Overview
It was a Saturday morning. The supermarket was packed. People zigzag-ed through aisles, looking at the boards overhead, carts bumped, voices overlapped, and the air felt heavy with impatience.
What should’ve been a simple grocery run had turned into a maze of confusion and chaos.
People weren’t struggling to shop, they were struggling to find.
That small difference created a big problem.
In accordance with my NDA, sensitive project information has been omitted or altered. The concepts and designs shown reflect my personal work and perspective, not those of the brand.
Challenges that came with it
Shopping in large supermarkets often turns overwhelming — shoppers wander through endless aisles, squinting at unclear signage, waiting in long billing queues, and constantly bumping into trolleys and other shoppers. When they finally seek help, staff are either too busy or unsure, offering vague directions that lead to more frustration. Over time, this confusion wears people down — many skip items, abandon their carts, or decide not to return at all. For the business, this means more than just a crowded store; it results in longer turnaround times, lower customer satisfaction, and a steady decline in repeat footfall and overall sales.
Slow Checkout
Difficulty Locating Products
In accurate or unavailable staff assistance
Overcrowded Aisles
Abandoned purchase & Lost sales & loyalty
At the site
Together with my colleagues, I used natural shadowing to observe users as they shopped — a bit like being undercover cart detectives. It may sound sneaky, but it revealed genuine frustrations and patterns that surveys alone could never capture.
It was quite useful to understand their pain points — right from the aisle confusion to the “where on earth is the atta?” moment!
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The problem
Urban Shoppers in large supermarkets often spend excessive time searching for specific products due to poor signage, overcrowded aisles, and limited staff assistance during peak hours. This not only leads to customer frustration and longer shopping durations but also results in potential loss of sales for retailers as people avoid or abandon crowded stores. There is a need for a seamless, technology-driven solution that simplifies and optimizes the overall shopping experience.
Spectrum
The journey
Shoppers enter with a clear list in mind but quickly hit friction—unclear store layouts, inconsistent aisle logic, and hard-to-spot products slow them down.
As they navigate the aisles, frustration builds, especially when items are misplaced or overcrowded spaces block movement.
Long billing queues intensify this discomfort, a known trigger for cart abandonment and store switching. Even after checkout, many discover missed items, leaving them dissatisfied.
This journey consistently shows that inefficiencies in navigation, product discovery, and checkout flow directly undermine both the shopping experience and store performance—proving the need for a smarter, guided in-store system.
Insights
Long queues significantly impact sales: 58% of customers walk away without completing their purchase, and barely 19% come back later, making wait-time one of the biggest drivers of lost revenue.
Based on our survey, it was found that the moment checkout lines feel crowded, shopper discomfort rises sharply, and many opt not to return — proving how critical queue management is for retaining customers.
When a store feels crowded, shoppers tend to explore less, avoid impulse purchases, and cut their visit short — ultimately reducing average basket size and negatively affecting the store’s overall perception.
The Fixes
AR Based Navigation
Self Check - Out
Smart Search & Shelf-Level Accuracy
Smart Shopping List Integration
How the self-checkout flowed
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25%
Reduction in check out time
Drop in abandoned purchase during peak hours
18%
Impact
30%
Reduction in time spent locating products
10%
Increase in average basket size
With AR navigation, product discovery time dropped to ~6–9 minutes.
With self-checkout, shoppers completed billing in nearly half the time, dropping from 9–10 minutes to 4–5 minutes.
With faster product discovery and reduced in-store fatigue, shoppers were more likely to pick up 1–2 additional items, especially nearby or related products they might have otherwise ignored.
Fewer abandoned purchases directly translated into higher completed sales during high-traffic periods.