Parenthood is no doubt one of the most challenging journeys in a lifetime. Caring parents around the world want to provide their kids with only the best and are always looking for smart products. During a hackathon by MACH Alliance about helping people get unstuck virtually, the Divante team came up with AppParently. The solution was created with composable commerce principles, and it’s made to exchange parents’ concerns and knowledge through eCommerce.
→ Check out the full presentation about the concept.
Millennial parents are under pressure because of demands
Parents are stressed out from increasing demands on their time, a more competitive economy, reduced support, and advice from family and community. Today, Amazon returns 35,814 results for parenting books. A Google search for “parenting advice blog” returns 104 million results.
Product information is simply not enough when taken out of context. There’s a lack of data that is valuable to users like, for example, the look and feel or usability.
Why is the mobile-first approach crucial for parents?
When you have a baby, there are always jobs to be done, and it’s quite hard to find some time for yourself. About 75% of parents shop via their mobile device. That’s 18% more frequently than nonparents. Parents are always on the go. Mobile with a well known user interface (UI) is not enough.
We need to help them complete their tasks using voice and by seeing video. Digital assistants like Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa create challenges and opportunities for parents, especially those raising younger children.
“Today’s parents are the busiest of all consumers and are demanding someone make their lives easier for them.” -Rachel Blumenthal, Rocket of Awesome.
AppParently boosts support.
AppParently is an eCommerce extension where parents can listen to each other and exchange knowledge. Real-time connections with parents who are facing the same challenges will connect them and improve customer satisfaction.
Key architectural assumptions:
✔ commercetools – eCommerce platform
✔ PWA base on Vue Storefront
✔ Video Conferencing – AWS #Chime
✔ Recommendations, promotions, CMS – Talon.One, Constructor, Amplience
✔ #GraphQL – AWS #AppSync
✔ #Serverless – AWS #Lambda functions in Node.js
Top business benefits of AppParently
Is it worth innovating and investing in an eCommerce add-on dedicated to parents? According to a study, about 97% of pregnant women use the internet to search for information about pregnancy, for pregnancy-related social networking, for support, or eCommerce. Well, we tested, we iterated, and we listened to real mothers while working on AppParently :)
By adding it to your site, you’ll gain significant benefits that turn into profits:
Increase your customers’ loyalty
- Gain brand ambassadors and build trust.
- Engage customers with gamification.
- Create dedicated content for each segment.
Collect the data
- Avoid clients who are not registered and have a customer lifetime value (CLV) that is hard to calculate.
- Know your audience by guiding them through the process.
- Give value for data.
Increase conversion rates
- Real-time personalized recommendations.
- Match products to create cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
- Use the benefits of progressive web apps (PWA).
Decrease costs
- Let your community help in the decision making process.
- Be flexible on product costs by creating an independent expert/advisory board.
- Spend less on updates with modern architecture.
The users’ perspective on value
Since the early days of the internet, pregnant women have turned to online discussion forums or blogs for moms to find emotional support and information about pregnancy and raising children. Adding AppParently to your online store will add the human touch, and it will ensure that parents won’t need to go beyond their favorite eCommerce website.
Crucial values for AppParently users
Understanding
Insights: I’m tired of social distancing. Every minute I have more concerns. I need to exchange those concerns with others.
Real-time knowledge exchange
Insights: I want to ask users in real time about their feelings after I make a purchase or see what it looks like in a video.
To be part of a community.
Insights: By entering a topic-related community, I want to find useful information and meaningful connections.
Summary
Composable commerce provides out-of-the-box components and business capabilities that enable these to be integrated and deployed into the market quickly. To learn more about composable commerce, you can read about it here or download Divante’s ebook, “commercetools – Composable Commerce, Reference Architecture.”
By 2023, organizations that have adopted a composable approach will outpace the competition by about 80% in the time it takes to implement new features.
Being a first-time parent isn’t always a picnic. Future parents will seek help and reduce stress through online solutions. By combining it with the best technology stack, we create a truly perfect match.
Do you want to add AppParently to your eCommerce store? Head of Innovation Lab @Artur will be happy to introduce you to the details. → awala@divante.com
Published March 3, 2021
