Improving
Online Grocery Shopping

Overview

I found an interesting statistic which stated that 79% of US consumers shop online, but only 11% regularly buy their groceries online. I was determined to find out why this was surprisingly low and eager to discover ways to improve the user experience for online grocery stores.

Role

  • Research

  • Concept Validation

  • Visual Design

Problem Statement

The problem I suspect is that grocery shoppers are reluctant to shop online because they don’t trust strangers to pick out their food for them.

Hypothesis

I believe that by encouraging customers to list specific instructions on their order, they will have an overall better experience because they will get the quality they want. In turn, there will be less guess work from the personal shopper and improve the overall customer and employee relationship. Allowing customers to choose a personal shopper, they can feel confident they have a trustworthy and reliable shopper on hand.  I will know this to be true when we receive positive feedback and less customer service complaints upon delivery.

  • How might we improve the online grocery shopping experience so we can convert in-store shoppers to at-home shoppers?

  • How might we make customers satisfied after receiving their online groceries?

  • How might we get grocery shoppers to fully customize their online order so they get exactly what they want?

Research

User Interviews

Comparative Analysis

User Persona

User Interviews

I focused my interviews on avid online grocery shoppers to determine common pain points. I also interviewed some in-store shoppers to determine why they don't shop online and if they would consider it.

By interviewing both in-store and online shoppers I was able to determine some common shopping habits and struggles.

  • Walk me through your food shopping process.

  • Where do you buy your groceries?

  • How much time do you spend food shopping?

  • How do you feel about someone else doing your shopping?

  • How do you feel about the quality of the products you receive?

Affinity Map

Based on the user interviews I sorted and organized the data to find common patterns.

Comparative Analysis

I looked at some of the top online grocery shopping apps to determine strengths and weaknesses of each platform and to understand key features.

User Persona

Avid Online Grocery Shopper, is always frustrated with the quality and amount she receives.

In-Store Grocery Shopper, is hesitant to shop online and rely on someone else to pick out the best items.

Solutions

Now‍

  • Give customers the ability to shop by aisle.
  • Simplify search function and product configuration.
  • Provide the flexibility to customize items.
  • Allow customers to choose their unit of measurement.
  • Provide visual indications for item amount.
  • Give customers the option to choose their shopper.

Next

  • Allow customers to leave reviews after delivery.
  • Set up onboarding for new users.
  • Giving customers delivery or pick up options.
  • Streamline the out-of-stock process.
  • Allow customers to shop all stores in their area by price.

Later

  • Resources to help portion control and meal prep.
  • Integrate shopping list with filling your cart.
  • Build out the personal shopper portal.

User Flow

The user flow is focused on the regular online grocery shoppers who are already familiar with the interface. This shows their typical experience for creating and completing a new shopping order.

Paper Prototype

Based on my user flow and feature prioritization I sketched out key screens for the app.

Wireframes

Based on my research I built high-fidelity wireframes of all the necessary screens for the cancellation flow.

Design

I built out the final designs based on results from the usability test.

Customers can choose their unit of measurement, number of items, ripeness & size.

Customers can choose their unit of measurement, number of items, ripeness & size.

Customers can choose their unit of measurement, number of items, ripeness & size.

Next Steps

I would be to do another road of usability test to varify that the final designs are user friendly. From there I would start to build out some of the others features such as: allowing customers to leave reviews after delivery, setting up the onboarding process for new users, giving customers delivery or pick up options, streamline the out-of-stock process, and allow customers to shop all stores in their area by price. I would also like to spend some time focusing on the shopper side of the app. This would require another round of research and interviews on a different set of users.