Ketakii Patni works as Senior Executive at Blinkit. She joined us 9 months ago and has played a key role in Consumer Search Content ever since. Ketakii was interested in the marketing and operational aspects of a business, which led her to pursue an MBA in the same field. In this post, Ketakii walks through her journey of improving search on the app.
The Journey & The Transition
The day Grofers rebranded itself as Blinkit was also the day I was interviewed for a role there. When I saw the announcement, I was nervous but also excited to see Blinkit all over the news. It was all I could talk about to my friends. Fortunately, the interview went well, and I joined Blinkit as an intern in the Cataloguing and Merchandising Department. Due to COVID, the first three months of my internship were online. I was worried about adjusting, as it was entirely new to me. But, I had great mentors and peers on my team who welcomed me and made me feel at ease.
I dedicated my first three months on a project that aimed to create and fix nomenclature for products on the app. I worked closely with the Category team and the responsibilities given to me enabled me to gain confidence, and thereon my internship was converted to a full-time job.
I hail from the small city of Jodhpur, so once offices began to open, I relocated to Gurugram. This was my first job, so it was overwhelming for me as well as my family. But coming to the office gave me the opportunity to connect with people and keep learning.
Learning the Process & Improving it
What I really enjoy about Blinkit is that my worklife isn’t just a fixed job description–I am able to achieve way more than that. Blinkit provides ample opportunities to explore within the organisation. In August, I got the chance to join the Consumer Search Content team, which was working on the search journey of a customer. This was an exciting point for me–to do something that is impact-worthy. I’ve realised that we cannot put all customers under one bracket. We have to tweak our app according to their needs and wants.
I was given a project to analyse keywords that have less than 10% Conversion (When a customer searches and Adds to Cart, we treat it as a converted search). I noticed that people were searching for “Phool” on the app and realised they weren’t just looking for flowers but also for the eco-friendly brand that sells organic incense sticks, rangoli powder and other similar household items. I suggested that we should consider bringing this brand on board via the Category team. When I saw it on the app a few weeks later, I was thrilled to see the impact of my work being realised.
During my time in the Search Content team, I’ve also taken the initiative to make manual processes more efficient through automation. For example, the task to generate merchant IDs was tedious and loathsome (merchants are virtual entities for physical Darkstores). A template I suggested reduced this lengthy process to just 5 minutes while also allowing us to include many merchants IDs on the system. I’ve identified critical bugs and assisted the development team in fixing them.
I learned additional aspects of the business while creating Product IDs. This process helped me understand the fundamentals of content whilst also figuring out how we can encourage more customers to buy responsibly by providing relevant information on the app.
There are days when things are great, and there are days that are very challenging. You want to be in a workplace that will support you through any obstacle.
Blinkit provided me with such a space when I was facing health issues. I was able to work from home for that time which helped me to cope better.
People and Culture
I like to interact with people, and working here with brilliant minds, talking to them about their consumer experience of using the app, inspires me to improve my work. For me, every interaction is a learning experience. The feedback that I get from my coworkers is something that I really appreciate as open communication is the key to grow and explore.
With a fast-paced business like ours, when you are focused on one problem, another perspective reveals itself. It’s a never-ending process and a constant learning experience.
Along the way, I have learned the importance of technology and how automation can help in making things much more efficient.
Bringing my whole self, and making a meaningful impact is something that I strongly believe in. Being vulnerable allows me to be more resilient and adaptable. Having the courage to take risks and the compassion towards work allowed me to be distinguishable.
Ketakii is a Senior Executive at Blinkit. You can follow her on Linkedin.
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