WHOLESALE ONLINE

Restaurant packaging, all in one app

My Role

I collaborated with another designer in the user-research and early-design stages. I conducted interviews with both the business owner and users, and together we worked on the research process, created personas, web mapping, user flows, and more.

THE CHALLENGE

Setting the scene

You’re mid-shift running a restaurant. Table 7 has no water. The printers out of till roll. A customer’s fish is cold. You have to place packaging orders before 2.30. Oh no its 2.15, you have to place the order!

You’re on the website. Do you usually get the 10oz cups or the 8oz cups? Where is the standard folding box – why can’t you find it? Sarah’s feeling unwell someone needs to take her tables. You don’t have time to scroll for 10 minutes to find the standard box!

It 2.35. You missed the cut off. How will you provide takeaway food for the rest of the week?

So what’s the problem?

Currently, the catering and hospitality industries struggle to find reliable packaging suppliers that align with their values of sustainability and product quality.

The lack of incentives results in a lack in customer loyalty and customers that flip flop between suppliers.

Spending time at a computer each week placing orders and contacting suppliers is time that could be better spent in the workplace.

Let’s rethink and revamp!

THE PLAN OF ATTACK

CREATE A USER-FRIENDLY APP

Offer a wide range of sustainable, high-quality products

SHOWCASE REWARDS AND BENEFITS

To entice new customers and increase customer loyalty

HIGHLIGHT KEY FEATURES AND USPs

Make the app a one stop shop for all things packaging

REDUCE TIME SPENT IN-APP

Make it a speedy and efficient experience for every happy user!

DISCOVERY

The UK is home to the third largest online food delivery market in the world

With 32,659 restaurants in 2023, nearly 15,000 of which are in London

53% of out-of-home meals are eaten outside of a restaurant

UK food-industry launches with environmentally-friendly packaging rose from 40% to 68% from 2018 to 2022

Business owner interview takeaways

THE BRAND

All things catering. A high-quality, trustworthy brand that values sustainability.

THE PRODUCT

Strength: They currently have a website with a detailed catalogue. They are a small business that provides a more one-on-one experience.

Improvements: Around 1% of customers currently customise their packaging, so this needs to be marketed better. They would like a standing order feature.

SALES

They currently offer a new customer discount and a cash-back scheme. Only one customer has a standing order placed.

THE FOCUS

  • Easy reordering

  • Clear product and delivery information for new customers

  • Increased bulk orders

  • Increased branded orders

  • Highlight sustainability of products

COMPETITORS

Large companies offer products from a range of suppliers, whereas they only work with Colpac currently.

Wholesale Online have a unique loyalty scheme. The owner has 10 years experience in her own food-to-go business, which is relatable.

So what does our target audience think?

“I look for quality, price and for a branding option.”

“A reward/cashback scheme would entice me. Most places offer you a better deal the more you purchase anyways, but you often have to contact the supplier.”

“I would like a re-order button I could edit each time. This would be great for training newbies.”

“We are coffee focused first. About 70% of coffee is packaged in a take away cup but only around 10% of food is taken away, we don’t offer any food delivery service, though.”

“Sustainability is of the utmost importance.”

“I would love ordering reminders or notifications so I don’t miss the cut off time!”

“I wouldn’t want standing orders, as trade fluctuates week to week.”

“An app would be really helpful, as I always have to bring my personal laptop for ordering when the shop floor needs to be supervised, and I use my phone for all the other ordering anyways.”

The persona

ABBY

34 │ Restaurant manager │ London

  • Abby works as a full-time manager in a busy restaurant in London.

    • Finds it hard to find time to place orders while running a busy restaurant, therefore has to allocate office time to access the website

    • Doesn’t like the back and forth with suppliers for prices and discounts for bulk purchases, as it takes too long to hear back from suppliers and compare offers

    • To have an easy, fast ordering process

    • To be able to create standing orders or track items for ease and efficiency

    • To save costs via loyalty programs or bulk purchasing

    • To provide eco-friendly products to their customers

    • To have full transparency with cost and delivery

“I’m always doing 50 things at once, so sitting down and taking my time to go through ordering is not a luxury I have.”

Time to find the solutions!

THE PROCESS

Starting at the end

Since we know that Wholesale Online has a fully functional website that their customers currently use, might as well start there right?

We investigated the site, setting ourselves some tasks and highlighted key success points and any frustrations we felt along the way.

This helped us prioritise which elements really needed improvement and which features we wanted to replicate in our app.

We also compared the format and layout to our big competitors to see what we felt was missing.

SUSSING OUT THE COMPETITION

Competitor analysis

Fun facts

  • Deliveroo

    Announced a £2.5 million investment to subsidise the cost of sustainable packaging to encourage restaurant partners to switch to more sustainable packaging.

  • Consumer

    The average monthly search rate for 'sustainable packaging' in the UK increased by 594% between 2016 and 2021.

  • Mcdonald's

    McDonald's produces about three tonnes of packaging waste every minute, and almost 2 million tonnes of packaging waste per year.

  • The UK

    A study showed over half (58%) of all UK adults are happy to spend extra on an item to ensure the packaging is eco-friendly.

    Over 1 in 4 are happy to spend more than 11% extra.

THE VISION

The first mobile app for catering packaging in the UK

After comparing our user feedback notes with what our competitors are currently offering, we spotted a gap in the market – a unique selling point to make Wholesale Online stand out from the rest and give their customers what they’ve been waiting for.

  • Reorder function

    Initially we wanted to encourage users to place a standing order to eliminate forgetting to place the order completely, however we found that trade fluctuates too much so we opted for a reorder function instead.

    This enables the user to complete their entire order from one editable screen. This reduces the users time on the app significantly, therefore eliminating a pain point.

    Additionally, it minimises the likelihood of ordering the wrong product or size, and also makes training new staff simpler.

Item 1 of 5

Setting up for success

The Brand

The Colours

The Logo

Starting with the non-negotiables: we have the company name, logo and the brand colours.

Web mapping

We designed numerous versions of web maps in order to to see how we could best showcase the extensive range of products, while keeping it simple to navigate.

This helped us create a structure and hierarchy, and ensure we wouldn’t miss any screens or sections.

After a bit of back and forth, particularly with the product navigation, we decided the clearest path for the user was our best option and defined the key paths for our user in the task bar.

Improving the users journey

Now for the fun part…

THE DESIGNS

TURNING CONCEPTS INTO DESIGNS

Low-mid wireframes

Never skip the process. Low and mid wire frames allow us to gain clarity on what works design-wise and what doesn’t

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