Scope of work

User interviews / Research synthesis / Design studio session / User testing / Prototyping / User testing

Project Summary

Chemist Warehouse reported a 50% drop in turnover due to COVID, as customers avoid in-store visits.

The goal is to boost their online presence and sales so that Chemist Warehouse goes from being ubiquitous on the roads to all over the World Wide Web. 

User interviews tells us the online experience is overwhelming, mirroring the crowded stores but lacking chemists’ trusted guidance. The solution is a feature delivering concise, reliable advice, empowering customers to make informed medication choices—just like in-store support.

Problem Space

Retail stores have been significantly affected by COVID and pushed people to shop online, so Chemist Warehouse wants to reduce risk and boost its online sales in the event of another lockdown.

Challenge

Chemist Warehouse retail stores have a level of success that isn’t found in their online channel. How can we make their online platform more successful?

Phase — 1

Exploring the Problem

The objective of our research plan is to understand people’s shopping habits/behaviours both online and in-store. We conducted 20 user interviews to find out:

🛍️ Why is online or in-store their preferred shopping method?

😷 How has COVID impacted their online and in-store shopping experience?

🖥️ What are their experiences with the current Chemist Warehouse website?

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Phase — 2

Key Insights

1. Whether shopping online or in-store, trust plays a key role in decision-making.

We identified two distinct groups of shoppers: those who value the in-store experience and those whose shopping habits guide their choices. These groups sometimes overlap, as some individuals enjoy the experience of consulting with a trusted expert and incorporate it into their shopping habits.

2. Lost in Navigation: The Online Struggle of Chemist Warehouse

Jennifer put it well: the Chemist Warehouse website can feel overwhelming, especially for people who aren’t tech-savvy. The cluttered navigation and bold branding mirror the overstocked feel of their physical stores, but this doesn’t translate well online. By cramming too much onto a single page, the site becomes an overload for users like Jennifer.

3. From Browsing to Buying: Why In-Store Wins

A lot of people visit the website simply to browse. They prefer to ask questions in person and make their purchase immediately, enjoying the in-store shopping experience more than shopping online.

Defining the user

Through our research, we identified 2 main user archetypes—each with their own motivation, goals and pain points. The in-store shopper and the online shopper. 

Online shopper

“Shopping online is straightforward. I can search for what I need and compare prices.”

Makes a purchase when they have all the information they need.

Likes the convenience of online shopping because it comes to you.

In-store shopper

“I trust my local chemist because of their opinion on health care.”

Feels safe talking to a professional because they will solve their problems and answer any questions.

Likes the range of products, but can feel overwhelmed by it all.

Which user to focus on?

There is a bigger opportunity in converting the in-store shopper into an online shopper. Focusing on in-store shoppers aligns with Chemist Warehouse’s business goals because it will boost their online presence and convert the loss of retail sales into e-commerce sales.

Problem statement

The "In-store Shopper" needs trusted information when purchasing healthcare products online because they want to make an informed decision on their purchases.

Phase — 3

The Solution

How might we help the “In-store Shoppers” make an informed decision on their online purchases? The solution is a feature that allows people to compare multiple items to help them make an informed decision on their purchases. 

Clearly itemising the limitations of a product, what it’s used for, the active ingredient, what the side-effects are etc. will help the in-store shopper make an informed decision. It's the advice they look for when going into a store and it allows the user to compare multiple items in one screen.

The current product comparison experience

It’s difficult, to say the least. Multiple browser tabs need to be open and the information is inconsistent between the three. Their marketing materials are all over the place, which makes it difficult to compare.

The new experience

The new experience will solve that with an all-in-one window solution. We believe this feature will deliver the trusted information the in-store shopper needs to make an informed decision.

Phase — 4

Usability Testing

We tested users to determine whether they will be able to purchase the correct hayfever medication with zero errors.  We’re aiming for 100% success. An error with hayfever medication is a waste of time, money and most importantly: health.

5 participants took part.

80% succeeded (1 failed) 

When the participant thought of hayfever medication, he wasn’t focused on the label ‘hayfever’, but on the symptom: a running nose. Because they all treated a running nose he decided to remove the 70 pack since he wouldn’t need that many.

One usability test failed but during the test, we asked each participant “how would you start comparing these items?” and the most common method was to open up a tab for each item because “most websites don’t have this feature.”

5/5 test participants found this feature to be helpful. 

This response gave the team resolve and reminded us why we’re creating this solution — to make the online experience easier.

Further testing necessary

One usability test failed because the participant was confused when comparing hayfever medication. We need to focus on a 100% success rate test more participants.

How do people make decisions when purchasing medication? We’ve conducted a survey (graph 1) to see what users look for, but we need to test whether this actually helps.

Does this solution instil a sense of trust? And more importantly, will this convert sales? Further testing is necessary.

Reflection

1. The idea of slowly building things over time can be applied to many different products. You can do a lot with a little but it should be done in incremental steps.

2. Our initial vision was overly ambitious and idealistic because we tried to do too much in one feature, which diluted our solution. A measured hand is necessary to produce a minimum viable product.

3. Trust is hard to build and difficult to maintain. Overpromising and underdelivering will quickly kill trust. It must be slowly built upon over time. 

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