🚋 Engagement & Retention project | ixigo

🚋

Engagement & Retention project | ixigo

Understand

Core Value Proposition

Ixigo is a one stop shop for all travel needs and offers a wide range of travel services. it aggregates as well as compares the finest deals on hotels, flights, buses, trains, plus packages, and reviews the best travel facts from around 100+ travel websites to extend the most reliable travel information for the users.

To the user
Discovery	Search and compare Trains, Flights, Buses and Hotel information along with relevant pictures and reviews.
Discounts	Get best deals and discounts on Trains, Flights, Buses and Hotels.
Hotel/Flights/Trains/Buses Bookings	Reserve your seats/rooms at best possible rates.
Travel Packages	Customised group travel packages at discounted rates

Natural frequency of ixigo

Casual Users:

Users who know about ixigo and mostly use ixigo to look at active deals and compare prices.
Discovery frequency- Once a fortnight
Transaction frequency- Once in 90 days

Core Users:

These are the users who discover aggressively through ixigo and make transactions whenever there is a discount available on flight, trains, buses, hotels, etc on bookings of their choice.
Discovery Frequency: Once a week

Transaction Frequency: Once a Month

Power Users:

These users discover through ixigo and books flights, trains, buses, hotels, etc. that have offers applicable.

Discovery Frequency: 2-3 times a week

Transaction Frequency: 2-3 times a Month

Subproducts and their natural frequencies

Sub-Products	Casual	Core	Power
Flights	Once a quarter	Once a month	Twice a month
Hotels	Once a quarter	Once a month	Twice a month
Bus	NA	NA	Twice a month
Trains	Once a quarter	Once a month	Once a month
Holiday Packages	NA	NA	Once a quarter
PLAN AI	Once a quarter	Once a month	Once a week
Car Rental	NA	NA	Once a month
ixigo AU Credit Card	Never registered for it	Registered for the card but barely uses it for travel benefits.	Uses the card regularly and enjoys all the travel benefits

Engagement Framework for ixigo

Engagement Framework	Key Tracking Metric	Selected	Rationale
Frequency	No of times the product is being used to search and compare travel plans.	NA	Users may prefer going through the app to compare flight prices and trip itinerary using PLAN AI. The number of times someone uses ixigo doesn’t help them experience more of the core value prop.
Depth	Amount of time and money being spent on the ixigo for planning itinerary and bookings.	Primary	The more time they book via ixigo after comparing prices, the more they experience the core value prop. the more time they spend, the better the chances of booking travel and accommodation from ixigo.
Breadth	The number of sub products being experienced by the user	Secondary	Users who use 2 or more sub products experience more of the core value prop. Sub products they experience i.e bookings for buses, hotels, flights, trains, PLAN, etc

The primary framework we’re going ahead with is Depth and the secondary is Breadth.

Depth = Frequency X Money

The more times a user books their travel via us the more money they spend, resulting in more revenue.

We want to build a habit where the user only transacts through ixigo for all their travel needs and be their go to platform for discovery and itinerary planning.

Breadth = ixigo aspires to be the one stop solution for all things travel. Users should get accustomed to all the sub products so they get to enjoy the entire ecosystem and experience more of the core value prop.

Define

Who is our Active User?

In simple words, it is a user who transacts through ixigo for all their travel needs.

Books their travel and accommodation through us on a weekly or monthly basis.
Uses ixigo AU credit card for travel benefits.
Use PLAN AI for their itinerary
Adds reviews and ratings every time they complete a trip.

Segment

Characteristics Segmentation

	ICP 1	ICP 2	ICP 3
Name	Young Explorers	Passionate Explorers	Veterean Explorers
Age	20-28	28-40	40 & above
Gender	All Genders	All Genders	All Genders
City	Tier 1 & Tier 2	Tier 1 & Tier 2	Tier 1 & Tier 2
Occupation	Students, Associates, Early Managers	Mid Senior Level Manager, SD2, SD3 Product Managers, Project Mangers	People in leadership roles, CXO, Founders, Principal PM, Entrepreneurs
Income	6L-18L Per Annum	18L-60L Per Annum	60L and above Per Annum
Marital Status	Single/Married	Single/Married	Single/Married
Who do they travel with?	Friends, Family, Partners, Colleagues	Friends, Colleagues, Partners, Family	Friends, Colleagues and Family
How do they discover about trips?	Instagram, Blogs, Youtube, MMT, ixigo	Instagram, Google, Blogs, Youtube, MMT, ixigo	Facebook, Google, Blogs, Youtube, MMT, ixigo
What apps do they use?	Social - Reddit, iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram, BeReal, Whatsapp Shopping - Amazon, Flipkart, Zara, Zepto, Shein, H&M, Myntra, Nykaa. Food - Zomato, Swiggy Payment - Google Pay, PayTM, Phonepe Music - Apple Music, Spotify, etc.	Social - Whatsapp, iMessage, Instagram, X. Shopping - Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, Zepto, Myntra Food - Swiggy, Zomato Payment - Google Pay, PhonePe Work Apps - Slack, Teams etc. Networking - Linkedin Music - Jio Saavn, Spotify, YT Music Reading & Answering - Reddit, Quora, etc	Social - Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, X. Shopping - Amazon, Flipkart, Zepto, Nykaa Food - Swiggy, Zomato Payment - Google Pay Business Apps - Slack Networking - Linkedin, Music - Jio Saavn Reading & Answering Quora, etc.
Travel apps they use?	Travel : Airbnb, MMT, ixigo, Red Bus, Zostel, Hostelworld, Klook, Digiyatra etc.	Travel: Expedia, Klook, Airbnb, Red Bus, Abhi Bus, Agoda, MMT, ixigo, Book my forex, Digi Yatra, Zoom Car, PayTM etc.	Travel: MMT, ixigo, Digi Yatra, Abhi Bus, Agoda, Paytm, Phone Pe
Trip size when they go out in a group	~5-6	~2-3	~2 and in big groups
Avg Travel Cost	15-40k	1.5L-4L	2L-5L
Core usage of ixigo	Discounts, Itinerary planning and Offers	Discovery and Offers	Discovery, Ratings and Offers
How often do they travel?	Twice a quarter	Once a month	Thrice a month
Natural frequency of ixigo	Once a quarter	Once a month	3-4 times a month

Advanced Segmentation

Loyalists
-App Usage 1-2 times a week
-Transaction through ixigo once a month
- AOV= Mid to High
- AU ixigo card holder- Yes, uses the card occasionally but is keen on availing travel benefits
- Uses PLAN ai for itinerary planning but rarely uses other sub products.
Champions
- App Usage 2-3 times a week
-Transaction through ixigo once a week
- AOV= High
- AU ixigo card holder- Yes, uses the card regularly and refers friends to avail all the travel benefits
- Uses PLAN ai for itinerary planning and transacts on sub products as well.
In danger
- App Usage: Twice a month
- Transaction through ixigo: Once a Quarter
- AOV = Low
- AU ixigo card holder- Not anymore, Unsubscribed and closed AU ixigo card
- Only discovers the sub products
Hibernating
- App usage: Once a month
- Transaction through ixigo: Once or twice a year
- AOV- Low/Moderate
- AU ixigo card holder- Never subscribed for it.
- User is not even aware of the sub products.

Product Hook

About 70% of fresh users who download ixigo end up deleting the app right after completing the first trip. WHY?
ixigo is a one stop destination of users for every mode of travelling and accommodations but travelling apps provide a use base service. How do we retain the audience?

Create a hook by gamifying travelling for users by giving ixigo money for each trip and give badges like Mountain person, Beach person, Mr./Ms. Hi-Fi, Smart Traveller, Adventure enthu, Mr./Ms. Worldwide etc and keep updating these badges to create a need of validation in users.

The Construct
ixigo lets you do the following things:

Discover and compare flights, trains, buses, hotels, etc.
Book your travel and accommodation with discounts
Helps you plan your trips with detailed itinerary
Add reviews and ratings
Provides information on international travel guidelines

Our aim is to shift most of our users from casual and core to power users so these users need to experience 3-4 of our sub products in order to get to the app.

Flow 1: Homepage —> Landing Page

A header that takes you through the step by step process of earning a badge.

The landing page talks about the following things:

Journey
Mini goals
Milestones
Exclusive rewards and offers
Social validation

IMG_8989 2.jpg

Flow 2: Booking completion->Landing Page

For users who completed any booking without registering for the certified traveller programme we can send them a gentle nudge right after their first booking.
This can help retaining the users for their next booking.

Entry points:

Booking completion Page
PLAN AI banner [Register now and take your first step in making this dream trip reality]
PN
Whatsapp

Metrics to track:

Header CTR
MoM increase in ixigo money bookings
Certified Traveler landing page visits
Frequency of transactions
Increase in sub products usage MoM
Increase in number of feature usage MoM
Time taken to complete each milestone
No. of social shares

Types of rewards:

Levels: Bigger milestones as shown in the wireframe will have rewards like ixigo money or discounts for the user. These discounts and money will come with an expiry date for the users.
Badges: Smaller milestones will lead to user badges and will increase the intent of a user to use the app even more.
Some examples of these Badges can be-
Mountain person- User who books consecutive travel to the mountains
Beach person- User who books consecutive travel to the beaches
Oh so Hi-Fi- User who books flights and 4/5 star hotels via ixigo.
Smart Traveller- User who avails the discount and takes advantage of limited sale season.
Nomad- User who's travelling >60% of the month.
Mr./Ms. Worldwide - User who books 2 or more international trips within the same quarter
Group Leader- User who booked consecutive travel from 4 or more people.

Engagement Campaigns

Campaign 1 : We remember

Goal	To enable the "in danger" users to make a transaction with us
Focused ICPs	In danger
User Behaviour	- Discovers and compares travel rates via ixigo - Transaction through ixigo: Once a Quarter - AOV = Low - AU ixigo card holder- Not anymore, Unsubscribed and closed AU account
Pitch/Content	Remember the last time you were checking flight prices for XYZ? We do and are here to help you book it now.
Offer	Flat 1000 off on booking flight to XYZ through ixigo
Channel	Whatsapp, Push Notification
Frequency & Timing	Once within a week. Usually after 15 days for domestic and 30 days for international of user's last active cart session.
Success metrics to track	CTR and number of coupon redemptions.
Construct	AOV of flights and hotels at ixigo is around 10000-15000 and the commission we charge is about 10-15% and 1000 off prevents that burn and offers the user a good reason to travel.
Proposed flow	Banner->Trip Suggestions for users birthday month->Book your flight now

Campaign 2: Group Bucket list

Goal	To enable all the users to make a bucket list that can be shared with their friends on ixigo and whatsapp
Focused ICPs	All users
User Behaviour	- Discovers and compares travel rates via ixigo
Pitch/Content	Plan and Book your much awaited group trip on one app now. ixigo.
Offer	Wishlist that your friends can upvote, add and comment on
Channel	In-app banner for every app screenshot, PN
Frequency & Timing	Once within a week.
Success metrics to track	No. of bucket lists created, No. of friends added, Chat duration(Hours, Days, Weeks) , bucket list activities (Upvoting, Comments)
Construct	We'll take contact book access and users can add their friends by sharing a link to join with a message "XYZ has exclusively invited you to his/her encrypted bucket list chat" - Let's do this. User who have the app get to join the chat directly and new users get to complete the onboarding to join the chat. The entire group can close a location and book using the same app.
Proposed flow	Banner->Create/Manage your group bucket list->Add your friends->Upvote->Chat

Campaign 3: Curated collections for you

Goal	To make loyalists switch to champion user by Flygiving a more personalised experience in order to gradually increase the AOV
Focused ICPs	Loyalists
User Behaviour	- Discovers and compares travel rates via ixigo - Transacts atleast once a month on one of the sub product
Pitch/Content	Based on your last few trips, we've specially curated a list of locations that you'd love. Book now and don't forget to tag us in your stories.
Offer	Curated list with exclusive cashbacks only for you
Channel	In-app banner, Whatsapp, PN
Frequency & Timing	3-4 times a month
Success metrics to track	AOV increase/month, CTR, Booking for suggested locations/month
Construct	If a user is booking a roundtrip of AOV 15,000 we'll suggest a list where 60% of the places will be of AOV 25,000 and rest will be of AOV 15,000.
Proposed flow	Banner->List of curated locations->Book with ixigo->Assured ixigo money cash back

Campaign 4: PLAN AI is the new bhAI

Goal	To enable all the users to book right when they see the itinerary curated by PLAN AI
Focused ICPs	All users
User Behaviour	-Discover and compares travel rates via ixigo -Uses PLAN AI for itinerary
Pitch/Content	PLAN AI ❌Plan BhAI ✅ Use PLAN AI to get an exclusive cashback for your trip and avail it for your return flight. Happy Flying 😀 ✈️
Offer	AI is taking over and giving exclusive cash backs 10%-30% only on PLAN by ixigo
Channel	Whatsapp, PN, In-app Banner
Frequency & Timing	Thrice every month, Reminder to avail the offer in 7 days, 20 days and 28 days.
Success metrics to track	Increase in bookings per month, CTR, ixigo money redemptions per month
Construct	Whenever a user uses PLAN to get an itinerary we share an exclusive voucher for that same trip that can be availed within 30 days.
Proposed flow	Banner->Plan AI->Itinerary->Here's an exclusive cashback voucher for you to book in the next 30 days.

Retention

Market Share

32% increase in revenue i.e the revenue has gone up from INR 380 CR. in FY22 to INR 501 Cr in FY23.
With the current rate ixigo is expected to make 5 times more profit in FY24 than last year.

ixigo market share 2024
Trains	52%
Bus	16%
Flights	14%
Hotels	5%

source: confidential

Microscopic View

ICPs that drive the best retention:

Loyalists
- Moderate AOV
- High discovery
- Good NPS
Champions
- High AOV
- High discovery
- Good NPS

Channels that drive the best retention:

Social and offline media
In-app banners
Push Notifications
Discount offers

Churn Reason

Voluntary	Involuntary
Better offers on competition	Cannot afford to go on trips
Delay/Cancellation by merchants	Terminally ill or Death
Flight Company/Hotel website giving better price
Complex product UX
Favourite hotel unavailable on the app

Negative metrics to be on the lookout for:

Low ratings and reviews on PlayStore
Support complaints for things like last minute cancelation by merchants, flight/train/bus delays, offer applicability etc.
Frequently dipping in number of txns
Decreasing AOV
Low discovery/transaction rate
Dip in transactions/subscriptions of AU ixigo cards
High cart drop offs

Retention Campaigns

Campaign 1: The Much Awaited Birthday Trip

Goal	To enable all the users feel special and make a transaction for their birthday month
Focused ICPs	All users
User Behaviour	- Discovers and compares travel rates via ixigo
Pitch/Content	Gift yourself a birthday trip this year.
Offer	Flat 1000 off on booking both flight and hotels together for your birthday month
Channel	Whatsapp, Push Notification
Frequency & Timing	Once within a week. Offer opens usually around Mid-December and ends Mid-January. Coupon applicable once per year.
Success metrics to track	CTR and number of birthday coupon redemptions.
Construct	AOV of flights and hotels at ixigo is around 10000 and the commission we charge is about 10-15% and 1000 off prevents that burn and offers the user a good reason to go out.
Proposed flow	Banner->Trip Suggestions for users birthday month->Book your flight now

Campaign 2: Leverage personalisation

Goal	To give users personalised quick links and a super relevant listing
Focused ICPs	All users
User Behaviour	- Discovers and compares travel rates via ixigo - Books travel using ixigo
Pitch/Content	Your app, your style, your bookings
Offer	NA
Channel	Homepage, PN
Frequency & Timing	Forever
Success metrics to track	Increase in transactions, Dip in cart Drop Offs
Construct	We ask user while onboarding questions like "which of these places you like" and show images like beaches/mountains, secluded houses/party hostels, etc.
Proposed flow	Homepage-> Onboarding->Discovery->Transaction

Campaign 3: Cross app integration- Zomato

Goal	To increase power users with AU ixigo bank card by leveraging cross app integration with high order frequency apps like Zomato
Focused ICPs	Core Users
User Behaviour	- Discovers and compares travel rates via ixigo - Books travel using ixigo once a month
Pitch/Content	Eat-Sleep-Travel-Repeat for real with your AU ixigo card
Offer	Get ixigo money for every Zomato order using your AU ixigo card. Order Now
Channel	In-App banner, PN, Whatsapp
Frequency & Timing	Twice a month
Success metrics to track	Increase in AU ixigo card subscriptions, Increase in monthly Transactions, increase in ixigo money wallet usage frequency
Construct	We push users to subscribe to AU ixigo card using in-app banners and notifications and leverage cross app integration with Zomato. Zomato's AOV is 300 and our TG roughly orders 15-20 times from them in a month. AU ixigo card will give them the advantage of getting extra ixigo money that can be used for travelling in the future.
Proposed flow	Homepage->Discovery->Free AU Card Subscription->Transaction