Reducing Produce Shrink by $1.9M Through Digital Green Rack Conditioning
Impact Highlights
Adoption
Adopted the new workflow
Task Efficiency
In manual audits
Compliance & Risk
In task completion accuracy
My Role & Contribution
Leadership
Led Discovery & Iterative Design: Spearheaded research efforts to uncover pain points, guided iterative design cycles, and ensured solutions met real user needs through continuous testing and stakeholder collaboration.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnered with Operations, UX Research, and Data Teams to ensure digital adoption aligned with business needs.
Defined Digital Task Framework: Designed the Green Rack Conditioning workflow in Store Walk, ensuring ease of use for associates.
Hands-On
Extensive Field Research & Testing: Traveled to multiple divisions across the country to conduct on-site research.
Prototype Testing & Iterative Feedback: Gathered real-time feedback from associates and leadership, refining workflows based on usability insights.
Problem Statement & Business Context
Green Rack Conditioning was previously managed through paper guides, making tracking and adherence difficult. Operational Inefficiencies:
Lack of real-time visibility into task completion and compliance.
No way to track conditioning trends over time or provide centralized oversight.
Store leaders had to rely on manual audits to enforce conditioning best practices.
Business Impact:
Stores had inconsistent conditioning practices, affecting produce freshness and shrink reduction.
No historical data to analyze conditioning habits, limiting process improvements.
Print-based guides required frequent updates and reprints, increasing operational costs.
Solutions
Digital Transition for Green Rack Conditioning:
Provided store associates with an easy-to-use workflow within Store Walk to log conditioning tasks in real-time.
Replaced manual paper-based processes with a digitized, trackable system.
Allowed store leaders to access historical data and compliance records, eliminating manual audits.
Automated Task Assignment & Monitoring:
Enabled visibility into which stores were meeting conditioning compliance standards.
Leveraged Store Walk’s Solver Technology to assign tasks dynamically.
Allowed leaders to reassign tasks as needed to the right team members.
Data-Driven Insights & Reporting:
Allowed for tracking trends over time, helping refine best practices and training needs.
Ensured store managers could review compliance gaps and operational inefficiencies.
Provided real-time Power BI dashboards to track conditioning execution across stores.
Optimized Training & Process Standardization:
Created digital job aids and certifications (Fresh Start Certification) to reinforce learning and adoption.
Ensured new hires could quickly onboard with structured training resources.
How we got there: Design Strategy
Human-Centered Research & Testing:
Conducted nationwide field research across multiple store divisions, ensuring insights were grounded in real associate workflows.
Partnered with UX Research (UXR) to build structured research guides and iterate on study methodologies.
Engaged directly with store associates, division leaders, and process improvement managers to understand operational challenges and validate design hypotheses.
Prototyping & Iterative Design:
Developed and tested interactive prototypes, refining task flows based on real store conditions and user feedback.
Ensured that task logging, notifications, and reports were easy to navigate, reducing friction in day-to-day use.
Iterated on designs based on quantitative adoption data and qualitative field research.
Results & Impact
Operational Scale
Stores now have consistent, trackable Green Rack Conditioning practices.
Adoption
98% of stores adopted the new digital conditioning workflow, replacing paper-based tracking within the first quarter post-launch.
Task Efficiency
50% reduction in manual audits, as leaders now use real-time dashboards instead of manual spot checks.
Compliance & Risk Reduction
30% improvement in task completion accuracy, ensuring fresher produce and reduced shrink due to standardized conditioning processes.
Operational Scale
Digital Green Rack Conditioning is now standardized across all store locations.
Two weeks’ worth of conditioning data is now visible to store leaders, providing historical insights.
Task Efficiency & Adoption
Reduced reliance on paper guides, lowering printing costs and ensuring up-to-date task assignments.
Enabled associates to quickly access and complete assigned conditioning tasks.
Cost Savings & Compliance Improvements
Lowered shrink risk by ensuring consistent conditioning standards.
Eliminated unnecessary printing and manual audits, improving process efficiency.
Provided centralized reporting tools for leaders to track conditioning execution and compliance trends.
Iterative Loop - Unmet Needs
Enhancing Data Correlation:
Further analysis is needed to correlate conditioning behaviors with sales and shrink metrics.
Adjust and refine behavioral cohorts to better understand which conditioning patterns lead to improved freshness and reduced waste.
Expanding Predictive Insights:
Implement AI-driven recommendations to suggest optimal conditioning practices per store.
Leverage historical data to predict demand and adjust task prioritization dynamically.
Refining Feature Development:
Monitor adoption trends and iterate on conditioning task workflows.
Optimize Store Walk UI based on user feedback and engagement analytics.