Mobile grocery shopping providing the experience of an major grocery store app, such as Walmart Plus, to local grocery stores
MICA UXD Master's Case Study
Last year, I moved from urban Maryland to rural Oklahoma. While this was a very different setting, there was a major similarity in lifestyle, specifically food shopping. Getting food for the week continued to take large amounts of time and came with overwhelming logistics. The common factor? Food deserts.
Rural food deserts are defined by the USDA as more than 10 miles from a major grocery store. In total, nine million people in the United States are affected by living in a food desert, both rural and urban communities. Food is a need, and it should be accessible. Grocery shopping should not have to be a part time job or barely affordable.
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The food desert phenomena can be traced back to the the overturning of the Robinson-Patman Act. This act disallowed distributors from discriminating in pricing between large retailers and locally owned shops. Over the last few decades, smaller shops that once served a small community could no longer stay open. Nationwide grocery stores cannot financially justify opening their large facilities at every small shop they have out priced. Even though some retailers have opened small grocery based locations, such as Neighborhood Walmart, the number of small communities without a food store is growing every year.
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This is a systemic issue, but I want to be part of the solution! So I have developed Comedor, a grocery shopping mobile application providing the convenience of an major grocery store application, such as Walmart Plus, to local grocery stores. While this cannot fix the price discrimination causing food deserts, Comedor CAN address important pains in food deserts: availability, affordability, and shopping logistics (like excessive shopping time and high gas usage).
The challenge
Large food corporations cannot financially justify serving rural communities and local shops affordability is controlled by distributors favoring national chains, Oklahomans encounter high fuel expenses, big time commitments, and inflating grocery prices.
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My methodology
Over 20 weeks, I researched, ran a competitive analysis, interviewed food desert residents, crafted a user flow and user journeys, created personas, and then finally developed a prototype.
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Top competitors
Walmart Plus app, Dollar General Market app, Aldi, CVS, Doordash​
Interview participants wanted a solution to spending 4-6 hours a week grocery shopping due to a 40 minute drive. The Walmart Plus app had many reasons for rural communities continuing to shop so far away. However, Comedor solves this need for digital availability AND proximity by allowing consumers to shop at their local small stores.
The current shopper experience flows
Participants wanted a solution to spending 4-6 hours a week grocery shopping due to a 40 minute drive. The Walmart Plus app had many reasons for rural communities continuing to shop so far away. However, Comedor solves this need for digital availability AND proximity by allowing consumers to shop at their local small stores.
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My user flow and personas
The work leading up to design and development of the prototype
Testing out the app and insights​
The testing data I gathered from the prototype and my conclusions
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The findings
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Walmart's viewable inventory on the app is dependable and the biggest time saving tool currently. However, rural communities would prefer to stay local if the dependability of the inventory was the same. An active online inventory gives the consumer the necessary confidence to choose local stores.
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Additionally, browsing, search, and ordering features need to be developed with older generations in mind, keeping the interface simple and recognizable.
Comedor prototype
What is next?
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How I plan to continue this project.
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