Best Buy

Virtual Store

As the pandemic began and lockdowns started, Best Buy was faced with a problem: how do we deliver the same store experience to customers now that they're shopping from home?

Role

As the sole experience designer for this project, I conducted user research to understand user needs and pain points, created user personas and journey maps, and developed high-fidelity designs. I collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and consistency throughout the design process, and iterated on designs based on user feedback and data analysis.

Initial Design: September 2020 - October 2020

Initial Launch: October 2020

Re-design: March 2021 - August 2021

Re-launch: September 2021

Project maintenance: Ongoing

Outcomes

Since its launch, it has expanded to eight product categories, some of which are further broken down into brand-specific expertise. It is projected to represent approximately 14% of the domestic online revenue for the fiscal year, and boasts one of the highest conversion rates among different sales channels, often four times higher than chat and voice.

Living during lockdowns

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns led to a shift to remote work and education for many people around the world. With offices closed and schools shuttered, people had to adjust to new ways of working and learning. This presented a new set of challenges, as individuals had to consider how to create a productive and comfortable workspace at home and ensure they had the technology and tools needed to work remotely.

As a result, there was a surge in demand for technology to facilitate remote work and education. This included not only parents who had to juggle the demands of their job with homeschooling their children, but also individuals without children who needed to find new ways to work effectively from home.

At the same time, with stores closed or operating at reduced capacity and health concerns rising, consumers increasingly turned to online shopping, making it the preferred or only shopping channel. Retailers like Best Buy had to adapt to these changing shopping behaviors and find new ways to meet customer needs while prioritizing health and safety.

Shopping via video

In late 2020, we launched a pilot for shopping via video in a few select product categories. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in online shopping, we quickly realized that our existing solution was not scalable. With more people than ever before setting up home offices and schools, access to specialized product expertise became crucial.

To address this need, we took a step back and looked for a scalable solution that could provide customers with access to employees who had a high level of expertise in the product categories they were shopping in. Ultimately, we made the decision to start from scratch and completely redesign the video shopping experience.

Understanding the customer

To begin the design process, we conducted extensive research to understand the customer and employee experience with our existing video shopping platform. Working closely with the research team, I analyzed user behavior, pain points, and opportunities for improvement. We also spoke with employees who interacted with customers on a daily basis to gain insight into their perspectives on the existing platform. This research allowed us to identify key areas for improvement and set a solid foundation for the design process.

Expertise

We found that the level of employee expertise often exceeded customer expectations

Privacy

Customers appreciated that they didn't have to be on camera and felt it provided a good level of privacy

Abandons

Customers were surprised that they were immediately being connected to video chat which led to many quickly closing the experience

Feelings

Customers with different abilities or those who are hesitant to shop in store found video chat very useful, felt cared for, and valued

Our customer research revealed that while customers enjoyed the video shopping experience after successfully connecting with an employee, many faced confusion and frustration prior to the call due to unclear expectations. To improve the onboarding process, we identified the need to communicate the experience better and set clearer expectations for customers.

In addition, we examined the customer shopping journey to determine where to offer the video shopping option. By analyzing customer data and feedback from our research, we developed three mindsets to guide the user journey and provide a seamless sales experience.

A customer sales journey mapping different types of mindsets customers might have at each stage

Design process

After gathering insights from our research, I embarked on a design and testing cycle, using our previous iteration as a foundation. Collaborating closely with our copy and research partners, we tested initial designs with a primary focus on improving the onboarding experience. Our objective was to set clear expectations for the customers and reduce confusion. Additionally, we strategically placed entry points throughout the Best Buy website based on our sales journey research and aimed to test the discoverability of those entry points. For a full overview of the project evolution, check out this timeline.

Design based on research

Launch usability study & analyze results

Review with copy & research partners

A safe and convenient shopping experience

The result was the creation of a virtual store that could provide customers with personalized service and expertise from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

Overall, the virtual store has helped to transform the online shopping experience and set a new standard for personalized customer service in the age of remote work and education. I'm proud of the success of this project and am excited to see how it continues to evolve in my day to day work.

Project Assets.

These are the customer experiences for virtual store across all of the main devices that I design for. I also included the audit I did to wrap up last year and the overall project timeline.