Onboarding project | Agoda

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Onboarding project | Agoda

Ideal Customer Profile

Before we even start on ICP, there's one thing about travel-tech/OTA (Online Travel Agency) Industry that you won't find loyalist much, because there are lot of players in market. Usually travelers tries to optimize their cost especially on travel bookings on flights and stay. The user calls are done with people who have used the product multiple times and not necessarily categorized as Product loyalists but retained on the App and prefers checking Agoda first for their travel bookings.

Define your ICPs

Personal and Demographics Questions	ICP 1	ICP 2	ICP 3	ICP 4
ICP Name	Tanay	Ravi	Hersh	Shefali
Age Group	25-30	36-40	25-30	30-35
Gender	Male	Male	Male	Female
Location	Tier 1/2 cities	Tier 1/2 cities	Tier 1/2 cities	Tier 1/2 cities
Designation	Founder	Co-founder	AVP	Supply Director
Companies	Internet Companies, Start-ups	Start-ups, SMEs	Start-ups	Start-ups
Income Level	1.5lakh	2+	1-1.5	2+
Marital Status	Unmarried	Married	Umarried	Unmarried
Kids	NA	Son - 6 years old	NA	NA
Hobbies	Pickelball, Playstation, Reading books (trying to get back)	Exploring Local Food	Mobile Games, Gymming, Reading, Playing football	Travel, Exploring different cuisine & cocktails, to know about people and culture
Willingness to Pay	Moderate - Tries to get best possible deals	High	Moderate to High	High
Travel-Specific Questions
Travel Goals	Travel New Places Spend time with my Partner mostly Spend time with my Parents/Friends	Explore new places Spend time with my wife	No Goals - No set agenda Just goes around places	Liesure, Explore different cuisine and cultures
Preference (Travel Outlook)	Prefers finishing off travel time so picks flights over trains comparatively When planning international travel pick countries which are Visa Free or Visa on Arrival	Rarely goes to a place twice, Prefers Leisuring, does not like to rush Prefers road trips due to kid Avoids trains because of Hygiene Prefers exploring local food and culture With International trips Comparison of prices matrix goes down	Want to chill, never plans activites too, Do random stuff sometimes like Scuba diving course in last trip Prefers doing things as per my feelings at the time Usually avoid booking return tickets Like to try local food and talk to local people	Want to relax, understand about people and their lives Always explore the local food Does not want to fill the days with lot of activities
Travel Partner/People	Mostly Solo and with Partner SOmetimes Friends/Family too	Wife & Sister - 90% Business Trips - Cofounders	Solo	Partner and Girls (Close-knit girls group)
Frequency of Travel/Year	20	30	8-10	30
Segregation of Trips	Work Trips - 10-12 Leisure Trips - 8-9	Work Trips - 18-24 Leisure Trips - 6-8	Work Trips - 5-6 Leisure Trips - 2/3 trips	Work trips - 20-25 Leisure Ttips - 5-6
Recent Travel History	Recent trip Singapore (Business Trip) Keeps on travelling in India - Recent trip Dehradun	Gwalior (Went for a business trip, Wife & kid joined and we explored local places and cuisines	Thailand - Did Scuba course	Bali - One of my team won a League at the Company
Early Planner or Last Minute?	Mostly Last Minute	Early Planner	Last minute	Last minute
How Far in Advance Do You Plan Your Trips?	Domestic Trips - Impromptu or 1/2 weeks ago International Trips - 1/2 months ago	Usually a couple of weeks ago	Solo - Impromptu With Friends - A month ago	With Partner - Last minute With Friends - 1/2 months in advance
2025 Travel Goals, Why?	Europe - Want to start with Europe as everything cannot be covered in one trip	Srilanka (Visa Free, Clean, Better than Goa, expenses almost equivalent to Goa) Dubai - Want to explore business opportunities	Backpacking around Asia, Europe, Northeast India	Thailand (bachelorrete) Goa (I go here multiple times a year, have one Villa) Europe (Want to start these trips)
Travel Challenges	India - hotels are more expensive in General Outside: biggest challenge going outside is currency exchange	Avoids train journey because of hygiene Does not book homestays if wife is with me Security is most imp aspect of Stay hence book above 3 star properties only	Hygiene is most important - Never books 8/10 people dorms	Coordination problems with friends, Had to make WhatsApp groups then people take time to choose
Do you prefer city or nature places?	Nature	Both	Both	Both
Your Source of Finding New Places?	Instagram, Youtube & People	People, Instagram, Youtube	Youtube	Instagram & People
Social Media and Travel Apps
Social Media Apps They Use	Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIN, Reddit, Youtube	Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn	LinkedIn, Reddit	Instagram
Most Used Social Media App	Instagram	Twitter	Linkedin	Instagram
Time They Spend on Social Media in a day	2/3 hours	2-3 hours	1-2 hours	30 mins - 1 hour
Travel Apps They Use and Why?	Agoda, Skyscanner, Hostelworld, Airbnb, Goibibo	MMT, Agoda, Ixigo, Cleartrip, Easemytrip, Paytm	Don't use Apps but websites Flights - Skyscanner Trains - Cleartrip, Ixigo, MMT whoever gives confirmed ticket Hotel Bookings - Agoda, booking.com., MMT , airbnb hostel world	MMT - For domestic travel - Army discount Booking.com - For Internation Travel - Pay later option - you can cancel before 24 hours Agoda - Only when tripadvisor suggest that prices are low Airbnb - When we want to book the homestay Trivago - When want to compare stay prices Skycanner - for flights
Agoda-Specific Questions
Why Do You Use Agoda?	Usually get lowest prices on Agoda for both domestic and international Especially one of the lowest of hotels gives decent last minute deals , Tday I need a place to stay, We usually stay a hotel and airbnb with my partner , Agoda has one of the lowest deal Cashback	Great Cashbacks I get best deals usually No loyalty as such, if tomorrow some other website gives better deal than I will book from there	Great Deals - Had both good and bad experiences but Customer Support team was responsive hence still keep booking from Agoda	To book budget friendly places, I use Agoda when prices are cheap for the same property we want to stay at
You Use App or Website?	App	App	Website	App
Which Are Some Features You Like the Most?	Mostly Share	Share	None as such ,all of then are quite the same, Share the hotel in everything	Share
Frequency of feature usage	All the time	All the time	NA	All the time while planning a trip
Notifications Are On for Agoda?	No	Yes (but only regarding my trip)	NA	No
Do You Delete the App Once Coming Back from Your Trip?	Yes (Except Agoda as it gives Cashback after 45-60 days)	No	NA	No
Any Feedback on UI?	All App UIs are super cluttered, for first time users, its super distracting - have to put in efforts to find	UI is super clean No dark colours, soothing to eyes Easier to navigate	NA	All UIs are horrible, too cluttered
If not Agoda - What will be the substitute?	I am okay using anything if it gives me the best deals	Any platforms which gives better deals	Not as such, okay with any platform out there	Use multiple platforms, depending upon which one is providing with better deals
Any Agoda Experience worth Highlighting?	Once it has happened that Property did not honour Agoda booking, Owner gave me another option so I took it but it will difficult to reach to Agoda folks as they don't have any toll free number	Once I booked a hotel in Kasoli where the Property has shown Community Swimming pool, I connected with Agoda Support Staff and I actually got the whole amount re-imbursed	During our bad experience in Thailand where we booked an expensive property for 2 nights stay (70K) for 3 people, Hotel property was not ready to honour that deal and we paid in advance for this, Property mentioned that they never confirmed the booking with Agoda, we called the customer support and rather than giving the amount back, the customer support team was pushing for Agoda coins - when a customer had such bad experience how can the support team push for App money	Not as such
Problem Statement	travels frequently for work and leisure but faces challenges with high domestic hotel costs, currency exchange for international trips, and last-minute bookings. While he values Agoda for competitive prices and cashback, the cluttered UI and lack of prompt customer support impact his experience.	prioritizes comfort, hygiene, and security in travel, especially for trips with his wife and child. While he values Agoda for cashback and competitive deals, he remains open to other platforms offering better options.	seeks spontaneous and laid-back travel experiences, focusing on hygiene and exploring local cultures. While Agoda is valued for great deals and responsive customer support, past issues like unresolved property disputes highlight the need for reliable booking confirmations and customer-centric resolutions.	values travel for leisure, exploring local cuisines, and understanding cultures. She prefers budget-friendly accommodations and relies on platforms like Agoda for competitive pricing, though coordination challenges with friends often complicate group travel. Shefali's use of multiple platforms for deals and feedback on cluttered UIs emphasize the need for seamless, user-friendly travel solutions tailored to spontaneous and planned trips alike.

ICP Prioritization

Criteria	Adoption Rate	Appetite to Pay	Frequency of Use Case	Distribution Potential	TAM ( users/currency)
ICP 1	High	Moderate	Moderate	High	28.44 billion
ICP 2	High	High	High	High	67.55 billion
ICP 3	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	24.17 billion
ICP 4	Moderate	High	Moderate	High	65.41 billion

From the ICP Prioritization Framework, we can see that ICP 2 and ICP 4 can be focused upon since the market for these users is larger enough and the the users have a good use case of the product! Now when we dig deeper into Onboarding, we will pick one ICP from ICP 2 and ICP 4 basis our JTBD Framework.

TAM Calculation:

There are some assumptions taken here while calculating the TAM:

1) Agoda's average commission: 15%

2) For all the ICPs I have assumed that only 1% of the population of that age bracket must be earning above 1 or 1/5 lakhs.

TAM Calculation
ICP 1	ICP 2	ICP 3	ICP 4
(A) Total India's Population - 1.46 Billions
(B) Population Between 25-30	94.8 million	Population Between 36-40	94.8 million	Population Between 25-30	94.8 million	Population Between 30-35	94.8 million
(C) %tage of People earning 1.5 Lakhs/Month	1%	(C) %tage of People earning 2+ Lakhs/Month	1%	(C) %tage of People earning 1- 1.5 Lakhs/Month	1%	(C) %tage of People earning 2+ Lakhs/Month	1%
(D) So, No of Potential Customers (B*C)	948,000	So, No of Potential Customers (B*C)	948,000	So, No of Potential Customers (B*C)	948,000	So, No of Potential Customers (B*C)	948,000
(E) Avg. Commission by Agoda - 15%
Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person Calculation - Domestic
(F) Avg. Domestic Trips/Year	4	(F) Avg. Domestic Trips/Year	5	(F) Avg. Domestic Trips/Year	2	(F) Avg. Domestic Trips/Year	4
(G) Spend on Domestic Trip/Person	25000	(G) Spend on Domestic Trip/Person	35000	(G) Spend on Domestic Trip/Person	25000	(G) Spend on Domestic Trip/Person	40000
(H) Total Spend in a Year	100000	(H) Total Spend in a Year	175000	(H) Total Spend in a Year	50000	(H) Total Spend in a Year	160000
(I) Avg Revenue In a year	15000	(I) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - Domestic	26250	(I) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - Domestic	7500	(I) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - Domestic	24000
Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person Calculation - International
(J) Avg. International Trips/Year	1	(J) Avg. International Trips/Year	2	(J) Avg. International Trips/Year	1	(J) Avg. International Trips/Year	2
(K) Spend on International Trip/Person	100000	(K) Spend on International Trip/Person	150000	(K) Spend on International Trip/Person	120000	(K) Spend on International Trip/Person	150000
(L) Total Spend in a Year	100000	(L) Total Spend in a Year	300000	(L) Total Spend in a Year	120000	(L) Total Spend in a Year	300000
(M) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - International	15000	(M) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - International	45000	(M) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - International	18000	(M) Avg Revenue Per Trip/Person - International	45000
Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person Calculation - (Domestic + International)
(N) Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person	30000	(N) Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person	71250	(N) Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person	25500	(N) Average Revenue Per Trip Per Person	69000
(O)TAM (L*B)	28440000000	(O)TAM (L*B)	67545000000	(O)TAM (L*B)	24174000000	(O)TAM (L*B)	65412000000

In next section, let's try to build a JTBD for each ICP and basis that decide for which ICP we want to do the Onboarding teardown :)

JTBD and validation

As mentioned during the learning sessions, Customers hire the products to solve a problem for them. In previous section we saw 4 ICPs, the primary and secondary goals for all 4 ICPs are given below.

Goal Priority

ICP 1

ICP 2

ICP 3

ICP 4

Primary Goal

Personal - Travel Solo to

new places hasslefree

Personal - Explore New

Places leisurely withhout rush

Personal - Experience the world

offerings (food & culture ) and interact

with different culture people

Personal - Travel leisurely &

Explore different cuisine

and cultures

Secondary Goal

Financial - Save some bucks by getting

best possible deals

Financial - Saving money on bookings

or via cashback

Financial - Get best possible deals

on stay bookings

Financial - Sometimes when want to save

on 5 star stay bookings

Mostly all ICPs will have the same primary and secondary goals but there can be some exceptions here. Imagine a travel vlogger or influencer. For this person the primary goal will remain the same that is Personal - travel the world but his secondary goal won't be financial it can be social too, that he wants to share his findings, about his travel with the world.

Now, let's try to build a JTBD Framework for all ICPs before finalizing a single ICP for further steps.

Goal Priority	Goal Type	ICP	JTBD	Validation approach	Validation
Primary	Personal	ICP 1	Creating a non-cluttered travel booking Platform with details of experiences/events happening around the world	User Interview	1) "All travel Apps are very cluttered" 2) The ICP travels not only for leisure but also for events, concerts and sport events
Secondary	Financial	Creating a travel booking platform with best possible deals on stay	User Interview	1) Usually I get lowest prices on stay 2) Also gets good last minute deals as I am a last minute planner
Primary	Personal	ICP 2	Creating a travel booking platform with a new offbeat places suggestions	User Interview	1) I rarely goes to a place twice 2) Likes the App the way it is so no need to make changes for this ICP
Secondary	Financial	Creating a travel booking platform with best possible deals on stay to keep the person hooked to the App	User Interview	No traveler is loyal to an App, if I get best possible deals somewhere else for the same property I will book from there
Primary	Personal	ICP 3	Creating a travel booking platform with experience the world as the main communication	User Interview	I like to interact with local people, their culture and food
Secondary	Financial	Creating a travel booking platform with best possible deals on stay to keep the person hooked to the App	User Interview	Had both good and bad experiences but still book from the platform because of the deals and cashbacks
Primary	Personal	ICP 4	Creating a travel booking platform with explore the different cultures and food as main communication	User Interview	I like to talk to people, try their local cuisine and understand their culture
Secondary	Financial	Creating a travel booking platform with get best deals on 5 star hotel bookings as the main communication	User Interview	If we get better deals on 5-star hotels then we don't book 3/4 star properties

Basis our ICP prioritization and JTBD Framework, it is clear that ICP 2 is the most important customer cohort for Agoda. This is also because this and his lookalikes are the people who are okay to spend on experiences but also wants to save wherever possible, Travels mostly with Partner or people, Prefers comfort over cost for longer travels and most importantly likes Agoda App so it is comparatively easier to keep this person hooked to the App.

Let's teardown the Onboarding Process for this ICP.

Onboarding Teardown

The Onboarding Tear- down of the App is done keeping ICP 2 in mind.

Onboarding Teardown - Agoda.pdf

Activation metrics

Before getting in activation metrics, let's define the activation hypothesis.

Hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Book 1 stay in 14 days of signing up

Reasoning: Considering that Agoda is giving additional discounts if booked within 14 days under their VIP Platinum offering and our ICP 2 prefers booking a month prior, 14 days gives the ICP enough time to signup, explore the App and book. Also all the ICPs core use case of Agoda is still booking stays at best possible price hence we took this as a hypothesis for activation.

Validation:

Does it have an impact on retention curve? - Yes

Does it have an impact on referral or WOM? - Yes (If the user gets lowest prices for the property especially if the prices are high on other platforms

Does it have an impact on LTV? - Yes, the user will always prioritise opening Agoda first

Hypothesis 2: Book any one service in 14 days of signing up

Reasoning: Since there are multiple services such as Experiences, flights, Airport transfers, even if the user books any other service than hotel that also helps Agoda bring revenue and gives one more chance to divert the user to book the core value proposition that is hotel properties at the cheapest price.

Validation:

Does it have an impact on retention curve? - Yes

Does it have an impact on referral or WOM? - Yes

Does it have an impact on LTV? - Yes

Hypothesis 3: Book a flight in 14 days of signing up

Reasoning: Flights is the one of the most important aspect of the travel, even if the user has booked the hotel before downloading Agoda App and if the user gets best possible deals on the flight travel, this also helps Agoda to keep bringing the user back for other services

Validation:

Does it have an impact on retention curve? - Yes

Does it have an impact on referral or WOM? - Yes

Does it have an impact on LTV? - Yes