As a platform, Ola needs drivers who will come to the platform with their own vehicles and provide ride hailing services (ferrying people from one place to another). Ola charges a variable commission to these drivers. The focus here is on two wheeler (2W) taxi service.

Any person with a two wheeler and a driving license can work as a driver partner as Indian states and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) permit usage of personal vehicles (White Plate) for passenger services. Hence, any person working in gig economy industries like Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato or quick commerce like Dunzo, Blinkit, Instamart is a potential driver partner and pron to churn and work on any platform.

Instead of making any assumptions, I conducted a focus group discussion (FGD) of 15 driver partners and also interviewed them one on one to find out their understanding of Ola.

Key Insights:

Ola's Core Value Proposition:

Based on above inputs, Ola's core value proposition to the driver partner is:

1) Be financially independent

A driver partner can be financially independent and earn unlimited, as earnings are directly proportional to the efforts they put in. Their inputs are equivalent to the number of bookings they take on Ola's platform. Ola helps driver partners reach their maximum earning potential by providing minimum accepted fare (as decided by Government & Regional Transport Office (RTO)), incentives and by guiding them to high demand areas

2) Work on your own terms

A driver partner is free to work whenever and wherever he wants. He has the flexibility to login at any time of the day, work for any numbers of hours as per his availability and work in any area of the city

3) Respectable work

Skilled or unskilled, educated or uneducated, driver partner can associate themselves with a big brand and make a living

How do users experience CVP repeatedly?

To understand the CVP, let us understand a driver partner journey from the time, he opens the app, till he completes a booking. All the touch points are mentioned in the below table. A booking is successfully completed when a customer places a request on the app to go from place A to B and the driver partner successfully fulfills it.

Thus the user experiences the core value proposition by successfully completing a booking on the platform and thus we can define an active user as :

User who has taken a single booking in a week.

Natural Frequency of core product?

Earning money by taking bookings is an everyday process which makes the natural frequency of the core product - multiple times a day or week depending on the ICP.

Thus basic classification for target user is :

Do you have other sub products? What is their natural frequency like?

No sub products available as of now

What is the best engagement framework for your product?

1) Breadth of Engagement

Introduction of new services

2) Depth of Engagement

Here depth will be applicable as time

More time a driver spends completing bookings, better incentive he will get and low commission will be charged by Ola

3) Frequency

No. of bookings a driver can take within a day. This cannot be increased beyond a certain limit as a person can work for limited hours in a day

In this case,

1. Frequency would be the best engagement framework → Casual to Core users
2. Both depth and frequency would be a good engagement framework → Core to Power users.
3. All three (frequency, breadth, depth) would be the most suitable engagement framework → Power user

Based on ICP segmentation, let us define a user who is available to work part time on the platform and user who is fully dedicated and working in this industry.

ICP 1 - Vansh

Vansh is 21 year old BPO employee working in a MNC in Gurgaon. Vansh belongs to a tier 2 town in Uttar Pradesh and has done his education and his college from his home town. From friends and family help, he found a job paying him INR 25,000 per month in the usual Monday - Friday 10 am - 7 pm setup. He stays in a rented apartment with his friends and pays INR 6000 rent. His total monthly expenses are around 18-19k. He wants to purchase a new phone, probably iPhone to impress his girlfriend. He is looking for part time work. He has tried giving tuition but cannot provide time commitment. He owns a second hand vehicle which he has purchased for INR 30,000.

He has around 5 hours idle time in the day where he can drive 2 hours before going to office and 3 hours after coming from office. He wants to keep his identity hidden and doesn't want to deliver food or go to customer door. He is much comfortable with picking and dropping customer on road.

Products/features used with their respective natural frequencies-

1) Taking bookings (rides) on Ola platform to earn more-

Power - 8-9 rides on weekday & 15-20 rides on weekends

Core - 4-5 rides on 1-2 weekdays & 8-9 rides on weekends

Casual - 4-5 rides in a week

Revenue generated -

Comparatively fewer rides which lead to smaller revenue for the company.

ICP 2- Manoj

Manoj is 35 year old guy who left his studies after 10th class and moved to Gurgaon from a village in Haryana. He is married and has two children. His main motive to move to tier 1 city is to provide best education and life to his children. He has tried everything from selling roadside to working at a shop. He has found solace in working as a gig industry worker where he has potential to earn a decent amount every day. He is not loyal to any platform. He owns a two wheeler which he received as a weeding gift.
He has account on every possible platform Ola, Uber , Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo, and Amazon. He decides where to work based on daily and weekly incentives. He is ready to work 12-16 hours a day provided he can make a healthy income between INR 1200-1800 for the day. He has a little inhibition towards food delivery & quick commerce delivery as he doesn't understand how to navigate within a society or how to speak with customer in English or collect orders at restaurants as everything on the bill is written in English.

Products/features used with their respective natural frequencies-

1) Taking bookings (rides) on Ola platform to earn more-

Power - Daily 20-25 rides

Core - Daily 10-15 rides

Casual - Daily 2-3 rides

Revenue generated from ICP 2-

High revenue comes from this ICP

Engagement -

ICP 1 ( Part Timers)

Engagement framework - Increase Frequency

Casual ➡️ Core

Success metric: increase the number of rides taken per week

Problem statement:

1) Causal users don't understand full earning potential of the platform

2) They don't know when & where to start working

3) Unless given monetary incentive, they may not start taking more rides

Campaign 1:

Segment - FOMO - Rahul has purchased new vehicle/ iPhone from his Ola's earnings

Goal - To increase the frequency of bookings

Pitch -

Rahul has started riding before and after his regular office hours and on weekends. With his one month earning, he has been able to give down payment for his new bike.

Offer - Just take 15 extra rides, to get INR 500 incentives & a lucky draw entry for iPhone

Channel- WhatsApp

Frequency - WhatsApp (Twice Per week),

Success metric - No. of bookings done in 7 days.

Core ➡️ Power

Engagement framework for these users - Increase Frequency

Problem statement:

1) Core user doesn't fully understand earning potential of platform

2) He has never achieved highest slabs incentives

3) He is not satisfied with his earnings

Campaign 1:

Segment - Empathy - We understand we have disappointed you

Goal - To increase the frequency of bookings

Pitch - We have failed in meeting your expectations but we have special offers for you and we are here to make sure you get what you deserved

Offer - Just take 3 extra rides daily to get INR 170 incentives & to help you same we have shared all the city hot spots with you. Check your app.
Channel- Inbox, Push Notification & Telecalling team

Frequency- Calling (Once a week), in-app (Alternate Day)

Success metric - No. of bookings done in week

Power

Engagement framework for these users - Increase Depth & Frequency

Problem statement:

1) Power user understands earning potential of platform

2 They are unhappy with the high commission taken by Ola

3) They are unhappy that even after pushing themselves, they are not earning enough

Campaign 1:

Segment - Extra bonus for you

Goal - To increase the frequency of bookings

Pitch - We understand that you are our valued partner and thus for you we are giving you extra bonus for the weekend

Offer - Earn extra incentive on each ride for this weekend
Channel- Inbox, WhatsApp, & Push Notifications

Frequency- WhatsApp (Once a Week), in-app (Sat & Sun)

Success metric - No. of bookings done in week

ICP 2 (Full Timer)

Casual ➡️ Core

Success metric: increase the no of rides taken per week

Problem statement:

1) Causal users don't understand full earning potential of the platform

2) They don't know when & where to start working

3) Unless given monetary incentive, they may not start taking more rides

4) They are working on other platforms

5) They come to Ola's platform when they are free or not occupied on another platform

Campaign 1:

Segment - FOMO - Rahul has earned INR 50,000 last month from Ola

Goal - To increase the frequency of bookings

Pitch -

Rahul has started working full time with Ola and last month, he did a business of INR 50,000

Offer - INR 50 extra on every additional ride. Valid upto 2 days

Channel- Inbox, Telecalling , WhatsApp & Push Notifications

Frequency - Every alternate day

Success metric - No. of bookings done daily

Core ➡️ Power

Engagement framework for these users - Increase Frequency

Problem statement:

1) He has never achieved highest slabs incentives

2) He is not satisfied with his earnings

Campaign 1:

Segment - Challenge - Set the target for yourself

Goal - To increase the frequency of bookings

Pitch - We have failed in meeting your expectations but you can meet yours. Select the target and earn as much as you can

Offer - Earn money on achieving every additional target
Channel- Inbox, WhatsApp, Push Notifications & Telecalling team

Frequency- Calling (Once a week), WhatAapp (Once a Week), in-app (Daily)

Success metric - No. of bookings done in week

Power

Engagement framework for these users - Increase Depth & Frequency

Problem statement:

1) Power user understands earning potential of platform

2 They are unhappy with the high commission taken by Ola

3) They are getting no aha moment from incentives

Campaign 1:

Segment - Commission: Lowest commission for you

Goal - To increase the frequency of bookings

Pitch - We understand that you are our valued partner and thus, for you we are reducing the commission per booking

Offer - Earn more money on each ride by giving less than 10% commission
Channel- Inbox, Whatsapp, Push Notification & Telecalling team

Frequency- Calling (Once a week), WhatsApp ( Once a Week), in-app (Daily)

Success metric - No. of bookings done in week and reduction in cancellation

Retention-

Bird's-eye view:

What is your current retention rate in terms of users?

70% - Week on Week Retention

(Got this value from Priyanka, Category Manager, Ola )

At what time period does your retention curve flatten?

Around 5 months

Microscopic View:

Which ICPs drive the best retention?

ICP 2- Power Users - This segment consists of full time gig workers who owns a vehicle and are able to meet daily earning expectation from the platform. They are able to achieve incentives at least 5 times per week and on an average does around 100 bookings per day

ICP 1 - Core Users- Since these users have inherent inhibition for door delivery (food, quick commerce, parcels etc) and are happy with ride share earnings. They tend to login on the platform but take the bookings to make extra income

What channels drive the best retention?

1) Referral: For ICP 2, referral results in the best retention. As ICP 2 is consist of full timers who work full time in gig industry. Referral helps them in retaining them as to receive the referral amount, they need to continuously work on the platform for the time duration.

2) WhatsApp:

ICP 1 mainly consists of part time drivers. These users are not used to continuous check in app notification or push notifications and thus many times they miss on the offers and the incentives. They may also not open to receive call from Ola at any point of time. For them, WhatsApp is the best mode of communication as they have habit of opening WhatsApp at now and then. They can see the offer and then decide when and whether to drive on the platform

What sub-features or sub-products drive the best retention?

Reducing commission for ICP 2 Power users and communicating the same through in app derives the best retention.

Churn

At Risk Users

Early signs of churn to monitor

Retention Campaigns -

1. Employ a killer onboarding experience

a)Ask for limited, required information only. Required documentation should be simplified

b)Offer short informative tutorials regarding various use cases.

c)Offer a joining bonus or default scheme for new users so that they earn money from first day

2.Engross via WhatAapp-

a) Minimal and on the point

b)Personalized

c) With clear information on incentives

4. App & support in regional language- App and customer support should be available in regional language
5. UX/UI should be intuitive and a user should be able to navigate easily
6. Whole story - Don't take any negative action on drivers based on only customer feedback, kindly reach to driver partner before taking any action
7. Lower slabs: reduce the slabs based on micros such as rains if drivers are unable to meet the target

Resurrection campaigns -

For Voluntary reason of churn below are the listed Campaigns:

• 
• Campaign 1 : Incentives
• 
• Campaign 2 : Partner Support Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zCwyFwwkMc

• Campaign 3: language Option Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v54yYLEQCO0
• Campaign 4 : For unachievable incentives

• Campaign 5 : Details are shared in regional language

Part 2

Engagement:

Product Hook

The product hook will be designed around the key insight that making a payment is a significant friction point for users using any mobility app. We will leverage Ola Money to drastically enhance the ride payment experience for Ola rides - by not having to bother to pay!

Goal:

To increase the frequency of rides booked per user.

Success Metrics:

Increase the ride booking and completion frequency of the cohort by 30%. The average ride rating should not decrease.

Problem Statement:

On reaching the destination, making payment for the ride is a point of potential friction. This involves the driver ending the ride, asking the customer to pay as per the amount shown on the screen. At times, this amount is dynamic and hence the user might also be inclined to cross check the amount shown on his/ her application. On verifying that the amounts are matching, the user would pay. There might also be a preference for cash payment by the driver, which the user might now have. The payments initiated via digital modes (UPI, wallet, etc) might also fail/ get stuck. In case of cash payments, availability of exact change might also be an issue.

After a smooth ride booking and riding experience, this last step has the potential to ruin the experience for the customer.

Current alternative:

If not for Ola Money, the current alternative to do the payment is either via an active online mode (UPI/ wallet/ card) or via Cash

Solution:

Subtly nudge the user to try cashless experience using Ola Money. Once activated, set it as the default payment option for ride booking for all their rides, unless they complete a ride using some other payment option.

Metrics to track:

• Increase in the frequency of rides booked
• Changes/ upgradation of user segments (How many users migrated from Inactive to Causal to Core to Power and vice versa)
• Total transaction via Ola Money
• Average transaction value via Ola Money
• Revenue share via Ola Money vs Other payment means
• Ride ratings, app rating
• #customer service tickets
• Types of queries raised to customer support

Ramp up milestones:

We will ramp up this exercise if:

Atleast 10% users try Ola Money to pay for their rides AND

Atleast 30% of these users show a 20% improvement in the ride completion frequency because of OlaMoney

Engagement Campaigns

Campaign 1: OlaMoney Product Hook - Cashless ride

This campaign will work in tandem with the OlaMoney Product Hook. We will encourage users to try out the OlaMoney ride completion experience

Segmentation type of the user: All active users

Goal of campaign: To increase the frequency of rides booked using OlaMoney as a payment option

Pitch/ Content: “Your Ola experience just got a lot better! Try the transaction-less booking experience with Ola Money”

Offer: 20% off on your first ride using OlaMoney

Frequency and Timing: We will send this campaign to users twice a week, 10 mins before their usual ride booking timings (based on past ride booking trends)

Success Metrics: Increase in the use of the product hook (Rides paid via Ola Money) by 20% in 1 month

Campaign 2: Daily Office ride

We will try to move the causal and core users to be power users

Segmentation type of the user: Casual and Core

Goal of campaign: To increase the frequency of rides booked

Pitch/ Content: “Glide smoothly into your workday with Ola’s hassle-free travel experience”

Inactive Users: Experience a transaction-less ride with Ola. Also get a 20% off on your next ride using OlaMoney.

Offer: 20% off on your next 3 rides

Frequency and Timing: Twice a week for 2 month - On Mondays and Thursdays morning

Success Metrics: 20% increase in rides booked by this cohort in 2 months

Campaign 3: Ditch your car

We will attempt to plant seeds of a core behaviour change - using comfortable cabs instead of your cars to commute

Segmentation type of the user: Casual and Core

Goal of campaign: To increase the frequency of rides booked

Pitch/ Content: “Extend your productive time, reduce your ‘travel time’ - as our best drivers take you to office”

Offer: 20% off on next 3 Prime Sedan rides

Frequency and Timing: Twice a week - On Mondays and Thursdays morning

Success Metrics: 10% users in the cohort booking 4 Prime Sedan rides in a month

Campaign 4: Experience the rest of Ola

Aimed at Power users - to experience Ola Rentals and Outstation

Segmentation type of the user: Power

Goal of campaign: To drive adoption of Ola Rentals and Outstation

Pitch/ Content: “Take Ola with you on your weekend trips!”

Offer: 20% off on 1st Ola rental/ outstation

Frequency and Timing: Twice a week - Friday evening and Saturday morning

Success Metrics: 10% users in the cohort booking 1 rental/ outstation ride in a month

Campaign 5: Ola Electric - Brand Strengthening campaign

Aimed at all active users - to build on Ola’s trust and brand recall and to cement the association of Ola as a “Mobility Partner” by becoming a more integral part of their lives

Segmentation type of the user: Active User

Goal of campaign: To drive adoption of Ola Electric bikes

Pitch/ Content: “Experience the marvel of the engineering team at Ola”

Offer: 10% off for next 3 months. Book a free demo now!

Frequency and Timing: Twice a month for 3 months

Success Metrics: 5% users book a free demo/ show interest in buying

Retention

Bird’s eye view:

Current retention rate:

Extrapolating the insights gathered via user understanding and based on anecdotal evidences, the current retention rate of Ola will be around 40%.

The curve flattens after around a month.

Microscopic view:

Which ICPs drive the best retention?

The power users have the lowest churn rate and the hightest retention rate.

Which channels drive the best retention?

Engagement via in-app communication of features and push notification to communicate offers seem to be driving the best retention

What sub-feature or sub-product drives the best retention?

Based on user feedback, competitive and reliable pricing of rides, availability of multiple ride options in all budget ranges and availability of OlaMoney has a major contribution to retention

Churn

Negative actions/ occurences:

We can monitor a few negative actions by the users or occurances as a direct or a proxy measure of chances to churn:

• Giving a low rating to a cab ride
• Decreasing frequency of ride completion (moving slowly towards the risk zone)
• Frequently entering a pick-up and drop location but not booking the ride (finds the pricing higher)
• Multiple/ frequent ride cancellations by either the user of the driver
• Occurance of “No rides available” multiple times when the user searches
• Low rating to customer support chat
• Multiple tickets raised
• Ride taking longer to arrive/ complete than promised
• Multiple failed payments

Resurrection Campaigns

Our churned users experienced the core value prop of Ola and yet decided to quit. Based on the actions the user performed on the app, the data-points we might have, we will associate a “probable reason of dropping off” with each of these users. For reasons that we can now can solve for better, we will make them a “Sorry and a promise” pitch. For reasons we have not solved for yet, we will make them a “We know we have led you down. We are working on it and we look forward to your support and encouragement” pitch. In order to not abuse the channel frequency, we will not send out campaigns to users who we have no clue why they dropped off.

Campaign 1: Bad ride experience

User segment: Users who have given a low rating to rides before churning OR User who raised support tickets post ride and then churned

Pitch: “We are sorry to have let you down. We are constantly improving and training our team and would request you to give us one more chance. As a token of promise, avail a 20% off on your next 5 rides with us”

Offer: 20% off on next 5 rides

Frequency and timing: Once every 3 months but only twice. Send based on customised user data of best time to book a ride for that user else default to standard best times (afternoon during/ post lunch, before morning and evening commute/ weekends late evening or afternoons)

Success Metrics: Number of users in this cohort who booked their 1st ride again

Campaign 2: High Pricing

User segment: Users who possibly churned because of high pricing (Basic data points - User checked the pricing multiple times but never booked, asked for a refund/ chargeback to customer support, etc)

Pitch: “We are constantly aspiring to better the lives of our riders and also keep the pricing competitive. As a token of appreciation for your support, we are extending a special offer for you. Get a 20% off on your next 5 rides”

Offer: 20% off on next 5 rides

Frequency and timing: Once every 3 months but only twice. Send based on customised user data of best time to book a ride for that user else default to standard best times (afternoon during/ post lunch, before morning and evening commute/ weekends late evening or afternoons)

Success Metrics: Number of users in this cohort who booked more than 5 rides in the next 3 months

Campaign 3: Bad payment experience

User segment: Users who possibly churned because of bad payment experience (Basic data points - Payment failures/ tickets raised to support on being charged more in cash etc)

Pitch: “Now travel cash-free with Ola Money”

Offer: 20% off on 1st ride payment using OlaMoney

Frequency and timing: Once every 2 weeks for 2 months. Send based on customised user data of best time to book a ride for that user else default to standard best times (afternoon during/ post lunch, before morning and evening commute/ weekends late evening or afternoons)

Success Metrics: Number of users in this cohort who completed their 1st ride using Ola Money

Campaign 4: Ride took longer to arrive/ to reach destination/ cancellations by driver

User segment: Users who possibly churned because of their rides arriving late OR reaching late OR driver cancelled

Pitch: “Book a ride now with the Ola guarantee”

Offer: Guaranteed ride within 10 mins else get a variable discount coupon on next ride

Frequency and timing: Once every weeks for 1 month. Send based on customised user data of best time to book a ride for that user else default to standard best times (afternoon during/ post lunch, before morning and evening commute/ weekends late evening or afternoons)

Success Metrics: Number of users in this cohort who completed their 1st ride without any issues/ delays

Campaign 5: Gradual Drop off

User segment: Users who were quite active on the app but slowly dropped off over time

Pitch: “We miss you. Get 20% off on your next 5 rides”

Offer: 20% off on next 5 rides

Frequency and timing: Once every weeks for 1 month. Send based on customised user data of best time to book a ride for that user else default to standard best times (afternoon during/ post lunch, before morning and evening commute/ weekends late evening or afternoons)

Success Metrics: Number of users in this cohort who completed their 1st ride