Empowering online grocery shoppers through personalized choices.
Personalizing the grocery experience on Uber Eats through a conceptual feature.
All information in this case study is my own and is not affiliated with Uber.
TL;DR
In 2020, during the pandemic's peak, Uber Eats experienced a surge in demand. By 2024, as dining out resumed, this demand receded, prompting Uber Eats to pivot towards online grocery delivery.
I designed a conceptual feature to leverage the strengths of personalized online grocery shopping, making it more attractive and empowering than in-person shopping.
The suggested feature lends personal agency to shoppers and streamlines the grocery shopping experience. It also empowers shoppers to make more informed and optimal choices.
The business
challenge
When compared to the in-person grocery shopping experience, online experience has clear drawbacks.
Meat and produce are more subject to personal taste. Ignoring cost, in most cases visual appeal is the one of the dominant factors in selecting items in either category. I see no way to accurately convey that via description or even with a photo. What constitutes overly ripe bananas to one person is likely to be far different for another.”
— Via RetailWire
Uber Eats addressed this drawback with a ‘best match’ feature which allows users to guide shoppers more accurately. But is this enough to encourage customers to buy groceries online?
The research question still stands: How can online grocery shopping offer unique advantages that are not available through the in-person shopping experience to continue to attract users in a post-pandemic world?
While re-imagining the grocery browsing experience for Uber Eats is a worthwhile challenge in itself, I felt it was important to acknowledge that the food industry holds some of the biggest levers for positive behavioural change.
We cannot reasonably expect people to make healthy and sustainable food choices when the food environment is so heavily geared around tasty, convenient, cheap, plentiful, and culturally normative produce.”
— The Behavioural Insights Team
According to ‘A Menu for Change' customers prioritize taste, cost, variety, and convenience, with health and sustainability coming last.
Research shows that it is not because shoppers do not care about these aspects. Rather it is due to the value-action gap, which suggests that despite having good intentions, psychological and practical barriers prevent consumers from making healthier or more sustainable choices. Understanding these barriers is key to understanding what unmet needs grocery shoppers may have.
Problem statEment
Re-framing the question
Combining the business and human challenge led me to a new research question:
Original question
How can online grocery shopping offer unique advantages that are not available through the in-person shopping experience?
New question
How can we leverage the online grocery shopping experience, to create both a positive business and human impact?
Primary research
Understanding how shoppers make decisions
In order to understand how to leverage the online grocery shopping experience, it was important for me to understand in-person shopping habits and how grocery shoppers make decisions. This would allow me to compare both in-person and online grocery shopping and identify where the gaps lie.
Direct observations
I made direct observations at my local store and observing key factors about how shoppers make their choices. I also ordered my own groceries from Uber Eats for the first time (yay!) to thoroughly understand the process.
Interviews
I carried out interviews with 6 participants, who shopped both in-person and online. I used the hourglass method when asking questions to help me uncover broader users’ habits.
early observations
What we can learn from in-person grocery shopping
enjoyable & visually-appealing experience
Grocery shopping can often feel mundane, but participants expressed a desire for curiosity and enjoyment, which was closely tied to the in-person experience of exploring grocery stores:
Maybe I just like the feeling of going to a market. Sometimes I will look at other items on the shelves and if they interest me I will get those as well.”
The enjoyment and effectiveness of in-person grocery shopping are largely driven by visual agency and the ability to explore and discover new items through eye-catching visual cues.
In contrast to this, several interview participants mentioned that online grocery shopping can be visually overwhelming.
It's overwhelming. But I like when they recommend things, because it helps expand my tastebuds and choices based on my existing interests."
In-person grocery shoppers appreciated the ability to directly compare and contrast items, based on readily-provided information, in order to make optimal choices based on their personal preferences.
I like to be able to quickly read the back of the item, and see what the nutritional benefits are. I can't do this easily online."
Despite being able to easily compare and contrast, in-person shoppers mentioned not fully knowing what certain terms meant and not being able to compare between different grocery stores. This highlights an opportunity to enhance the online shopping experience by providing more comprehensive comparison tools.
clear labelling & categorization
Through my visit to the grocery store, I observed that items were labeled according to health and dietary preferences, such as organic, gluten-free, and keto.
This underscored the importance of clearly categorized information in helping consumers make informed decisions quickly and effectively.
In contrast, several interview participants shared that in the Uber Eats app, they often had to rely on the search bar to locate relevant categories, with no assurance that all suitable options would appear.
In store foods are clearly labeled with tags such as 'Keto' and 'Paleo'.
KEY INSIGHT
Take-the-best heuristic
Among the above insights, a final key insight stood out to me about how grocery shoppers make choices. When talking to a participant about how they choose which grocery store to shop at, they mentioned the following:
I've recently become obsessed with this elderflower drink, but my grocery store doesn’t carry it. The next closest store isn't great for fresh produce, so it didn't make sense to walk there. Instead, I searched online for stores that carry the drink, and found that Sainsbury’s, a high-quality supermarket, had it. I decided to order all my groceries from Sainsbury’s through Uber Eats, since it was too far to walk to, but I’m happy now I know where to get the drink and get my groceries done!”
This participant had many different needs; personal preferences, distance & quality of fresh produce. Yet when faced with information overload, shoppers employed short-cuts to allow them to make quick decisions, known as take-the-best heuristic. They allow one (or a few) key cues to dictate their decisions, in this case the need for the elderflower drink and the quality of products!
the bigger picture
Is take-the-best heuristic always good?
Consider the above story. some cases, take-the-best heuristic is time-saving and beneficial, but in other cases, the lack of readily available and digestible information may prevent users from making the optimal decision. This is especially taxing when users are trying to make healthy, sustainable or dietary-based choices.
Instead it is important to ask:
What shortcuts could have been provided to better help Amy make an optimal choice, based on her health & personal preferences?
the solution
The formula
Grocery shoppers would benefit from an engaging and visually-driven shopping experience, which allows them to quickly and easily access to nutritional information and comprehensive details about the product, to align with their personal & health preferences.
From these user needs identified, I now had a formula to help people make optimal choices:
It’s not about making technology more human-like. It’s about designing technology to embrace the things that make us human.
— Microsoft Inclusive Design for Cognition Guidebook, 2023
THE PRODUCT
Introducing ‘Your Aisle’
The Pitch
Experience the ultimate personalized grocery shopping, all from the comfort of your own home.
"Your Aisle" is a new carousel feature that categorizes products according to health or personal dietary preferences, making it easier for shoppers to explore and find products with the tap of a finger.
THE FEATURES
Incorporating nudges
I incorporated nudge strategies from the Make it Toolkit to craft a feature that lends personal agency to shoppers and streamlines the online grocery shopping experience.
Visually engaging experience
Make it:
Intriguing
obvious
Curiosity is sparked with a set of colourful cards that users can click on the explore items, mimicking eye-catching visual cues that people enjoy while shopping in person.
This celebrates and acknowledges shoppers choices, reinforcing a sense of positivity while shopping.
Carousel of
categorized options
Make it:
Empowering
Items are categorized according to preferences and dietary habits, making it easy for users to explore options according preferences.
The carousel provides experiences without predetermined outcomes, allowing users freedom to explore, interact, and shape their own shopping journey.
Control over
personal preferences
Make it:
Yours
Users are able to add their preferred categories to the carousel and edit these preferences at any point, giving them control over their shopping experience.
Multiple entry points
Make it:
Obvious
Users are able to view the carousel on multiple pages, including on the main grocery store page as well as each individual storefront.
For individual storefronts, the card displays a preview of items available as well as daily offers for the specific store.
Quick comparison of items
Make it:
Empowering
Easy
One users explore a specific category (e.g. organic), they are able to compare items in a specific category between different stores easily and effectively with one click.
See deals and save favourites
Make it:
Empowering
Easy
Decision-making is facilitated through the ability to quickly see deals and save favourite items for each category.
This allows users to make more informed choice, and streamlines the decision-making process.
Informative onboarding flow
Make it:
Easy
A quick onboarding flow was added to explain the new feature to first time users. The onboarding flow can easily be accessed at any point through the ‘information’ symbol at the top of the carousel.
KEY OUTCOME
Empowering shoppers through personal choices
Control & trust
The feature was designed to leverage the strengths of online grocery shopping and encourage greater engagement. During testing, participants highlighted its usefulness, expressing a clear interest in shopping aligned with their health and dietary preferences and being able to compare products across grocery stores. By presenting this information upfront, the feature empowered shoppers to make more informed and optimal choices online.
celebrating
Diverse choices
The suggested feature demonstrated the potential for categories such as "organic" or "keto," highlighting its adaptability. However, not all users prioritize or can afford these specific options. The flexibility to expand beyond these initial categories ensures that a broad range of preferences and needs can be accommodated.
One participant mentioned wanting to 'create' their own category, and how useful this would be for them to find healthier baby products. This feedback underscores the potential of customizable features to meet diverse user needs and drive engagement.
Shaping positive Impact
I applied a systems-thinking approach to uncover unmet user needs, allowing for a nuanced exploration of how shoppers aim to make healthier and more personalized choices. While this was a secondary outcome, it revealed that consumers often struggle to make optimal decisions due to the overwhelming array of options presented by the app.
By integrating behavioural science and nudge theory into the design process, this feature takes an initial step toward reshaping the digital choice environment. Drawing on the mid-stream approach advocated by the Behavioural Insights Team (see below), it lays the foundation for an ecosystem where healthier and more sustainable options are not only accessible but intuitively aligned with consumer needs. This strategy empowers users to navigate the digital experience with greater confidence, making informed and positive choices.
Adapted from How to build a Net Zero society, 2023
Perhaps the most acceptable policy or intervention is one that helps consumers make choices that are better on their own terms. This is what a good nudge often seeks to do.”
— A Menu for Change, 2020
© Sharmeena Lalloo. 2024