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Designing an App for Local Businesses and Their Most Loyal Customers
Independent stores are struggling with retention due to increased competition
With growing competition and pressure from large chain stores, webshops and digital services, how can local store keepers use technology to better serve their customers and help their businesses thrive?
Strengthen the relationship between store owners and customers, and benefits both in the process
The goal of this project was to conceptualize and design a concept that helps independent store owners and their customers alike. Store owners should see improved customer loyalty, cash flow, and forecasting while customers get rewarded for their loyalty.
A digital voucher solution that connects local store owners with their loyal customers
VouchLocal makes it easy for local businesses to accept pre-payments from their customers who can seamlessly order and pay for all their go-to products directly in an app, all the while supporting their favorite local businesses.
Project scope and process
My role: Research, UX, and UI
This was a small side project of mine, something I worked on during nights and weekends. As such, limited resources were dedicated to the design process.
In January 2017 I formed my preliminary problem statement, presented above, and began talking with friends, family, and colleagues about the pros and cons of shopping in local stores and going to cafés and restaurants. In February I had a concrete idea to begin working on, and the design was finished by the end of March.
I was the only one actively working on this project, using my network for sparing and inspiration along the way.
Stage 1: Problem-seeking
Desk research
To kick off the project, I wanted to establish a solid foundation of knowledge about key statistics and trends in retail. I researched shopping trends, how much is bought online vs. offline and in which product categories, studies made on why we prefer buying online vs. offline, etc.
Contextual interviews
With an understanding of economic, consumer, and technological trends, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the field through some more qualitative research. I had a series of informal conversations with local shopkeepers about their everyday work, their main business challenges, and what they saw as the biggest threats and opportunities in their industry.
In between these, I also had a few talks with friends and family about shopping behavior and preferences. They were rather informal as well, usually conducted over coffee and beginning with "... I'm actually working on a new project, do you mind if I ask you something?"
Field observations
Another part of my initial research was simply spending a lot of time in local stores - something that came pretty naturally, as I'm known to enjoy working out of cafés and browsing my local specialty stores. I didn't really look for anything specific. Rather, I kept a really open mind, just trying to soak up as much as possible.
Personas
With local cafés as my design studio, I created four personas. They summed up the main insights from my research so far, depicting the main motivations, goals, and challenges of both customers and shopkeepers.
Scenarios
Scenarios were created based on the personas as another way of summing up and understanding the needs and wants of the target audience. They were real-life stories told by the people I had talked to.
Mapping problems and opportunities
Concrete problems were defined throughout my research, along with a number of potential opportunities for improving the lives of shopkeepers and local shoppers/café guests alike. A wall in my apartment was used as the canvas for listing, grouping, and prioritizing all of these.
Key insights
Our go-to places
For most citizens in any kind of urban area, visiting various shops, cafés, and boutiques is a normal part of the weekly routine. Having a few favorites, those go-to places, is just as common. Whether you’re out to get a cup of coffee, a new pair of shoes, or some stationery for your home office, I’m sure you have some places you visit more than others.
In other words, it’s not a matter of if you buy from those places again, but rather a matter of when. You know you will put your money there again. The store owner may even know it as well. So why not make it official, put your money where your mouth is, and help the store owner out?
Volume discounts
Many stores offer volume discounts in one form or another, as in "Get one for 10, two for 18".
Payment fees
Especially for stores making a high number of low-value transactions, the payment fees paid to Visa and similar providers actually make a significant - and annoying - cut into their profits.
Loyalty programs
Large chains of cafés offer loyalty programs to their guests, in the form of "Buy 9 coffees and get number 10 for free". Some smaller cafés have followed suit with their own versions, meant to keep customers coming back.
The struggles of cashflow and inventory
While the shopkeeper may not have to pay for inventory upfront, managing cash flow and inventory is a significant part of their daily work.
Stage 2: Problem-solving
The idea
With an understanding of the challenges and opportunities present in the retail and café space, my brain immediately set into idea generation mode. I didn’t facilitate an actual ideation session but came up with ideas as I let the insights sink in over a few days. Similarly, ideas were brought up by friends and shopkeepers as I talked with them.
Here’s what I had realized, and how I figured a digital product could add value...
What if…
Local business owners could easily let their loyal customers pay a larger amount in advance, in exchange for a discount or reward on their future purchases?
And what if customers could support all of their favorite local businesses in one place, and manage the money they have paid in advance?
The vision
You go to your regular coffee shop on the corner, 8.45 am sharp, before hitting the office. Instead of pulling out your credit card to pay for it, this time you simply open an app on your phone and show the barista that you have $82 left on your $115 voucher. A voucher you only paid $100 for, by the way. The barista registers your purchase and $4 is withdrawn from your account balance. You get your coffee and head off to work.
Inspiration
Joe & The Juice offers this solution to their customers who can, for instance, pay for 10 of their signature juices at a discount upfront, and then enjoy them whenever they want to without having to pay each time.
User journey mapping
With the concept idea in place, I mapped out the related user journeys, both considering the shopkeepers (and their employees) and the customers. These visual depictions of the potential experiences enabled me to think through the entire experience and to present and discuss it with both shopkeepers and customers.
Speccing the concept
With the idea validated and refined by potential users, I was able to list all of the required features.
Site map / IA
The feature set was mapped out in a basic site map, defining the structure of the app, the necessary screens, and how they would link together.
Note: I focused my attention on the consumer-facing side of the concept, paying little attention to how shop keepers would, for instance, manage and create new vouchers. This side of the concept is of course essential, and will receive a lot more attention if I ever pick up the project again.
Wireframes
Based on the feature set and site map, I set out to build the skeleton of the app through wireframes. These were also presented and evaluated with some of the prospective users of the concept.
Seeking design inspiration
A Pinterest board was created to collect design inspiration, showing a mix of various photos as well as concrete examples of UI design.
The result
See the final concept design below.
