Improve Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) by 15% for smallcase
About Smallcase
Smallcase is an Indian investment platform that allows retail investors to invest in portfolios of stocks or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) called “smallcases.” A smallcase is a basket of stocks/ETFs that reflect an idea, theme, or strategy. These smallcases are designed and managed by a team of experts and are intended to help investors achieve their investment goals by diversifying their portfolios.
Smallcase also offers investors the flexibility to customize their portfolios by adding or removing individual stocks/ETFs from the smallcases. The platform also provides investors with comprehensive information about each smallcase, including its past performance, risk profile, and asset allocation.
Smallcase offers three types of accounts to investors: individual accounts, joint accounts, and corporate accounts. The platform charges a one-time fee for each smallcase transaction and does not charge any annual maintenance fees or other hidden charges. Overall, Smallcase provides investors with an efficient and cost-effective way to invest in the stock market and diversify their portfolios.
Business Objectives
Increased Transaction and Revenue
Increase the revenue via the transaction fee by increasing the number of transactions performed every month. Add an alternate revenue source in the form of a premium subscription for members and encourage them to make more transactions
User Retention and Engagement
Retain the existing users by providing them seamless user experience by reducing the friction in key aspects. Increase the overall engagement by giving access to personalized recommendations aligned with individual financial goals, thus making smallcase their go-to form of investment.
Customer Acquisition
Onboard more users by marketing how investment is made easy and the value of personalized investment recommendation.
Brand Loyalty
Build brand loyalty by helping users achieve their financial goals through personalized investment strategies. A positive user experience will contribute to long-term user retention and loyalty.
Market Differentiation
Differentiate Smallcase from competitors by offering not only a diverse range of investment portfolios but also a superior user experience in terms of payment convenience and personalized recommendations.
Rookie Investors
Smallcase is an ideal platform for novice investors who want to start investing in the stock market but are unsure of where to begin. The app provides an easy-to-use interface and curated smallcases that enable users to invest in pre-selected portfolios that align with their investment goals.
Seasoned Investors
Seasoned investors who are familiar with the stock market that use Smallcase to invest in portfolios that align with their investment strategy, such as value investing or dividend yield. These users can also benefit from the app’s comprehensive information on each smallcase, including its risk profile and asset allocation
USER PERSONA & JOURNEY
In this section, we shall discuss the different User Personas, their market share and the User Journeys to understand the goals of the users, their needs, and their pain points. This would help us get a clearer picture of how the users feel and what needs to be improved in the product.
CASE 1 - A new user who has already had their number verified and wants to invest
CASE 2 - An user who is subscribed to smallcase and wants to invest more
CASE 3 - An active user exploring new investment options
User Problems
- No guided journey for first-time users thus making it difficult for them to navigate the application and figure out what to do next.
- No option to compare multiple small cases and their performance which affects decision-making.
- Lack of personalization which makes it difficult for users looking for specific sectors or fields and users who would need investment advice based on goals.
- The lack of goal-setting options makes it difficult for users looking for wealth creation and have goals.
- Lack of categorized filters which makes it difficult for users to explore smallcases available.
- No option to make multiple buys at the same time. Users looking to place multiple orders in a go find it frustrating to go through the laborious payment process.
- The payment process is laborious which adds a lot of friction to the user experience.
Problem Prioritization
Complex & Laborious Payment Process – Based on the observations from user pain points of the above-discussed personas and the user journey we can observe that all the users have trouble with the complex payment process which is adding more friction to the investment process. Simplifying this will have a huge impact on the user experience, creating a smoother and simpler investment method that can be marketed to an advantage.
Lack of Personalization – Based on the observations it is clear that most users struggle with a lack of personal recommendations that are suitable for their goals. In a fast-paced world where users look for applications to make their work easier personal recommendations especially based on their goals would be very essential and when these goals are achieved via these recommendations more users would be driven to use the application.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Solution Prioritization
Solution prioritization would be based on the RICE framework. In this framework, RICE stands for Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort. These factors are taken into consideration for each of our proposed solutions and the ones with the highest calculated score would be prioritised. The calculation is as follows – RICE SCORE = [ Reach x Impact x Confidence ] / Effort.
| Proposed Solution | Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curated Smallcase Recommendation | 90 | 4 | 100 | 5 | 7200 |
| Compare smallcases | 80 | 3 | 85 | 3 | 6800 |
| Simpler Payment interface | 85 | 3 | 100 | 3 | 8500 |
| Filter and Search | 70 | 3 | 60 | 3 | 4200 |
| Reward system for existing users | 60 | 2 | 50 | 2 | 3000 |
| Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| [ 1 - 100 ] | [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ] | [ 1 - 100 ] | [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ] |
Based on the results from the RICE framework, the two most suitable solutions have been chosen, namely – a Simpler Solution Interface & a Curated Smallcase Recommendation Engine. The outline of these solutions and their success metrics will be discussed below in detail.
SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION
The idea is to create a simpler payment interface with multiple payment options and easy integration with a demat account. The MVP shall mainly focus on creating simpler UI and reducing the no. of steps to save time and feedback system to understand and improve the system.
Minimum Viable Product – Break Down
- Simple UI – Implementation of a simpler User Interface that shall have only limited steps and easy navigation options for completion of payment and placing orders.
- Payment Gateway – Interface with a payment gateway that allows multiple modes of payments, especially UPI-based payments. The payment methods should be per the SEBI guidelines.
- Security – Implementation of end to end security in order to ensure secure payments and transactions.
- API Development – Develop appropriate APIs that need to be used for integrating Demat accounts with smallcase. These APIs should help us sync and execute orders for the investments made on smallcase without having to navigate into the demat account via web applications.
- Customer Support – Develop a chat or call support in case of any payment or transaction-related queries. The backend team will consist of technicians or support engineers that monitor the queries andh elp customers resolve them.
- User Feedback Collection – Implement mechanisms to collect user feedback on the payment experience and overall investing experience.
- Iterative Development – Plan for regular updates and improvements based on user feedback and data analysis. Based on the success tech stack needs to be updated at the back end for seamless payments.
SIMPLER PAYMENT INTERFACE
wire frame - Single Order Payment
In comparison to the previous User Journey, it can be viewed that the proposed system is more efficient and user-centric.
- Simpler User Interface
- Reduced steps for easy order placement
- Multiple payment options.
wire frame - Multiple Order Payment
The most commonly faced problem with smallcase is that users need to repeat a lengthy payment process for each of smallcase they want to invest in. Multiple orders solve this problem.
- Select the smallcase you want to invest in
- Select the amount you want to invest
- Add them to the cart, make a time payment for all items in the cart
Success Metrics
Activation Metrics
- Drop-off Rate – The decrease in drop-off rate during payments indicates the success of the new payment process and its effectiveness.
Revenue Metrics
- Conversion rate
- Number of Payments
- Payments volume
- No. of multiple orders by the same user.
Referral Metrics
- User Experience – A smooth and hassle-free payment process indicates a good UX