Flipkart uses coachmarks to onboard new users

Context

Mobile apps on average lose 77% of new users in the first 3 days 📉. This hurts more when you realize all those marketing dollars spent on getting new users is mostly wasted if users don’t stick around long-term.

This steep drop-off can be fought with a well thought out onboarding flow. This flow should introduce users to the core actions 🛠 that correlate to long-term retention.

In the video, we can see how Flipkart 🛒 introduces new users to its core functionality as the user goes through making a purchase for the first time.

Why this works

By guiding users to the core action that correlates to retention:

1. You are reducing the time it takes for them to see value
2. You ensure more users actually do those core actions

Both the above are responsible for improving activation rates.

You can A/B test 🧪 between users who saw your onboarding flow vs those who didn’t. If executed well, users who saw your onboarding should have higher long-term retention.