Shaping the Future of Online Grocery Shopping
Working closely with our Walmart partners, we examined the Online Grocery Pickup and Delivery (OGPD) experience for a first-time user with a particular focus on communications.
We centered around how a customer enters the service experience and how we may re-engage them following their initial order.
SUMMARYProduct Designer
• UX
• Wireframing
• Prototype creation
• Illustration
• Visual design
MY ROLE
TASK AT HANDWalmart is the Fortune 1 company with a dominant share of the U.S. grocery market. Its immense operational scale means any incremental changes can be monumental for the bottom line. The newest frontier of retail: online groceries, was set for rapid growth in the next five years, projected to double in size. COVID-19 altered that trajectory, transforming online grocery shopping and pickup into a normal everyday routine adopted by the masses.
Amid this explosive growth, how does the largest retailer in the world continue to be the category leader? Needing to establish new internal processes and shape customer behaviors, Walmart looked to us for ways to retain first-time OGPD users via present and future state mobile app concepts.
What We Started With
Analysis of first time online grocery customer app flow
Core Challenges + Solution Overview
Through in-depth research and analysis of numerous user journeys for first-time Online Grocery Pickup and Delivery (OGPD) users, we discovered that 35% of new Walmart grocery shoppers completed their online orders but did not return for a second purchase.
Below is a quick snapshot of the key solutions implemented in this project. Each solution is detailed more extensively in the subsequent sections of the case study, where you’ll find in-depth explanations, process insights, and visual representations. This overview offers a glimpse into the strategies and design decisions that transformed the future of Walmart’s immense OGPD business.
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Customers aren’t educated on how to use Online Grocery Pickup and Delivery (OGPD)
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Quinn, a virtual assistant, provides a consistent, honest voice in Walmart’s communications, delivering actionable information. In the short term, we unify the tone and use onboarding to enable notifications, location services, and curated preferences, fostering engagement.
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Customers’ negative perceptions about grocery freshness and potential pickup delays impact their confidence in the process.
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Timely, smart informational UI dispels negative notions about grocery freshness and pickup delays, enhancing customer confidence.
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Limited transparency about unavailable or out-of-stock items can lead to customer dissatisfaction.
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Customers are more forgiving of delays or out-of-stock items when communicated with honesty. By using a compassionate tone and well-timed SMS, Walmart can turn potential frustration into trust, ensuring satisfaction and loyalty.
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The pickup process can often feel prolonged and stressful.
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Streamlining the pickup process with clear directions and engaging customers with recipe ideas keeps them at ease and adds value. Use a pleasant, personable tone to enhance their experience.
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Customers adopt a “trial-and-error'“ approach when forced to make uninformed decisions
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Always provide clear next steps, avoiding unnecessary details. Keep it brief and sincere.
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Absence of status updates during delivery and pickup creates frustration.
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Offering tools and tips during delivery and pickup eases uncertainties. Displaying delivery person details, queue status, and relevant tips enhances transparency, reduces confusion, and builds confidence.
The Process
We analyzed valuable consumer insights, thousands of data points, on-field observations, and mapped out customer journeys, all to uncover opportunities for improvement.
Rapid design sprints netted multiple solutions, allowing us to hone our focus and create prototypes to find out what really matters to customers.
Establishing Experience Principles
We identified five key strategic initiatives:
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Build a meaningful relationship between Walmart and customers by transforming fragmented communications into personalized, one-on-one interactions.
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Engage in open, honest dialogue with clear, understandable language to strengthen customer trust.
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Keep customers informed at every step, anticipating their needs so they never have to check on order status.
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Offer clear next steps, avoiding unnecessary information. Be concise, sincere, and purposeful in every communication.
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Equip customers with tools and options for a streamlined, controlled experience.
Communications Channels
All of our research provided conclusive evidence that Walmart had a holistic communications issue. By tracking the customer experience from end-to-end, we were able to pinpoint opportune moments to inject the right types of communication to improve the overall perception of the OGPD experience.
Elevating Engagement
THE APPROACHOur research honed in on key aspects of the communications journey. Collaborating closely with our data sciences and analytics team, we identified crucial points of tension and set forth these primary objectives:
Drive repeat engagement by addressing major experience pain points.
Clarify the role of communications within the broader experience and define the optimal channel strategy.
Develop strategies for Walmart to effectively navigate service failures.
Assess Walmart’s continuous improvement initiatives and offer actionable recommendations.
In essence, our approach can be summarized as follows:
SEND THE RIGHT MESSAGECommunications feel cold and direct, with strictly functional intent that lacks empathy
AT THE RIGHT TIMECommunications are timely but lacks information that prepares customers for next steps
THROUGH THE RIGHT CHANNELAppropriate channels are not being utilized, resulting in overlaps that create confusion
The Sum of Our Efforts
I was one of three CX designers on this project. Included on our team were a service designer, content strategist, and data analyst.
In all, we logged 2000 minutes of client engagement, six weeks of sprints, three client workshops, 22 interviews, 13 pickup and delivery walkthroughs, 4K social reviews, 1K survey responses, and 50 concepts created.
A Storybook Journey
SOLUTIONSWe found that presenting our solutions and the user's journey in the form of a story worked the best and was most relatable. We tell the story of Emilia, a first-time user of "Time Sensitive Busy Family" (TSBF), highlighting significant events in the pickup and delivery process from her point of view. We follow Emilia through her first online pickup experience with Walmart.
Emilia’s story touches upon each step of her journey, offering opportunities both big and small to circumvent pain points and communicate the attributes and ease of the new experience.
We kick off each step of the journey with key customer concerns captured via interviews and social posts.
Key Concepts
Building on the experience principles established during the define phase, we developed concepts designed to fulfill them.
Make It Personal
As a future state concept, we introduce Quinn, a virtual assistant with a consistent voice that lives within the messaging. Quinn is an honest and helpful single point of communication between Walmart and the customer.
This single voice is present everywhere: in the moments that matter and the decisions that need to be made quickly and with confidence. It serves the right amount of contextual and actionable information at opportune moments.
In the short term, even without Quinn, we establish a consistent tone of voice throughout all points of communication and simple interactions that encourage purposeful engagement.
Be Honest and Transparent
We spoke with customers who doubted the freshness of particular groceries ordered online for pickup. Were their orders sitting out for hours on end? Offering smart informational UI at the right moment helps dispel negative preconceptions and instills confidence.
Customers are more forgiving of delays or out-of-stock items when communicated with honesty and humility. By adopting a compassionate tone and carefully timing communications, Walmart can turn a potential frustration into a moment of trust, ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Smart Freshness Alert
Be Proactive and Timely
Streamlining the pickup process with the right level of detail helps customers feel at ease during their wait. Keeping them engaged with recipe ideas for their next shopping basket not only maintains high engagement but also adds value to their experience. Stay ahead by using a tone that's pleasant, personable, and straightforward.
Pickup check-in flow
Interactive recipe ideas while waiting for pickup
Make It Actionable
Always provide clear next steps, avoiding unnecessary details. Keep it brief and sincere.
Allow Control
When customers lack status updates during their journey, frustration can quickly build. Providing tools and tips throughout the delivery and pickup processes can alleviate uncertainties.
Allowing customers to easily see who their delivery person is, their place in the queue, and relevant tips fosters transparency, clarifies unknowns, and builds confidence.
Delivery flow on app
Pickup status screen
Projections
Drawing from the concepts developed and presented to Walmart, coupled with our analytics, we project the following positive outcomes.
14% Decrease in Call Volume
Fewer complaint calls anticipated
5%+ Increase in On-Time Pickups
Enhanced order punctuality.
5-Point Rise in Net Promoter Score
Boost in customer satisfaction
Credits
DESIGNAddi Hou
Sean Lurie
Vivi Fitriani
TEAMJoey Majo
Caitlyn Phillips
TOOLSSketch
Invision
Illustrator
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