Best Price: B2B E-commerce Platform
Project Overview
Brief
Best Price Modern Wholesale is a B2B store owned by Walmart India where members can purchase products in-store, through sales representatives, or online. Walmart wanted to improve their e-commerce experience and encourage more online purchasing.
Outcome
This study led to a thorough understanding of the different customer segments, their motivations and operations. This enabled us to improve the UX and introduce new features
Impact: This project led to a 5x increase in e-commerce sales for Best Price.
Methods
• Customer complaint log analysis to identify key issue areas and guide field research
• Heuristic Review to evaluate existing website
• User Interviews and Contextual Inquiry in 2 towns, with 107 customers
• Persona and Journey Mapping to communicate findings to stakeholders
Team Size
5 (2 UX Researchers, 2 UX Designers, 1 Project Manager)
My Role
Lead researcher responsible for planning, conducting field studies, data analysis, and reporting
Project Duration
~ 8 weeks
Introduction
Best Price Modern Wholesale is a B2B store owned by Walmart India, offering products such as fresh foods, dairy, consumer goods, and appliances.
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Running on a membership model, it caters to 3 business segments:
Resellers (Small and Large)
Hotels, Restaurants and Caterers (HoReCa)
Offices and Institutions (O&I)
Apart from brick-and-mortar stores, members have the option to purchase from sales representatives (called BDA) or using their
e-commerce website / mobile app.
The Problem
Despite customers’ awareness of online channel, only 3% of sales came from e-commerce. Walmart wanted to understand the reason behind this, and improve the user experience of their online platforms to increase e-commerce sales.
Research Planning
We conducted a client workshop, where we discussed the project expectations and research questions, and identified the best research methods
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Defining research questions and methods
Proposed timeline
Desk Research
Customer Complaints Log Analysis
We utilized Walmart's existing records on customer complaints to identify key issue areas that could be explored further in field research.
Heuristic Review
We evaluated the Best Price website against Nielsen's Heuristics to identify usability issues before we went on field to gather user input.
Through desk research, we identified potential focus areas: Delivery issues and Refunds
Field Research
User Recruitment Criteria and Locations
We decided the locations and sample to accommodate different segments, modes of purchase, differences across regions, and
client's needs.
Discussion Guide
The field study was structured as follows:
INTERVIEW
20 - 30 min
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
10 - 15 min
+
Questions regarding customer's daily routine, business operations, perceptions on Best Price, and issues faced
Observation of how customers use Best Price to make purchases, with probes to understand the reason behind behaviors
Excerpt from Discussion Guide
Field studies
Over 15 days, we interacted with 107 customers across segments. The interviews were audio and video recorded.
Data Analysis & Synthesis
We compiled our notes and transcripts into spreadsheets and analyzed the data thematically.
Screenshot of Analysis Spreadsheet
Themes Identified
We used affinity mapping to organize findings and look for patterns. Additionally, we mapped our findings from contextual inquiry to each screen on the platform, to understand common navigation behaviors.
Affinity Mapping
Mapping navigation behaviors
To convey the differences across customer segments most effectively, we created personas and journey maps.
Note: As this was an industry project, the content in persona and journey map images has been blurred to protect confidentiality.
I am happy to discuss this project in detail in a private forum.
Outcome & Impact
From this study, we were able to identify customer's pain points and barriers to purchasing online. The platform screens were redesigned to fix usability issues and address customer's informational needs. Moreover, we were able to identify opportunity areas to enhance the customer experience by introducing features that made each segment's operations easier. For instance, "Trending Products" in the area, to help shopkeepers keep track of popular products in the market.
This study created a major impact on e-commerce sales for Best Price, within 6 months of release:
1M + new
app downloads
Increase in e-commerce sales, from 3% to 15%
Contact me to learn more about the findings and outcomes from this study
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