Shopping for wine can be fun
The client’s superstore footprint included a beer, wine and sprits section in certain places around the country. The wine section of the store touted a large variety of wines. To increase customer knowledge and encourage product discovery I create a fun, interesting, and unique digital shopping experience within the store.
Focused on product discovery, this experience is a fun and interactive way to encourage customers to explore, get more knowledge on, and cross-sell products. Using gamification, a digital catalog, and a product selector, users have a few ways they could explore the world through wine and have some fun along the way by collecting passport stamps at each wine purchase.
My role, as the UI/UX designer on this project, was to conceptualize, design, and pitch a digital in-store experience to the client alongside the sales team. I also worked closely with the clients distribution chain to pin point market needs.
The problem
Customers lacked wine and brand knowledge which lead them to only buying well known brands and leaving a majority of the brands undiscovered. Finding information about new brands was too difficult and made the task more of a chore than it needed to be.
The question
How might we create a digital in-store experience for loyal repeat shoppers to increase customer engagement and encourage product discovery? How might we give them a fun and social experience that encourages them share their experience so that they can try new wines?
The solution
I designed an on screen experience that would be found on screens in various wine aisles that customers would be excited to use. The goal was to create something that would be both informative and social, encouraging the customer to be a repeat user and buyer.
Taking a look at their loyal repeat customers
The client wanted to target two types of shoppers while designing the solution. Those who entertain and wine lovers. This was an early concept sketch used in a client pitch so not a lot of formal research was done.
Alyssa does all her shopping at the superstore. From groceries, to paper goods, to clothes, and wine. If she is entertaining, she’s making a trip to the superstore. But she often does not know what to buy or what will pair well with the food she is making. She needs an easy way to to understand what type of wine she she be looking at to help plan her gathering.
Linda enjoys trying new wines. She has a lot of wine knowledge and enjoys learning even more. She regularly goes to tasting evens with her significant other and even belong to a wine lovers facebook group. She knows the superstore has a lot of variety but isn’t sure what to try next. She has often brought wine home, only to remember that she has already tried that kind. She would like a way to track her purchases, shop varieties more easily, and connect with other wine lovers.
Filling a gap in the market
Because it was the early stages of the project, there was more research to be done on the user. So, I turned my attention to the market needs and looked for was to disrupt the space and fill in gaps.
Market needs:
Guided product selector
Endless aisle
Send/share to phone capabilities
Getting the creative juices flowing
Once I got a feel for what the client was really asking, who they were targeting, and more information about the industry, I started to put together some high level ideas and visuals to help make a case for the type of experiences I think they should explore. This let to a rapid release prototype in Invision which helped the interactivity of the visuals really shine through.
Creating a rounded experience
Several screens would be placed in-shelf within various sections of the liquor store. There, you can use the full experience while making your buying decision. There would also be an icon added to the existing store app on your personal device that would take you to your account for shopping history, passport progress, and more.
Creating exclusivity
With each wine purchase, you collect a passport stamp from the place the wine is made and 10 points for every stamp. The stamps are a fun collection to see, but the points collected also unlock levels which will trigger e-mails with different promotions or events exclusive to that level.
Multiple ways to discover
There are three ways a customer could discover new wines and places around the world. If you want to search the diverse catalog of wines listed, you can use the digital catalog to browse and filter through products. If you are more curious about wines from far off places and collecting a new stamp, use the interactive map to explore and select wines. Lastly, it can also help you select a wine based on your need, food pairing, and more with the product selector. If your hosting a party, it also has some curated party supplies that match the vibe our your event and beverage.
Three ways to shop and discover
A filterable endless-aisle catalog
An interactive map
A product selector that focuses on entertaining
Information, all in one place
Regardless of the path you take, each wine has a product page packed with information. You can find things like food pairings, suggested recipes, videos, and more! If you want to remember the wine for another time, add it to your shopping list.
Your gateway to discovery
While you can check this on your app as well, you can take a peek at your passport at any time while exploring. Simply tap the passport, enter the phone number associated with the account and you will be able to view your profile, history, and stamp collection!
The
pitch
The experience was mocked up and prototyped in preparation for the client. I flew out to the client headquarters to give the presentation and have the opportunity to ask more questions. Shortly after the pitch, the client changed their internal team who were no longer interested in digitizing their retail space.