Providing omni-channel food ordering capabilities during the pandemic.

Whole Foods Market

2020-2022

Enabling contactless ordering via mobile order ahead and in-store kiosk ordering to decrease customer-TM interaction while reducing Team Member labor costs.

Providing omni-channel food ordering capabilities during the pandemic.

By enabling mobile order ahead and in-store kiosk ordering in Whole Foods Market stores, we expanded access to our made-to-order lunch & dinner items. Customers can choose how they want to get the items they love and the need for customers to wait in line is eliminated. In-store Team Members can now spend their time preparing orders and providing great customer service instead of taking orders thus reinvesting ~400K hours to other areas of the business.

The Problem

Customer

Relies on tasty and convenient options.
Wants variety and customizable options.
Wants to order the item how they choose to shop: either online or in-store
Has to wait in line at 3 different points in the journey: to place an order, to pickup food and to pay for order.

Team Member

Spends average of 5-10 minutes taking and preparing orders from customers waiting in line.
Short-staffed for managing inventory levels and preparing raw ingredients.

Prepared Food Sales

During COVID, prepared food sales took a hit by 65% as customers are more cautious when visiting grocery stores and the lunch crowds were no more.

No items found.

I met with key stakeholders from Product, Engineering and Business to present key findings from user testing so we could align on a differentiated storefront. I showcased the pros and cons of each approach and we collectively aligned on a differentiated storefront. This ensures:

No cart conflict when checking out separately
No confusion between fulfillment promises
Clear and logical ingress and egress points that enables customers to orient themselves
Alignment with customers primary mission to order catering
Browse, search and filtering UX is for the catering menu only

Through a mix of user testing and generative research, we uncovered the distinct needs of the catering customer. The insights compelled us to re-work the project plan and allow more time for up-front discovery work. Now the real work begins...

Flow 2: Meals planned to perfection

Audience: Families, Culinary Enthusiasts

This second concept sets out to provide our avid planners with a tool that makes them super shoppers. When we reduce the time from planning, we can focus on building satisfaction. Shopping for groceries becomes more delightful when focusing on the food you love. These screens focus on the mobile app experience in which we focused on reducing the friction our customers experience as they plan their meals for the week. Building your meal plan translates into building your cart at the same time. Build your own bundle too!

After some rapid and informal research, it became evident that customers in the meal planner group enjoy creating weekly meal plans, even specifying days when they don't require meals. These plans are usually crafted based on the ingredients in their fridge and pantry, inspiration from recipes or favorites, and family preferences.

Key Design Considerations

Busy In-Store Context and Environment
Accessibility first, especially for those with poor eyesight and who need wheelchair assistance
Scalability to launch new eatery options
Larger touch targets for easy navigation and better affordance

Flow 3: All of your favorites, automated

Audience: Single professionals, dual-income households

Looking further into the future, can we leverage what we know about our customers to create an intelligent and personalized shopping experience that can do the shopping for you? We want to allow for full customization and control for those who want it, or no work at all. Either way, groceries show up every week. Think automated meal plans or an auto-generated cart.

No items found.

Flow 3: All of your favorites, automated

Audience: Single professionals, dual-income households

Basil Design System

Taking on the overhaul of the website necessitated the creation of a new digital design language system. This system is designed to embody and reflect the brand essence, conveying organic, intuitive and welcoming. In technical terms, it needs to be extensible, accessible, and reusable

“The Whole Foods Market website should be Disneyland for food lovers. It should inspire the senses, spark a sense of discovery, encourage people to explore — while conveying a sense of order and ease.”

No items found.

Moderated Concept Testing

Remote Moderated Prototype Evaluation with n=21 customers

Key questions:

What features were users gravitating towards?
What brings them the most hesitation?
How did the site make them feel compared to shopping in-store?
Would they be more likely to use this site or stay on Amazon?

Overwhelming positive feedback proved that customers were interested in the following themes when it comes to shopping for groceries online.
‍
1. Increased Efficiency
2. Inspirational Content and Recommended Items
3. Personalization
4. Brand Recognition

Post Launch

In-store Pickup Location

During store intercepts, customers were not clear where they needed to pick up their order. Store layouts are unique from store to store which makes it difficult to implement a solution across all stores. We worked with Marketing to design clear signage designating where to go after placing the order as well as displaying a map on the confirmation screen.

(OUTCOME and OPPORTUNITIES)

(1-Outcome)

1m 37s to Order

Previous orders took an avg of 5-10 minutes during busy peak hours. It now takes less than 2 minutes to place an order.

‍

627 hours saved

Many labor hours are saved and TM’s can better focus on ingredient quality and order accuracy.

‍

120 store launch

Launched seasonal menus in large market stores across the country for both kiosk and mobile order ahead. Sales steadily increased by enabling multiple ordering channels.

(2-Opportunities)

Upsell

Customers liked the option to easily add on complimentary items such as fries with a burger or chips with a sandwich.

‍

Payment

Majority of customers expected to pay with other mechanisms and kiosk customers expected to pay to avoid waiting in the checkout line.

‍

SMS Order Updates

Shortly after launch, we fast followed with SMS order updates across app and kiosk.

(3-Project Team)‍

Dream Team

Product Design Lead: Hanisha Patel

UX Support: Molly Woods

UX Manager: Ryan Hovenweep

Brand Design Support: Colin Decker

Product Managers: Mike Kolarik, Adam Foster, Jaime Sutton and Roshan Jhala

Development: WFM Eng

*All images are owned by Whole Foods Market.