Sortizy: Meal planning and grocery management app

Key Insight

Sortizy, a meal planning and grocery management app, had a clear goal — help users simplify meal prep and shopping. Yet, the onboarding flow wasn’t converting new signups into active planners. Propel identified that fragmented onboarding and a lack of lifecycle communication were preventing users from experiencing Sortizy’s full value. The goal was to design a seamless, high-retention onboarding experience that converted curiosity into consistent engagement.

Challenge

Despite thousands of app downloads, Sortizy’s activation rate was lagging.

• New users signed up but rarely created their first meal plan.
  
• Engagement dropped sharply within the first 48 hours.
  
• Communication felt disjointed across push and email channels.
  

The app needed a cohesive lifecycle flow that encouraged early success and habit formation without overwhelming new users.

Approach

Propel’s approach centered on journey design and activation triggers.

• Mapped every onboarding milestone: From sign-up to grocery list creation.
  
• Segmented users by interaction depth: New, exploring, and engaged cohorts.
  
• Introduced value-driven messaging: Highlighted time-saving and convenience benefits instead of feature lists.
  
• Reduced friction: Simplified setup screens and minimized cognitive load to guide first success faster.
  

The focus was clear — make users feel the benefit before the effort.

Solution

Propel launched a structured onboarding lifecycle using Customer.io:

1. Day 1: Welcome push and email introducing meal planning benefits.
   
2. Day 2–3: Nudges to create the first grocery list or recipe plan.
   
3. Day 4–5: In-app tips on discovering trending meal ideas.
   
4. Day 6–7: Follow-up communication with social proof and app utility reminders.
   

Each message was purpose-built — one to educate, another to motivate, and the last to retain.

Result

With Propel’s lifecycle framework, Sortizy saw a 40% uplift in onboarding completion and a 35% improvement in activation. The streamlined experience reduced early churn and helped new users form consistent engagement habits within the first week. Propel’s approach turned Sortizy’s onboarding into a retention engine — ensuring users not only installed the app but made it a part of their daily routine.