Carrot is a new augmented-reality grocery shopping app that provides users with guided directions through a grocery store to find the items on their shopping list quickly and easily, saving them time and money.
The average adult takes 1.6 trips to the grocery store every week and spends an average of 400 hours each year in stores. Time-consuming and mundane grocery trips consume a considerable fraction of annual household earnings. A moderate budget for a family of four averages over $15,200 yearly, and with rising inflation, that number only continues to grow.
Grocery stores are an advertiser's paradise and a shopper's nightmare, with packaging and other shoppers fighting for attention. The shopping experience presents consumers with an intense cognitive load creating a stressful experience. Grocery chains intentionally design this experience to keep shoppers in stores longer. The more time shoppers spend in stores, the more likely they are to spend money on unhealthy goods, and shopping without a plan worsens those chances.
My objective while creating the Carrot app was to design an augmented reality grocery shopping experience that provides shoppers with guided directions through stores to find the items on their shopping lists quickly and easily, saving them both time and money.
The Carrot app will let shoppers quickly and easily create a shopping list from their smartphone before leaving home. Creating a shopping list before shopping in the store reduces the chances that a consumer will make unnecessary purchases.
When creating a list, shoppers can be as specific or general as possible using search terminology like "Lucerne 2% Organic Milk" or "milk." Regardless, the app provides results based on the specificity of the search query. Users will see recommendations for nearby stores' healthiest, most affordable, and most available options.
Next, consumers can select where they'd like to shop. Users also have the option to select a store before creating a list. This option narrows search results to items available at their selected retailer. When selecting a store, users will see a summary of the store's location, distance, hours, and busyness. Users can also preview item availability, the total checkout price, and shopping experience reviews. The results are filterable by price, item availability, drive time, and store reviews helping shoppers quickly decide where they'd like to shop.
If users have opted to create their list before selecting a store, then choose a store where some items are unavailable; the app will prompt the user to select alternatives or skip these items on their list. At this point, the user is ready to shop in-store. The carrot app will map the most efficient route through the store that helps users find all the items they need with an easy-to-use AR wayfinding view. Users also have the option to use a traditional floor plan map of the store. If they need help finding the item on store shelves, the app will highlight it. Once you've found the item, you can manually check it off your shopping list, scan it, and skip the in-store checkout line.
Carrot can also help promote healthier eating and financial responsibility by recommending healthier and cheaper options. It can also help accommodate health and religious-based dietary restrictions.
Finding healthy and affordable food options to accommodate dietary restrictions can be challenging. The Carrot app makes it easy for users to track their and their family's dietary restrictions. When a user uploads this data to the app, their search results will filter out foods that could be harmful from search results.
In addition to the app design, I created a pitch deck explaining the key issues grocery shoppers face and how the Carrot app helps alleviate these challenges. The pitch deck walked through two persons and their typical use case for the Carrot app, explaining how its robust feature set adds convenience and peace of mind to their everyday lives. While telling each user's story, the pitch deck walks potential investors and stakeholders through the application's interface.
