TIMELINE
Sep. 2022 - Jan. 2023
MENTORS
Jess Erickson and Josh Sucher
ROLE
Product Designer
Shopify
The Shop UX team was specifically interested in what mobile features could manifest from Gen-Z's unique shopping habits, in addition to how habits like social shopping could incentivize more purchases.
In June 2023, Shop implemented Shop Cash, a customer loyalty program that rewards repeated shopping.
Overview
In the Fall of 2022, I had the opportunity of partnering with Shop through Berkeley Innovation, a human centered design consultancy at UC Berkeley, to research the e-commerce space the app occupies and how it can better cater to internet-savvy consumers, specifically that of Gen-Z.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
What's Shop?
The Shop app is a shopping destination and delivery tracking app owned by Shopify. The goal of the app is to “consolidate stores into a cohesive shopping experience.” The app is also powered by a payment method called Shop Pay.The Shop app launched in 2020 & was originally a tracking-focused app called Arrive. It is currently third in the App Store on the “Shopping” app rankings.
THE PROBLEM
User Friction
For a long time, the Shop app was the only consumer facing avenue of Shopify, looking to generate value on behalf of merchants through customers. Shopify is looking to create a destination they can own to capitalize on native capabilities, and to better leverage customers by offering a marketplace of diverse vendors. However, they face difficulties in converting users into marketplace buyers because most people view Shop as a tracking app.
The Purpose of Shop
The Shop app is meant to accompany Shopify’s e-commerce ecosystem, which boasts a variety of brands that are well known to smaller, mom-and-pop shops. Shopify is meant to empower a breadth of businesses, and Shop is its streamlining companion. As an app, Shop boasts seamless package tracking and accessible order histories from Shopify/Shop brands, brand discovery, exploration, and more.
Above is part of Shopify's e-commerce ecosystem strategy, in which they boast the ability to connect e-commerce stores to the hands of online customers, physical brick and mortar stores, and beyond.
However, many people are confused by Shop's function.
Above is Shop's tracking feature, which is used to streamline shoppers' purchase statuses into one application.
When initially asking friends and family about Shop before releasing our screener survey, these were some of the comments we received — these sentiments helped us develop insights on the research to come. Shop is extremely popular for cataloging user purchases and tracking information,
Ultimately, Shop wants to be seen as a product discovery tool for e-commerce shoppers and younger people.
Shop is looking to harness the power of its user base to transform its platform into an avenue for product discovery, product collection, and purchasing. Shop is also interested in targeting Gen-Z folk because of their collective buying power —at over 360 billion dollars in disposable income per year, Gen-Z is a force to be reckoned with in the e-commerce space.
SNEAK PEEK
A quick glance at my solutions.
Our team was instructed to focus on generating robust user research regarding the e-commerce system through the eyes of Gen-Z, which we then utilized to innovate feature recommendations that aimed at fostering user delight and product discovery.
A SNEAK PEAK
Our Impact.
Here's a sneak peek of some of the work our team has helped shape and influence, including a rewards system called Shop Cash and a shopping catalog system called Collections.
Shop Cash
In June of 2023, Shopify launched one of our project concepts, Shop Cash, as a loyalty rewards program for its users. Shop Cash has no monetary value outside of the Shop app but is mainly a cash-back/rewards system that encourages user growth and loyalty!
Shop Collections
Shopify also launched another feature concept this past yearcalled Shop Collections! Shop Collections is essentially a way to organize your "saved" items on Shop. It allows you to share, catalog, archive, and file potential purchases.
THE RESEARCH
Our Results
We conducted a screener survey, ethnographic interviews, and concept validation exercises that targeted high school and college aged students in order to answer a number of questions we had about the current e-commerce eco-system as seen through Gen-Z.
We found that Gen-Z-ers face many influences during their shopping journeys…
Peer Pressure
Validation from social networks can hold weight in the decision to buy.
And that the social media discovery to purchase pipeline involves many steps…
Gen-Z-ers utilize multiple platforms, loopholes, and decision-making factors during purchase-making. We made this "journey map" of a average shopping journey from discovery to purchase.
Nowadays, creators leverage their organic insights and experience in exchange for brand publicity and trust. This gives Gen-Z'ers a myriad of resources to engage with and research through when they purchase products.
Not your typical journey
There's so much information Gen-Z consumes in the modern e-commerce space in addition to their actual consumption of products. We compiled hundreds of insights to create a not so typical "journey map" in order to organize all our thoughts. Factors such as in person versus online experiences were considered, with a heavy emphasis on the several online routes that allow for product research.
IDEATING + CONCEPTUALIZING
Making shopping playful.
My team and I were interested in implementing our research by creating design solutions that would drive interest and motivate young shoppers to explore Shop's diverse e-commerce space. We used the crazy-8's method to ideate 15+ ideas, then focused on 3.
Cash Out
Key Observatons: Users increasingly have a “choice set” of preferred ecommerce platforms. Shop struggles with having a key use case. However, we know that sales, deals, and specific vendors were key differentiating factors in making platforms such as Wish and Etsy become part of that preferred “choice set”.
How it Works: Utilize “Shop Cash” as a social feature that multiplies your rewards based on the number of people that partake in the purchase. Receive discounts as a group and inspire in-app loyalty!
Cash Out was implemented in the Shop app this past June 2023 as a rewards program (Shop Cash) to incentivize shoppers to make repeat-purchases. Their goal with Shop Cash was to create user loyalty, contribute to the larger Shop ecosystem, and create rewards for consumers.
Personal Collections
Key Observations: While many websites and retail brands allow users to make accounts and “save” items, a more comprehensive solution that allows users to save items across multiple brands and storefronts doesn’t exist outside of platforms like Amazon.
How It Works: Drawing from Shop’s selected brands, users can “save” items to their collections (think of a playlist, but for items!) and title collections with different themes/priorities.
Shop Maps
Key Observations: Many Gen-Z shoppers unknowingly use the Shop app to track packages, but the connection between its tracking function and shopping function is not clear to users.
How It Works: Every time a user tracks a package, photos of popular products recommended to them in their area pop up too. Clicking into a product reveals its details and the value of the app’s native shopping features.
IDEATING + CONCEPTUALIZING
Making shopping playful.
My team and I were interested in implementing our research by creating design solutions that would drive interest and motivate young shoppers to explore Shop's diverse e-commerce space. We used the crazy-8's method to ideate 15+ ideas, then focused on 3.
REFLECTIONS & THANKS
Special thanks to the
Shop UX Team
If you made it this far — thanks for reading! Thank you to my project clients Josh Sucher and Jess Erickson for your thoughtful guidance and wonderful feedback.
Reflections 01: A well researched product is more important than a flashy one, although visual delight is key in inspiring and motivating consumers to use a product regularly. Although this project’s final deliverable was research-heavy, we were able to create visual deliverables on a short timeline because we knew exactly what we wanted and we had comprehensive UX research to back it.
Reflection 02: A team with many diverse strengths is a strong one! Our team had different strengths that emphasized different muscles — design thinking, business and e-commerce backgrounds, UX research , and more. I learned so much from all the members in my team — as someone with a previously visual-heavy attitude towards design, this project allowed me to reshape my focus on design as something purely artistic.
Ultimately, if I had more time and the resources of an engineering and product team, I wish I could have fleshed out Shop Maps into a feature that is both safe enough to ensure privacy but also serves as a topographic marker of who's buying what. I truly think that knowing what your community engages in is something the average person and consumer is interested in and that this feature could build a sense of trust and locality.