How Can Traditional Businesses Build Effective User Operations?

“User operations” used to be a term associated almost exclusively with internet companies. But as the second half of the internet era unfolds — marked by industrial digitization and enterprise transformation — traditional businesses are finding themselves drawn into user operations whether they’re ready or not.

A colleague managing operations at a scenic tourism attraction shared her experience with me. Her organization had recently begun building out a digital infrastructure and was experimenting with more refined user operations strategies. Yet she felt overwhelmed. The theories she absorbed online didn’t match what she encountered on the ground.

Some frameworks she came across emphasized building a community around core users — nurturing KOLs, managing WeChat groups, keeping conversations alive. Others focused on user stratification, lifecycle segmentation, and personalized push notification strategies — methods designed for products with daily active users in the hundreds of thousands.

The reality at her scenic spot looked quite different.

The tourist WeChat groups she managed were either flooded with spam or completely dead. Red packet giveaways drew plenty of takers, but the moment anyone tried to discuss something meaningful, the chat went silent. Her social media following was a modest few hundred thousand. Purchase frequency was extremely low. Daily active users rarely broke 100. The sophisticated segmentation frameworks she’d studied simply didn’t apply.

So what should traditional businesses actually do about user operations? Let’s start with the fundamental value equation.

Total Operations Value = Active User Count × Average Revenue Per User

Most operational work comes down to one of two levers: growing your active user base, or increasing average revenue per user.

We won’t dwell on user acquisition here. For traditional businesses, raising average revenue per user has a direct and simple meaning: earn more money across each customer’s lifetime. Unlike internet products — where user value can be tied to advertising impressions, data, or other intangible metrics — for traditional businesses, it’s purely financial.

So how do you earn more?

Break down the revenue formula: Revenue = Traffic × Conversion Rate × Average Order Value × Repeat Purchase Rate

Three of these variables directly shape how you run user operations: conversion, average order value, and repeat purchases. (We’ll leave traffic aside for now.)

Let’s unpack each one.

1. Conversion

Conversion is about designing the journey from first contact to first payment — building a path that guides users toward taking action.

There are two dimensions to consider here.

The first: designing conversion paths across a multi-channel owned media ecosystem (WeChat Official Account, Mini Programs, personal WeChat accounts, and community groups working in concert).

For example, one scenic attraction structured its funnel like this: a custom-built webpage offered free tickets in exchange for sharing to WeChat Moments, triggering viral spread → new visitors arrived at the venue → on-site guests were converted into Official Account followers → the account delivered targeted content to encourage spending on secondary in-park offerings → after guests left, retargeting campaigns brought them back for future visits. (A custom webpage was used for the viral mechanic specifically to avoid running afoul of WeChat’s anti-spam policies.)

Another example: a fitness training company structured its funnel this way — drive traffic to the Official Account → convert followers into WeChat community groups offering free classes → upsell community members into paid-class groups → use Mini Programs to power referral and viral growth.

As a general rule, when running multiple channels simultaneously: the Official Account serves as the primary user retention layer; Mini Programs handle transactions and viral loops; personal accounts and community groups are the primary conversion engines.

The second dimension: refining the micro-level conversion steps within a specific touchpoint.

Back to the scenic attraction — to convert on-site visitors into buyers of secondary offerings, a conversion sequence might look like this: display an eye-catching lottery poster in the park → visitor follows the Official Account to enter → visitor wins a voucher for a specific activity → visitor redeems the voucher and tries the experience.

For the fitness company — to convert Official Account followers into free class attendees, the sequence might be: push an article → direct join to group (or add customer service WeChat to join) → confirm class platform → manually @mention everyone before class starts → share class screenshots during the session → post a recap after class → spark discussion in the group → share highlights to WeChat Moments.

The discipline here is process refinement — continuously mapping and polishing every conversion touchpoint until the path is as frictionless as possible.

2. Average Order Value and Repeat Purchase Rate

Taken together, these two variables are essentially about increasing customer lifetime value (LTV).

How do you grow LTV? The answer is: manage the customer lifecycle well.

Two proven tactics make this possible: tag-based management with personalized outreach, and user growth systems.

Let’s walk through each.

3. Tag-Based Management and Personalized Outreach

The concept is straightforward: assign descriptive tags to your users. Tags let you segment and categorize your customer base, making user management more systematic while enabling targeted, relevant communication based on each individual’s behavior and interests.

The more tags you apply — and the more granular they are — the richer your data for analysis and the more precise your response strategies can be.

In practice, many businesses won’t have a proprietary app (and often don’t need one) or a heavily customized Official Account backend. Most will rely on third-party SaaS platforms. Tagging capabilities may be somewhat limited in these environments, but most modern SaaS tools handle the core tagging requirements adequately.

If your Official Account is connected to an e-commerce SaaS platform, for instance, you might tag users based on:

Date of most recent purchase
Total number of purchases
Average order value
Cumulative loyalty points earned
Product categories previously purchased

These criteria aren’t exhaustive, universal, or prescriptive — they’re illustrative. You’ll need to define a tagging taxonomy that reflects the specific characteristics of your own users.

Tags can be triggered when a user meets a single condition, or only when they satisfy a combination of conditions simultaneously.

Imagine you’re running user operations for a fresh produce chain brand with a strong focus on micro-segmentation. Here’s how tag-based management might inform your day-to-day actions:

Users who have purchased fruit receive a “Fruit Lover” tag. The next time a new variety arrives or a fruit promotion runs, you send a targeted notification exclusively to this segment.
Users with 3+ purchases, whose last order was 30–60 days ago, and whose cumulative spend exceeds ¥500 are classified as high-value customers at risk of churning. You flag this cohort and deploy retention coupons specifically to them.
Users acquired through different channels receive different tags. Your operational strategy then delivers channel-specific product recommendations — and potentially different promotional pricing — to each segment.
High-value users are tagged, their shared attributes are analyzed, and the resulting profile is used to build lookalike audiences — helping you sharpen paid acquisition targeting upstream.

The key insight: only after building a robust tagging system can you deliver truly personalized experiences at scale, reduce operational costs, grow revenue, and engage customers without crossing into intrusive territory.

4. Building a User Growth System

A user growth system maps the customer journey from the user’s own perspective — a step-by-step progression through levels, much like leveling up in a video game.

Why build one? Two reasons.

1. Cultivating loyalty, deepening the customer relationship, and driving repeat conversions.

A well-designed growth system centers on points as its currency. Users earn points by completing specific actions; different point thresholds unlock different membership tiers; different tiers unlock different benefits and services.

A well-known example: Haidilao, the hot pot chain, awards points based on total spend. Those points translate into membership tiers — Red Sea, Silver Sea, Gold Sea, Black Sea — each unlocking a distinct set of member perks and privileges.

2. Differentiating service quality across tiers to maximize the value contribution of each user segment.

When you’re a bronze-level member on Didi (China’s ride-hailing platform), you receive minimal perks. When you reach diamond status, you unlock priority dispatch, dedicated fast lanes, and a range of premium services.

The goal is to make your best customers feel genuinely valued — and to give everyone below that tier a compelling reason to spend more.

This article is adapted from the WeChat Official Account “小飞哥笔记,” authored by Feng Xianfei, co-founder and Head of Operations at an internet startup, with deep expertise in strategy, operations, marketing, sales, product, and project management.