Eyüp Duygun

Problem: School shopping is a fragmented and inefficient process. Parents manually search for items across multiple stores based on teacher-provided lists, leading to time loss and frequent purchasing mistakes. At the same time, sellers struggle with visibility and profitability on large marketplaces. Insight: Teachers are the hidden decision-makers in this process. They define what needs to be purchased, yet they are completely disconnected from the e-commerce flow. Solution: With Okulora, I designed a marketplace model that puts teachers at the center of the shopping experience. - Teachers create structured need lists for their classrooms - Each list generates a unique shareable link - Parents complete the entire shopping process through a single page - The platform connects this demand with relevant sellers This transforms e-commerce from search-based to guided commerce. Innovation: Unlike traditional marketplaces, demand is not generated by product discovery but by trusted human curation (teachers), and efficiently matched with sellers. This creates: - Faster and simpler experience for parents - More targeted and high-intent demand for sellers - A strong network effect for the platform Conclusion: Okulora simplifies school shopping into a single link. It is not just a marketplace, but a system that organizes demand before it reaches sellers. Future Vision: Integrating AI to assist parents in identifying their child’s learning gaps and recommending the right products, combining commerce with educational support.