Designing an AI-Powered Retail Assistance Tool to Enhance In-Store Team Efficiency & Communication
project overview
RetailRelay is an independent project revolutionizing communication between in-store staff and online customers through a digital B2B product. This case study showcases an end-to-end design process, encompassing user research, information architecture, onboarding flow, UI design, prototyping, and testing. Through iterative prototyping and testing, RetailRelay empowers in-store staff to provide exceptional online customer service.
tools & methodologies
User Research
Product Research
User Journey Mapping
User Interface Design
Prototyping & Testing
THE DESIGN PROCESS
3 weeks
5 weeks
DISCOVER
DEFINE
DESIGN
PROTOTYPING
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Identifying problems and opportunities
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The Who/What/Where
Personas & User Journey
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Research
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Defining user goals
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Defining business goals
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Task flows & Site Map
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Wireframing: Low-fi to hi-fi
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UI Elements and Design Guidelines
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Clickable prototyping
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User Testing insights
THE PROBLEM
In-store staff have little means to communicate with their online customers in an effective manner.
Missed calls about inventory lead to lost sales and disappointed customers, creating an efficiency problem for retail stores.
MEET HAYLEY
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“My biggest challenge at work is being bogged down with issues from our online store, that should instead be addressed by our online customer service team.”
Hayley, A UX design student who works in a retail store as a part-time employee looking for ways she can make her job easier and her customer’s experience better.
Gets a call about product inventory for the online store. Cannot answer it because is unaware of the numbers and redirects to another assistant.
Cannot answer to a walk-in customer because she is busy handling phone inquiries for online product availability.
Becomes frustrated because she is unable to provide her best customer service for the customers that walk in.
Post Shift
Pre Shift
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we improve the customer experience in retail stores that allows staff to communicate with customers about inventory and product details?
THE SOLUTION
An AI-powered efficient real-time
communication tool that will:
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Connect customer information throughout all channels
Make access to a real in-store staff available to online shoppers
Converts inquiries into sales through social media support
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
The customer sends an inquiring text through any channel.
Text gets redirected to the app chat inbox of closest store to customer’s location
Retail staff can look up product in real-time inventory access for customer inquiry
The message is sent back to the customer answering their need.
5 seconds
5 seconds
5 seconds
reducing the average duration of handling a
customer query from 4 minutes down to 15 seconds.
PRODUCT FEATURES
Inventory Access
Instant, real-time inventory access for retail staff to look up any product through inquiries from any channel.
Multiple Channels
Enquires coming in from multiple social media platforms and redirected to best available help.
Customer Chat
Quick way to receive enquiries through a chatbot on the website with access to customer data like order history, and location.
AI-powered features to increase efficiency
Increasing efficiency by utilizing AI to generate intelligent response suggestions, ensuring prompt and accurate customer assistance.
Automated Suggestions
Facilitating staff to promptly respond without the need for manual input, saving time and effort.
Automated Responses
By leveraging AI-powered responses, our system autonomously handles routine inquiries like "where is my order?" This not only reduces staff workload but also minimizes response times, allowing them to focus on more complex issues and deliver superior service to customers.
Sentiment Analysis
Utilizing sentiment analysis on textual customer interactions, our system prioritizes responses based on the urgency of their inquiries and their emotional state. This ensures that customers receive timely assistance tailored to their needs, fostering a positive perception of the brand's responsiveness and effectiveness in addressing their queries.
HOW DID I GET HERE?
I wanted to find out
what do online and offline customers expect before, during and after their shopping visit?
so that the app curated for in-store staff can help them attend customers in an effective way.
USER RESEARCH
How do we empathize with the wants and needs of our users?
Secondary research about user's shopping and interaction habits was conducted to find that:
83%
of consumers indicated that they expect companies to respond to their social media comments within a day, highlighting the importance of timely and responsive communication
- a study by Invesp
91%
of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide personalized communication through channels like email, social media, and mobile apps can help retailers build stronger relationships with their customers.
- a study by Accenture
67%
consumers have used a company's social media site for servicing, such as customer service inquiries and support.
- a study by J.D. Power
What did we learn from retail store staff?
I conducted 5 interviews with staff that worked at apparel and jewelry retail stores to find out that:
Technology Use
Currently, there is no use of an I-pad or phone to immediately look up inventory on the spot.
Impatience
Shoppers are impatient and need quick and accurate information about their shopping needs
Availability
There is no current indication of product inventory indication on the e-commerce website
Human Touch
Customers like to talk to a “real” person about their product inquires, therefore they like to call the stores.
Social Media Use
People make use of social media to inquire about inventory or additional information about the product.
No To Multitasking
Staff cannot focus on in-store customers when handling phone enquirers.
WHAT DID I DO WITH THIS RESEARCH?
this research helped me streamline the CORE USER NEEDS
Convenience
Users want a quick and easy way to check inventory availability at nearby retail locations and communicate with inventory managers to ensure they get the product they need.
Efficiency
Staff wants a digital product that streamlines inventory management processes and reduces the time and effort required to check and update inventory availability
Communication
A way to communicate with customers directly through the digital product to provide personalized and timely information about product availability and to manage customer expectations
DESIGN IDEATION
Building a tool that will increase convenience, efficiency, and communication for in-store retail staff making interaction with their customers much easier.
Several design sprints and rapid sketching sessions helped me come up with 10 initial ideas, 3 of which I developed into divergent concepts to prototype and get reactions from test users.
The 3 flows that I decided to go ahead with where accompanies by user flows, to streamline the 3 top tier features that will help solve our initial problem
A round of user testing allowed me to identify the goals of each user flow as well as redefine the scope for a more impactful and seamless user interface solution.
Following user testing, I optimized text and button sizes for tablets and introduced a drop-down menu for smoother navigation, reducing user effort. Additionally, I incorporated icons for a quick and intuitive selection of pages.
STYLE GUIDE
FINAL USER INTERFACE
A platform that allows in-store retail staff to seamlessly manage customer interactions across all channels, converting inquiries into sales with real-time support and social media integration.
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Efficiently search, filter, and locate desired products with automated sorting, comprehensive store inventory across the US, and availability of colors and sizes.
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Clickable images reveal detailed product views, with options to seamlessly send to chat or initiate customer orders.
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Easily access customer chats with sentiment analysis for prioritization, streamlined inventory access upon product inquiries, and features for sending pictures or text like receipts, complemented by AI-generated auto responses for efficient communication.
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Clickable profiles unveil customer details, including demographics and order history, utilized for tailored recommendations.
KEY LEARNINGS AND TAKEAWAYS
In-store staff face varied daily tasks based on brand and product needs; easy access to all features would streamline their experiences.
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For a platform to serve as a useful tool for staff in retail logistics, seamless integration with other systems like POS and inventory systems is crucial.
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This project highlighted the significance of incorporating user research findings and insights from user testing to create a product that is both seamless and highly functional.