Overview
As Zepo eCommerce Sellers were getting online sales it was getting hard for them to get an reliable and affordable courier/logistic service to ship their products, as sellers were spending a significant amount of their sales margin in shipping costs.
We got a lot of requests from our sellers to help them find affordable and reliable courier service for them which led to creation of the brand Zepo Couriers.
As a result we created a platform for our customers to ship the products at an affordable rates and get a good service.
Zepo couriers had a onboarded 6 leading courier partners across the country, and the service was not specific to our online sellers but the platform was independent and can be used by any seller.
After launching the web version of Zepo Couriers platform we focused on creating an app which could be easily used by seller to schedule a courier pickup for their orders and can be used on the go.
My role
I was leading this project of Zepo Couriers App alone working alongside a product manager to define the scope of our app and work on how easy can we make it for our sellers
My first action item was to understand how what were the key pain points of our sellers and how they use to work on fulfilling their orders.
The next step was to make a simple app for our sellers which could ease their operations and at the same time it could be cheap and efficient.
Timeline: 3 Months
Process
Understanding pain points
The first thing was to understand where in the process of fulfilling the orders sellers are having hurdle or issue.
We interviewed 5-6 seller of different categories likes (Apparel, Accessories, Food & Drinks) and asked them about their operational process to fulfil an order and time taken for each step.
Seller Interview Findings
| Questions | Apparel Seller | Accessories Seller | Food & Drinks Seller |
|---|---|---|---|
| What would you do when you get an order | Accept the order and start preparing the apparel | Accept the order and schedule the courier pickup | Accept the order and start preparing the order and schedule the courier if order is ready |
| What is your current process of scheduling a courier pickup? | I am mostly at my factory/warehouse for full day and would schedule a pickup at the end of the day after making the order ready. | I have my products ready in most of the cases and would usually accept them and schedule the courier pickup of next day and then pack the products for shipping. | If i have any order which is in ready status i will schedule the pickup for same or next day and for other i will have to come back later to the system to schedule the courier pickup. |
| How is zepo couriers helping you? | It is giving me the best rates and COD services and main thing is that it is integrated with Zepo eCommerce Dashboard | My sales margin has improved because of the cheaper courier options available, also my customers are getting more information about the couriers as zepo also communicates to them | My returns have reduced and customer satisfaction has increased due to constant updates that me and my customers get. |
| What is something that you feel could help you process orders even faster and could save your time? | I use Zepo Seller App to accept the orders and have to use my laptop to schedule the courier pickup, if that can in integrated in the seller app just like dashboard would impact our time and speed. | May be an app for us to schedule and track the courier on the go just like zepo seller app where I manage my orders on the go while I am at my warehouse. | I am liking the web interface of zepo couriers and would love see the reconciliation happening in this dashboard as well. |
| Are you using any other products/courier companies apart from Zepo couriers | No, I am not using any other platform | Yes, I ship my products through local courier companies if the pickup scheduled from zepo misses the target pickup time. | No |
| What is the most time taking process in scheduling a courier pickup | The main thing is filling up the excel sheet for bulk pickup and if I am doing 4-5 pickups its an individual pickup request that I have to work on and it takes almost 5-10 mins of my time. | For me entering the package details is time taking task, I have to take the measurements of each package from warehouse and then enter them in the system at the end of day when scheduling the courier pickup. | Entering package dimensions and shipping destination details. |
Defining the solution:
The next thing that I did was make a quick list of features we wanted to include in the V1 of the app and list of upcoming features.
| Sr | Version | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | v1 | Login & Signup |
| 2 | v1 | Schedule Pickup |
| 3 | v1 | Manage Shipment – Reschedule, Track, Email Shipping Labels |
| 4 | v1 | Manage Addresses – Add, Edit, Delete |
| 5 | v1 | Track Shipments |
| 6 | v2 | Schedule Pickup – Deep Link Integration with Zepo Seller App |
| 7 | v2 | Prepaid Wallet – Reload options |
Design
The next thing that I did was to design the app UI based on the findings and initial discussions with the stakeholder.
The Interactions and visual design were supposed to keep inline with our web interface and we were not wanting to deviate a lot from the web experience to make it consistent.
Onboarding
The onboarding flow was mainly focusing on two basic functionalities,
1. Let existing zepo users login with the same credentials
2. Allow new users to signup and create a zepo account with couriers account.
Dashboard
In V1, this would be quick access dashboard which would allow sellers to quickly schedule a courier pickup.
In V2 the idea was to show the reconciliation data with some shipment facts and wallet recharge options.
Create Shipment
This flow was made in way to match users existing behaviour of searching a flight on a booking apps and the interface and interactions were made in a way to match those existing patterns.
Create Shipment – V2 – Direct Integration with Zepo Seller App
The V2 version of the app would have direct button inside zepo seller app to schedule a pickup and would reduce the efforts of filling up the details, user just need to confirm the pickup location and complete the payment via wallet or any other preferred payment method.
Manage Shipment
This screen would have list of all the scheduled shipments and option to Reschedule, Track and Email shipping labels.
Manage Addresses
