Martin of OLX Group: Making Big Bets with Product Management
5 Insights about Product Management, Scaling Marketplaces and Extreme Users from Martin, Director of Product Management at OLX Motors Europe
“You spend a lot of time studying the user as a product manager. One story has particularly stuck with me,” says Martin, Director of Product Management at OLX Motors Europe (part of OLX Group).
“A woman once explained to us how she had trouble buying a car at one dealership. She went to a different dealership, only to learn the two dealerships had talked and both agreed to not lower the price for her. This was unfair treatment of a customer. I want to help eliminate these issues and make the car shopping experience more inclusive and seamless,” describes Martin.
Martin understands the potential of his role at OLX Motors. As a product manager with a background in e-commerce, he’s built a career democratizing industries and connecting buyers and sellers. At OLX Group, he’s doing that in the motors space.
Recently, we sat down with Martin to learn more about his background and his work at OLX Motors. We also heard some great insights about how to solve the big problems.
Let’s dive in…
1. Lift up inventory in the community
OLX Motors (part of OLX Group) brings car buyers and sellers together so that they can easily, safely, and conveniently make a deal. OLX Group is the world’s fastest-growing network of trading platforms, operating in 30+ countries around the world. Every single month, 300 million people use the OLX Group platforms to easily, safely, and conveniently find their perfect home, buy or sell a car, find a great job, sell things they no longer need, or strike a great deal on something they need. To unlock value for folks, they must build a trustworthy, efficient, and fair ecosystem. It’s no easy task, but the team is up to the challenge.
“ OLX Group lifts up inventory in the community. We bring people together in a local area that want to trade,” describes Martin. “Buyers get access to goods that are affordable and meet their quality standards. Sellers get access to more buyers. To make this happen effectively, we must ensure our platform is designed for all users.”
Martin paints a great picture of what OLX Group does. They make inventory more visible in the community so that buyers have more options and sellers get more leads. It’s a win-win for everyone.
This all relates back to OLX Group’s purpose:
“To shape the future of trade to unlock the hidden value in everything.”
The pre-owned car market has long been plagued by issues with pricing transparency, trust between dealers and buyers, maintenance record keeping, and more. By creating an ecosystem where all that’s tracked and verified, the OLX Group platforms eliminates those frictions and unlocks value for both buyers and sellers.
2. Go for the most extreme version of simplicity
The average car buyer used to visit five dealerships, according to McKinsey research. Though online research has changed the process, buyers still have to spend hours at dealerships before buying a car. And the negotiation process can get overwhelming.
For sellers, hurdles exist for a successful sale as well. From knowing the true value of the car to finding potential buyers, many people encounter complex issues with selling a car.
As you can see, there are a lot of pain points in auto trading. The process can get incredibly stressful.
This is where OLX Motors enters the picture.
“We want to eliminate the hassle of going to various dealers. We want to provide the widest possible choice. In short, we want the most extreme version of simplicity for buying and selling automobiles. At OLX Motors we work hard to allow the customer to assess everything online and go through the whole process online before doing the transaction in person,” details Martin.
“We want to integrate all the steps in buying a car. That requires developing trust, getting the right car in front of users, offering a convenient transaction, and performing reliable inspections,” attests Martin.
For Martin and the team, this is all a part of bringing people together that want to trade. They’ve even added additional services, like financing and auto parts sales, to make the OLX Motors platforms a one-stop-shop for your auto needs.
“To me, this is the role of a product manager in the classifieds space for automobiles. You have to make it easy for customers to connect to what they need, from the actual car to financing to parts.”
We are still hiring. Martin’s team is also hiring. Check all our product roles here
3. Find the pain points
The lack of trust and fairness in the car buying process is constantly on Martin’s mind. It’s an issue he wants to solve for good.
“I always think back to when the lady told me her story about going to two different dealers and not getting a fair price. I could see her pain. I could see how she was being mistreated because the dealership unjustly assumed she didn’t know the car market. I want to ensure she doesn’t have that sort of experience again,” states Martin.
For Martin, the purpose of being a product manager is to solve such problems for people. With more and more users on OLX Motors platforms, he can do just that on a massive scale.
“I care about having an impact. To make a difference, we must focus on where the customer hurts.”
Solving pain points has been the foundation for building the OLX Motors platforms. And it’s why OLX Motors is bringing all aspects of the car buying and selling journey into one place. This way, buyers and sellers can overcome those common hurdles.
“We want to get customers the right car at the right price. To do that, we have to bring transparency and develop trust. The best way to do that is to listen to the customer, make their voices heard, and solve their pains throughout the journey, no matter if online or offline”
4. Make the right bets based on the time period you are optimizing for
We’ve discussed a lot about how product managers can solve problems. But how do they know where to invest their time and resources in the first place?
“We want to make sure our core is working. We also want to invest in the future. It’s about making the right bets here,” proclaims Martin.
When investing in a new product or platform feature, Martin takes time to analyze the ‘bet’, to find the ‘why’ behind complex decisions.
“For instance, Otomoto, the OLX Motors Europe platform in Poland, is one of the largest auto buying sites in the world, and we have a responsibility to existing users to meet their expectations. We make safer bets there in terms of improving the user experience while doing riskier bets on the future, such as new initiatives with financing.”
There’s no one single answer to whether any build will deliver its goals. However, as a guide on product management models states, you should be “continuously building a latticework of mental models” for deciding where to build or invest in the next product.
“We have a variety of different models for determining if new ventures will be successful. We look at how useful the venture is, the overall potential, and whether it’s a safe or risky bet. And we take steps accordingly.”
Any product manager must remember that the right investment decision changes based on the time period you are optimizing for.
5. Consider AI a tool (like any other tool)
Think of how artificial intelligence affects your life. It’s impacting every job and our daily lives. Product managers like Martin believe success with AI depends on using it in the best possible way.
“Now, I expect any product manager to understand AI. It’s a skill they need,” affirms Martin.
So, how can product managers use AI exactly?
“When product managers look at user problems, they should consider an AI-based solution just like any other solution, They have to work very closely with data scientists and the data engineers,” answers Martin.
“However, AI is not a magic solution for everything. To really use AI, one must understand AI and see if an AI-based solution is the best way. Sometimes, there are way simpler solutions.”
To Martin, the work of the product manager has become more intertwined with other departments. This enables them to see how to best utilize tools like artificial intelligence, which can truly improve things like pricing and inventory management.
It’s more than just a willingness to use AI. Martin believes product managers need the right mindset too.
“The product manager has to be intellectually curious enough to understand this infrastructure. Without curiosity, the product manager won’t be able to learn the skills of the future.”
Stay Tuned for More!
During our talk with Martin, we learned a lot about OLX Motors and how product managers can better serve people. We hope you’ll take these insights and put them into action.
In the next part, Martin discusses the mindset and approach product managers need to take to succeed.
We are still hiring. Martin’s team is also hiring. Check all our product roles here
