Messaging Tool — The new marketplace tool tailored to the FARFETCH reality
By Teresa Nogueira
Last year, at FARFETCH we officially launched the Messaging Tool, an on-site communication service built to deliver timely and segmented messages across different touchpoints in our Website and Apps. The tool was created out of the necessity to support personalised communications in a complex environment: the FARFETCH Marketplace.
This complexity, both on the user experience and operational side, was one of the factors that pushed for the in-house development. After analysing the constraints and several third-party solutions, none of them seemed to match or solve all of the FARFETCH’s needs.
By choosing to build the Messaging Tool internally we were given a competitive advantage: to leverage on our knowledge of our usersand their needs, and integrate with other internal services (like Segmentation or Promotions) to build the best power tool.
We designed it having in mind the reality of the FARFETCH Marketplace, but also the complexity of our internal processes, with the objective of improving performance and efficiency: one single tool, that served multiple touchpointsin different channels. Additionally, the tool allowed us to deliver and prioritise personalised messages based on a specific user, context or trigger.
One of our first and main use cases was Promotions. When the Promo Tool was launched a few years ago it allowed FARFETCH teams to create and manage personalised promotions. However, it only created the discount itself, there was no way of showing this in a straightforward way to the user, for example in Product Pages. This left users confused and unable to differentiate the conditions and eligibility of promotions.
A huge shift came when we started using the Messaging Tool to support this process. We were able to build new touchpoints (e.g. promotional labels) making it simple for the user to identify the eligible items on the Product Pages and the main details of the promotions.
The promotional experience was a huge success and great improvement on the user’s Purchase journey. It positively impacted sales, the AB Test registered an uplift between M$23 — M$108, and reduced Customer Service’s calls during promotional periods.
After that, other use cases naturally followed, proving to be as successful and beneficial to the business, such as the POS (BC: M$36 — M$73) ot the PDP and Bag (BC: M$18 — M$87).
Bringing this solution to life has been quite an exciting ride. Since day one, it demanded a lot of work and effort. On an initial stage, proving that this investment was the right decision and it would bring us flexibility and efficiency in the long-term. Then, during the actual development, it required a lot of alignment and collaboration between teams. Here, was when we had to prove that we were building the tool that covered all of our users’ needs, both internal and external. Looking back, I believe it was a great learning experience for everyone, and a great example of a Todos Juntos initiative!
In sum, the launch of the Messaging Tool lead to some key changes and improvements:
- Product: development of a solution that matched our complex user needs and streamlined our internal process
- Technological: integration of multiple services, combining several capabilities in one tool, decommission of Qubit (approx. $60K uplift through performance improvement)
- External Users: personalised experience; clearer and more relevant communication across user journey
- Internal Teams: consolidated processes; increase in efficiency and reduction of workload
The Messaging Tool has brought tremendous value to the business, and it is just the beginning. In the future, we hope to be FARFETCH’s go-to on-site communication tool, supporting even more touchpoints, creating a more personalised journey for our users and launching this winning recipe in other tenants.
Originally published at https://www.farfetchtechblog.com on July 11th, 2023.
