Bridgestone
Digital Platform to assist with a store-within-a-store concept
🗓️ Timeline
4 Months
✒️ Role
Product Strategist
UI Designer
🧠 Skills
Innovation Strategy
Prototyping
User Research
Journey Mapping
🤝 Team
4 Concept Designers
1 Product Strategist
📜 Overview
Bridgestone America, a leader in tires and rubber products, tasked our team with exploring a store-within-a-store concept. This initiative aimed to innovate their traditional retail model by integrating Bridgestone/Firestone services directly within existing, high-traffic retail environments. My team defined the concept's financial and logistical viability, and I specifically led the design of a complementary digital dashboard crucial for the concept's operational success.
The challenge wasn't just about a new retail space; it was about reimagining the entire customer journey and operational efficiency within an unconventional setting. We needed to prove the concept was:
Strategically Sound: Could it attract new customers and expand market reach without cannibalizing existing stores?
Operationally Seamless: How could a digital tool bridge the gap between the physical experience and behind-the-scenes management?
Logistically Possible: How would inventory, staffing, service delivery, and customer flow work within a host store?
Our solution focused on providing Bridgestone with a clear roadmap for implementation and a tangible digital tool to support the new model.
📦 Outcomes
$150,000
reduction in costs when opening our concept per store
20+
stakeholder and executive meetings to generate key insights
40%
reduction in customer wait time through a digital experience
🔬 Research and Interview
20 Stakeholder Interviews: Engaged directly with Bridgestone Executives. These interviews were crucial for understanding strategic objectives, existing challenges, and success metrics.
30 Surveys Responses: Gathered feedback on issues, setbacks, and uncertainty with utilizing automotive services
Market Research & Competitive Analysis: Investigated existing store-within-a-store models across various industries to identify best practices and potential integration challenges.
User Empathy Mapping: Conducted sessions to deeply understand the potential customer, mapping what they "Says," "Thinks," "Does," and "Feels" regarding automotive service.
🔍 Discovery and Key Findings
Customer Pain Points & Desire for Convenience: Customers expressed significant frustration with long wait times, lack of transparency in pricing, and the inconvenience of traditional auto shops. They valued efficiency and trust. This highlighted the opportunity for digitally integrated solutions.
Host Retailer Hesitations: Host stores were primarily concerned with space allocation and staff training. Solutions needed to minimize disruption.
Priority Features: Through interviews and prioritization exercises, features like text message updates, platform to upload photos of car, and free car wash emerged as high importance/high feasibility initiatives to enhance the customer experience and operational flow.
User persona of a woman who is a young professional that had doubts of going into automotive care.
Mapping out key features on a important to feasibility graph.
🖊️ Designing for a physical and digital experience
Given the complex operational nature of the store-within-a-store concept, a well-defined conceptual information architecture for the overarching solution, including the digital component, was essential. It needed to outline how critical business insights and operational tools would connect, enabling the seamless integration of services.
Mapping out ideas and possibilities for customers on a risk to certainty matrix.
Mapping out a list of affected individuals that this concept would affect on a influence and interest matrix.
🗝️ Key Conceptual Solution Components
Physical Footprint: Defined the essential elements of the physical store-within-a-store (e.g., dedicated bays, customer lounge area within host store).
Digital Customer Touchpoints: Outlined features like mobile appointment scheduling, digital vehicle check-in, and real-time status updates
Digital Operations Dashboard: A conceptual high-level view of an internal dashboard for Bridgestone managers, offering real-time data on sales, service volume, inventory, and customer flow.
Integration Points: Identified necessary integrations with host retailer systems (e.g., integrating the digital experience within the Walmart app)
