4 Ways to Boost Transactions on a Classified Platform by Improving UX

Hi, I’m Andriy Hulyk, engineering manager. Together with a team, we have joint ownership of the Pay&Ship product area related to a transactional buying experience on OLX platform.

In short, OLX Pay&Ship is a safe and convenient way to make deals online. While the transaction is in process, the money is kept in the virtual wallet which increases security as both sellers and buyers wait till the transaction is over and is confirmed by both sides. 

Our goal is twofold: boosting transactions and reducing customers’ support requests. And we’ve achieved some great results here. As for the requests - we’ve dropped the rate from 50 to 10 per 1000, even though the number of transactions has increased by 6.6x times and keeps on growing. 

How do we achieve these results and sustain them over time? Here are a few ideas that might serve you as inspiration. 

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A disclaimer. Wherever I write we - I mean our extended team. At Rebbix, we are vertically integrated into OLX working back-to-back with the internal team. We frequently get together for brainstorming or workshop sessions to think on how to improve UX at OLX Pay&Ship. The outcomes of these are long lists of tasks that are then mapped out and given a deadline. Thus, the ideas do belong to many members of the team and the ownership of all these improvements is joint. Yet, we did have our hand in implementing every one of them and here you can see a little account of those. So, let’s start. 

expansion strategies

First things first - we’ve taken steps to increase the coverage and reach of the platform. 

• Diversified delivery options: atop to the existing ones, the users of OLX Pay&Ship got the opportunity to choose from the variety of newly added delivery services. This not only improved the UX but also offered users a more comprehensive array of delivery choices, enabling them to compare prices and proximity to pick-up stations. 

• Marketing integrations: implemented upon marketing team's request, the banners let to promote new platform features and options, share news etc. indirectly providing users with valuable information, enhancing their overall experience, and boosting transaction volumes.  

• Product expansion: given the user demand, tires were introduced on the platform as the product that users could sell or exchange. That required addressing unique logistics challenges that this particular product category presented and broadening the platform's offerings and user base.

trust-building measures

Another crucial thing is to build the trust towards the platform and between the users - buyers and sellers as that organically boosts transactions, too. 

• Buyer ratings: to help fix the issue with unreliable buyers who don’t show up at the pick-up point, we implemented a rating system. Sellers can now assess a buyer's reputation before finalizing a transaction and deny them, if the buyer is prone to last-minute deal canceling. That is instilling greater confidence in the process.

• Cancellation policies: allowing both buyers and sellers to cancel transactions at any point, with the option to provide reasons for doing that, has added transparency and confidence in the process. 

• Fraud detection: working that much with the platform, we frequently pinpoint fraud and unroot it from the platform. For instance, we once came across some shops that had created two accounts to exploit free delivery. In response, we promptly identified and disabled their buyer accounts. We also informed them that their actions were suspicious and one of their accounts had been blocked.

speed optimization

Streamlining the transaction process has been a significant contributor to boosting transaction volumes. 

• Accelerated transactions: once we suggested removing the button "Call" in the chats. So there were some users who decided to buy an item without calling and clarifying some things. As a result, the number of chats did not decrease, but the number of transactions did.
  
  
• Timers: added at every microstep suggesting deadlines to confirm the deal, send the parcel etc., timers increased the clarity and pushed the users to speed up and do the step that was required from them. 

• Free delivery option: needless to say, this feature enhances convenience for users by offering cost savings, ultimately improving their satisfaction and prompting them to use OLX instead of other platforms.
  
  
• Preferred delivery methods: allowing sellers to specify their preferred delivery methods has reduced transaction rejection and improved conversion rates. How? Consider a scenario where a buyer prefers delivery to the one provider, while the seller exclusively works with another one. To bridge this gap, OLX now offers the buyer a choice limited to the seller's preferred delivery service when they initiate a Pay&Ship transaction. This streamlined option selection aligns with the seller's preference, reducing the likelihood of deal rejection due to a lack of specific delivery stations in their city.

• Payment card management: users can now manage their payment cards separately for buying and selling purposes, with reminders for card expiration, simplifying the financial aspects of transactions.  It enhances user experience as they may have a different card as entrepreneurs selling things on classifieds and another card for buying things just as a user.

improved user experience

Big & little features to implement to cater to the needs of users and motivate them to push forward the transaction. 

• AI-Powered delivery: thanks to AI integration, today OLX shows users the expected delivery time based on the open data, speeding up user’s decision-making and helping them select having all the information at hand.
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• Error explanations in UI: clear and concise error messages guide users in resolving issues, instantly, reducing the need for additional communication and saving time and effort. For instance, some of the users chose a certain delivery service as a preferred delivery method but the seller or buyer may not have these pick-up or delivery stations in their city - the platform explaines that in a short message sent to the user urging them to change the settings or do any other action that is required to proceed with the transaction. Or it says you can’t pay with cash, because this payment option is not allowed. Or it shows you only those delivery departments where you can pay in your preferred payment method.
  
  
• Phone number flexibility: users can update their phone numbers, crucial for delivery services, with inactive numbers and associated accounts being pruned, reducing confusion and maintaining data accuracy.

• Quantity selection: users now have the option to specify the quantity of items they wish to purchase, offering greater control and convenience in the buying process.
  
  
• Secret Santa fun: we introduced a Secret Santa feature for users to exchange gifts anonymously with measures in place to address potential misuse, adding an element of surprise and joy to the user experience.

After all, optimizing transactions on a classifieds platform requires a strategic, user-focused approach. I believe these insights from our journey toward improved user experience will serve as a valuable reference in your pursuit of similar success.

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