How I Boosted SWVL’s GMV with Cross-Selling Packages

Introduction

I joined SWVL in February 2021, just after the pandemic, to lead growth products. One of the most promising levers was the Packages product—a prepaid ride bundle that allowed users to buy multiple rides at a discount.

For users: it meant lower per-ride costs.
For SWVL: it drove higher LTV, retention, and ride frequency.
The mission was clear: increase package sales to directly impact GMV.

Product Discovery and Data Analysis

The discovery phase revealed a critical issue:
Only 5% of users ever saw the Packages screen.
Out of those, 40% converted, yet overall penetration sat at just 2%.

The opportunity was obvious. We didn’t need to change the product. We needed people to find it.

Understanding Customer Needs

Customer interviews validated what the data suggested:

Users liked the idea of packages.
But they missed it—tucked deep inside the app.
Savings weren’t obvious — users had to manually calculate them.

We weren’t surfacing the right message at the right moment.

Strategic Implementation Using Frameworks

Hooked Model: Building Discovery Loops

To improve visibility, I applied the Hooked Model (Trigger → Action → Reward → Investment):

Trigger: Push notifications when ride usage spiked.
Action: Moved “Packages” to the home screen.
Reward: Highlighted total savings upon package purchase.
Investment: Reinforced by usage—each ride drew from the prepaid package.

Nudge Theory: Driving Behavior Through Context

Behavior is shaped by context.

We introduced contextual nudges at the ride-booking stage:

Instead of just “Book Ride for $10”, users saw:

Book Ride: $10

Book for $5 (with a Package)

This created a subtle decision-making tension. Users naturally leaned toward value.

Cross-Selling Initiatives

We embedded cross-sell prompts across the funnel:

If a user regularly rode a certain route, they saw a personalized package offer.
Messaging focused on savings and convenience.
The goal: meet users where they were, not ask them to explore elsewhere.

Challenges

The risk? Conversion could drop. Cross-sell at the final funnel stage might distract or confuse users.

We couldn’t afford a drop in rides.

GTM Strategy

To mitigate risk, we soft-launched:

Rolled out cross-sell to a low-conversion cohort (infrequent riders).
Tracked conversion and package adoption.

Results were strong across both metrics, giving us confidence to scale to 100% of users.

Results and Impact

Visibility of Packages jumped from 5% → 100%.
Package penetration grew from 2% → 12%.
GMV rose by 5%.

A strategic mix of behavior design, data-driven targeting, and staged rollout made it possible.

Conclusion

This project sharpened my belief in:

Start with data. Let it reveal blind spots.
Build around user psychology. Subtle nudges win.
Don’t guess. Rollout iteratively and validate before scaling.

At SWVL, we didn’t just sell more packages—we reengineered how users discovered value.