionality and support for mobile-friendly solutions have been particularly impressive. McCurry has expressed his intention to use Bubble for future projects, indicating his satisfaction with the platform. The successful launch of NextbookIt and its rapid user acquisition demonstrate the effectiveness of Bubble as a solution for building fully customizable web applications, even for those without formal programming training.

Benefit #1	NextbookIt was launched in November 2020 and acquired almost 100 users in just a few days.
Benefit #2	The initial prototype of NextbookIt, started in January 2019, received seed funding from a small team of private investment partners in May 2019.
Benefit #3	The transition to Bubble began in late-April 2020 and the NextbookIt website and app were re-released as a beta in August 2020.

Benefit #1

NextbookIt was launched in November 2020 and acquired almost 100 users in just a few days.

Benefit #2

The initial prototype of NextbookIt, started in January 2019, received seed funding from a small team of private investment partners in May 2019.

Benefit #3

The transition to Bubble began in late-April 2020 and the NextbookIt website and app were re-released as a beta in August 2020.

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Overview

NextbookIt: A P2P Book Selling Marketplace for College Students

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit