1. Interview 5+ people who are users of your product

We spoke to 6 users from different backgrounds and have documented the learning in below table. Luckily we got a chance to speak to churned users as well. We are keeping the names anonymous to save the personal information.

2.Building ICPs

B2C Table

​

3.ICP prioritization framework:

(Before you begin, you need to know what your product is, what are its features, what is the problem being solved by your product?)

1.Product Exploration

1. We used the product over and over and ordered food which got delivered in HSR layout in whooping 7 minutes. Attaching a sample snapshot :

2.Understanding different use cases:

3.Features:

Homepage (As of 7 Dec 2024):

1.Search Feature

• Default Keyword: The search feature defaults to "search Maggi", signaling:
• • Target Audience: A young user base that resonates with casual, snack-based preferences.
  • Focus on Food: Enables users to search directly for food items (e.g., pasta, roti, paneer) instead of restaurant names.
  • • Simplifies the process by focusing on food variety rather than origin, as kitchen pods are equipped to serve diverse cuisines at all times.
  • Search Results:
  • • Displays trending searches, recent searches, and options to discover more.
    • Searching keywords like "paneer" showcases all paneer-based categories for easy browsing.

2.Veg Mode Toggle

• Simplified Toggle: A single veg mode toggle lets users easily switch between vegetarian and non-vegetarian options without navigating multiple settings.

3.Location Detection and Availability Alerts

• Auto-Detection: The app automatically detects the user’s location.
• Service Unavailability Notifications:
• • If unavailable, users see a banner on the homepage and a clear notice during location selection.

4.Visual Features

• Image Carousels: Includes Order Now CTAs designed for three primary use cases:
• • Hot Beverages
  • Breakfast
  • Snacks

5.Food Categories and Personalization

• Refer & Earn Program: Rewards users for referrals, encouraging engagement and app adoption.
• Category Grid: Displays 8 precise food categories, making navigation simple:
• • Breadworks, Meals, Snacks, Healthy Bowls, Breakfast, Hot Beverages, Cold Beverages, and Desserts.
• Top Picks:
• • A personalized section highlighting frequent/recent orders and popular items in the user’s area.
• Category-Wise Dishes:
• • Items are grouped under categories, with the most popular category displayed at the top.

6.Profile Tree

• Unregistered Users: Playfully labeled as “Doraemon” for a fun, Gen Z vibe. 😆
• Profile Options: Includes common features like orders, address, referrals, support, profile, and logout.
• • Casual text adds personality, e.g., in orders: "Don't feel guilty, it's okay!"
• WhatsApp Integration: Clicking on support starts a chat directly on WhatsApp, blending accessibility and informality.

7.Campaign

• Christmas Engagement Campaign:
• • Features a leaderboard showcasing top customers who placed the highest number of orders within a specific timeframe.
  • Encourages competition and repeat orders through gamification.

8.Refer & Earn Program:

• Basic Rewards: Users and their referrals both get ₹250 for each successful referral.
• Milestone Bonus: Users earn an additional ₹1,250 after their 5th referral, driving loyalty and sustained engagement.

Item detail page:

When you choose a beverage, you see "people also like" food options(excluding beverage), when you choose a food in "people also like" you see beverages

Order Tracking:

There is 10minute timer and delivery partner name, priming of order status 'on the way/delivered/preparing' and calling option at order tracking that Swish team has recently implemented :

2.Analyse the feedback:

1. Positive User Experience with Speed and Convenience

• A significant number of reviews highlight satisfaction with Swish’s 10-minute delivery promise, especially for busy users like young professionals and students.
• Users appreciate the quick resolution of cravings and the ease of placing orders without worrying about delays.

2. Concerns with Availability and Service Coverage

• Many users expressed frustration about service unavailability in their areas, either due to location constraints or app downtime.
• Expanding delivery coverage and improving service reliability could address this gap.

3. Personalized Recommendations Drive Satisfaction

• The "Top Picks" and personalized sections based on user preferences received positive feedback, particularly for repeat customers.
• Users enjoy discovering relevant food options, which enhances engagement.

4. Frustration with App Bugs and Limited Options

• Some users reported encountering app glitches, particularly during peak hours, leading to order delays or errors.
• Others mentioned feeling dissatisfied with the limited menu options in specific categories, suggesting room for broader variety.

5. Strong Engagement through Gamification and Referral Rewards

• Features like the Christmas leaderboard campaign and the refer-and-earn program were well-received, as they incentivize users to engage more frequently.
• Users appreciate monetary rewards (₹250 per referral) and bonus incentives (₹1,250 for five referrals), motivating them to promote the app.

3.Secondary Research:

Google Play Store

• Positive Feedback:
• • Users praised the 10-minute delivery promise, especially for quick snacks and meals during busy hours.
  • The personalized "Top Picks" section received favorable mentions for helping users discover relevant food options.
• Negative Feedback:
• • App glitches were frequently reported, especially during peak hours, leading to order delays or failed transactions.
  • Service unavailability in certain locations disappointed users, limiting the app's potential reach.

2. LinkedIn

• Positive Feedback:
• • Corporate professionals appreciated the app's focus on speed and convenience, aligning well with their hectic work schedules.
  • The refer-and-earn program was highlighted as a strong incentive for user acquisition and engagement.
• Negative Feedback:
• • Some users mentioned a lack of menu variety, particularly in healthier options for office-goers.

3. YouTube

• Positive Feedback:
• • Users were impressed by the app’s gamification elements, such as the Christmas leaderboard campaign, which encouraged engagement.
  • The intuitive user interface was noted, making it easy to navigate through categories and place orders.
• Negative Feedback:
• • Limited food availability during late hours was a recurring concern.
  • Users expressed a need for clearer communication about serviceability, as they encountered confusion regarding app coverage in their areas.

Key Platform-Wise Takeaways

1. Google Play Store: Prioritize app stability and expand service coverage to reduce dissatisfaction.
2. LinkedIn: Enhance menu diversity, especially for corporate users seeking healthier options.
3. YouTube: Leverage gamification and marketing to further boost engagement while addressing late-hour availability gaps.

By tailoring platform-specific improvements, Swish can enhance user satisfaction and address key pain points effectively.

​Understanding Core Value Proposition

Swish received $2M funding round from Accel. For a food delivery startup often suggests the business is likely pre-PMF unless it operates in a very lean and niche market. In food delivery, early scaling typically requires larger funding rounds (e.g., $5M-$10M+) due to the high costs associated with customer acquisition and logistics.

Swish is using the $2M primarily for experimentation and iteration, it’s likely pre-PMF. At the same time it is gearing toward expanding operations and customer acquisition in validated markets, it is in PMF stage currently but transitioning to early scaling soon.

Designing Acquisition Channel

Although the channel selection framework would be much more useful at the mature stage of the product, we still use it here to identify general patterns that can help us identify the trends.

​ 

Out of all the criteria, we'll be focusing on cheaper, faster, and feedback-driven channels:

1. Referral Program:
2. • Why: Medium cost, high feedback quality, and moderate speed make this a great option for early-stage acquisition. Users bring in other users, providing feedback and spreading word-of-mouth efficiently.
3. Organic:
4. • Why: Low cost and high feedback quality. While speed and scale are moderate, it’s an affordable and reliable way to build early engagement and understand user needs.
5. Founder’s Brand:
6. • Why: Low cost and high feedback quality. Founders can leverage personal networks and storytelling to build trust and gather insights quickly.
7. Product Integration: to gain users in bulk

These channels are ideal for testing and iterating based on feedback, ensuring we are cost-efficient, capable of driving early traction and responsive during the pre-PMF stage.

1. Customer Touch points
   We started out by mapping out the touchpoints where we experience an AHA moment. This is represented like the following:

2. Define the Brag-Worthy Element

A. Brag worth element for Swish is - it promises to deliver the food in <=10mins, this brings a sense of amusement and delight and users rave about it.

B. GenZ inspired language used throughout the app captures attention of young audience. GenZ founders of app use a similar language and create a sense of FOMO if you are not 'swishing'. This brings lot of excitement in the market.

3. Define Your Platform Currency

4. Determine Who to Ask for a Referral

Users are happiest when they:

• Get the food in <=10 minutes with thoughtful notes and delight packagings. Especially in case of bulk orders. Recently the Swish team was in news when they were able to deliver 100 items as part of bulk order in 10mins
• Single click user support-personal attention to inquiry-Quick and effective resolution of issues builds trust and satisfaction, especially in a high-speed delivery environment where errors can happen.

At these moment user experiences the core value proposition. We will follow a 2 step approach:

1. Step 1: We can ask for providing a product rating here.
2. Step 2: Once they rate well say 4* plus, we can trigger a referral request on order tracking/delivery screen and whatsapp screen to the user.

1. Referral Discovery

A. For first time Swishers:

·        

• • Whatsapp communication as soon as user recieves order in <=10minutes and gives a 4* plus rating
  • Once they rate well say 4* plus, we can trigger a referral request on order tracking/delivery screen and whatsapp screen to the user.

B. Users who have already given 4* plus ratings and are on the homescreen for next order placement , they can be triggered:

·        

• • In-app top banner on extreme top on the dashboard
  • In-app notification on next login
  • Whatsapp communication as soon as you get order i <=10min and give a 4* plus rating
  • push notification once you get delivery in<=10min

6. Referral Sharing & Communication

Referral Message:

We make sure that the core value proposition is clearly communicated and message includes reward in platform currency. We will keep the message small and appealing.

Hey Aryan,

Veer just hooked you up with ₹500 to feast on some delicious food. Order now and get it delivered faster than you can say 'I’m hungry'! Yes, we deliver in just 10minutes. Don't believe?

Sign up to get your free credits

7.Tracking Referrals

Referral Tracking page:

Organic Channel

(Understand the existing organic channel strategy for your product and highlight the success and failure thereon.
Provide your suggestions and devise new strategies.)

Step 1 → Conduct keyword research on Google, Amazon, Youtube, Quora etc.
Step 2 → Collate all your insights from all your searches.

Understanding ICP and keyword reserach

Identifying SEO gaps and optimizing content

Below table captures the SEO gaps and outlines actionable opportunities to align Swish's SEO strategy with the ICP (young office-goers) while addressing competitor weaknesses and missed keywords.

Finally, Tracking and updating the content strategy will be a continuous job.

No prioritizing as negative loop may lead to negative word of mouth and user churn

Step 1 → Identify complementary products used by your ICP (Young office goers)

Step 2 → Selection framework

P.S: The exact "New Users" estimates for integrations depend heavily on several factors, such as current app usage, user behavior, and Swish's integration features, which may not be publicly available. Therefore, the table below will contain hypothetical values and justifications.

Justification:

1. Paytm:
2. • Time to go live: Integration with Paytm would generally take a shorter time due to the availability of APIs and the existing UPI ecosystem.
   • Tech Effort: The integration would require minimal technical effort as Paytm provides well-documented APIs and SDKs.
   • New Users: Given Paytm's massive user base in India, especially among office-goers and young professionals, it's reasonable to expect high monthly new users once integrated. The first 1–2 months will likely see an early burst of users if Word of mouth is spread effectively.
3. Zoom:
4. • Time to go live: Integrating with communication tools like Zoom typically takes more time, especially if it's a deeper integration (like with bots or automated notifications).
   • Tech Effort: High, since it involves setting up automated workflows, bot integrations, or sync features. Both Slack and Zoom have relatively complex integrations for scheduling, reminders, or even payments.
   • New Users: The potential to acquire users through Slack or Zoom integration is lower because they aren't primarily food-related apps. However, integration with Slack for office teams or Zoom for virtual events can still drive traffic, especially if it's tied to work-related activities (e.g., lunch ordering during team meetings).
5. Google Calendar:
6. • Time to go live: Like Slack and Zoom, Google Calendar integrations can be more time-consuming but still relatively fast compared to more complex integrations with payment systems.
   • Tech Effort: Medium to High, depending on the nature of the integration (whether it’s simple reminders or deep scheduling functionality with food ordering).
   • New Users: Integration with Google Calendar can bring in medium traffic, especially if it’s tied to office schedules, such as ordering lunch during breaks or setting reminders for food delivery. Over time, this can scale well if the app becomes a regular part of users' daily schedules.

Step 3 → Collaborate with necessary stakeholders

For a successful Paytm integration with Swish, alignment across product, engineering, design, legal, and marketing teams will be essential:

1. Product Team: They will define the user experience, ensuring seamless and secure payment flows, and will track KPIs
2. Engineering Team: They will handle the technical integration, including API connections and security measures, working closely with the product team to ensure smooth functionality.
3. Design Team: They will focus on creating a user-friendly interface for Paytm payments, ensuring intuitive design and smooth interactions.
4. Legal Team: They will ensure compliance with payment regulations, privacy laws, and security standards throughout the integration.
5. Marketing Team: They will promote the integration to users, tracking feedback to refine the approach and enhance adoption.

Step 4 → User Journey for Swish Integration on Paytm

Step 1: Opening the Paytm App

• User Action: The user opens the Paytm app and lands on the homepage.
• Observation: The upper part of the Paytm homepage is dominated by payment-related options such as UPI, recharge, and bills.
• Decision: Integration here is not ideal as it may not attract attention from food delivery-seeking users.

Step 2: Discovering Swish

• User Action: The user scrolls down and notices the Swish logo or banner prominently displayed in a section designed for services or recommendations.
• Trigger: The visual branding or call-to-action encourages the user to explore Swish.

Step 3: Clicking on Swish

• User Action: The user clicks on the Swish logo or banner.
• Result: Swish’s landing page opens within the Paytm app (embedded web view or native integration).

Step 4: Differentiated Flows

• New Swish User:
• • The user is prompted to install the Swish app for a full experience.
  • After installation, the user is guided through a sign-up process, including entering basic details.
  • Once signed up, the user proceeds to explore food options.
• Existing Swish User:
• • The user is directed to the food selection/discovery flow seamlessly.

Step 5: Placing an Order

• User Actions:
• 1. Browse food options or discover recommended items.
  2. Add selected items to the cart.
  3. Proceed to checkout.

Step 6: Payment

• Default Payment Method: The payment option defaults to Paytm Wallet for convenience, ensuring a faster checkout process.

Step 7: Post-Order Features

• Order Tracking:
• • The user tracks the order within the Paytm app, receiving real-time updates.
• Order History:
• • The order is automatically added to the Paytm payment history for easy reference.
  • The Swish app also reflects orders placed through Paytm, maintaining a unified history.

Step 5 → Design the wireframe with the new integration

Paytm:

Swish :

Step 6 → We will run pilot tests before launching and test the integration on smaller scale.

Step 7 → Measure post-integration metrics for a period of 6 months

​1. Discovery Metrics

• Impressions on Paytm: Number of users who see the Swish logo or banner on Paytm’s homepage or other entry points.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of users who click on the Swish integration link after seeing it on Paytm.

2. Onboarding Metrics

• New User Sign-Ups: Number of new Swish users who register through Paytm.
• Conversion Rate: Percentage of users who start the Swish onboarding process and complete their first order.
• Drop-Off Rate: Percentage of users who abandon the sign-up process after clicking on Swish from Paytm.

3. Engagement Metrics

• Orders Placed: Number of orders initiated and completed by Paytm users.
• Frequency of Use: Average number of orders per user per week/month.
• Retention Rate: Percentage of Paytm users who place repeat orders on Swish.

4. Revenue Metrics

• Average Order Value (AOV): The average amount spent per order by Paytm users.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Total revenue generated by users acquired through Paytm over their lifecycle.
• Incremental Revenue: Additional revenue generated solely from Paytm users after the integration.

5. Operational Metrics

• Delivery Time Performance: Average delivery time for orders placed by Paytm users to ensure the 10-minute promise is upheld.
• Order Fulfillment Rate: Percentage of orders successfully completed without cancellations or delays.

6. User Experience Metrics

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures how likely Paytm users are to recommend Swish to others.
• App Reviews and Ratings: Feedback from Paytm users specifically about their experience with Swish.
• Support Queries: Number and type of customer support tickets raised by Paytm users, indicating friction points in the integration.

7. Referral and Virality Metrics

• Referral Rate: Number of new users Paytm users refer to Swish using referral incentives.
• Viral Coefficient: Measures the growth of Swish's user base driven by referrals from Paytm-acquired users.

8. Cohort Analysis

• Analyze behavior differences between users acquired through Paytm and other channels, such as:
• • Retention rates.
  • Order frequency and spend.
  • Churn rates.

1.Market Research

A. Trends and tailwinds

Trends:

We ran a google trend search on keyword "food delivery" to check the trend for last 1 year. "Swish" and "swish food delivery" under food delivery options are on a "Breakout". This means means that the search volume for Swish keyword has increased by more than 5,000% over a given time period of 12 months.

When we ran the search for 90days, we found that search queries for 'swish food delivery funding' raised by 450%, this means people Swish is a TOMA. For '10 minute food delivery' search queries raised by 200% and 'food delivery options near me' (which also signifies that people are looking for quick food delivery) is on a breakout (serch volume>5000%)

We see founders name- 'Aniket Shah' is also a breakout. This means founder's brand is playing well in the market which is essential for pre-PMF:

Tailwinds:

We did a detailed research of tailwinds for 10-minute food delivery services in India and found that following government initiatives are acting as tailwinds:

1. Urbanization: Programs like Smart Cities Mission aim to improve infrastructure in urban areas, enabling faster delivery networks​
   
2. Digital Infrastructure: Initiatives like Digital India and BharatNet boost internet penetration and digital payments, supporting e-commerce growth​
   
3. E-Commerce Growth: Policies under Startup India encourage innovation in quick commerce logistics, including the use of dark stores and AI-driven route optimizations​
   
4. Post-Pandemic Behavior: Pandemic-induced policies promoting online commerce, such as tax benefits for MSMEs, have further normalized reliance on delivery platforms​
   
5. Gig Worker Protections: The pending Social Security Code 2020 aims to provide health, insurance, and wage benefits to gig workers, improving the reliability of delivery services​
6. Tier-2/3 Expansion: Government-led efforts like PM Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) enhance digital literacy in rural and semi-urban areas, expanding the consumer base for quick commerce platforms​

These initiatives position 10-minute food delivery as a viable and scalable model in India’s evolving digital economy.

B. Competitor analysis

Here’s the updated table with Swish added as the second column:

2. Market sizing

Now it’s time for some math, calculate the size of your market.

TAM = Total no. of potential customers x Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPU)
SAM = TAM x Target Market Segment (percentage of the total market)
SOM = SAM x Market Penetration/Share

Bottom-Up TAM Calculation (All calculations in INR)

1.Define Target Customer Segments:

A. Young Urban Professionals (Office Goers, Startup Employees)

B. Families and Households

C. Students

D. Corporates

2. Gather primary data

• A. Young Urban Professionals (Office Goers, Startup Employees):
  • Average Annual Spend: ₹20,000
  • These users typically make frequent orders for meals and snacks during work hours.
• B. Families and Households:
  • Average Annual Spend: ₹25,000
  • Families tend to place larger orders for multiple people, especially on weekends or during special occasions.
• C. Students:
  • Average Annual Spend: ₹7,500
  • Students spend less due to lower budgets and less frequent ordering.
• D. Corporates:
  • Average Annual Spend: ₹35,000
  • Consumers in this segment often order premium meals, using delivery services more frequently.

3. Potential customer base

4. Total TAM Calculation:

Bottom-Up SAM Calculation

Swish is most suited for "A. Young Urban Professionals", as this segment demands speed, convenience, and health-conscious meals, which aligns well with Swish’s 10-minute delivery model. The health-conscious professionals looking for quick meal solutions and snacks during work hours present the ideal target. Moreover, co-working spaces, office buildings, and business districts make them an easy segment to target through effective marketing strategies, especially given the growing trend of health and wellness among young professionals.

Second segment that can be targeted is Students: While fast delivery works, the pricing might be a barrier unless affordable options are introduced.

• Young Urban Professionals (Tier-1 Cities):
  • Customer Base: 30 million. The number of young professionals in major Tier-1 cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad has been rising as urbanization continues​
  • Average Annual Spend: ₹20,000. Young professionals typically spend this amount on quick, convenient food delivery throughout the year, considering their busy schedules and preference for quality and speed​
    
• Students (Tier-1 Cities):
  • Customer Base: 15 million. Tier-1 cities have large student populations, especially in cities with top universities and colleges, such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai​
  • Average Annual Spend: ₹7,500. Students tend to spend less compared to working professionals but still order food for convenience during study sessions, breaks, and occasional meals​

We'll skip below segments for SAM:

• Families and Households: While they are significant spenders, Swish’s 10-minute delivery might not always work for large orders.
• Corporates: Large-scale orders and diverse meal needs may require more than what Swish can currently offer.

The Serviceable Available Market for Swish in Tier-1 cities, combining both Young Urban Professionals and Students, is ₹712.5 Billion. This represents the potential revenue Swish could target from these two key segments.

SOM calculation:

Customer Conversion Rate

Since Swish has more competitors in the market like Swiggy Bolt and Zepto Cafe and other regular food delivery apps like Eatsure, Eatclub, Swiggy, Zomato, we are assuming that young professional and students will also be using their other apps for food delivery specially for non-snack items like full meals, dinners and large orders. Also specialty food that is restaurant specific like Burmese food from Burma Burma, Theobroma's pastry- these use cases are not served by Swish.

So, based on the data from surveys, focus groups, or market analysis, we estimate the conversion rate—the percentage of potential customers likely to use the Swish app.

• Young Professionals: Based on primary data, suppose 15% of young professionals indicate they are likely to use the app regularly.
• Students: Similarly, 10% of students may indicate they will regularly use the app.

Conclusion:

The Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) for Swish in Tier-1 cities, targeting Young Professionals and Students, is estimated to be ₹101.25 billion. This represents the realistic market size based on conversion rates and the estimated spending behavior of these segments.