keyboard_arrow_up
keyboard_arrow_down
keyboard_arrow_left
keyboard_arrow_right
4 min read

Optimizing Marketplace Monetization

Summary

Background and Role

Zola's long term mission is to become the most innovative and trusted company for the entire couple's journey. Having already serviced millions of couples and expanded the business from a wedding registry startup to a full suite of wedding products, Zola is well-positioned to further grow and encompass the largest wedding bucket spend: wedding vendors.

As Senior Director of Product Design on the Vendor Marketplace team, I was “player-coach” shaping strategy, generating designs, and managing 4 direct reports and stakeholder relationships with our CDO/Co-Founder and SVP/GM. I also co-led the Product Design team to evolve culture, design operations, and design system.

Scope and Goal

We tackled this challenge from multiple angles, reshaping the vendor experience from end-to-end. We implemented auto-renewing plans, reduced friction at points of transaction, and introduced a new stream of revenue via ad placements. I partnered with our GM & SVP, one other designer, and a number of members across our 40-person cross-functional team.

The objective for this effort was to increase gross placed sales. Wedding vendors are the biggest spend bucket for couples, and marketplace revenue is mostly margin, so these projects were critical for the business.

Impact

We increased our KPI significantly.
• Monthly Gross Placed Sales (GPS) grew by 4.25x

Auto-renewing payments

The initial vendor offering included a la cart credit packages only, but a subscription model was desired by vendors and the business. For opted-in vendors, it transformed a monthly decision and manual task into a simple recurring transaction, which was convenient for budgeting. For the business, revenue grew and forecasting became more reliable. Design-wise, this involved creating components in our system for transactional email templates, meticulous attention to detail with onsite updates and edge cases, plus close collaboration with Legal.

auto renew
Recurring payment examples
Recurring payment examples
Email content collaboration
Email content collaboration
Scenario prototypes
Scenario prototypes

Quick-Buy: Refilling credits

When vendors needed more credits to connect with a couple, their path to purchase was a real distraction. Our solution was simple: replace the standard multi-step checkout flow with a new simple modal. Consolidating key information into a format that was easy-to-digest but still clear was a fun puzzle.

quick buy
Phasing options
Phasing options
Variant explorations
Variant explorations
Collaborative process
Collaborative process

Pricing Page: Selling the benefits and reducing cognitive effort

The previous pricing page lacked clear hierarchy and overwhelmed users with up to seven choices in some cases. It was difficult for users to determine the best value or the most suitable option for their needs.

We introduced recurring plans alongside "pay as you go" options in this phase, and I aimed to simplify decision-making utilizing color, typography, spacing, and language.

The most challenging aspect of this effort was managing the extensive stakeholder input, not only from our Marketplace team but also from Executive Leadership, which required print-friendly assets for feedback and rapid iterations.

quick buy
Before
Before
After
After

Vendor Portal: Modernizing the structure / look and feel

The design of our vendor-facing experience was not the top priority when I joined the team. There was a substantial opportunity to improve many key areas, including onboarding, navigation, and more. By taking a step back to refine the information architecture and making a practice of using design system components, we were able to make great progress. Although prioritization continued to be a challenge, we found ways to strategically attach small changes to relevant, in-flight projects and rally support for larger efforts over time. View prototype (desktop) ↗️

Takeaways

Upon reflection, there were a few main reasons this work was successful:

  1. We were scrappy. We utilized the resources that were directly in front of us and reached out when they were further away, allowing us to punch above our weight.
  2. We juggled lots of moving pieces. Although multiple tracks of work and occasional misalignment on the team were tricky, my steady approach and optimistic perspective served us well.
  3. We hustled to get it done. It's great to have a team full of talented and intelligent people, but strong work ethic and grit are also needed to deliver.

More from Zola

Zola

Inquiry Growth

Zola culture

Culture