Turning a pit into an opportunity with Eco Saver delivery

Making batching work

The goal was clear now, we had to make batching work. We tried different approaches, I have mentioned a few of them below.

#1 Better communication:

It was clear consumers did not like batching of their orders, so we thought why not try to address this in an empathetic way? We tried adding some imagery with some witty copy to inform the users of why their orders were batched.

#2 Silently batching orders:

Contrary to approach #1 of direct communication, we explored an alternate in silently batching orders, based on the fact that most batched orders anyway arrive on-time. To make this happen, we had to introduce a mapless view in tracking screen or else seeing the delivery partner not move in their direction would cause panic in customers.

#3 Asking for consent to batch:

One of the major reasons over user frustration was that batching of order came as a surprise to them. So why not ask for user consent before they place their order? This way the expectation setting would be done upfront.

The idea sounded great but the tricky part was how to ask for consent. As everyone wanted their orders to be delivered ASAP. So why would anyone opt for batching and delay their delivery.

That is what this case study is about, on how we successfully designed an experience to ask for batching consent into a new delivery type.

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Building Eco Saver delivery

Our hypothesis was that asking for consent from consumers will improve batching metrics.

The asking for consent was a binary choice and could be done by a simple selection UI. But our product team had larger plans to build delivery type as a feature on Swiggy. Delivery type was to meet the user need state of getting a faster vs a relaxed delivery.

So we packaged the consent for batching into a new delivery type called “Eco Saver” delivery.

The first step for this new delivery type was to determine the value proposition for users who consent for batching. We aimed to demand shape towards batched delivery or “Eco Saver” with:

1. Offering additional discount
2. Positioning it as an eco-friendly choice (as it would lead to lesser emission)

How should the layout look?

There were different ways that the options of delivery type could be presented to the users. Our key parameters to evaluate were:

1. Scannability: Since the decision had to be taken at checkout, which is the end-of-funnel for a user, they should be able to scan it easily.
2. Scalability: Swiggy also had to introduce priority delivery in future, so the design had to do justice to multiple options.

#1 Vertical stacking of delivery types

Vertical stacking was effective as it worked on both parameters:

✅ Allowed easy scanning of critical information.
✅ Could accommodate additional delivery types in the future.

#2 Inline selection

In the inline approach, we stayed away from introducing delivery type as a construct and instead presented it as a selection UI.

✅ Easy to understand and decide.
❌ Not scalable for future expansion.

#3 Horizontal cards

Horizontal stacking provided ease of scanning due to its similarity with the common mental model of Left-Right comparison.

✅ Easy to glance through.
❌ Limited scalability, may turn into a carousel in future.

We ultimately chose horizontal stacking, despite its lack of scalability. Since plans for priority delivery were uncertain at the time, we prioritised scanability over scalability

Where should the delivery widget within the cart?

After finalising the layout, next was placing the delivery widget within the cart page. We considered three placement options:

1. A bottom sheet displayed as users enters the cart page, although this was a blocker flow.
2. Within the first fold of the cart page, positioned just above the offers section. While this placement would increase scroll depth, it would ensure 100% visibility.
3. Placed just below the offers section, outside the default viewport. Although this option had lower visibility, it wouldn’t clash with existing widgets and the job-to-be-done (JTBD) of the cart page.

Since each option had its pros and cons, we decided to conduct an experiment to determine the most effective placement. We tracked metrics of feature adoption and order conversion. The ideal option would strike a balance between all these metrics.

Following the experiments, the 2nd variant emerged as the winner, with  the a balance of feature adoption and order conversion.

What should we name it?

We settled on the layout and position, the next step was naming the new delivery type. As always, this was a nuanced decision involving user immersion and feedback calls. We presented users with three options:

1. No Rush
2. Smart Saver
3. Eco Friendly

User research indicated that “Smart Saver” resonated the most. Initially named “Smart Saver” during our pilot phase. Later on, we discovered the environmental aspect appealed most to our user base. And renamed to “Eco Saver”

Launching the pilot

With everything in place, it was time to test our hypothesis. The hypothesis was that consent for batching will improve batching metrics. The results from the pilot were intriguing and surprised us all.

Listing the results based on key metrics:

Order conversions: We offered discounts of Rs. 0, Rs. 5, Rs. 10, and Rs. 15 for Eco Saver delivery. The data showed that Rs. 15 had the highest conversions which was expected. But what was surprising, was Rs. 0 had more conversions than Rs. 5. This suggested that

Batching of orders: Typically, Swiggy batched 10–15% of orders, but with Eco Saver delivery, we were able to batch 25% of orders with plans to increase this in the future.

Customer metrics: One of the main objectives of this exercise was to maintain customer satisfaction metrics for batched orders. And it succeeded beyond expectations! The customer metrics for Eco Saver delivery were actually better than those for Standard delivery. 

With all metrics showing positive results, the pilot was a success, and Eco Saver delivery was scaled up. 🎊

Stitching it together

With the decision to scale delivery type, we re-evaluated the overall user journey. Our objective was to identify areas for improvement to boost adoption and enhance gratification.

Revisiting the touch points for Eco Saver delivery, we pinpointed key objectives to drive user engagement. Below is a visual representation of the touch points and areas earmarked for optimisation:

Driving adoption via…

1. Social proofing: We added marker to highlight the trending aspect for relatability and social validation.

2. Additional Noticeability: Using micro-animations to boost adoption, a subtle yet powerful way to draw user attention.

3. Reinforcing past experience: To encourage repeat adoption among users who have previously had positive experiences, we highlighted their past experience. Here, we use familiarity as a lever to nudge users.

4. Enabling repeat behaviour: If a user asked us to remember their choice for selecting Eco Saver, we wanted it to be highlighted to the user everytime they came back to cart page. This was done via an animation on the header area.

Enhancing gratification via…

1. Environment savings: Eco-Saver delivery is the eco friendly option compared to standard delivery. We aimed to highlight this aspect, appealing to people’s sense of social responsibility and environmental consciousness.

2. Delighter animations: Celebrating a peak moment of picking “Eco Saver” delivery.

3. Tracking the order: Reinforcing the Eco-Saver delivery and making the users feel good about themselves on the order tracking page.