Community & Social

Chat as a Product Growth Engine: Insights from Sploot's Journey

As Sploot's pet owner community grew rapidly, their initial chat offering faced scalability issues. This case study explores how Sploot partnered with CometChat to strengthen micro-communities, derive insights, and drive community-led business growth.

Team CometChat

Sploot's Journey: An Idea Takes Flight

In the buzzing tech universe of 2019, Sploot's founders, Garima Kaushal and Arnav Sahni, noticed a gap. Amidst the countless Instagram pages catering to dog parents, there was a distinct void — none offered a cohesive platform to unite these pet enthusiasts. This sparked the idea for Sploot, a close-knit community where pet parents could connect and share advice.

As Sploot's online community flourished, it became clear that their users sought more than just connections. They craved a deeper sense of community, a platform for dialogue, and mutual support through their pet parenting journey. To serve their passionate user base, the Sploot team introduced a social app in 2021. This opened up avenues for dog parents to engage more deeply with peers, transcending the limitations of Instagram.

The Classic Scaling Issues

The Sploot team recognized that impactful communication was at the heart of any thriving community. So, they built a chat module on Firebase, just as any astute founder would do before achieving critical momentum. This pawed way for "micro-communities" united by shared interests. However, as the chat module gained popularity, it struggled to meet the growing demands of the thriving community, leading to scalability and performance issues.

With their core purpose gaining traction and the monthly active users constantly surging, it was time to transition to robust, scalable chat infrastructure. Sploot chose CometChat, establishing the foundation for a truly engaging chat experience capable of scaling with their user base.

How Sploot Uses CometChat

CometChat's integration marked a strategic turning point for Sploot. Their robust chat infrastructure provided the tools needed to deepen community interactions and gather valuable insights.

Now, let's delve into how Sploot uses CometChat:

Pet-Parent Peer Conversations

Sploot's community channels serve as dynamic spaces for pet parents to connect, share advice, and showcase their adorable pets. These chat channels have been tailored around specific breeds, pet ages, regional groups, and niche pet interests. The shared focus of these channels facilitates more meaningful exchanges of advice among members who have common experiences and interests. Plus, the sight of lovely pets offers a delightful stress-buster for users.

From Digital Dialogues to Real-Life Play Dates

Moving beyond the virtual sphere, Sploot uses chat to forge real-world connections. Group messaging powers local dog walks, pet adoption events, and fun playdates. Small group conversations serve as planning hubs for these meetups.

Curated Care Groups: Your Personal Pet Care Panel

Sploot enhances the community experience with "Ask an Expert" virtual sessions. These are expert-led discussions where users can have their pet-related questions answered. The sessions' details are shared in dedicated groups, and users can revisit the conversation thread even after the session ends.

Informing Business Decisions: In Sync with the Community's Pulse

Sploot capitalizes on the power of community feedback, turning chat conversations into a goldmine for actionable insights. These unfiltered, real-time exchanges provide Sploot with an invaluable understanding of their community's needs and preferences.

Armed with this knowledge, they're able to make data-driven decisions, prioritize their offerings, and shape their services to resonate with their community's evolving needs. This harmonious cycle of feedback and improvement ensures Sploot stays in tune with their community's pulse, enabling them to deliver personalized services and continually enhance their platform to meet and exceed user expectations.

Sploot's adoption of CometChat is more than just a technical upgrade. This strategic move has deeply influenced how their community grows and interacts. CometChat has enabled Sploot to harness their community’s power, crafting a dynamic platform for pet parents. Their community-centric journey demonstrates the true potential of a platform when backed by robust, scalable chat infrastructure. Their story serves as an inspiration for businesses aiming to build similar community-driven platforms.

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