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India has a massive problem with spam calls which has led to a habit among users to not answer calls from unknown numbers. This had a significant impact on Flipkart’s e-pharma platform, Flipkart HealthPlus (FKH+). We worked closely with the FKH+ team to solve for this to build trustworthiness of the brand and increase their order success rate.
problem
On an e-pharma platform, a user can place an order for any combination of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, prescription medicines, supplements, and other supplies. When a user places an order for prescription medicines, the platform is required to check for a valid prescription before accepting the order. Without which, the order for those medicines would be cancelled.
how FKH+ works around this
When users order prescription medicines, they are asked to upload a prescription or schedule a call with the FKH+ doctor who can assess them and write a prescription. If they upload a prescription, it will be evaluated by a pharmacist after they place their orders.
Once an order is placed, if it only contains OTC medicines or other non-prescription items, it is processed immediately. If an order contains one or more prescription medicines, it is split into a sub-order of non-prescription items and another of prescription items. The non-prescription items are processed normally, while the sub-order of prescription items is placed on hold until the prescription is validated or a valid prescription is assigned by an FKH+ doctor. If the uploaded prescription is not valid for any reason, FKH+ arranges a doctor’s call so that a valid prescription can be assigned.
challenges of validating prescriptions
India ranks an inglorious 4th in the world(1) on spam calls. People are so inundated with them, they don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. As a result, FKH customers often ignore calls from FKH+ doctors and pharmacists, even when they are trying to resolve issues or assign new prescriptions necessary to avoid order cancellations.
When users place orders on most e-commerce platforms, they expect their orders to go through successfully with the next step being delivery. Therefore, when orders on FKH+ are cancelled due to users not answering calls, it not only affects revenue but also erodes trust in the platform. So making sure that getting calls through to the users was essential to FKH+ business.
When orders on FKH+ are cancelled due to users not answering calls, it not only affects revenue but also erodes trust in the platform.
earlier version
On investigating the app flows, we observed that the order confirmation page (OCP), the screen that shows up immediately after an order is placed, didn’t inform the users about the prescription validation if it was not valid. This led to users closing the app, expecting their orders to be placed successfully.
Earlier version of the order confirmation screen
solution
Along with adding information about ordering prescription medicines across various sections, we focused on reworking this screen to educate the users that:
- their orders are processed, and
- they should expect a call from an FKH+ doctor if their prescriptions were not valid.
After informing the users that their order is placed, the screen tells them that their prescription is being verified by a pharmacist. FKH+ aims to complete the verification process within 120 seconds. Since it would not be a great experience for users to just wait through this process, we wanted to introduce an engagement that would keep them occupied while the verification is in progress.
We wanted to test our hypothesis for this new flow before investing a lot of time in the engagement piece. So we repurposed the existing health articles on the platform as health tips that users can browse through.
order is placed
prescription is being verified
While the overall flow showed a positive change, the health tips weren’t seeing any traction. To address this, we started evaluating ideas for better engagement piece. We observed that other apps introduced mini-games or showed movie trailers, but they were not suited for an e-pharma app. We focused on carrying through our design value of calmness and landed on a flower animation that guided users through a breathing exercise while their prescription was being verified.
updated order confirmation screen with a breathing exercise
If the prescription is not validated for any reason, the screen informs the users that a doctor would call them to write a new prescription. The phone number to expect this call from is displayed along with a suggestion to save it in their contacts. As a majority of FKH+ users are repeat customers, this saved number solves the future problems of the same nature.
the prescription could not be verified and a doctor would call them
Once the prescription is verified or a valid one is given by a FKH+ doctor, the screen shows that the order is confirmed.
order is confirmed
Addressing users who leave the app
While the breathing exercise is intended to keep users engaged on the app while their order is validated, some users are still likely to leave the app. To keep these users informed, we introduced a persistent info bar to communicate the validation status.
persistent bottom infobar
Conclusion
The updated order confirmation flow led to a 30% rise in the number of answered calls, consequently reducing the rate of canceled orders and enhancing the overall reputation and trustworthiness of the FlipKart Health+ brand.
