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Engagement Design

Understand​

The Product Promise

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Urban Company (UC), formerly known as Urban Clap, is a personal and home service provider. It connects trained professionals with users in need of various services often in the comfort of their homes.

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UC is one of the first movers in the market to seamlessly enable & track the quality of service provided. Previously, apps such as Just Dial would act as aggregators and list service providers, enabling contact without any contribution or responsibility taken on the quality of service delivered.

Spread over 70 cities, UC has changed the way services are consumed in the Tier I and II cities in India. Where customers would be chasing local service providers (especially home & appliance repair) for days, even weeks to get their work done, UC has disrupted the industry by bringing in extremely professional approach to providing services where customers can expect timely delivery.

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UC is known to focus on and deliver process-driven services; where customers can expect a level of service quality, transparency and security with letting the service providers inside their homes.

While they have established themselves as trusted service providers, their latest & powerful ad campaign focusses on enabling service providers across both their focus segments - Grooming & Home. They are trying to change the way India thinks of service - both functionally and socially.

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Boasting a 77% business from repeat users, UC has been vocally focussing on customer-centricity and service partner empowerment (via training as well as benefits provided).

With an average user rating of 4.82, UC has proven to be a trusted and preferred service provider - both online with their tech platform as well as offline with their service delivery.

From the user survey conducted, WOM remains one of the highest channels of acquisition and also a favoured way in which the app is recommended:

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Reference links:

https://www.urbancompany.com/about

https://www.urbancompany.com/blog/urban-companys-annual-business-summary-fy23/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I32n0j_a418

What is the Core Value Prop

UrbanCompany's (UC's) core value proposition is to provide customers with easy and convenient access to high-quality services at home.

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Grooming & Home are the two main segments under which their core value proposition is divided.

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From industry research as well as through user interviews, Grooming has emerged as the main service that the app is known to provide.

For the sake of this project, we will consider the service delivered for Grooming as our core value proposition.

How do users experience the value prop?

Using the app for booking a service, selecting a convenient time slot, getting the service delivered in the chosen time slot, which is followed via a standard SOP.

The entire process of booking as well as getting the service delivered at the convenience of their home in a process-driven format, is how a customer experiences the core value proposition.

ICP Deepdive

Natural Frequency of the product

The product in question being grooming services, our users can be divided as below:

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Casual User - Once in 3 months

Core User - Once a month

Power User - Multiple times a month

Here the power user can explore the depth (by extending the number of services under Grooming) or even breadth (by extending to other categories) of services provided on the platform.

Sub-products & their natural frequency

Engagement Framework

Define

Action that makes a user an active user

1. Completing any service delivery via the UC App once in the last three months.

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Service is a need-based product and this need cannot be influenced too much. Exposing the user to various categories of services can increase frequency & breadth thus converting them into a more frequent user; however there is high possibility that the need does not arise that frequently. A good assumption is once in three months (for example for salon, if a user has undergone laser hair removal, the need for waxing gets eliminated; and they may not necessarily use any other salon services except maybe haircut).

2. Getting a UC Plus Membership

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Someone option to avail discounts on the services being offered via the app showcases the intent of the user to remain an active / frequent user of UC. This gives us the assurance that UC would be the preferred choice in case the need of a service arises. Also gives us an insight into the cost-centricity of the customer for choosing to avail services via UC app.

3. User leaves a review for the service provided

This shows the intent of the user to engage with the platform. In case of a positive review, we can be assured of a repeat booking. In case of a negative review, it clearly rings alarm bells to engage & retain the customer.

4. User adds card details

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Very clear indication of the intent of customer to keep using the UC app and their trust on the platform

5. Scheduled bookings

Scheduling services such as bathroom cleaning for a pre-set period of time. In this case a customer may not be using the app multiple times, but is a core user of the value proposition.

Segment

User Segmentation

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​Campaigns

Product Hook: Casual to Core

Goal: To increase usage of service depth (more services under the Grooming category) for self and for others.

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Current Problem Statement: User is restricted to single use case of service category - for example waxing.

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Current Alternative: Users are given package deals and the option to create their own package within a service category - for example Salon service for women; further restricted under either Prime or Luxe.

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Solution

Summary:

Allow package deals for family (Salon for Men & kids and Salon for Women) with the resultant discount seeming heavier if booked together. It is understood that discounts on services cannot be extended beyond a reasonable limit, however packaging the deals together visibly increases the value of discounts.

Here, bucketing under Prime / Luxe for Women or Prime / Royale for Men can be modifiable - such that a woman may choose Luxe for herself and Prime for the man/ kids.

These packages should only be available to UC Plus members, with non-members being shown these packages as an option with a nudge to purchase UC Plus membership.

This also comes from the insight shared in user survey, that the infamous dark pattern followed by UC for the UC Plus membership earlier, resulted in them using the app more frequently since they had already purchased the membership.

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Detailed version with user flow:

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Bonus: As an addition to the above solution, packages across salon & spa could be enabled such that the resultant discounted amount looks higher. Termed "Care" packages, of "Gift" packages, these can be enabled for self or to be gifted to others thus acting as referral.

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Success Metric:

• Amount / value of the packages booked
• Number of family packages booked

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Other Metrics to track:

• Number of UC memberships generated
• Frequency of package booking

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Ramp up Milestones:

• Beta Testing: Testing the product hook on select members who are known to book services across both grooming categories. Scale up once sufficient number of users choose the services.
• Create pre-set family packages based on frequently ordered services
• Make the packages available to non-UC Plus members without discount

Product Hook: Core to Power

Goal: To increase depth of usage of services as well as booking across categories of services

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Current Problem Statement: User prefers going into depths of Salon service but does not explore other categories

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Current Alternative:

1. Service selection page showcases all available services
2. UC Plus membership offers 15% discount for other categories whereas 10% on existing categories

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Solution

Summary:

Currently, the 15% discount on other products is not clearly visible or known to a UC Plus member unless they click on membership details to view it. Idea is to make this plan visible to all members by way of push notifications, as well as showing it on the app.

Also make non-members aware of the benefits of taking a UC Plus membership.

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Detailed version with user flow:

• UC Plus member logs in to book a Salon service for herself
• User is exposed to the possibility of other discounts
• User selects other category either in the same session or in another session

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Success Metric:

• Number of other categories booked
• Value of other services availed

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Other Metrics to track:

• Number of UC memberships generated
• Frequency of other services used

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Ramp up Milestones:

• Initiate this user flow only for UC Plus members initially to check effectiveness.
• Roll out to non-UC Plus members once success is seen with existing members to avoid distraction
• Reduce the percentage discount (and not eliminate) in case service is availed once and not again.

Engagement Campaign

Retention Design

Understand

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Repeat customers contributed to 77% of UC's Net Transaction Value as per their annual business summary.

While this could be seen as a high retention rate, it can also be a metric of repeat power users using multiple & high ticket services.

Bird's Eye View

As per the user survey conducted, we can arrive at below retention curve for overall app usage:

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Clubbing This week & This month gives us a retention rate of 50%

Retention rate flattens after the 3 month mark and increases slightly after the 6 month mark

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Retention curve for Grooming Category:

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Clubbing This week & This month gives us a retention rate of 73%

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Retention curve flattens after the 6 month mark

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Retention Curve for AC Repair & Services:

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Clubbing This week & This month gives us a retention rate of 62%

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Retention curve flattens around the 3 month mark

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Retention Curve for Home Remediation Services:

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Clubbing This week & This month gives us a retention rate of 53%

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Retention Curve flattens after the 6 month mark

Microscopic View

Which ICPs drive the best retention

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ICPs 1 & 2 drive the best retention for UC

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ICP 1 - Married Millenial woman, tech-savvy, wants to run the house efficiently

Multitude of services at the click of a button without the hassle of chasing multiple people for a single service, or aligning for different available slots for the family is a value proposition most suited to this category of users.

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ICP 2 - Unmarried man, on the verge of starting a family and in all probability living away from parents. Reached a stage in life where a non-chalant bachelor life does not suit the daily life; wants to be organised and well-groomed, maintaining the house in an efficient manner. House may be rented therefore standard upkeep is necessary.

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ICP 3 - Limited use cases; grooming & cleaning may be used frequently but may not constitute to high retention.

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What Channels Drive the Best Retention

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Word Of Mouth / Referral:

WOM or Referral is one of the primary acquisition channels for UC as established above. This also remains one of the reasons users keep coming back after experiencing the core value proposition.

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Push Notifications:

For a core/ power user, push notifications become the primary source of information regarding offers & deals.

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In-App Banners:

For Core & Power users, discovery of various app features is seen when using the app while booking a service. Push notifications may be disabled, however an active user is bound to repeat app usage exposing themselves to communication about other service offerings.

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What Sub-features or Sub-products drive the best retention:

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• Primarily, it is the UC Plus membership. Having a membership and the knowledge of a possible discounted rate for receiving services prompts the highest level of usage for UC.
• For a power user in grooming category, Cleaning / AC Repair is another sub-category that drives retention. Trust is established when using grooming services with respect to the SOP protocol followed, or the level of security provided, thus opening up their minds to the possibility of utilising other services from the app.

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​Define​

Top reasons for Churn

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Negative Actions to look for

Power User at the Risk of converting to Core

• User does not renew UC Plus
• Negative review on social platforms
• Disabled Notifications
• Been a frequent user + preferred partner and not using the app anymore (may have been taken offline)

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Core User at the Risk of converting to Casual

• Low Rating to service provider
• Negative review on social platforms
• Not opening the app in over 3 months
• Not opening any other category
• Been a frequent user + preferred partner and not using the app anymore (may have been taken offline)

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Casual User at the risk of Churning

• (Consistent) Low Rating to service provider
• Negative review on social platforms
• Not opening any other category

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​Resurrection Campaigns​

Campaign 1

Solving For: Required Service not Available / Time-slot not available

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Campaign 2

Solving For: Service Quality not Satisfactory

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Campaign 3

Solving For: Partner mis-behaviour/ Unprofessional behaviour

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Campaign 4

Solving For: Partner not showing up

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Campaign 5

Solving For: Better service quality available outside of UC

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Campaign 6

Solving For: Better rates available outside of UC

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​Campaign 7

Solving For: App Glitches

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Campaign 8

Solving For: Cannot use app owing to disability (lack of functionality in their fingers or hands / vision)

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​Campaign 9

Solving For: Cannot use app owing to language restrictions

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