Waycool is a B2B (farm-to-retailer) agri-tech company that operates in 3 categories - Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, Grains & Staples and Dairy. The company has focused operations in South India. Waycool has raised ~$310Mn through equity and debt till date. Operating across 50 regions in the country, WayCool handles more than 1200 tons of food products daily, with a network of more than 150,000 farmers. With a valuation of $722Mn, and strong revenue growth, Waycool has definitely hit PMF.
WayCool's focus is to create a demand-led supply chain where farmers grow based on demand thereby ensuring less wastage and low volatility in prices rather than the traditional supply-led supply chain where farmers grow based on guts and intuition causing periods of shortages and gluts which in turn cause volatility in prices and high wastage.
This project is focused on Waycool's fresh produce business that procures fruits & vegetables from farmers across India and sells it to retailers in Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Pondicherry. Waycool runs Collection Centers (CCs) in farm clusters where farmers bring their produce which is then graded and packed in crates. Waycool has Distribution Centers in key demand clusters within a particular city for distribution. The state of the art supply-chain built by WayCool ensures that the produce goes untouched from CC to DC and finally to the retailer thus preserving freshness and shelf-life.
Sales Model
Waycool mimics the FMCG sales model and employs a Feet-on-Street (FoS) sales force to visit retailers and nudge them to place orders. Since WayCool operates in a category that is perishable, the natural frequency of ordering is high and the only way to keep costs are under control is to enable the retailer to self-order with a low-to-zero frequency of FoS visits. Considering this, for the purpose of this project, the engagement and retention interventions are focused on self-ordering customers and the effect of FoS visits are not taken into account (this is reasonable considering the high percentage of self-ordering customers at WayCool).
Waycool App
The Waycool application is a customer (retailer) facing app available only on Android. It has 10k+ downloads on PlayStore. Did not find any issues with discoverability on Google Search or PlayStore.
About the Market
Indirect Competition โ APMC Wholesale Mandi (The OG Market)
The issues with the market are already covered. Some of the advantages of procuring from the market are:
Price Discovery โ Retailers can find a commodity's price set daily due to supply and demand dynamics.
Habit & Ikea Effect โ For retailers who have been in the business for some time, the daily visit to the market is a habit. In addition, they find the produce chosen by them superior even if it is objectively inferior because of the work they have put in (Ikea effect).
Easy Access to Informal Credit โ Wholesalers extend credit to retailers without the requirement of any formal documentation. Credit is also one of the key drivers of loyalty.
Direct Competition
Direct competitors of WayCool offering similar products and services, in the regions in which it operates are as follows:
Ninjacart โ Recently pivoted to being a marketplace. Ninjacart has a retailer-facing app and a detail teardown is done as part of the study for the project
BigBasket (BB Mandi) โ Detail teardown is done as part of the study for this project
Several local players operate at a small scale (few pin codes) โ Primarily use WhatsApp and act as consolidators; They act as another middle-man between the market and the retailer with delivery as a service.
Problems Faced by Retailers
Early Morning Hustle โ Retailers need to visit the wholesale market early in the morning (~4 AM), scout for good quality produce, and bargain for the right price. Most retailers are 1-2 member businesses and this means significantly less bandwidth for dealing with their customers throughout the day (most shops close by 8 PM)
Lack of predictability in quality of produce โ There are three aspects to quality especially in the context of fresh produce:
Recovery โ How much of the produce purchased is in fact saleable? (A retailer cannot sell produce that is broken, rotten etc.)
Specification โ How much of the produce matches the specifications required by my customers? (A retailer cannot sell oversized or misshaped potatoes)
Consistency โ Can I get similar quality of produce every day? OR How much of the produce in a bag or in different bags conform to my requirements? (Fresh produce is sensitive to weather conditions, storage quality etc. which adds to the complexity in sourcing).
The measure of quality in the wholesale market is subjective โ looks, touch and feel. Also, there is variance in recovery and specification on a particular day and overall lack of consistency on a day-to-day basis in the market.
Freshness โ Farmers typically harvest produce during the day and take it to the markets within city limits the next day. The produce changes many hands โ Main wholesale market to an ancillary market and then to a retailer. Multiple touch points cause the produce to lose freshness and shelf life.
Hygiene โ The mandi is not maintained well. In addition since it deals with fresh produce, there is accumulation of rotting vegetables in the surroundings. While this is not a major pain point, it is not a pleasant experience for retailers to start their morning in such an environment.
Access to Credit โ Informal credit is available to few retailers but at much higher interest rates than formal credit.
Core Value Proposition
Primary value proposition - High-quality and consistent quality fruits and vegetables
Secondary value proposition - Convenience: Door-step delivery everyday
Tertiary value proposition - Access to formal credit at relatively lower interest rates than informal credit
"Waycool redefines the fresh produce supply-chain for retailers. Our farm-to-retailer supply-chain cuts out the middleman to deliver fresh, high-quality and consistent produce right to your store. Avoid the early morning market visits and unpredictable quality - WayCool ensures you get produce that meet your specifications, with high recovery and consistent freshness, every time. Spend more time with your customers and less on sourcing. We make it easier to keep your shelves stocked with the best, so you can focus on growing your business."
How do users experience it repeatedly?
Purchasing fruits and vegetables through the WayCool app and selling them to consumers and thereby earning a higher ROI.
Natural Frequency
Casual Users: 1-2 orders per week
Core Users: 3-4 orders per week
Power Users: 6-7 orders per week
Fresh produce is highly perishable & due to lack of cold storage facilities, daily restocking is necessary for a retailer. Considering that WayCool delivers only once a day, the cap on the natural frequency is 7 orders/week.
Sub-Products
Categories ->
Onion, Potato, Garlic, Ginger, Coconut
Other Vegetables & Leafy Produce
Fruits (Domestic & Imported)
Long-Tail SKUs (Golden Berry, Sponge Gourd etc.)
Category Name (Will be used as a proxy for the category in this document)
OP
Country Veggies
Fruits
LT
About
Relatively High Shelf-Life
Low Shelf-Life
Relatively Medium Shelf-Life
Low-Medium Shelf-Life
Natural Frequency - Casual
0-1 orders/week
0-2 orders/week
0-1 orders/week
0-1 orders/week
Natural Frequency - Core
1-2 orders/week
3-4 orders/week
1-2 orders/week
0-1 orders/week
Natural Frequency - Power
2-4 orders/week
6-7 orders/week
3-7 orders/week
1-2 orders/week
Engagement Framework for the Product
Framework Chosen: New product/Feature Engagement (Breadth of offering)
Rationale:
Waycool has a wide-variety of produce to offer (~60 SKUs)
The more SKUs the retailer orders and then sells to end consumers, the more happy consumers are with the quality, the more they return to the retailer and hence the more ROI he makes -> he hence experiences the value proposition more
This is also arrived at by method of elimination:
Depth (AOV = f(Quantity x No. of SKUs)) is NOT the right engagement framework since every retailer has a cap on the quantity he can buy on a particular day. This quantity is a function of the neighborhood population and competition for the retailer and is usually constant for a long time. It is also next to impossible to ascertain if there is any opportunity to sell more quantity of a particular SKU. Secondly, the behavior of the retailer opposes choosing depth - a retailer will most likely not buy the same SKU from different vendors,
Frequency is also NOT the right engagement framework since this is a low gross-margin business and a high frequency at a low AOV is disastrous for the business. Last-mile delivery costs skyrocket when utilization of the vehicles are low.
Step 2: Define
Actions of Active Users:
The following actions make someone an active user:
A minimum of 1 transaction in the last 7 days
A minimum of 4 SKUs purchased in the last 30 days
Rationale:
Retailers do not store fresh produce since it is perishable and hence order them everyday. There are few SKUs like Onion, Potato, Garlic etc. that have a shelf life of about a week. So, the time window for calling a user "Active" is set to 7 days.
Ordering 1-2 SKUs only would mean that the purchases are purely opportunistic and the customer is taking a call basis the price. Since our value-prop is quality, we would like the user to experience it through different SKUs.
Natural Frequency:
Casual Users: 1-2 orders/week
Casual users are generally those that have not experienced the full value-proposition of WayCool.
Ex - Users who have recently onboarded but are skeptical and show low commitment. They generally stick to staple SKUs like onion, potato etc. that are low risk.
Core Users: 3-4 orders/week
Core users have experienced the value proposition of WayCool and have typically divided SKUs between different vendors with WayCool being one of them.
Ex - Users who are happy with WayCool's quality of some vegetables order them everyday with the rest purchased from the market OR the same users order with different vendors on different days.
Power Users: 6-7 orders/week
Power users DEPEND on WayCool for ~80% of their supplies and they have fully experienced the value proposition of WayCool. They buy a large part of the range and only go to other vendors as a backup.
Ex - Users who started with staple SKUs like Onion & Potato, quickly started ordering other SKUs and seeing results due to which they changed their vendor to WayCool. They also try the long-tail SKUs and found good results.
Step 3: Segment
A. Persona Based Segmentation (ICP)
Rationale for Choosing Persona Based Segmentation:
ICPs
Young "Heir"/Young Entrepreneur (ICP1)
Affluent Neighborhood & Modern Trader (ICP2)
Age (of Owner)
Less than 40 years
Less than 55 years
Gender (of Owner)
Male
Male
City
Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Pondicherry
Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Pondicherry
Education Level
Basic degree or Less
Basic degree or Less
Marital Status
Married/Un-married
Married
Risk Appetite of Owner (indicator of time to value of the customer)
Low
Medium-High
Type of Company Registration
Sole Proprietorship
Sole Proprietorship
Type of Operations
Direct Family Operated
Direct / Extended Family Operated
Shop Size*
Single Door/Double Door
Double Door (minimum)
Socio-Economic Status of Neighborhood of Shop
Lower Middle Class/Middle Class/Upper Middle Class
Middle Class/Upper Middle Class/Rich
Distance of Shop from Mandi
>10km
>10km
Annual Household Income
Rs. 6L - Rs. 10L
Rs.10L - Rs.30L
Type of Vehicle Owned
2โWheeler
2โWheeler and/or 3โWheeler (for purchases)
Mobile Phone โ Android/iPhone
Android
Android/iPhone
Business Vintage (Age of Shop)
Less than 8 years
Less than 8 years
Type of Store
Small Kirana Store
Modern Trade Store
No. of Employees/Family members working for the store
1-2
2-5
Typical Day โ Daily Schedule & Time Spent
3am โ Wakeup
4am - 6am - Commute in Auto-rickshaw & visit Mandi for purchases
6amโ11am โ Take care of store activities and sales
11am - Handover shop to a family member/employee and return home
12pm-4pm - Sleep
4pmโ11pm โ Household Chores & Entertainment (TV mainly), Spend time with family and on Social Media
11pm - Sleep
6am โ Wakeup
6:30am - Arrive at shop in Car/Bike โ Open shop and inward all material received (Employee or family member goes for purchases to Mandi)
7am - 11am - Be the cashier since it is peak time for sales
11am - 4pm - Relatively free time, spend time watching Movies/Cricket, Social Media
4pmโ8pm โ Relatively busy time in the shop
8pm โ Shut shop and return home
9pmโ11pm โ Family time, Watch TV
11pm - Sleep
Time Spent on Commute
2-4 hours
0.5-1.5 hours
Overall Assessment of Time Spent
Very early waking time, lack of quality sleep and physical work of visiting mandi and moving produce to the store makes it clear that BASIC COMFORTS are missing. Also a lot of time is spent in commute (mostly self-driven) which adds to the stress.
While the day starts early, lot of free time available in the afternoon. Indication of more bandwidth for giving attention to little aspects of the shop like arrangement of F&V etc.
Lean Day of the Week
Monday (Weekends are peak sales days)
Monday & Thursday (Weekends and Wednesday are peak sales days)
Problem Statement/Frustration Faced (With regard to F&V purchases)
Waking up early (3am) everyday is a pain-point
Don't want to do physically demanding work everyday like lifting crates and carrying sacks
Lot of effort goes into searching for good produce at the Mandi and then bargaining for a good price.
Lack of consistency in quality of produce at the Mandi and this seriously affects their sales
There is also no visibility on prices before the day starts โ this is a problem since many retailers do home delivery with orders taken the previous night.
Principal โ Agent problem with employee or extended family member going to purchase produce in the mandi
Quality of F&V at store and is also a social status symbol and always wants to err on better quality vs better price. Even willing to take a small loss to maintain social status.
Spending Patterns
Automobile loan EMI
House rent and other expenses
Shop rent and maintenance (Will be kept as low as possible)
Mobile Phone EMI, mobile recharges
Entertainment spending - movies in theater, alcohol, Eating out with friends or family (ROIC most important for this ICP and will keep shop expenses to the minimum for that reason. There is also no bandwidth in terms of time to think deeply about growth)
Shop rent maintenance expenses
House rent/EMI and other expenses
Children's education and other expenses
Entertainment Spending - Family outing to mall/movies/restaurants, alcohol
Shop upgrade or new store opening investments (Capital is less of a constraint and ambition is generally higher which is the reason for higher spending on shop upgrades and opening new stores)
Product Usage โ Time of Day when product is used
4pm-6pm
1pm-6pm
Most valued features and reasons
Shortfall notification sent in the night โ so he can plan better and make alternate arrangements
Search feature โ Does not have the patience to scroll and look at all the 60+ SKUs
Availability of all SKUs in every category as this ICP is more likely to be a Power user
Service - Doorstep delivery everyday
Ability to choose a different delivery slot everyday โ Flexibility is important for this ICP since he purchases from multiple vendors
OTP for goods received & Cash Paid โ Solves for principal-agent problem if owner is not at the store
Availability of LT category as these may not be available elsewhere and this ICP would like to have a wide offering for their customers.
Natural Frequency
3-7 orders/week
1-3 orders/week
Avg. Money Spent on the Product/Order
Rs.30,000-Rs.50,000 (High Wallet Share)
Rs.50,000-Rs.75,000 (Medium Wallet Share)
Avg. Sales per Day of the Shop
(Total Opportunity)
Rs.50,000-Rs.75,000
Rs.1,20,000 โ Rs. 2,00,000
Buying Decision (Quality vs Service vs Price)
Service>Price>Quality
Quality>Price>Service
B. Power/Core/Casual Based Segmentation
Rationale for Choosing Power/Core/Casual Based Segmentation
Power
Core
Casual
Product Usage Behavior
Orders 40+ SKUs in a 30 day period
Orders 6-7 times per week
AOV of ~Rs.40,000
Orders from all categories available
Positive WoM and does not wait for any nudge to use the product
Orders 20+ SKUs in a 30 day period
Orders 3-4 times per week
AOV of ~Rs.20,000
Orders from OP, Country Vegetables and Fruits categories
Positive WoM but waits for nudges (salesperson visit, messages etc.) to order
Orders 5+ SKUs in a 30 day period
Orders 1-2 times per week
AOV of ~Rs.2000
Orders mostly from OP or Country Vegetables
Transactional relationship with WayCool and is opportunistic
Characteristics
Depends on WayCool for supplies and is a loyalist
Willing to try new SKUs
Relatively - Values time over money
Splits purchases among different vendors including the market
Overall happy with WayCool but have still not fully switched
Willing to try new SKUs
Relatively - Values time over money
New user OR opportunistic user OR uncomfortable buying online OR old habits too strong
Relatively - Values money over time
Corresponding ICPs
ICP1
ICP1/ICP2
ICP2
Advanced Segmentation
Ordered 1 day ago
Champion
Ordered 3 days back
Loyalist
Ordered 6-7 days back
Hibernating
Typical Profile
A young kirana store owner in a middle-class neighborhood who is well versed with the internet and wants to progress in business & life
A middle aged kirana store owner OR a modern trade store owner who knows about the internet and is slightly skeptical and resistant to change.
A new user on WayCool who is testing the product out.
Pain Points
Product availability
Product quality
Product availability
Lack of formal credit
Physical work to organize store everyday
Marketing to end consumers
Price in comparison to competition
Step 4: Engagement
Engagement Campaigns
Casual to Core - Problem Solving:
Campaign 1:
Type of User
Casual customers with order history of very few SKUs but medium AOV (signal of opportunity)
Goal
Casual to Core conversion by increasing AOV (primary goal) and No. of SKUs ordered (secondary goal)
Channel
Whatsapp and Notifications
Offer
5% off on cart value. Min cart value of Rs.9999 & Min. no. of SKUs is 5. Maximum discount value is Rs.2500. The offer is to be directly applied without the use of any coupons.
Offer Justification
Casual users have not yet experienced the full value-prop of WayCool which can be done by inducing them to purchase more no. of SKUs and more quantity of each SKU.
5X increase in AOV (Rs.2000 to Rs.10,000) for 5% reduction in GM which is easily justifiable considering the retention (point 3)
Min SKU count is 5 means that some country veggies are ordered for which retention rates are very high
Capped at Rs.2500 since if un-capped, it can give rise to negative behavior (use material for opportunistic wholesale sales)
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run once a month for a week. The week of the month to be decided randomly so that there is no habit formed on discounts.
Whatsapp: A. D1 - post delivery with order delivery message - Creative A
B. Offer launch day at 3PM, Other days at 6PM - Creative B
Notifications: Offer launch day - 3PM, Everyday the offer is active - 4 PM since this is the time that all our ICPs are free and looking to order - Creative C
Success Metrics
Offer redemption rate
No. of customers that qualified and used the offer
Avg. no. of SKUs ordered (for this set of customers)
Creative A: Added "exclusive" and "special" to entice the user.
Creative B: The image to be that of a successful retailer in front of his store.
Creative C (Notification):
Campaign 2:
Type of User
Casual customers at low distance from the market (10km-15km)
Goal
Casual to Core conversion by increasing the no. of SKUs ordered.
Channel
Whatsapp, Notifications, In-App Banner at Checkout
Offer
Free delivery if you order 10+ SKUs
Offer Justification
As stated in the ICPs, distance from Mandi is a big indicator of a high potential user since delivery charges seem too high for this segment. Our hypothesis is - waive delivery fee so customers can buy our products --> customers then sell our products and get high ROI --> customers continue to buy from us even if we add delivery fee. 1. Objective is to induce TRIAL - Casual users have not yet experienced the full value-prop of WayCool which can be done by inducing them to purchase more no. of SKUs 2. AOV is not a challenge here since WayCool has MOQs for each SKU that more than covers for the AOV 3. Min SKU count is 10 means that MANY country veggies are ordered for which retention rates are very high
4. This campaign will definitely help to better cart abandonment rates due to delivery charges. 5. The increase in GM more than justifies the delivery fee waiver
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run once a month for 2 weeks.
WhatsApp: A. D1 post delivery with order delivery message- Creative A
B. Offer launch day at 3PM, D3 6PM - Creative B
Notifications: Offer launch day at 5PM, Everyday offer is active at 4 PM since this is the time that all our ICPs are free and looking to order - Creative C
In-App Banner at Checkout to nudge adding more SKUs: Always present during offer active weeks - Creative D
Success Metrics
Offer redemption rate
No. of customers that qualified and used the offer
Avg. No. of SKUs purchased by customers who were targeted
Creative A: Added "limited period offer" to add scarcity
Creative B: Added "limited period offer" to add scarcity. Image of a truck racing to be used.
Creative C: Clear and simple CTA - "Free Delivery Unlocked"
Creative D: Nudge the user at Checkout to add more SKUs.
Campaign 3:
Type of User
Casual customers with order history of only OP category
Goal
Casual to Core conversion by increasing the no. of SKUs ordered.
Channel
WhatsApp, Notifications, Catalogue Page
Offer
Value Pack - Bundle of 5 country veggies of 10kg each at 10% discount
Offer Justification
It is observed that many casual users only order from the OP category mostly since they are not confident of WayCool's promise. 5 SKUs that are staples to any store are chosen so that it is universally applicable.
1. Objective is to induce TRIAL - Casual users have not yet experienced the full value-prop of WayCool which can be done by inducing them to purchase more no. of SKUs 2. Additional AOV of ~Rs.1500 3. Country vegetables are WayCool's hero products, have a high retention rate and are well differentiated in quality 4. The discounts are aggressive but since these products are habit forming, it is worth it.
5.Making a value pack of small quantity means that the retailer will have a comparison set when material is delivered. He can easily compare quality of his market purchased material and WayCool material. It will help remove any doubts and help change perception.
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run once a month for a week. The week of the month to be decided randomly so that there is no habit formed on discounts.
WhatsApp: A. D1 (if value pack not ordered) - post delivery with order delivery message - Creative A
B. Offer launch day (if not D1) at 5PM, D3 6PM - Creative B
Notifications: Offer launch day, Everyday the offer is live - 4 PM since this is the time that all our ICPs are free and looking to order - Creative C
Catalogue Page:
Add value pack in the catalogue page. - Creative D
Success Metrics
1. No. of value pack orders 2. No. of customers ordering value pack 3. Percentage of customers using the offer
Interest free credit facility for 1 order per week. Max value Rs.20,000 and credit period is 7 days. Applicable only if cart value is > Rs.30,000
Offer Justification
Insight - A retailer divides the share of wallet to each vendor based on payment terms (price is a qualifier). If a retailer has less cash on a particular day, he changes the share of wallet to prefer vendors who give credit. This was confirmed in user conversations.
1. Access to formal credit is a major pain-point for retailers and hence go to players in the Mandi who provide informal credit at exorbitant rates. Offering credit can definitely unlock more opportunity from core users. 2. Since WayCool definitely gets credit from it's vendors, overall the business will still NOT need any infusion of working capital to offer this credit. 3. Since the users are Core, there is data built over time to actually underwrite these customers. 4. Avg. AOV of core customers is Rs.20,000 and the Min. Rs.30,000 OV condition ensures that they are ordering more SKUs (Since most core users order at least 80% of an SKUs requirement with a single vendor)
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run twice a month for a week (alternate weeks to ensure collection from the first offer week).
WhatsApp: A. D1 (if credit is not used in the previous order) - post delivery with order delivery message - Creative A
B. Offer launch day and everyday till offer is live and if not subscribed in W1, alternate days in W2 at 5PM, - Creative B
Notifications: Offer launch day and everyday till offer is live and not subscribed in W1, alternate days in W2 - 4 PM since this is the time that all our ICPs are free and looking to order - Creative C
In-App Banner on Landing Page: Always present during offer active weeks if unused -Creative D
Success Metrics
1. No. of customers subscribing to the credit offering 2. Percentage of customers using the offer 3. On-time collections percentage 4. Avg. repayment days 5. Avg. No. of SKUs per order
Creative A: Not giving away all the information to get the user excited.
Creative B: Image of a retailer counting cash at the cash counter
Creative C:
Creative D:
Campaign 5:
Type of User
Core customers
Goal
Core to power conversion by increase in breadth - No. of SKUs ordered
Channel
Whatsapp, In-App Banner, Checkout Page
Offer
Free service of unloading and arranging the produce in the store by the delivery agent if more than 12 SKUs are ordered.
Offer Justification
1. As seen in the brainstorming, this is an issue. Labor is short but WayCool has a strict policy of no returns once accepted and WayCool also takes back crates post unloading at the point of delivery. The retailer may not have labor or time to unload the crates. 2. The cost for WayCool is increased wait time at each store which means lower utilization of vehicles. This is a non-linear problem and the effect maybe smaller than anticipated. In addition, time spent unloading and arranging items is better than having sales returns. 3. MOQ for each SKU is already fixed so no balancer metric is required
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run everyday for a month. If the campaign is successful, it can be turned into a product hook.
WhatsApp: A. With order confirmation message - Creative A
B. Offer launch day at 1PM, All days the offer is live but customer hasn't ordered 4PM - Creative B
Notifications: Offer launch day, All days the offer is live but customer hasn't ordered - 4 PM - Creative C
In-App Banner on Landing Page: Always present during offer active weeks - Creative D
Nudge on Checkout Page: Always present during offer active weeks - Creative E
Success Metrics
1. No. of customers qualifying for the offer 2. Percentage of customers qualifying for the offer 3. Percentage of orders qualifying for the offer in W1, W2, W3, W4 4. Lift in Avg. No. of SKUs/order for core customers
What is your current retention rate in terms of users?
Basis the data, the retention rate is ~50%.
The numbers seem to match industry benchmarks comfortably - E-commerce retention rates are ~38% and the number for a B2B player would be higher than that.
At what period does the retention curve flatten?
It can be seen from the above retention chart that the retention curve flattens over 9 months.
Microscopic View:
Which ICPs drive the best retention?
Power and core users drive the best retention and the reasoning is as per the table below:
Core
Power
Reasonable AOV (Rs.20,000)
Reasonable Frequency (3-4 orders/week)
High no. of SKUs purchased (20+)
All of the above indicate medium-high commitment
High AOV (Rs.40,000)
High frequency (6-7 orders/week)
High no. of SKUs purchased (40+)
All of the above indicate High commitment
Core users are loyal to a category or their selection of products
Power users are loyal to WayCool
The category that Core users buy are associated with high retention (country vegetables)
Power users transact across all categories which is associated with higher retention
Over time, it is habit forming at least for the category (since users tend to not try to solve a problem they don't yet have for other categories)
Habit already formed since they usually stop visiting the market as >80% of their requirements come from WayCool
What channels drive the best retention?
Based on user conversations, it was clear that customers in this Target Group require a touch-and-feel approach and a pure digital play is not ideal
It seemed from user conversations that the FoS sales team was actually a KAM (Key Account Management) team rather than a sales team
Hence, the channel that drives the best retention is the on-ground sales team visits to the store.
The second best channel seems to be WhatsApp as many customers remembered the messages they received.
What sub-features or sub-products drive the best retention?
Based on user conversations and data, it is clear that country vegetables (first) and fruits (second) drive the best retention.
The reasons for these are that WayCool's hero products are country vegetables and fruits where they have a strong relationship with farmers and a deep sourcing network.
Define:
What are the top reasons for user churn?
Voluntary
Involuntary
Product availability issues
Shop closed permanently
Late delivery issues
Started to open the shop very late (post WayCool delivery time slots)
High prices
Moved to a grocery category fully OR stopped Fresh category
Product quality issues
Minimum Order Quantity set by WayCool is higher than capacity of customer
Negative Actions
Low NPS/CSAT scores
Reason - The user is dissatisfied with the product and/or service offered by WayCool and is communicating the same through the scores
Impact - Bad WoM in terms of PlayStore reviews, drop in revenue
Reduction in avg. no. of SKUs purchased
Reason - The user maybe dissatisfied with the products and may have already found an alternative.
Impact - Lower revenue
Reduction in AOV
Reason - The user maybe dissatisfied with the products and maybe assessing alternate vendors and has hence reduced AOV
Impact - Lower revenue
Reduction in Frequency of purchase
Reason - The user may have gone back to visiting the market for purchases regularly and now treats WayCool as a backup option
Impact - Lower revenue
Unsubscribing from WhatsApp/SMS
The user is not interested in any communication and it may be treated as spam
Impact - High cost of engagement as it will require an FoS salesperson to visit
Disabling Push Notifications
The user is not interested in any communication and treats it as spam
Impact - High cost of engagement as it will require an FoS salesperson to visit
Credit - Pre-paying full amount outstanding
The user wants to move on from WayCool and hence does not want any obligations
Impact - Lower margins due to loss in interest
Resurrection Campaigns
Campaign 1: Product Availability Issues
Type of User
Core users who rated CSAT for ordering < 4 and also selected the reason as availability. The users selected for the campaign must have experienced it at least twice in the last 7 days. These users can be considered "at risk"
Goal
Retain "at-risk" core users who are dissatisfied due to product availability issues.
Offer
5% discount on next order on previously unavailable products up to Rs.2500
Offer Justification
Users who experience product availability issues once in a week retain well but if it is more than once then retention drops.
We need to communicate that the products are available and also provide a financial incentive to the customer to come back
The discounts are within the LTV threshold considering the scenario that the customer may churn without this
Use historical ordering patterns to find out which products were regularly ordered but wasn't available during CSAT scoring
The increase in AOV from adding SKUs to the basket also justifies the discounts
Alternatives such as the market are available for the customer and the habit formed of ordering through WayCool maybe disrupted if we do not incentivize the customer.
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run everyday for a week starting the day the items are back in stock. The offer is to be applied directly without any coupon codes etc.
WhatsApp
Day that the products are back in stock, everyday till customer uses the offer and orders the missed products - 3 PM - Creative A
Notifications:
Day that the products are back in stock, everyday till customer uses the offer and orders the missed products - 5 PM - Creative B
Nudge on Checkout page to add SKUs:
All the time the offer is available basis cart - Creative C
Success Metric
1. Offer redemption rate 2. No. of customers using the offer 3. Avg. No. of SKUs ordered from OOS SKUs
Core users who rated CSAT for delivery < 4 and also selected the reason as late delivery (reason to be verified based on delivery time). The users selected for the campaign must have experienced it at least twice in the last 7 days. These users can be considered "at risk"
Goal
Retain "at-risk" core users who are dissatisfied due to late delivery issues.
Offer
Free delivery for the next 3 orders. No expiry and automatically added.
Offer Justification
Users who experience late delivery issues once in a week retain well but if it is more than once then retention drops.
We need to communicate that we are sorry and provide a financial incentive to the customer to come back. The delivery charges are Rs.40/order and hence the total impact from a cost POV is low.
The discounts are within the LTV threshold considering the scenario that the customer may churn without this
Alternatives such as the market are available for the customer and the habit formed of ordering through WayCool maybe disrupted if we do not incentivize the customer.
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run everyday for a week starting the day the customer provides a low CSAT rating and will continue till the customer places 3 orders.
WhatsApp
All days the offer is live and customer has not redeemed for the first delivery- 3 PM - Creative A
Notifications:
All days the offer is live and customer has not redeemed for the first delivery- 5 PM - Creative B
Banner on Landing Page:
All days the offer is live and customer has not redeemed for the first delivery- Creative C
Success Metrics
1. Offer redemption rate 2. No. of customers using the offer 3. Avg. freq. of ordering during offer week vs historical Avg. freq of ordering.
Casual users who have churned due to concerns on pricing. These users can be considered as price sensitive for some categories and low price awareness for others.
Goal
Resurrect casual users who churned due to concerns on pricing.
Offer
Super Saver Bundle - 50kg Onion + 50kg Potato at 5% discount. Offer unlocked on adding at least 3 SKUs
Offer Justification
Based on user calls with casual users, it was clear that price was their top concern especially for the OP category. It was also observed that they were UNAWARE of prices of other categories and it can be hence concluded that SKUs in the OP category can be made loss leaders.
The pricing for the 3 other SKUs could be higher than normal (to be A/B tested over time) to compensate for the loss on Onion & Potato.
The 3 other SKUs also give casual users a change to re-experience the high quality and consistency that WayCool promises.
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run everyday for a week every month.
Since the customer may have uninstalled the app, there is too much friction to download app+ install app+ place order. As our Target Group appreciates touch-and-feel, a physical visit by a sales person to communicate the offer and explain the benefits is required.
Timing - Salesperson to visit during off-peak hours of the day - 1PM to 6PM
Frequency - Salesperson to visit every alternate day for a week (even if offer redeemed)
Salesperson to give the customer a brochure showing benefits of the offer - Creative A
Success Metrics
Offer redemption percentage
Conversion rate from visits
Avg. No. of SKUs/order
Other Metrics
No. of visits required to convert
App downloads (for this set of customers)
Creatives
Creative A:
Campaign 4: Product Quality Issues
Type of User
Core users who rated CSAT for quality < 4 and also selected the reason as 'Bad Quality' (reason to be verified by checking spike in sales returns). The users selected for the campaign must have experienced it at least twice in the last 7 days. These users can be considered "at risk"
Goal
Retain "at-risk" core users who are dissatisfied due to quality issues
Offer
10% extra quantity on returned items free in the next order up to a maximum of 50kg
Offer Justification
Users who experience quality issues once in a week retain well but if it is more than once then retention drops. Users understand that it is not a machined product and hence have built some tolerance.
We need to communicate that we are sorry and provide a financial incentive to the customer to come back.
The discounts are not in money but in produce which has a direct positive impact on reducing last mile cost/kg.
Alternatives such as the market are available for the customer and the habit formed of ordering through WayCool maybe disrupted if we do not incentivize the customer.
Frequency & Timing
Offer to be run everyday for a week starting the day the customer provides a low CSAT rating and will continue till the customer places the next order.
WhatsApp
All days the offer is live and till the customer redeems it- 3 PM - Creative A
Notifications:
All days the offer is live and till the customer redeems it- 5 PM - Creative B
Banner on Landing Page:
We are NOT going with this since through user conversations, it was noted that late delivery has a higher impact on the customer than poor quality. Hence, we will keep the communication only through WhatsApp and Notifications.
Success Metrics
1. Offer redemption rate 2. No. of customers using the offer 3. Weekly retention rate for the SKU with sales returns and rated as poor quality
Casual user who is a very small Kirana store or a pushcart who has churned. (WayCool collects this information at the time of onboarding.)
Goal
Resurrect a casual user who churned due to high MOQ issues since MOQ is greater than users capacity
Offer
Make your Own Crate of 20kg - Add up to 5 SKUs to total 20kgs
Offer Justification
The TAM for this segment is high and cannot be ignored. Considering that WayCool may expand to other T2/T3 cities, a customized offering for this segment is required
The trade off for WayCool by offering lower MOQ is last mile vehicle utilization. But, since the capacity of a crate is 20kg, the offer has no major cost impact.
IKEA Effect - Since the user is creating their own combo, the value they associate to it would be higher.
Frequency & Timing
Since the customer may have uninstalled the app, there is too much friction to download app+ install app+ place order. As our Target Group appreciates touch-and-feel, a physical visit by a sales person to communicate the offer and explain the benefits is required.
Timing - Salesperson to visit during off-peak hours of the day - 1PM to 6PM
Frequency - Salesperson to visit every alternate day in W1 (even if offer redeemed), twice in W2 and once in W3
Salesperson to give the customer a brochure showing benefits of the offer - Creative A
Success Metrics
Offer redemption percentage
Conversion rate from visits
Avg. No. of SKUs/order
Other Metrics
No. of visits required to convert
App downloads (for this set of customers)
Creatives
Creative A:
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