Reddily is a Carousell like app that connects buyers and sellers locally. When we first launched three years ago, we struggled with low sales and user engagement issues. We knew we needed to improve discovery and conversions on our platform.
This is the story of how we implemented key tools like search filters, personalized recommendations, and CRM that helped dramatically grow our business. Within one year of rolling out these initiatives, our annual revenue tripled.
Pain Points Before Implementation
When we first started, we were only doing around $50,000 in monthly gross merchandise value (GMV). User growth was slow and new user retention was very poor. Our biggest pain points were:
- Low discovery: It was difficult for users to find relevant products as our search was basic.
- Low conversions: On average, less than 1% of users who visited a product page went on to make a purchase.
- Lack of personalization: All users saw the same generic experience with no tailored recommendations.
- Poor buyer/seller support: We had no proper systems to nurture existing users or address issues.
To quantify it, our daily sales average was around $2,000 and monthly active users hovered at 50,000. Engagement was weak with under 5 product views per user on average. Clearly, we needed to improve the whole user experience.
Researching Available Tools
We did extensive research into tools that could help address our key issues:
Discovery: We looked at search filters, auto-suggestions, personalized search etc. Front runners were Elasticsearch and Apache Lucene.
Personalization: Recommendation engines from Anthropic, Recooty and Dbt were evaluated.
Customer Support: Integrating a CRM like Pipedrive or Agile CRM for better customer profiles and workflows.
We also considered tools for targeted marketing/ads like Adstage and PushOwl. Other metrics/analytics tools like Amplitude and Heap were on the list as well. Read more: https://zipprr.com/carousell-clone/
Customization Requirements
A few must-have criteria emerged while evaluating tools:
- API Integration: As we’re a custom built platform, tools needed powerful APIs for easy integration.
- Customization: Given our nuanced needs, we required the ability to customize configurations, features and workflows.
- ** Scalability:** The selected tools needed to scale well as our business and userbase grew rapidly over time.
- Support: Dedicated implementation and operational support was essential from vendors.
These criteria helped narrow our choices significantly during technical evaluations.
Choosing and Implementing the Winning Tools
After rigorous testing, we selected:
- Elasticsearch as our search platform for its powerful APIs and flexibility.
- Recooty for AI-powered personalized recommendations and ranking.
- Pipedrive as our CRM for user profiles and team workflows.
Implementing these tools required:
- API Integration which took 2 months of development work.
- Data Migration of our existing catalogs and user profiles into the new systems which took 4 weeks.
- Custom configurations such as ranking models, product attributes in Elasticsearch & Recooty which took 6 weeks.
- Testing and launch which involved fixing bugs over 2 iterations took another 6 weeks.
The whole implementation process took about 6 months but laid the foundation for tremendous growth.
A/B Testing and Optimization
We did extensive A/B testing and tracking of key metrics:
Search: We tested different ranking models and filters in Elasticsearch to increase click-through rates. Tweaking relevancy scoring boosted CTR by 20%.
Recommendations: Several recommendation types and placements were tested in Recooty. In-product recommendations drove 15% more add-to-carts.
CRM: Nurturing sequences for new vs. existing users in Pipedrive led to 25% higher 7-day retention.
Ongoing optimizations based on weekly analyses ensured we kept refining the experience. Tuning just a few knobs led to big gains.
Measurable Impact on Key Metrics
The measurable impacts after 6 months were tremendous:
- Daily sales increased 3x from $2,000 to $6,000
- Monthly Active Users grew 2.5x to over 125,000
- Avg. views per user jumped from 5 to 25 as discovery improved
- New user 7-day retention doubled from 20% to 40%
- Conversion rates increased by 50% across site
Within a year, we successfully tripled our annual GMV from $2M to $6M just by enhancing discovery and engagement.
Customer Experience Enhancements
Users remarked how the experience drastically improved:
“I used to get lost searching for things I needed. Now the filters and recommendations really help me find what I want quickly.” – Jane T.
“The product recommendations are so on point. I’ve discovered a few of my favorite brands just by browsing related items.” – Michael S.
We received a 4.7/5 Trustpilot rating now vs. 3.8/5 before. Satisfied users spent more time and money on our site.
Ongoing Operations and Refinement
To sustain growth, we:
- Continuously refine ranking models with machine learning as more data comes in.
- A/B test new recommendation types and placement strategies quarterly.
- Leverage CRM to segment users and personalize nurturing programs.
- Analyze metrics weekly to identify new optimizations.
- Integrate new tools like a messaging platform when needed.
New product releases and campaigns are now data-driven based on insights from these systems.
Lessons Learned
The top lessons we learned were:
- Discovery is key – Users won’t engage if they can’t find relevant products easily.
- Personalization pays off – Give users a tailored experience to keep them engaged.
- Data is powerful – Leverage usage data to constantly refine and improve strategies.
- Iterate and optimize – It’s an ongoing process, don’t stop testing and enhancing experiences.
In hindsight, we would have implemented these systems sooner for faster growth initially.
Growth Outlook and Future Plans
Since implementing these tools, we’ve managed 30-40% yearly growth in key metrics sustained over 3 years now.
We’re currently evaluating tools like Braze and Segment to build profiles of our high-value customers for 1:1 personalization at scale.
New categories and product features are also being explored based on what users search and engage with the most.
Our goal is to become the #1 product discovery platform in Southeast Asia through continuous innovation.
Conclusion
The right tools play a huge role in driving online commerce experiences and results. By focusing on discovery, personalization and customer relationship tools, we solved key problems and tripled our business results.
The lessons we learned around iterative testing, deployment and optimization will continue shaping our strategies for long-term growth. If you’re looking to refine experiences and scale your business, these types of platforms can be tremendously impactful.
