Impactful Changes for Meesho’s Homepage
1. Web App:
a) Replace the current hero element of the webpage to a carousel
If you see any major e-commerce app, they feature a carousel / slideshow of different items they want the user to be attracted to. (Refer to images on the next page)
Issues with current scenario: Shows just one banner, with whatever sale is running currently. What if the user is not interested in the same? What if Meesho had other things to offer like a collab with a bank and we can offer special discounts apart from the regular sale; now will that not grab the attention of the user? It will.
p.s. Maybe the user base of Meesho is mostly android users but when I click on Download the App it let’s me download iOS app, then the same icon should be shown here.
Positives of implementation: We get the opportunity to grab the attention of the user multiple times. Sale, Card offers, we might as well promote a product. It’s already done beautifully in Meesho’s mobile app.
Just in case the carousel seems too heavy for the site since we need to load multiple high quality images, we might take the GIF approach from WayFair. They have a gif that keeps changing in certain time intervals and the user is redirected to the respective web page once clicked.
b) Categorize things better and utilise screen real estate to the maximum
Do we expect at least 40% of our customers to become a Supplier? Mostly likely not. Then why is it that this entire section is occupied with this concept? We need to understand that screen real estate is super expensive. Each item we show has it’s own opportunity cost.
I understand that we want to on-board as many new suppliers as possible, but the same can be achieved by using half the space and we can utilize the rest of the half with any product or category.
This is the same strategy Amazon has also used. They are promoting Prime on the LHS but still marketing their products. This way any user who’s not a potential reseller (which is majority) would still have something relevant to see on the screen and their attention will not drift away.
Now, coming to categories:
Issues: When I click on Grooming or Watches, the same Men’s Store loads up that is not customized to my click. Also there is nothing catchy.
Examples shown below:
Walmart- Super eye-catching
Wayfair- It might seem with our color scheme it is kinda difficult to get creative and highlight the products instead of just keeping our color in the background. Wayfair almost has the same colour scheme as us.
But they have gotten creative and it’s just grabs attention.
I understand that it requires proper investment and efforts for the same. But if we have trusted long term resellers we can make a deal with them. But for now we can work with our design team to categorise things better.
Amazon(shown on Page 5)- They utilise the space so well, that a user will definitely be interested in something or the other offered in that section.
c) Make things more interactive
This is something no other major e-commerce app has done except Myntra. That too for a reason. Let me explain.
If I search for anything in Flipkart/Amazon each result I click on opens in a new tab. And if I just need to see the images of let’s say shoes then this experience is very frustrating for me. Maybe their tactic is if the user doesn’t like the product and closes the tab, they are landed back to their original search query and they stop the user from going to a different site.
But we also need to consider that we need to see pictures of things we wear not of smartphones or TVs. No one goes to Amazon or Flipkart to look at picture of an iPhone or Xbox. They have already seen the reviews and they want to buy the product.
But in case of wearables, we would want to see different pictures in different angles. Myntra majorly deals with wearables, hence their approach is to start a slideshow of the images of the product once the user hovers over it. See below. Also, our heading Products for You the indentation is off.
How do we benefit by doing this?
Well, we are in the same boat and Myntra and this change would simply make the entire UX super convenient. User (just like me) will not get frustrated with multiple tabs opening or going back for another product.
Apart from this, the mindset that is developed that, “Oh if I go to Meesho, I’ll save time and have a better experience” for the user will help us in retention and brand image.
2. Mobile App:
2. a) Control user flow by categorizing things in home page
Context: Currently, after showing the Offer Zone and Flash Sale items, Meesho let’s the user scroll endlessly through items.
Concept: There is a reason why chocolates are kept near the billing section in supermarket, it’s because it’s a small ticket item and nice to have but more so that kids while waiting to bill will pick them up.
Our scenario: If we let the user scroll endlessly, we are likely to loose the user. A user may or may not want to buy a product but it’s our job to present it the best possible way that the user thinks it might be useful for them.
We should categorize items in a presentable way just like Amazon and Flipkart have done that too with design elements. More so we can come up with creative ways to categorise to keep the user hooked. Additionally, this can serve as a way to promote items as well, by charging resellers, we would show your product in top 3 categories of our homepage.
2. b) Sale banner
Context: We know that a sale is running currently.
If we observe the below screenshots, after the top banner where sale is shown there is no way for the user to remember that, Oh yes! A sale is going on let me check what all items are available.
We should have a small thin banner just below the search bar that mentions, Holi Sale is live, checkout items upto 60% discount. This will get us another chance with the user who initially avoided to read the top banner, because of our conditioning to avoid ads, hence boosting the sale revenue.
2. c) Scroll through item images and making more out of less
This is similar to point 1. ©. The same needs to be done in Mobile, but with the addition that currently when we see Meesho’s view of items, the grid is clearly visible and there is a distinction of space. I shouldn’t be getting that, as a user my attention should be grabbed by the product. Swiggy/Zomato do a great job of showing items as if they’re popping out of the screen.
Have you noticed Reels in Insta/TikTok/FB? And you find something super useful that you’d want to buy? Flipkart has found a way to utilize that, from the Home Screen you swipe left and you land up to Vibes where the same content is fed to you. Now the user would be more likely to engage and ultimately buy the product. There is also Flippi which takes a Plunge into the AI world, but I think we can keep that for later.
