Rover · 2023–2025 · Loyalty & Incentives

Star Sitter Program

4.8% revenue per new customer · ~$2.5M incremental annual revenue

01 / Problem

The Problem

Three gaps remained despite existing sitter tooling: owners couldn't identify the most reliable sitters; sitters saw metrics but lacked motivation; and off-platform diversion was a strategic revenue leak.

Star Sitter was a third lever — provider-level status that gamified supply-side behaviours, directed demand to reliable sitters, and tied status to on-platform repeat behaviour.

4.8%

revenue per new customer

$2.5M

incremental annual revenue

02 / Foundation & Beta

Phases 1–2: Build the Mental Model First

We launched Sitter Insights before introducing status — establishing the mental model before asking sitters to compete for a badge. The beta introduced provider-level, non-tiered status: badge on search cards, owner filter, qualification tracking.

The badge shifted owner behaviour. But CX surfaced early cracks: confusion around booking rate, frustration around edge cases.

Early signals detail

Confusion around booking rate calculation. Long-tenured but low-activity sitters felt unfairly excluded. These became the design brief for Phases 3–4.

Star Sitter status states: working toward, earned, boost to keep, not eligible

03 / Understandable & Fair

Phases 3–4: Fixing What We Got Wrong

Usability tests showed sitters skimmed past key rules. We tightened copy, added a "Check your progress" CTA, and made three major fairness changes: recent activity windows, grace periods, and fixing a booking-rate calculation bias.

The three fairness fixes

1. Moved from lifetime to recent activity. 2. Formalised legacying — one grace period if one metric is missed. 3. Fixed Contact More Sitters bias that was unfairly penalising booking rates.

10%

more requests to top-tier sitters

04 / Simplification

Phase 5: Rolling Status

Moving to a rolling model eliminated quarterly batch refreshes and predictable CX spikes. Sitters earn Star Sitter as soon as they meet criteria. A three-month grace period handles drops.

The Sitter Insights UX simplified dramatically: no more qualification period dropdowns, a single real-time status view.