Safeway | Newphoria Design

Project overview

Objective

To gain valuable insights on features that would improve grocery shopping experience at Safeway.

To conduct research on features that grocery shoppers would like to improve their shopping experience at Safeway.

Expected outcome

Demographic

Gen Z and millennial shoppers

Rationale and background

Industry trend

To explore the possibility of AI in enhancing in-store grocery shopping experience.

Fast-growing retail businesses
Consumers are tech savvy among gen Z and millennials
Competitions like Amazon Go
AI integration for online shopping

Goal

Research questions

Key questions that we want to answer:

What are the shopping patterns that inform Safeway about shopping behavior?
How efficiency is the current in-store shopping experience with the current Safeway/other grocery shopping app?
What are the current technological tools and features that shoppers have used/preferred to aid their shopping experience?
What are the influence factors (budgets, deals, price, etc.)?

Research methodology

Primary research

Conduct one-on-one interviews
Ethnography fieldwork
Design probes

Secondary research

Conduct ten literature reviews

Participant recruiting strategy

Characteristics of ideal study participants

Gen Z and millennial

Regular Safeway shoppers

Tech-savvy individuals

Diversity

Age: Born between 1997 and 2012 (Gen Z) or 1981 and 1996 (Millennials)

Digital-ccentric behaviors and prefrences

Familiarity with Safeway stores and current shopping experience

Comfortable with technology, including smartphones and digital tools

Gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability status, and geographical diversity

Who

Where

How

The team aims to recruit Gen Z and millennial shoppers who regularly visit Safeway stores. Their familiarity with Safeway and their digital habits make them ideal participants to provide insights into the effectiveness of the digital-integrated shopping cart.

The recruitment will focus on Safeway stores located in areas with a high concentration of Gen Z and millennial populations. This includes urban areas, college towns, and neighborhoods known to attract younger demographics.

The team will utilize a mixed-method approach to recruit participants, including both offline and online methods:

In-store Recruitment: Setting up recruitment stations at Safeway stores, where potential participants can be approached and invited to participate in the research project.
Online Channels: Utilizing social media platforms, online forums, and Safeway’s website to reach out to potential participants, provide project information, and invite them to participate.

Compensation Strategy

No monetary compensation will be provided to participants. The rationale behind this decision is to avoid any potential biases that compensation may introduce and to ensure that participants are genuinely interested in contributing their insights and experiences.

Instead, the team will emphasize the value and importance of the research project, highlighting how participants’ feedback can directly impact the future shopping experience at Safeway stores.

Recruitment Timeline

Participant recruitment will begin approximately one month prior to the implementation of the digital-integrated shopping cart at Safeway stores.
The recruitment phase will last for two weeks to allow sufficient time for participant enrollment, screening, and scheduling. The research team will then have ample time to prepare and implement the research project according to the defined timeline and project plan.

Recruitment Timeline

To be eligible for the study, participants should meet the following criteria:

Age: Fall within the Gen Z or millennial age range (born between 1981 and 2012).
Safeway Shoppers: Regularly shop at Safeway stores and have a reasonable level of familiarity with the current shopping experience.
Tech-Savviness: Possess a good understanding of technology, including smartphone usage and familiarity with digital tools.
Diversity: Participants from diverse backgrounds in terms of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability status and geographical location to ensure a comprehensive representation of the target demographics.

Participants recruitment poster

Are you between the ages of 18 and 42?
Do you shop at Safeway stores regularly?
Are you comfortable using smartphones and digital tools for everyday tasks?
Are you active on social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook)?
Have you visited Safeway’s website before?
Are you available to participate in the research project during the specified timeline?
Would you be willing to meet in person for an interview with us to talk about your experience of shopping at the Safeway store?
The interview will take 45-60 minutes. Are you willing to spare that much time?

User research screen questions:

Secondary research

Literature reviews

The mandate of this research project is to design and implement a digital-integrated shopping cart for Safeway. This research project aims to integrate a virtual assistant or chatbot functionality into the Safeway shopping cart. The project's main focus groups are Gen Z and millennial shoppers who love digital devices. The expected outcome is to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of integrating virtual assistant or chatbot functionality in Safeway’s shopping cart and whether it is in line with the digital lifestyle of Gen Z and Millennials.

Research questions

What is the current shopping cart technology in the market?
What are the features? How does it help the shoppers, especially those with disabilities?
How does the shopping cart technology work with the shopping list?
How do supermarkets use AI as a shopping tool?

Overall research strategy

The search strategy consists of the sources in scholarly and scientific databases such as Gale Academic OneFile, EBSCO, etc. The research will focus on keywords, concepts, theories, and contextual technology related to the shopping cart experience and virtual assistant.

Research keywords

Shopping cart technology, virtual/smart assistant shopping, AI shopping cart, grocery shopping cart technology, Chatbot Shopping Cart and shopping list.