Is it better for Zalando to focus on mobile app features or improve the desktop experience?

Introduction

The trade-off between focusing on mobile app features or improving the desktop experience is a critical decision for Zalando's product strategy. As an e-commerce platform, Zalando must balance user preferences, technological trends, and business objectives. I'll analyze this trade-off by examining user behavior, market trends, and potential impacts on key metrics.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• Context: I'm assuming Zalando has both mobile and desktop platforms. Could you confirm if there's a significant difference in user engagement or conversion rates between these platforms?

Why it matters: Helps identify which platform might need more attention. Expected answer: Mobile has higher engagement but lower conversion rates. Impact: Would focus on improving mobile conversion while maintaining desktop performance.

• Business Context: Based on industry trends, I'm thinking mobile might be driving more traffic. What percentage of our overall traffic and revenue currently comes from mobile vs. desktop?

Why it matters: Aligns resource allocation with user behavior and revenue generation. Expected answer: 60% mobile traffic, 40% revenue; 40% desktop traffic, 60% revenue. Impact: Would influence whether to prioritize mobile growth or desktop optimization.

• User Impact: Considering the fashion-focused nature of Zalando, I'm curious about user behavior across devices. Do we see different purchasing patterns or average order values between mobile and desktop users?

Why it matters: Identifies potential device-specific strategies to maximize revenue. Expected answer: Higher browsing on mobile, larger purchases on desktop. Impact: Might lead to a multi-device strategy rather than focusing solely on one platform.

• Technical: Given the potential for a unified codebase, I'm wondering about our current technical architecture. How separate are our mobile and desktop codebases, and what's our capability for shared development?

Why it matters: Affects the efficiency and cost of developing for both platforms. Expected answer: Partially shared codebase with some platform-specific components. Impact: Could influence decision to focus on shared improvements vs. platform-specific features.

• Resource: Thinking about our team structure, how are our product and engineering resources currently allocated between mobile and desktop development?

Why it matters: Helps understand the feasibility of shifting focus without major reorganization. Expected answer: 60% mobile, 40% desktop, with some overlap. Impact: Might identify need for team restructuring or hiring to support chosen strategy.