Hearth•stone

2018 Grocery Concept Store

Hypothesis

If executed with an emphasis on community, education and integration, users will embrace a new way to shop.

While relying on new technologies, it has the capacity to take grocery to the next stage in its evolution.

What is the grocery experience like?

Observations

Grocery Stores Observed

Organic: Whole Foods on Haight StreetLocal: Andronico’s Family MarketsNational: Lucky’sFarmer’s Market: Inner SunsetYoutube: Shopping demosInfluenced by: Gelson’s, Newport Ave Market, Orchard Market

Questions

How do people know something is organic or local?What do people see when they first enter?What do people see outside?What ‘vibe’ does the store project?How much of the store is fresh?

Observations

● Lots of labels - all different kinds and qualities

● In chains, people see the registers. In local or organic, people less likely to see registers first.

● In chains, people see ice machines or signage. In local or organic, people more likely to see produce.

Observations

● Chains project an efficiency, economical vibe. Local and organic project an identity tied to the rural, farm oriented community.

● Subjectively, seems like most of the store is processed goods as opposed to fresh produce.

● Few stores even use new tech like digital price tags.

Observations

Typical Store Layout● Fresh foods around

the edges● Processed food in the

middle● Registers at the front

Brainstorming & Sketching Sessions

typical layout produce-centric community focus big picture

view

Ideation

“Produce is King”

→ checkout is to the side

→ processed goods are displayed on

virtual digital displays orderable via

smartphone app & available for pick-

up outside the store

→ fresh produce items are front and

center, in the middle of the store

→ outside access to coffee/bakery/deli

& pharma for one-stop shopping

Concept #1: Produce is King

Ideation

“Hearth-stone”

→ same as the previous concept for

register location, produce and virtual

processed goods walls, pharma,

bakery, etc

→ ‘community kitchen’ in the middle to

feature chefs from local restaurants,

cooking classes, nutritional & recipe

information and other community uses

Concept #2: Hearth-stone

Ideation

External (for either concept 1 or 2)

→ outside seating with demonstration

gardens

→ virtual goods fulfillment center and

bag pick-up near pick-up and drop-off

zone for driverless cars

→ farmer’s stalls for rent any time

store is open

→ roof top garden with skylights for

natural lighting

External Setting (both concepts)

Ideation

→ based on model from human

geography showing distance from

grower to city center in terms of time it

takes to transport before spoilage

→ visualization of how far the food is

you’re buying

→ laminated for use with whiteboard

markers (re-usable)

Labels

Taking the Sketches to the People

Where: Inner Sunset Farmer’s Market, 9th & Irving ~ Who: Shoppers & Vendors

Users said...

They agreed this is how it normally is

in grocery chains.

One user had worked in stores and

pointed out the fresh foods were along

the edge to allow easy access to back-

of-store fulfillment areas.

Checkout is a visual barrier as

consumers enter the store.

Typical Grocery Store Layout

Users said...

Liked ability to pre-order processed

food & still touch and pick the produce.

Wanted to use Google Glass to search

for items, highlighting the matching

products. Another user opposed glass

in the store and preferred using her

smartphone.

A vendor liked this best but pointed out

that, in wintertime, there will be less

produce to stock if it’s truly local.

Concept #1: Produce is King

Users said...

Users overall loved the idea of having

a community kitchen with classes so

near the products they’d use.

They also liked the idea of a

touchscreen recipe and nutrition

experience that was available to help

them learn.

Learning was BIG for users. One user

mentioned Draeger’s in San Mateo

that does this currently.

Concept #2: Hearth-stone

Users said...

Worried about parking, skeptical of

driverless car future.

Most thought the pick-up and outside

access to RX/Coffee/etc would cut

down on in-store traffic due to 1-off

purchases.

Users suggested music on the patio as

well as small demo gardens outside.

One vendor was skeptical of the

revenue models for the farmers stalls.

External Setting (both concepts)

Users said...

One user suggested using icons for

each form of transportation it takes to

move that product to that market. For

example, if a banana comes from S.

America, it might be shipped by boat,

plane and truck.

All users liked the visualization.

Labels

PickFu Binary Poll Results

Fishing for Opinions

Pickfu #1 Binary Poll Results

Caveat: Somewhat skewed since population of study isn’t controlled for people who would shop at a local or organic grocery store.

Still...interesting results...

Pickfu #1 Binary Poll Results

Imagine yourself shopping in a grocery store in the

future. Would you prefer?

OPTION B (winner)

For produce and fresh foods to be around

the outside edges of the store.

74% 37 votes

OPTION A

For produce and fresh foods to be in the

middle of the store?

26% 13 votes

Pickfu #1 Binary Poll Quotes

OPTION B (winner)

For produce and fresh foods to be around

the outside edges of the store.

I'm just used to around the edges. (roughly half said this)

That way I can just walk around the perimeter instead of having to go up and down aisles in an attempt to find exactly what I want.

I have shopped this way for over 50 years. I would be very disoriented if produce and fresh foods were in the center of the store. Besides it would cost store more to put refrigeration in center of store. Also, I can go directly to what I need.

OPTION A

For produce and fresh foods to be in the

middle of the store?

this would allow you to circle it quickly

It sounds visually pleasant to have fresh food right in the middle with all the 'drys' towards the outside.

Ive been in stores like this and it just seems to flow better

I want them all in one condensed space.

Pickfu #2 Binary Poll Results

When shopping in an organic/locally sourced grocery

store, how would you feel about a community kitchen

area that offers cooking classes or other events?

OPTION BYou would not find this option

attractive (and why not)

10%

5 votes

OPTION A (winner)You would find

this option attractive (and why)

90% 45 votes

Pickfu #2 Binary Poll Quotes

OPTION B

You would not find this option attractive

(and why not)

A community kitchen area with cooking classes would increase traffic and impede my shopping. I'd prefer to keep them separate.

I don't have the time for all that.

not my thing

I am indifferent to this.

OPTION A (winner)

You would find this option attractive (and why)

I think it would be great to learn new techniques/recipes to use the food purchased there

I think cooking classes, etc., would be a great addition to the venue; very convenient to shop for items needed. Great promotion for the vendor also.

I think that's great, our local health food store does that and people love it

This would be a great program, it would be a value added service. Cooking classes in a place where you can purchase healthy food would be a wonderful incentive to shop there.

Synthesizing results into a plan

Wrap Up

Recommendation: Heart•stone

Tenets: Integrate food, education and community through a central kitchen or ‘hearth’.

Hearth: a brick, stone, or concrete area in front of a fireplace; a vital or creative center; a place where all were welcome, friends and strangers alike.

Exterior

Keep the outside green and community oriented

● outside access to 1-stop shopping (coffee, pharma)

● outside seating and gathering

● pickup convenient to pickup and dropoff area

● demo gardening

Entry to the Store

Overall Layout and Flow

● shopping on the edges● coming together and

creating in the center

Business Opportunities

● Renting outside stalls to growers will increase amount of fresh product and attract new customers

● Stocking local growers’ produce leads to a secondary income stream.

● “Extra basket” spend from virtual shoppers & one-offs increases revenue.

Business Opportunities

● Offering in-store educational opportunities promotes an ‘extra basket’ spend when customers shop for ingredients post-class to cook at home as well as cost of class.

● Cooking demos increases customers’ exposure to new products or recipes.

● Virtual walls improve ‘flow’ and increase # of customers who can shop during prime-time.

Business Opportunities

● It feels good to consumers and if it feels good, they will keep coming back.

● Repeat customers and positive word of mouth will increase customer loyalty driving up lifetime value (ltv) and cement the store as a cornerstone of the community.

Assumptions & Risks

Dependent on evolution of following technologies:● driverless cars● virtual display shopping● digital pricing● farming practices in general● change resistance for customers

Hearth-stone Concept Storyboard

Mary’s Shopping Trip

Hearth-space

Room for Improvement

What I’d Do Differently

Opportunities to Improve Process

● Ask users to sketch their own ideas of a store layout● Talk with more vendors● Talk with shoppers at grocery stores too● Expand observational research to more stores● Try a different way to get poll results with more qualified

users.● Get a better sense of operational logistics - a ‘behind

the scenes’ tour would have been really helpful.● Incorporate more backroom storage into my design.

Mainly pics showing labels in stores

Appendix

Solutions & Open Questions

Problems to Solve Next

In Moving From This...

● Fresh foods around the edges

● Processed food in the middle

● Registers at the front

...to This...What Happens?

● Stocking will be more transparent to users

● Storage can take place within the display area.

● Temporary storage off the loading dock can still continue to exist.

● Potential re-stock issues in conflict with in-store traffic

How About Community?

● Potential legal issues with having a kitchen in-store.

● Potential re-stock issues during high traffic times.

● What to do for people without smart phones?

Zooming Out...

● Parking problems will need to be taken into account if driverless cars don’t take off by the launch time frame.

● Look more closely at relationship between out-of-store pick-up and ‘extra basket’ expectations.

Back to Labels

● Look more at calling out food types (gluten-free, low-carb, diabetic, vegan, etc).

● Do labels need to be consistent or does that cause some amount of cognitive overwhelm as users try to find their particular food type?

Hard to know where it comes from

Local is a ‘fuzzy’ term

● Whole Foods policies is to define it at the country or state level, though for regional they will sometimes call it out and other times, not.

● Andronico’s is rolling out a new label for local, but it’s not 100% on all local products yet.

● More pics

Virtual Shopping

Tesco beta test in South Korea

Read more about it

Driverless Cars

California Studies Driverless Cars...readUK government paves way for driverless...readVolvo to test driver-less cars...read