🥊 Engagement & Retention project | Nivoda

🥊

Engagement & Retention project | Nivoda

About Nivoda

Nivoda is a B2B online marketplace for diamond manufacturers and suppliers based out of India to sell diamonds globally online. It addresses the most common pain point of

Frequent communications with the customers and the back and forth negotiations
On-time payments in local currency - so no huge wire transfer fee.
Opens up your inventory to a global user base thereby increasing the chance of selling.

Okay, so as a supplier, I'm convinced that there's this one platform that will let me sell more without any headaches, but how will you enable this? I don't have the time to respond to you every 5 minutes over a call to give you updates on the specific SKU that you're asking.

Once a user is onboarded we require the users to complete an integration of their system with ours so we can keep getting the updated file every couple of hours. This will ensure we can list the right goods on the platform. However, the user will have to ensure they keep updating this from time to time.

Once the user is onboarded they are then expected to upload their inventory through one of the channels - FTP / API / Excel.

JTBD

We understood from the above description of the ICPs why they aspire to be on the Nivoda platform. Let's break this up as per the Jobs to be done framework.

The core job to be done in the onboarding process for Nivoda is to enable the user to sell diamonds from India globally across the world. It tries to address the pain points in the whole journey of making a sale and receiving a payment seamlessly and finding customers.

For that to happen it's crucial the user is able to set up his integrations upload the "Right" inventory at the "right price" online and experience the goodness of getting a sale right from their chairs.

Users hire Nivoda to sell diamonds globally and get paid on time.

ICP

Core Value Lever

The core value lever for suppliers who list on the platform and continue listing on the platform is "Sales"

Sellers list or signup on marketplaces with one core goal in mind i.e. to sell and make more money 🤑 why else would you list on a marketplace as a business?

Now that we have established that the core value is "Sale", let's look at the levers or input metrics that drive the core value proposition and look at how the core value is realised for the supplier in terms of frequency.

So sale as an output metric is driven by having the right price and the right inventory uploaded which can thereby drive engagement.

Let's define our engagement equation

Core Engagement Metrics, Engagement Loop and The Engagement Framework

Here's how the core engagement loop for suppliers looks like on the platform

Engagement Flywheel:

Engagement as a function can be defined as a function of: Price, Inventory and Sales.

Core Engagement Metric = Frequency of File Updates

We can therefore establish the following:

Suppliers are more likely to be engaged on the platform if they get more sales, which is primarily driven by having the updated prices and inventory on the platform.

How do they update the price and inventory?

By updating their files frequently on the platform. There is a direct correlation that we can establish which proves the correlation of file uploads and orders. The more the number of orders, the more frequently they update the file <> The more frequently they update -- the more orders they get.

Engagement is therefore measured by the frequency of file updates there by driving sales or sales driving the frequency of updates.

Customer Segmentation

As we established earlier that engagement can be defined by measuring the frequency of the file uploads done by the supplier and the orders that they received on the platform. It is clear that the more orders the supplier receives the more likely are they to keep updating on the platform.

The customers can be defined primarily into 3 categories based on their frequency and method of upload.

Taking a pokemon reference here to relate how the transition happens between casual core and power users depending on their engagement and how they get stronger in the ecosystem the more they remain engaged.

Segmentation based on upload / sale frequency: (Natural Frequency)

Casual User:

These are users who are getting started and barely get daily sales and they get an order once every couple of weeks, due to which their motivation to remain engaged is low and hence they only upload their files once a day due to which their inventory remains un updated and the flywheel is not engaged fully.

Core User:

These are the users who get a couple of sales every week due to which their motivation is slightly higher and they update their files every day every few hours. They are also slightly advanced than our casual users and have invested in development resources to have automations and API's to sync their softwares with ours to ensure they can push the updates more frequently.

Power Users:

These are the top 20% users who are the big players on the market and top sellers. They are in this position as they get more sales due to the right pricing and inventory optimisation and also because they have heavily invested in technology to ensure their inventory is synced with the marketplace at all times to ensure the right price and inventory availability to ensure a high sell through.

Engagement Framework

Engagement Campaigns

Engagement campaigns are important to ensure that the customers are retained on the platform and are not on the risk of churning. A retained user is far more better than a newly acquired user

Engagement Campaign 1 - Phone Call Personal Touch

Target User:
Casual User

Purpose / Goal: Casual --> Core
Ensure They Update their file before they are expired once every 2 days. Goal -- nudge them to move from Casual --> Core by activating their sales flywheel. Engagement Type: Frequency

Channel of communication:

Phone ☎️. This channel adds a touch of personalisation for the users and ensures all the concerns are addressed in the initial few months and the users don't loose interest.

Campaign Design

This campaign will be a personalised engagement campaign run by the account managers, where in every week they will reach out to the supplier via a phone call and ensure that they are handholding and onboarding this supplier and addressing any concerns. This will help the suppliers get a hang of the system features and also help clarify any questions.

Frequency:

Daily

Success Metrics:

The % of casual users in the expired state should be below 5% week on week.

Engagement Campaign 2 - Email Sales Insights

Target User:

Casual, Core

Purpose / Goal: Casual --> Core, and Core --> Power

provide them with weekly sales insights so that they remain motivated enough and also create a sense of FOMO by showing them the sales they missed out on due to them not updating the file frequently even when they had a similar product in the inventory. Engagement type: Frequency

Channel of communication:

Email 📧 - since this is a weekly summary of sales it is better suited for the users who are not frequently logging into the platform to nudge them to login by showing them how well / badly they have performed.

Campaign Structure:

An email summary of the weekly performance of the user which showcases their week on week performance to keep the motivation at peak.

Frequency:

Weekly

Success Metrics:

The success metric for this method will be the email click through rate and the effectiveness of the feedback provided via the email.

Engagement Campaign 3 - Email Industry Insights

Target User:

Core, Power

Purpose / Goal: Core --> Power, Power --> Retained

The goal of this campaign is to engage the users on the platform with the right insights before they first start their day by providing them the right nudge with a snapshot of recommendations of what the trends are. Similar to daily news. Engagement Type: Breadth

Channel of communication:

Email 📧

Campaign Structure:

This will be more like a newsletter that showcases the industry wide trends and what's happening in the market with updates daily at 8:00 am just like a newspaper.

Frequency:
Daily

Success Metrics:

Open rates for the targeted user segments to measure the effectiveness.

Engagement Campaign 4 - On Platform Notification

Target User:

Core, Power

Purpose / Goal: Core --> Power, Power --> Retained

This will be an on platform notification / update sent to specific targeted users when there is an issue with the inventory and their stock cannot go live, which in turn can hamper their weekly sales. Engagement Type: Breadth

Channel of communication:

On Platform 💻 / 📱

Campaign Structure:

An on platform notification / alert will be sent to the user notifying them about nudges to update their prices or stock if there has been any issue in the last file upload.
Content:

"Your last file upload was partially successful and 300 products from your inventory have not gone live due to an issue observed in the data. We request you to check and reupload your file"

Frequency:
Event based on upload

Success Metrics:

On platform mixpanel tracking for effectiveness. Also measuring the time stamps of event triggered, v/s event rectified to ensure the notification is effective and not being missed by the users.

Engagement Campaign 5 - In Person Event

Target User:

Casual, Core, Power

Purpose / Goal: Casual --> Core --> Power --> Retained

Instill trust in the users, and enable them to hear from each other what has helped them succeed on the platform. Engagement type: Breadth

Channel of communication:

In person 🇮🇳 / Online 🌏

Campaign Structure:

This campaign will be an event which can enable all the users to meet up in person, the company will share the industry best practices and showcase the tools that can help the users sell more. Sessions from power users within the industry will ensure the casual and core users are able to build trust and step into their shoes.

Frequency:
Once a year / quarter

Success Metrics:

Event grows bigger and bigger every year.

Churn

Churn for our users can be defined as following:

A user is defined as a churned user if they have stopped uploading/updating their inventory for 2 days straight and we move them into the "expired" state.

How does churn impact us?

If a lot of suppliers churn from our platform, we loose the competitive edge which is the variety / depth in inventory due to which the customers won't purchase there by leading to more churn on the platform.

Reasons for Churn

Voluntary reasons for churn

The top reasons after speaking to the account management teams for voluntary churn

Reason	Description
Low sale	This happens when the suppliers are not satisfied with the amount of sales they are getting on the platform
High Return Rate	Suppliers loose interest if the return frequency of the number of goods sold is higher, because they have to incur operational costs to send the goods.
Delayed Payments	Suppliers also churn if we as a platform fail to make timely payments and they are unhappy with the experience.
Platform Tech issues	If the suppliers are updating their inventory but their stock does not go live due to our internal tech issues they tend to loose out on sale and thereby tend to churn
Holidays	If the small / medium supplier decides to go on a holiday or for a business event, they would have to go offline, but can be re onboarded again
Moved to competitor	Better margins at a competitor and hence would move from us.

Involuntary Reasons

Reason	Description
Business closure	If they have to shutdown their business for unforseen reasons
Diversification in to other categories	If this category of product is no longer profitable and the management decides to shift or diversify into other product categories with higher margins

Reason

Description

Business closure

If they have to shutdown their business for unforseen

reasons

Diversification in to other categories

If this category of product is no longer profitable and the

management decides to shift or diversify into other product

categories with higher margins

Retention Graphs

From the retention graph below we can see that users are likely to stick more if they are engaged for more than 90 days on the product. All churn happens within the first 30 to 90 days of onboarding where the users see the most value of the product.

Best retention is driven by the ICPs in the Power user category as they are the most suited to get sales on the platform and are less likely to churn. However we should also keep in mind that these users have a high expectation. Whereas the most likely user to churn easily is a casual user who has not yet experienced a sale. And the moment they stop getting orders, they stop uploading the files and if not resurrected on time, they can get offline pretty soon and stop uploading.

The table below shows the cohort level analysis for these users

Signals for Churn

Reduction in DAU / MAU
Reduction in file uploads
Drop in email open rates
Drop in sales

Resurrection Campaigns

Resurrection Campaign 1 - FOMO Email Campaign

FOMO Email Campaign

Target User:
Casual / Core

Campaign Description:

This would be an email campaign targeted towards these users who have stopped listing their stock showcasing the sales that the other sellers have made on the platform. The goal of this campaign is to get the users to at least log back into the platform and book an appointment with the onboarding team to get re listed.

Frequency:
Once a month

Success metrics:

The number of expired / churned users should reduce week-on-week

Resurrection Campaign 2 - Free Inventory and Price Audit Email

Free Inventory and Price Audit

Target User:

Casual / Core

Campaign Description:

If the users have opened and interacted with the FOMO campaign but are not yet active

we would then send them another notification about a free price and inventory audit call which could help them understand how to price their inventory and which goods to stock. This will be the ultimate tool to get the suppliers interest and help them get a sale in the first 2 weeks of opting in for this call.

Frequency:

Once every 2 weeks after they interact with the FOMO campaign

Success metrics:

The user should get at least 2 sales in the next 2 weeks so that they can see the value of the insights and the platform and understand on what they are missing out on.

Resurrection Campaign 3 - Access to Programs at discount

Access to exclusive programs at low cost for first 3 months

Target User:

Core / Power

Campaign Description:

This will be an account management driven campaign where the account mangers will reach out to the core and power users who have stopped listing informing them about new product/service offerings that can help them increase their sales and also address some of the concerns related to voluntary churn as things will have improved over time.

With this campaign the goal will be to get these users to list on the service / program again as a foot in the door and later to get them to start listing across the platform once they see the value of the offering.

Frequency:

Once new features / products are launched.

Success Metric:

The churned user is resurrected back after the campaign and is retained for the remaining lifetime and does not expire.

Resurrection Campaign 4: In person meetup

In person meetup

Target User:

Power

Campaign Description:

This campaign is designed specifically for the power users who have churned or are at risk of churning due to low sales. This campaign requires the VP's and CEO's of the company to meet the CEO's of the user's company to ensure the relation is maintained and any issues that were observed are addressed from time to time.

Frequency:

Need basis

Success Metric:

We are able to onboard and retain the key accounts ongoing and monitor them closely so that we don't loose them again.

Resurrection Campaign 5: Event Dinners

Event Dinners

Target:

Casual, Core, Power

Campaign Description:

Organise industry wide events for churned and active users to help them engage and interact so that the churned users can also understand what they are missing out on and how things have changed over time since they last stopped using the product. Since this is a B2B industry, word of mouth plays a very important role in getting back users and maintaining relationships.

Frequency:

Once a year

Success Metric:

Re onboarding of churned users after attending the event.