Having a Unique Selling Proposition can set you apart

I'm writing this blog at 4am in the morning and the reason for that is, just a couple of hours back my friend asked me, "Hey what's the USP of Swiggy?" .... first of all I didn't what it meant so I quickly fired 8 tabs and started my deep dive into understanding the concept.

🧠 Having friends which make you learn new concepts at 2am are a blessing!

Another question which arose was, What sets Swiggy, Zomato and Foodpanda apart? On the surface level they all seem the same. Where do they all defer? Time to put on the thinking cap.

What does USP stand for?

USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. Basically it's a question you ask yourself about what makes your product unique against the competition. Generally, It's the points to put across to the end user that convey unique benefits to them.

USP is a marketing and advertising term, but I do see it well connected to UX as well.

How does having an USP help?

To put it in a sentence, to make your brand stand out by building a clear differentiation between the competition. Think about McDonald's and KFC, both have a different image in your mind isn't it? Although both of the brands are in the fast food sector, they've carved a good 'niche' in your mind to stand out!

Having a strong and an unique USP can make you stand out of the crowd!

How to figure out your own USP

  1. Put yourself in your customer's shoes.
  2. Know what is going to drive the end user to choose your product.
  3. Figure out how your competition is structuring their product in the market.
  4. Research! Research! Research!

How is MVP and USP related?

When I started to learn more about the concept of USP, it clicked to me that this is sort of a similar concept to MVP of a product. So what are the things which make MVP and USP related?

A MVP is the minimum viable product you'll be shipping to your customer to check how the markets reacts to it. Depending on the feedback you'll either have a proof of concept or need to go back to the workbench! Having an USP along with a MVP is one of the strongest edges you can have while launching a product because your product would not easily replicable by competitors and it adds in to the marketing side to distinguish your product!

In my opinion, having a good Design and an aggressive pricing are two ways to have a distinct USP.

Examples of a few USPs of famous companies

  1. M&Ms: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." M&Ms use a patented hard sugar coating that keeps the chocolate from melting in one's hands, thus a chocolate soldiers could carry, compared to other brands.
  2. Domino's Pizza: "You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less—or it's free." 1973-1993 "You Got 30 Minutes". Domino's uses what it calls the "make line" and other systems to make pizzas quickly.
  3. FedEx: "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight."1978–1983". FedEx was the first company to specialize in overnight air freight and first to implement package tracking

Conclusion: USP of Swiggy

After looking into the concept of USP, I was still stuck with the question I started with, What is Swiggy's USP?

Since the concept of USP was defined in the 1940s, it hasn't aged well. Modern Technology has got everything at a click of a website! It’s therefore easy to see what other businesses have to offer, and their USP’s. And that's when the drawn line becomes thin, because every product is trying to be an another product, copy their set of USP and add it on top of their own.

The problem which Swiggy solves is:

  1. Fast food service.
  2. Accessibilty to various cuisines.
  3. Laziness to cook/abilty to grab a quick bite.

But hey, doesn't the competition do the same? Well, that's true. The lines are very thin. * Swiggy's USP in my opinion has to be its competitive price, convenience, hyper-local delivery and a fantastic user experience. Having a good UX and competitive price is the easiest way to stand out and build an USP and Swiggy has nailed that concept!