Enhancing the mobile experience through a user-centric application
The client
Ripley is one of the leading retail companies in Chile and Peru. Ripley operates in three distinct segments: the retail division, which encompasses the sale of clothing, accessories and home products through department stores and online channels; the consumer-focused banking business managed by Banco Ripley; and its ownership of shopping centers in Chile and Peru within the real estate sector.
Ripley is one of the largest retailers in the apparel, technology, home products and decoration segments and is one of the leading retailers in Chile and Peru, with 47 and 29 stores, respectively. Ripley's mission is to fulfill customers’ dreams and improve their quality of life through its products and services. Always strengthening its relationship with the consumer, it offers experiences connected to its users and responds to their needs.
The problem
Although the company maintained a website that allowed customers to access its marketplace, this website was initially designed with a focus on virtual experiences. However, because it was not optimized for mobile use, customers accessing it from their phones were met with an experience far removed from Ripley's desired customer experience.
Ripley and Thoughtworks conducted an in-depth analysis and research into customer behavior, where a harsh reality became apparent: their mobile conversion rates were very low. While the website was well adapted, it still fell short and had inherent limitations. The reality was in the conversion data and when coupled with the fact that the vast majority of users were accessing the site via their smartphones, it unequivocally indicated the loss of crucial opportunities and valuable resources to deliver an optimal experience for each customer.
The solution
As a result, the need arose to develop a mobile application that would provide a seamless shopping experience for smartphone users. This step responds to the demands of Ripley’s customers, who prefer self-service and conduct their transactions mainly through their mobile devices.
The initiative represented a major challenge. It meant competing with apps already established in the user's mind, which had defined the rules of the game, the level of expectations and had been evolving for months and even years to satisfy the user. Internally, the paradigm shift from web to mobile was also a challenge. Ripley needed to believe that this change would empower the entire business to grow and improve, with the demands of the app store helping to internalize good practices as standard.
The vision of the app (MVP) was to have a product for its customers in Chile and Peru that would allow them to buy and consult quickly, easily and reliably from anywhere. The main goal was to improve the experience of most of the customers who visited from their phones, as well as having another channel available and focusing on omnichannel.
We started the project with a week of Lean Inception, where the Thoughtworks and Ripley teams and key stakeholders participated. At the end of this week we managed to define OKRs and what was expected for the MVP of the app. The most important thing was that everything was built with a user-centered approach, with a lot of research for each section of the app.
From the beginning we worked with a pairing strategy so that the knowledge was distributed throughout the team and also served to align the technical knowledge. Thoughtworks always offered solutions to bring talks and discussions of best practices, such as TDD, Pipeline, TBD, including Go To Market strategy with Rafael Auday.
On the technical side, we had to mature Ripley’s ways of working, implementing many more good practices, many tools that allowed us to keep a very updated tech stack, and that all permeated the entire factory.
The outcomes
As of today, one of the most important OKRs of Inception was met, which was to have more than 4 stars in the Appstore.
In the Appstore it is ranked 10th in the shopping category, beating the Paris app.
We achieved a smooth end-to-end experience for users. Some elements of "Morita" (design system) were improved and adapted to the needs of an application client (on a responsive web). Screens and actions were built based on user research.
The initiative has turned potential into reality by making once-expensive functionalities feasible and measurable. Now, experiments, hypothesis testing, and more are all integral parts of the app, expanding its offerings and possibilities. Ripley is now eager to pursue even more milestones. The new app has broadened the company's outlook and presented a lot of new opportunities to explore.
Working with both organizations involved, Thoughtworks and Ripley, and collaborating from the very first minute, allowed us to quickly cover the learning curve and develop the synergy that led us to the results we wanted.
