GrabShop MVP
Currently in the Philippines and Thailand, Grab users use GrabExpress to help them run errands - for example, buying grocery items from convenience shops near their homes. However, the GrabExpress flow was not designed for the purpose of running errands, creating friction between what users want and what Grab can deliver. As a result, completion rates are low at around 45%, and demand has dropped to around 100-200 rides a day, from a peak demand of 800-900 rides a day.
GrabShop was thus initiated, and it seeks to:
1. Act as a concierge service for users, to allow users to seamlessly run their errands using Grab, with an aim of 15-30 minutes completion time
2. Optimise product UX and increase scale, without reliance on GrabExpress
3. Increase user demand
4. Concurrently, increasingly driver earnings, by increasing average user demand
5. Increase completion rate, thus increasing user Net Promoter Score (NPS)
As GrabShop is being launched in phases, the company has decided to roll out a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) first to capture market share and gather user sentiments. As such, the design is not reflective of the entire GrabShop roadmap.
Before we began on the project, the team came up with a few assumptions. They are:
1. Users know exactly what items they want, and their estimated prices
2. Users have familiarity with the various convenience stores
3. Users are willing to communicate extensively with drivers to obtain their products
4. Users are willing to fill in detailed information in the notes to driver section
5. Drivers hardly buy the wrong items
6. Users are willing to accept the wrong items if they were bought by driver
Prior to coming up with the design solutions, I conducted interviews with existing users to understand their current flows and pain points. Above image is the as-is flow gathered from existing users.
Their common pain points are as follows:
1. The notes to driver section only allows for a 200 character limit, which is insufficient
2. Miscommunication between driver and passenger occasionally happens, which results in the wrong items purchased
3. Orders can take as long as an hour to be completed
4. Orders sometimes get cancelled by drivers
After condensing and analysing the research, above is the proposed user flow. There are two proposed models: the unlisted model and the listed model.
The unlisted model is similar to the as-is flow. In line with user familiarity, users can now select location, enter item information for what they want purchased in a simplified form, and check out (or add more items), reducing the need to communicate extensively with drivers.
The listed model helps address future business needs, as well as allow users to select items and check out quickly. The listed model lists features partner merchants, and users can simply add items that are frequently purchased (ie popular items across the entire user base) into cart and check out.
This is the new item page, where users can enter information on items that they want Grab to help them buy. By providing a template for users and allowing users to write more information under special requests, it is easier for the drivers to understand what needs to be bought with lengthy chats between user and driver, hence reducing miscommunication and cancellation rates.
By gathering data on where users purchase most from under the unlisted model, Grab can partner with these merchants and eventually convert them into listed merchants.
While allowing the user to input estimated price might appear dubious at first glance, research revealed that most users generally know what they want to buy, where they want to buy from and the estimated price before they make a GrabShop purchase (although currently through GrabExpress). Users thus use the estimated price as additional information to help direct the driver to buy the correct item.
This is the basket screen, where users can see a summary of their items and proceed to check out and book a driver. In this MVP version, users are only allowed to purchase from one merchant, ie the driver will not make additional stops.
Unlisted items have the item names in blue to indicate that the information (name, estimated price, etc) can be edited. Listed items, however, can only have their item quantity and special requests section edited.
GrabShop MVP's design has been handed over to the engineers, with development work under way. It is slated to be released in mid-February 2019 in the Philippines and Thailand.
