Tokopedia Affiliate: Designing a New Feature for Influencers
Hilmi Salim
UX Designer
UI Designer
FigJam
Figma
Tokopedia
Overview
Tokopedia is a trusted e-commerce platform in Indonesia where millions of products are readily accessible to the public. Tokopedia is introducing a new product allowing influencers/content creators to promote products listed on the platform through their social media accounts. This initiative aims to drive traffic and sales to Tokopedia through shared links by influencers, while influencers earn commissions for each product sold.
Scope
UX Design, UI Design, Research, Prototyping, Testing, Design components.
Timeline
H1 2021
Background
There are approximately 160 million social media users across platforms in Indonesia (59% penetration according to the Global Web Index), they spend 3 hours a day scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. The adoption of social media led to the birth of not just passive viewers, but also content creators. They share their slice of life, points of view on current events, and also various experiences and recommendations, making social media as one of the most influential channels to form opinions and nudge decision-making. Some content creators are successful in gathering followers and monetizing their traffic, whilst the remaining 95% are still struggling to establish themselves in the market.
This becomes an opportunity to increase Tokopedia’s share of voice on social media by creating a platform enabling influencers/content creators to promote millions of products on Tokopedia and monetize their influence in their circle.
🎯 Objective
To maximize the opportunities, Tokopedia aims to create a platform for influencers/content creators to earn sales commissions from product links shared within their circles. This way, Tokopedia can also increase its daily visitors and sales.
The Users
Influencers who actively create content on their social media.
Our target users are influencers, which include:
The Nano Influencers
They have a small group of followers but are very good at getting their point across to their community. They share interesting bits of their everyday life on social media. Now, they’re also looking for more ways to make money.
Main goal:
They want to try to share products with their community/circle to get additional income.
The Micro Influencers
They often post about particular topics. They have a consistent type of followers. Occasionally, they receive paid promotions from clients. They have also gained income through their social media activities.
Main goal:
They want to use the affiliate program and post on social media to get income.
The Mid and Above Influencer
They are already established as a digital platform with a steady stream of traffic to their sites, usually niche blogs, publishers, or review sites.
Main goal:
They want to use the affiliate feature to monetize their traffic and maximize their income.
Success Metrics
Number of traffic and sales generated from shared links by the influencer
This was the primary measurement of success for this product. Now, let's find out if this product succeeded or not. You can see the impact in the final section. 👍
Understand our previous similar product
Assessing what didn't work for our users in the previous product.
Previously, Tokopedia had developed a similar product known as By-Me, which, however, did not sustain for a long duration and was ultimately phased out. We will explore the reasons behind its underperformance. There were at least three major challenges that contributed to the shortcomings of the earlier product:
Problem 01
Users needed to create content in the Tokopedia app.
A preview of the previously released product.
Users’ feedback indicated that creating content on the Tokopedia By-Me for product promotion was challenging because influencers needed to familiarize themselves with a new platform to post their content.
They were already accustomed to using popular social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Furthermore, they believed that investing effort into posting content on Tokopedia was less appealing compared to doing so on general social media platforms.
Problem 02
A limited number of products
Although anyone could become an affiliate, users were limited to endorsing products chosen by merchants who also determined the commission. This requirement for merchant participation restricted the variety of products available, becoming a significant limitation on the overall product offering.
Problem 03
The collections can be seen in Tokopedia only
Content from By-me was only visible on user profiles in the Tokopedia app and couldn't be found on other platforms; buyers needed to know a specific By-me ID to locate its landing page.
Furthermore, there was little incentive for influencers to produce content on Tokopedia. This lack of motivation was obvious because most influencers' profiles just had simple product photos with no interesting content.
Competitive Landscape
Analyze competitors who offer similar products.
Aiming to improve user experience beyond what competitors offer, I investigated several platforms with Affiliate Marketing products to collect insights and broaden my knowledge. The research team's discoveries highlighted two preferred platforms frequently utilized by influencers in Indonesia for affiliate activities, along with one internationally favored platform. Consequently, I chose to concentrate my analysis on these platforms.
Shopee
When users wish to sign up as a Shopee affiliate, they are required to input various details, some of which could be simplified—for instance, eliminating the need to fill in a form for their complete address, as this information can be sourced from their existing Shopee account data.
On another note, once approved as an affiliate, users gain access to a selection of products designated for promotion at specific times, making it easier for them to identify products ready for advertising.
Lazada
The onboarding process required detailed information, including address, type of affiliate, the platform where the link would be shared, and banking information, which could be made simpler.
Upon acceptance into the affiliate program, users had access to lists of Best Converting Offers and Products, aiding in quickly identifying promotable items with high sales potential.
Moreover, filters for Hot and High commissions were made available to assist users in easily finding products they were interested in promoting.
Lazada offered a broader range of metrics for users to track, including data on clicks, visits, orders, total order value, and more.
Amazon
The beginning phase demanded an in-depth collection of data, such as login details, the designated website or app for promotional activities, and personal plus tax information. Following submission, users were required to wait until the application process was fully completed.
Upon acceptance into the affiliate program, users were presented with recommended products for advertisement, along with the ability to browse through product categories to select items they wished to promote.
When tracking the performance of links on Amazon, the available metrics were limited and not as extensive as those provided by Lazada.
Bottom Line
1. Detail information is required for onboarding
In our competitive analysis, we discovered that many competitors require filling out extensive information and undergoing an approval process before one can advertise their products.
🤔 Should this also be implemented in Tokopedia? I thought we could aim for simplicity.
2. Provide a list of products to advertise
All platforms offer product recommendations that can simplify the process for users to gain inspiration on what products to immediately advertise.
3. Transparent monitoring of performance
All platforms provide information that enables users to track the performance of their links and offers transparency regarding the earnings they can achieve.
In-depth interview
Gain more insight from influencers
To gain deeper insights into how our target users participate in affiliate marketing, I initiated comprehensive interviews, held online due to the Covid pandemic. We conducted these interviews by inviting multiple influencers from different segments.
The Nano Influencers
1K - 10K Followers
We successfully interviewed 4 participants on this segment.
The Micro Influencer
10K - 50K Followers
We successfully interviewed 2 participants on this segment.
The Mid and above Influencer
50K Followers
We successfully interviewed 4 participants on this segment.
The key information we aim to gather from these interviews includes:
1. Understanding the user behavior
To understand more about their daily routine as a content creator in general.
2. Business model and end-to-end journey
To understand how they monetize their traffic, for example; endorsement, paid promotion, etc.
3. Affiliate business model
To understand if the participant is already familiar with affiliation or not.
4. Business process & tools
To understand how the content creator does their affiliate activity and what tools they use.
5. Expectation
To understand what are the expectations towards affiliate activity.
Key Insights
Didn’t know what to do
Most of the Nano influencers, often new to content creation and affiliate marketing, frequently expressed a need for knowledge in selecting easily sellable products, creating compelling content, and so on.
Not mobile-friendly
Several participants noted that on certain platforms, generating a link required a desktop view and was not mobile-friendly.
Transparency issue
Several participants who had worked with brands on affiliate marketing highlighted an issue: the lack of a unified platform meant influencers were unable to transparently track the impact of their shared links in real-time.
Ease of generating affiliate links
Most participants mentioned that the effort involved was minimal (just generating a link and placing it in their posted content) but yielded significant income. This greatly increased their interest in continuing with affiliate marketing.
Problem statement
📖
Need more education
Users need to be well educated about the affiliate program, including how to sign up, how to choose good products, how to create appealing content, and how to withdraw the earnings they make.
📈
Easy monitoring
Users need more transparency regarding the results of shared links, so they can evaluate and take further actions to maximize their affiliate advertising. They also need transparency about their earnings.
📱
Accessible and easy to use
Users need a more mobile-friendly experience to easily obtain affiliate links and promote them effortlessly.
Ideation Process
Based on the experience with previous products and insights gained from earlier processes, we came up with these triggering questions:
How might we..
How might we make it easier for influencers to sign up and promote products on Tokopedia?
How might we ensure a wide variety and supply of products?
How might we help influencers easily find the best product to promote?
How might we build users’ trust to join and to use our affiliate program?
How might we help influencers quickly understand the affiliate program?
The Solutions & Design
Tokopedia Affiliate! What makes this different from the previous concept and other competitors?
Solution 01
Mobile friendly
Due to user needs, we decided to start developing the product from a mobile view, making it more comfortable and easier for users to support the affiliate marketing process.
Solution 02
More Products Can Be Promoted with Higher Commissions
All Power Merchant & Official Store products are eligible for affiliation, and Tokopedia offers higher sales commissions compared to competitors.
Solution 03
Easy to register
No need to fill out numerous forms; by simply entering their social media account information, users can directly generate an affiliate link without having to go through an approval process to join the Tokopedia Affiliate program.
Solution 04
Easy to Find Products to Promote
Based on the insights gathered, there are a few features that could help users find products they wish to promote.
In this initial phase, to simplify the process for users, we display a list of products that have been Previously Purchased and Recently Viewed on the Tokopedia platform, making it easier for users to find products they want to promote to earn sales commissions.
Solution 05
Easy to Monitor Performance and Earnings
From the interviews, we learned which metrics users need to monitor the performance of their shared links.
We provide key metrics, such as Sales Commission (in currency), Conversion Rate (%), Number of Clicks, and Quantity Sold, to help users monitor and evaluate their links' performance directly on home page.
Additionally, users can easily view their total earnings, transaction history, and affiliate balance.
Solution 06
Easy access to education
Education is crucial for our users. Since affiliate marketing wasn’t familiar for several segments such as Nano Influencers, we offer a more accessible help page that can be accessed on the bottom navigation bar as a dedicated page on the Affiliate portal.
We also host regular sessions called Academy Creator, where users can learn how to maximize their affiliate marketing potential.
Design Validation
Conducted Usability Testing for Our New Product
To ensure our design meets users’ needs and is easy to use, I initiated usability testing.
We targeted 5 users with specific criteria for this testing, such as having at least 5,000 followers and being active on social media.
What did we want to validate?
Scenario 01
Can users easily register and effortlessly obtain an affiliate link?
Users were asked to sign up as Affiliates on Tokopedia.
Scenario 02
Can users easily monitor their link performance and transaction earnings up to withdrawing their income balance?
Users were asked to read and understand the available metrics information and to withdraw the accumulated affiliate balance.
Scenario 03
Can users easily understand more about the affiliate program?
Users were asked to find and learn some information about Tokopedia Affiliate information on the help page.
Testing insights
💡 The “AHA” moment
Generally, most users were able to easily complete the 3 test scenarios given, with some additional insights from these tests including:
Entry Point Was Hard to Find
Users felt the entry points were hidden and had to scroll down, making it hard to find the entry point on the profile page.
Too Many Buttons Showed
Users were confused about the necessity for numerous buttons on the page. Some participants questioned, "Do I need to generate a link one by one if I want to share on various social media platforms?”, “Can I obtain an affiliate link directly from the Product detail page”.
Iterations
Addressing the Usability Issues to Improve User Experience
Moving the Entry Point Above the Fold
I iterated the design to move the entry point above the fold.
However, the challenge was negotiating with the team handling the navigation page to secure a slot for our entry point as per our proposal.
Fortunately, we were aided by data from previous design validation, resulting in their agreement with our proposal.
Users can obtain Affiliate links directly from the Product Detail Page
We've added an entry point on the product detail page, allowing users to directly obtain and share the affiliate link without needing to visit the affiliate portal first.
Simplifying the Call to Action
Despite the necessity for multiple buttons due to business requirements and technical limitations for tracking the social media platforms on which users shared the link, we aimed to simplify the user experience in future designs.
We planned to implement a single button to simplify the design, yet ensured we could track from which social media platform the link was clicked.
Design Detailing
Design Components & All Use Cases Needed
For handing over the design to engineers, I detailed every use cases. I also created design components, making it easy to adjust them as needed in the future.
End Result
After the launch of the Affiliate product, we witnessed a remarkable surge in traffic directed to Tokopedia through the links shared by our users. The traffic generated to the Product Detail page alone reached 2,268,901 visits. These numbers were achieved as per the target of our defined success metric.
*I can't disclose the increase in sales figures due to the confidentiality of the data.
Recognition
Thank you to all the teams that contributed to this project and made it happen.
Rizki Mardita as a Senior Product Design Manager, Dicki Dahrurozak as Product Design Manager, Ananda Nadya as Research Manager, Monika Halim as AVP of Design, Priscilla Anais as VP of Product, and other teams that I cannot mention one by one.
Lesson learned
This was my last project with full hands-on involvement before I had the opportunity to be promoted to Product Design Manager. In this project, I learned a lot about designing a product from scratch with a limited timeline, necessitating more efficiency and effectiveness in every aspect of the work.
