How Vbr.ru Implemented Altcraft CDP and Increased Marketing ROI to Nearly 250%

As its audience grew, the company faced several challenges: customer data was scattered across multiple services, launching new communications required lengthy approvals and revisions, and the effectiveness of marketing channels remained unclear.

Why Vyberu Decided to Implement a CDP

Before implementing a Customer Data Platform (CDP), the team faced a number of challenges that hindered the growth of their marketing efforts and impacted overall performance. The main issues included:

Why Altcraft Platform Was Chosen

Before selecting a platform, the team carefully evaluated various solutions. In the end, Altcraft proved to be the best option for several reasons:

• Pricing. In terms of the “functionality-to-cost” ratio, Altcraft turned out to be one of the most attractive options on the market. For a company handling large volumes of data and communications, cost predictability and transparency are crucial — and Altcraft offered a convenient licensing model with no hidden pitfalls.
• Flexible Licensing. The platform offers two deployment options: a cloud-based SaaS version or an on-premise installation within the company’s own infrastructure.
• Channel Integration and Creation. Altcraft provides a wide range of ready-to-use channels: email, SMS, push notifications, messengers, and more. Custom channels can also be added if needed. This was a major advantage for Vyberu — all channels can be easily combined within customer journeys.
• Extensive Data Management Capabilities. Altcraft allows for convenient data management, including customer profiles, events, products, and transactions. Additional fields and external data sources are easy to configure. For a marketplace with thousands of products, this level of flexibility is especially important. The system adapts to existing business processes rather than forcing the company to change them.

"It feels like Altcraft is built by people who actually use the platform themselves. That’s why the product turns out to be so user-friendly and easily scalable. The interface is intuitive — everything is easy to find right away. Even at a glance, you can see that you can start working quickly, yet the functionality is very rich. The developers clearly care about making the experience comfortable for both themselves and end users. They listen to feedback, and it’s very likely that features you suggest will be implemented in the future."

How Altcraft CDP Was Implemented

Of course, implementation timelines depend on the project's scale: some may launch basic functionality in just a few days, while others may require deep customization and integrations that take several months. On-premise deployment usually takes a bit more time, as it involves infrastructure setup and DevOps participation, but Altcraft provides detailed documentation and support.

When launching the channels, the team fully utilized the platform’s capabilities: they integrated email as a built-in service, SMS via a popular gateway, Telegram as a custom channel, and push notifications using the standard method — via Firebase and APNS.

Channel prioritization is organized the same way as in most companies: based on the cost per contact. If a user has the mobile app, push notifications are sent first. If there’s no response, an SMS or email follows. If the user has Telegram, that’s the first channel we use. The core principle is to minimize communication costs.

Analytics and End-to-End Tracking Setup

Vyberu launched the project with external analytics already connected. While the platform itself includes built-in reports, the company needed additional tracking for conversions and other key metrics. To achieve this, a separate dashboard was created to collect data from Altcraft. This setup allows the team to know exactly which messages were sent to each user, which funnels they went through, and how they responded. All platform events can be exported via webhooks or Kafka, providing full transparency — no user action goes untracked.

One of the current goals is to determine which scenario a user came from and where exactly the conversion occurred. For example, a user might initially explore deposit products but later submit an application for a business account (RKO).

Initially, when deploying the platform, the team didn’t plan to focus on the mobile app, assuming everything there was already set up and that there were no growth opportunities. However, after launching even basic push notifications, it quickly became clear that push converts just as well as SMS — and in some cases, even better. On top of that, push notifications incur no additional costs. Implementing data capture mechanisms helped us better understand user behavior and uncover new growth opportunities.

Flexibility of Altcraft Illustrated by the “Abandoned Cart” Mechanism

In Altcraft, the same task can be solved in multiple ways. Let’s take the example of an abandoned cart notification and explore three different approaches to implementing it:

1. Solution via JSON Feed. The simplest option is to send the contents of the abandoned cart (a list of products or selected services) in the form of a JSON file. The entry point into the scenario is an HTTP request to a trigger. In this approach, the product list — i.e., the items the user added to their cart — is passed via a JSON feed, which is just a regular file, similar to YML. When the trigger fires, Altcraft requests this file, and the user receives a message containing the items listed in it.
2. Solution via the “Market” Module. A more advanced approach is to upload the product catalog to Altcraft using its built-in Market module. When a user logs out of their account, a request is sent to a scenario: this user has left, and they need to be sent a list of items from their cart. The user enters the scenario and can be further engaged — for example, by sending another message a few hours later with an updated product list. If the user was interested in a phone priced at around $110, the system can automatically find and suggest items in the $90–$130 range.
3. Solution via an External Order Database. The third option is to store all cart/order data in an external system (e.g., your own database) and receive event signals. The trigger is activated when an “Order Received” or “Cart Closed” event occurs. After that, the system retrieves the relevant data from the external storage, generates an email, and sends it to the user.

The medium-complexity approach — using the Market module — was selected, as it offers more convenient management of a large product catalog. Occasionally, items included in emails are reviewed to ensure there are no backend errors, though such issues are rare.

Creating Scenarios, Triggers, and Content

Altcraft CDP includes a visual scenario builder that allows users to create complex customer engagement workflows using condition and action blocks — all without writing a single line of code. The Vyberu team created dozens of scenarios tailored to different segments and situations:

• Long, multi-step funnels. For example, if a user submits a loan application but then starts exploring credit cards, the system records this behavior. That user is placed into a branching scenario, where future messages depend on their ongoing actions on the site. They might receive a sequence of emails and push notifications over a span of 10 days, with each step personalized based on their previous behavior. If on day 3 the user clicks a link to the auto loans page, the communication flow automatically shifts to focus on car financing, and so on. Nearly every step in the scenario is tailored to the user’s current interests.
• Full automation of CRM messaging. With this new approach, Vyberu has largely moved away from one-time mass mailings. Nearly all messages are now trigger-based or scenario-driven, launched by a user action or segment condition. As a result, each customer receives information that’s directly relevant to them. Email and SMS templates are filled with personalized details — such as the user’s name, the offer for the product they’re interested in, or the loan amount they previously viewed.
• Scalable scenario infrastructure. In just a few months, around 60 different scenarios were created — ranging from simple ones (like a single-message “abandoned form” trigger) to highly complex, multi-step flows with branching logic. On average, each scenario contains about 15 blocks. These workflows are constantly evolving — with new branches added for new products and timing sequences optimized. Managing this level of complexity would be impossible without a CDP.

Interesting Mechanics Implemented in Altcraft

• Dynamic Campaigns. The introduction of dynamic content significantly increased response rates. Currently, about one-third of all CRM channel revenue comes from campaigns where message content is automatically personalized for each client.
• Push Instead of SMS. The use of push notifications, combined with SMS and email, reduced SMS costs by 50%. The number of SMS messages sent decreased, while revenue remained at the same level. Previously, this channel accounted for a significant portion of overspending.
• Template Fragments for Speed and Personalization. Using Fragments has noticeably sped up the preparation of campaigns. For example, if there are 100 email templates and the logo needs to be changed, there’s no need to edit each one manually. The header and footer are separated into individual fragments — these are common parts that are reused and occasionally need updates. Changing just one fragment updates it across all templates instantly. Fragments can also be used for dynamic content — for example, displaying different blocks to men and women. If the audience speaks multiple languages, it's easy to create multilingual templates.
• Dedicated IP Addresses. Thanks to Altcraft, Vyberu sends email campaigns from its own IP addresses, giving the company full control over sender reputation. Altcraft provides dedicated IPs at no extra cost — whereas most other platforms typically charge for this.
• Surveys and Feedback Forms. Using feedback forms increases ROI by 10–12% compared to scenarios without them. These forms are useful not only for surveys but also for diffusing negative sentiment after unpleasant experiences.

There’s a hypothesis: if someone leaves dissatisfied and wants to write a negative review, it's better to immediately send them an email with a feedback form, giving them a chance to express their frustration. Once they've written everything they feel, the urge to post a public negative review often fades. And if they receive a follow-up call with an apology and a bonus offer, the negative emotions pass even faster — and the person may return. This directly impacts ROI.

• Offer Catalog for Unique Deals. The offer marketplace allows for dynamic content usage. Emails with personalized offers perform 2–3 times better than standard ones.

Results

Due to the low-base effect, it's not entirely accurate to compare the "before" and "after" metrics directly. However, the channel has now:

• become fully transparent,

• can be entirely managed by a single specialist,

• provides complete and unambiguous statistics.

As for the numbers:

The most effective channels turned out to be push notifications and SMS.

What’s Next

The team is currently undergoing active training on the platform and developing the loyalty system. In the near future, new channels — such as Notify — are planned to be integrated to optimize transactional messaging. The main priority for this year is migrating from the cloud version to the on-premise solution.