Reframing churn to refocus the product roadmap
The challenge:
Emerging retention patterns across a multi-vertical marketplace raised concerns about increasing user churn. Before investing in broad retention initiatives, the business needed to understand whether users were genuinely disengaging or simply following different, expected usage cycles - and where intervention would create the greatest value.
Our approach:
We combined product analysis, stakeholder discovery and behavioural research to examine the assumptions behind the churn problem. Our approach included:
Analysing user behaviour and retention data across different platform verticals
Mapping user lifecycles to distinguish disengagement from expected usage patterns
Segmenting behaviours to identify where genuine retention risks existed
Interviewing stakeholders to understand competing interpretations of the problem
Testing assumptions and translating the evidence into focused product priorities
Outcomes:
Distinguished genuine churn from natural lifecycle behaviour across the marketplace
Identified the verticals where retention required further product attention
Identified a new market opportunity through differences in user behaviour and needs
Revealed inconsistencies in how teams defined, measured and responded to churn
Reframed one platform-wide problem into distinct user and business priorities
Gave leadership clearer evidence for refocusing the product roadmap
Impact:
The findings prompted a strategic pivot away from a broad, platform-wide response to churn. By identifying where intervention was, and was not, needed, the work redirected attention towards genuine retention risks, improved business alignment and helped prevent investment in solving the wrong problem.
The e-commerce industry's website sales value in the UK non-financial sector is £459.2 billion (ONS).