Babaco Market
Supercharging an e-commerce adoption rate by 115%
Summary
In Q1 of 2024, I led the redesign of the checkout flow, homepage, and logged in experience of my employer at the time, Babaco Market.
In just one quarter, thanks to the redesign, we reached these outstanding business outcomes:
The add-on product adoption increased by 115%
The user engagement increased by 212.5%
The Average Order Value (AOV) increased by 3.78%
The Time On Task of the checkout flow improved by 45.35%
Throughout this case study, I have taken care not to present any data that would breach our Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). By focusing on percentages and avoiding specific names of stakeholders, I have ensured the confidentiality of sensitive information while still showcasing our successes and the impact of my work.
Introduction
Babaco Market is an e-commerce platform dedicated to combating food waste. It strives to make conscious grocery shopping convenient for their target audience—Italians aged 20-45 who prioritize eco-conscious living (and hopefully have a soft spot for veggies).
As a Product Designer within this startup, I was tasked with revamping the checkout, homepage, and logged in experience to drive key metrics such as Average Order Value (AOV), add-on adoption rate, and user engagement.
Challenges
The existing homepage suffered from information overload, lacking clarity about the subscription-based service (box of fruit and veggies) and how you could add groceries to it.
The information was there, but it was unclear how the service works.
Additionally, the design was not optimized for smaller screens, forcing users to scroll up and down to take everything in.
Also, the checkout flow was as tangled as a spaghetti dish, with nested input fields and unnecessary data requirements making users feel like they were navigating a maze.
These challenges were exacerbated by a recent team restructuring, leaving me as the de-facto leader of our product design team, facing new management and mentoring dynamics.
I now had more decisional power and could act on designs and processes that didn’t convince me fully.
For example: I knew through Hotjar analysis that the majority of our users were using the service via mobile browsers, and could establish a “mobile first” approach to our design (something that hasn’t been done before).
Design Process
Despite these challenges, our cross-functional team, with me as the Lead Product Designer, a Product Designer intern under my tutelage, and the support of our CFO, Marketing Lead, and two programmers (one front-end, one full-stack), took a proactive approach.
We knew we didn’t have much time and resources to do in-depth UX Research, opting for a guerrilla style approach to insight gathering.
First, we conducted stakeholder interviews within the organization.
Later, we involved colleagues and outsiders for usability testing of our Figma prototypes.
Those involved were employees using the service, and outsiders recruited were aligned with the target demographics, ensuring relevance and authenticity in our testing process.
Additionally, leveraging Hotjar's analytics, we gained insights into our current users’ behavior, guiding our design decisions.
Ongoing weekly interviews and testing sessions with stakeholders and testers allowed us to refine our designs iteratively, ensuring alignment with both business objectives and user needs.
Implementation
The redesign effort focused not only on enhancing the homepage and checkout flow of Babaco Market, but also on redesigning the main page of the logged-in version of the website. This included integrating an add-on carousels in the latter, in order to address the need of users to be able to add groceries to their boxes without having to navigate in the main e-grocery area of the website.
We transformed the homepage to finally be mobile-friendly., a fundamental step, as Hotjar demonstrated that the majority of users interacted with us from smartphone.
Streamlining the checkout flow from four to three steps was a key improvement. Additionally, we introduced a post-checkout upselling section strategically placed to capitalize on user engagement without disrupting the checkout process.
Results and Impact
The redesign yielded remarkable results: a 115% increase in add-on adoption rate, a 212.5% increase in user engagement, and a 3.78% increase in AOV.
Additionally, the Time On Task of the checkout flow improved by 45.35%. Less time completing the flow means more time enjoying fruits and veggies!
These improvements were validated through internal business tools and Hotjar, indicating heightened system usability, user interaction, engagement, and satisfaction.
It's safe to say our efforts packed quite a punch—like a zesty marinara sauce!
Feedback from stakeholders and users
Key stakeholders, including our employer's leadership team, praised the redesign for its clarity and ease of use. Testers and users reported a clearer understanding of the service and its offerings, highlighting the effectiveness of our collaborative approach to design and user testing.
We even received a round of applause from our toughest critics—our own team members! It was like winning a cooking competition and being showered with compliments from Gordon Ramsay.
Reflections and Learnings
Looking back, this project underscored to me the importance of aligning business needs with user needs. Despite challenges such as a team restructuring and limited resources, we delivered a successful project on time and within budget, showcasing our commitment and adaptability.
Moving forward, we will continue to prioritize user-centric design and proactive user engagement to drive positive outcomes for our employer and their customers.
Integration of User Interviews
To ensure ongoing user engagement and feedback, I managed to establish a routine of weekly user interviews, leveraging our customer service team to recruit participants: every week we send a recruiting email to a selection of people who reached out to us through Support or Feedback surveys.
In this way, we have at our disposal an automatic recruiting system that allows us to keep a pulse on user needs and desires, avoiding the need to effortfully be looking for participants.
Conclusion
The redesign of the checkout, homepage, and logged in experience not only improved key metrics but also solidified our employer's commitment to user-centric design.
By leveraging data-driven insights and proactive user engagement, we delivered a solution that resonated with both users and stakeholders, driving positive business outcomes.
We look forward to continuing to collaborate on innovative solutions that make a meaningful impact in the eco-conscious e-grocery space. And who knows, maybe we'll even throw in a recipe or two along the way!