How do we make a better payment experience?
Offering the best payment experience for our customers requires a thorough analysis of every single step of the payment process and making improvements. We asked the Payment Wallet Product team how they make the payment experience better than ever before, as its team members are the ones making it possible.
Hello, Payment Wallet Product team. Could you please introduce yourselves?
Vans: My name is Vans and I'm a Product Manager. I design the payment experience that our customers have when they make a purchase on Coupang. This includes the payment methods, authentication, global payments, etc. that our customers encounter at home and abroad.
Kana: Hi, I'm Kana. I'm also responsible for payment products. In particular, I pay close attention to cases where failures happen during the payment flow. Our team’s focus is to boost payment success rate. We try to increase payment success rate in the process of resolving failed cases and find ways to deliver the best experience for customers.
Milan
Milan: Hello I'm Milan, the manager of the Payment Wallet Product team. It’s been only a month since I joined Coupang Pay. Like other team members, I support Seller Products and strive to ensure that our customers in Korea as well as overseas have an excellent or outstanding payment experience.
■ Editor’s comments: Rather than working on individual tasks, the Payment Wallet Product team members work collaboratively to find out payment blockers and build/test hypothesis to resolve issues, so that customers can make payments successfully on Coupang. In other words, the team is devoted to providing the best payment services for customers.
How is the workflow of the Payment Wallet Product team?
Kana: First of all, the company-level goal is to increase the gross merchandise value (GMV). As mentioned earlier, this requires increasing the payment success rate. Our team’s workflow is as follows:
Brainstorming → Workshop → Data-driven user research → Problem identification → Building up hypothesis to solve each problem → Project execution
Of course, we carry out the projects based on their priority level and make a lot of efforts to secure resources.
Kana
Vans: To elaborate what Kana has said, our ultimate goal is to achieve the OKR. We define problems based on the failures our customers experience and make improvements through the collaboration with multiple teams.
Milan: A very interesting part in our workflow is that as POs, we establish diverse hypothesis. We establish the hypothesis, estimate the impact and required resources, and go through the testing process. Our hypothesis could be right, but it can also be wrong. However, what matters is that these tests allow us to launch better products.
■ Editor’s comments: Are there any other points that POs should consider aside from the workflow?
Milan: Yes, I think we should also pay attention to system reliability. Our role may be small, but I think it’s very important that we work closely with the engineering teams to reduce customer issues and ensure reliable system operation. As Coupang has made inroads into various overseas markets, there are many things requiring our attention from the operational perspective. We are working to satisfy the varied needs of diverse customers by applying most up-to-date systems and expanding their applications.
What are your special skills that help you overcome the various challenges during the product development process?
Milan: I don’t think I have any special skills of my own (smiles). But I think it's very important to communicate and negotiate well. Since POs and PMs work together with various teams and we have to deal with all sorts of ideas, arguments and disputes during this process, we should be able to find a middle ground where all participants can satisfy their needs and wants.
It's also important to have good communication skills so that people feel free to share new ideas and discuss whenever they encounter a blocker. We can eliminate blockers if we share ideas and reach a consensus.
I also want to talk about decision making. First of all, whenever we encounter an unexpected issue, we should be able to provide data that can support how we are going to resolve the issue. This includes A/B tests, etc. However, in addition to presenting the supporting data, we should also have the flexibility to overturn decisions that have been made before depending on the tests results, and the ability to make quick decisions no matter what the circumstances are.
Vans: I try to share problem situations with the relevant stakeholders. Whenever I talk to developers, in particular, they help me gain new perspectives and we can think through the problems together. Also, we often have issues due to limited development resources. However, I find it very helpful to engage in frank conversation with them, as they often come up with solutions of their own for allocating resources more efficiently by making adjustments to how they work on the development tasks.
Vans
Kana: I think “Dive deep” is where I’m strong at. After joining Coupang Pay, I’ve seen many cases where the direction of a product or project takes a dramatic turn. Whenever I encounter a sudden change, I take a deep dive to sort out what I need to do first. In other words, I try to redefine the problem we need to solve. And then, we find a solution and do another deep dive to find out the reason for the sudden change in direction. We also reflect on the reasons we didn’t manage to consider other solutions at that time. However, if I believe that the existing direction is the right way to go after the reviews, I try to convince others that we stick to the option by preparing data that can support my views. What is also important is that as a PO, I should be able to convey my message simply.
As a PO, what is your focus these days?
Kana: I would say my focus is to improve the payment success rate. I try to make improvements to areas where customers struggle or make mistakes during the payment process. Also, I’m thinking about ways we can make the payment flow simpler. We also have customers in Taiwan and Japan, so there are things we can do to make their payment experience better.
Milan: For now, my focus is successfully completing the projects that I’m working on. Since it hasn’t been long since I joined Coupang Pay and I’m still in the learning process, I’d like to focus on my tasks for the time being. But at the same time, I’m also working on ways to improve our work efficiency, as many of our team members are new to this company as well.
Vans: My focus is to eliminate any inconveniences our customers may encounter during the payment process and to add more customers. If we look at the payment process, there are certain areas that our customers commonly point out as pain points, and these areas are where customer attrition happens. Therefore, my goal is to eliminate these pain points.
As the final question, what do you want to learn from Coupang Pay?
Milan: I'm still new to this country. So I want to learn more about Korean customers and the market. I also want to have a more in-depth understanding about Coupang.
Kana: Just like Milan, I want to know more about Korea’s payment, lending and wallet businesses. I think Coupang’s fintech business has a great potential for growth, so I believe what I do now will provide me with many opportunities in the future.
Vans: I want to develop hypothesis and conduct tests that will create better experiences for our customers, and I believe Coupang Pay offers these opportunities to POs. I’m very excited about the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead.
We look forward to working with talents to build a better payment experience.