Shop Right, from Home
2021 saw an increase of visitors to online retailers. People were avoiding going out into public places, but their needs for products and services had not lessened during the pandemic. This change to the norm had more people trying out online grocery shopping services for the first time. According to Morgan Myers, “20% of shoppers said they tried online shopping for the very first time or tried something new when it came to their online grocery shopping habits.”
Now is a great opportunity for grocery retailers, such as ShopRite, to welcome new online shoppers. In order to do so successfully, they need to consider what is lost in the experience of shopping online, compared to in person. Users who rely on interaction and routine during their weekly grocery runs need to be embraced. By paying attention to how their design system matches the real world and how they are helping users recognize information, Shoprite can provide a more effective and enjoyable online shopping experience to users.
INTERACTION
What was lost: Physical Touch, comparison, weight
The online shopping experience is preferred by many because of the efficiency and convenience of being able to search for exactly what you need. From there, users will glance through images, read product descriptions and reviews before making the decision to purchase. In this context, users are limited by how much they are able to interact with the item. On your weekly shopping trip, you might squeeze an avocado, compare the sizes of two boxes of crackers in your hands, or feel how much air is in a bag of chips before adding it to your cart. These interactions help users feel more connected to their items and confidence about their decisions.
Shopping using the ShopRite app relies on static imagery and text to represent a product. Users get to see the front of the packaging and can read through the product’s main details and talking points. From there, they can choose to add to cart, save to a list, favorite, or leave. The limited sensory experience this offers affects users’ ability to match these products to their environment or to form emotional connections.
Why it matters: Interaction between the system and the real world
The interactions we have with the physical world shape us. One of the usability heuristics for interface designs, provided by the Nielsen Norman Group, is matching between a design system and the real world. “The design should speak the users' language. Use words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than internal jargon. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.” Users want to conduct a process in the same way they already have in their day to day life.
The ability to physically interact with an item also may affect a user’s emotions toward that item. Suzanne Overmars and Karolien Poels conducted a study where participants were asked about their feelings of joy and desire after interacting with static or interactive imagery of a scarf. Participants who were able to click and drag the interactive scarf reported higher levels of desire and joy compared to those who looked at static images of the same scarf. “The more attention designers and marketers devote to emphasizing the feelings and experience of the product (“tactile” web design), the more likely it is that consumers who have a higher need for affective touch (will) take part in online shopping”. Stronger positive emotions can be elicited from users who are able to interact with something, even if they are not physically touching it.
How to get it back: Browse design, interactive imagery
In order to better reach users who are more accustomed to shopping in person, ShopRite needs to make their online shopping experience more interactive and similar to the real world. Currently, when a user wants to look at a product’s details, they click on it and are brought to a new page dedicated to the item. Instead, the app should mirror the action of picking it up. Clicking on the item brings it to the forefront of the page with a movement effect, as if you plucked it off the shelf and held it out in front of you. The other items on the digital shelf would still be present in the background, allowing users to still browse through the range of product offerings while holding one.
According to the findings of Overmars and Poels, interactive imagery should be included so users can click, drag, spin around, and flip over the product. Instead of only being able to see the front of the packaging, the user can have a better sense of what they would be getting. Manufacturers put a lot of work into marketing and designing the packaging for their products, let them do the selling, just as they do on shelves in stores.
By making these changes, Shoprite will be able to better match the shopper’s in person experience, making the process more smooth and emotive.
ROUTINE
What was lost: Continuation of physical routine
Shopping for groceries is a weekly errand that, for most people, becomes routine. Shoppers follow their regular route to pick up their staples or may spot something new they want to try when walking down the aisle for something else. It’s no wonder some people walk in to the store with no list and walk out with everything they need and others walk in with a list and manage to fill their carts with everything but.
Shoprite from Home gives users multiple options for navigating their product inventory: a robust, filtered search, sub menus categorized by type or department, and special offerings landing pages. Although these features may be helpful for users who already have a particular list (down to the brand and net weight), it does not help shoppers who recognize what to get when they see it in front of them. Online grocery shopping interfaces should continue the users’ physical routine as closely as possible.
Why it is important: Recognition over recall
Another of the 10 Usability Heuristics that applies to online grocery shopping is recognition rather than recall. This heuristic represents how humans are more likely to recognize something than they are to recall it without any sort of sensory prompt. “Humans have limited short-term memories. Interfaces that promote recognition reduce the amount of cognitive effort required from users.” Because of the fallibility of the human memory, associations need to be coaxed out.
In the case of grocery shopping, a user is able to go on auto pilot and pick up their weekly staples because as they are walking their usual path, they look over and recognize the box of oatmeal that was sitting in their pantry, until it ran out a few days ago. They weren’t able to remember they needed it as they were writing their list earlier, but walking down the aisle gave them the reminder that they needed.
Currently, ShopRite from home requires users to recall what they need before they can find it on the site and add it to their carts. After they have their comprehensive lists written, they can use the search function or navigate “shop aisles” > category > product type > product type > search results to find what they are looking for. This type of navigation for online retailers is usable, and is expected in most online retail environments. According to Don Norman, “Usable designs are not necessarily enjoyable to use.” Just because their site functions like a conventional online store, does not mean it is what the user needs. ShopRite should strive to create an enjoyable online experience for users, rooted in their recollection of the physical space.
How to get it back: AR, recreation of the physical space
To serve users’ who are reliant on their weekly, physical routine to fill their cart, Shop rite needs to recreate how users move throughout the store and what they see. But when it comes to browsing, users can’t just casually stroll down the aisles and scan the shelves on an online platform...can they?
Augmented reality and virtual reality are tools that may help bring audio, visual, and spatial experiences into the home. With VR, a user can browse through a virtual copy of their grocery store, walk around, pick up items, listen to specials announced over the intercom and more. With a one to one recreation of their familiar store, they can follow their usual routine but receive the benefits of shopping from home such as avoiding crowds and the delivery service. Megan Higgins, vice president and general manager of ecommerce and marketplaces at Avalara Inc., talks on how augmented reality can be used as a tool to provide users with immersive experiences.
“Once consumers make their way to your online store, they expect to have the same experience as if they were in a physical store. The expectation is that retailers will virtually provide a mirror of in-store shopping experiences by incorporating adaptive and interactive technologies into their online storefronts. To do so, retailers must leverage technologies that can provide lifelike interactions online.”
With 3D immersive environments, users new to online shopping don’t have to adjust to a different approach to how they fulfill their weekly shopping needs.
AR and VR technologies are developing quickly, but some users and retailers may not be quite ready for that leap yet. Luckily, there are other ways to emulate the physical properties of navigating your local sales floor. It could be as simple as creating a flow to the aisle category pages that matches the flow of traffic in store ( [< Go back to cereal] [You are here: Baking needs] [Go on to cookies and juices >] ). The website can provide users with a low fidelity floor map of the store and enable them to click on a location and then provide them with the item categories that are in the vicinity. Additionally, each aisle or category landing page can come with a panorama or interactive 360 image that allows users to recognize where they are and what products are available to them.
By providing immersive 3D environments or adding spatial signifiers to their inventory navigation, ShopRite can enable their users to recognize what they need in the same manner they would if they were standing in store.
SHOP RIGHT (FROM HOME)
ShopRite from Home has designed it’s online shopping experience with principles that can be found in other online stores. Given the rise in interest for online grocery shopping, ShopRite needs to pursue users who would be slow to adopt because they rely on physical interaction and routine. Users who are provided with interactive product imagery will have more positive feelings toward their choices. Additionally, 3D immersive shopping environments will help users to follow their current routines to find what they need in the vast inventory. Some online grocery retailers may pass up the opportunity to explore how to recapture the shoppers’ physical experience in favor of following standards set for online shopping, regardless of how well it fits with their industry. However, innovating this virtual experience will set retailers apart to consumers.
