Challenge

My challenge is to improve the customer experience that people have when they patronize our food  business (partnership that I run with a group of friends). Before the COVID-19 outbreak, we had a  physical Kitchen where customers could walk in, choose from a list of options from the menu and the  food is cooked in a short while. Meals range from local meals to continental. The Kitchen is different  from other restaurants, in that, food is made according to each customer’s specification. Sales have  been very slow since the pandemic began, primarily because of the restrictions, hence we want  customers to sit in the comfort of their homes/offices, and choose specific ingredients they want in their  soups/meals and get it delivered in an hour. The goal is to deliver an end-to-end amazing customer  experience.

Selection

The team has decided to use the Learning launch tool since this is meant to quickly test the idea to a  selected group of customers.

Application

For our learning launch, we focused on the execution of the online orders, particularly, we wanted to  see if we could deliver online orders swiftly and within the specified time frame (our proposed time was  one hour). This, we believe will help us overcome hurdles of restrictions due to the pandemic and we  could win as many customers as possible with the new online kitchen. An app was developed  for this  purpose in addition to the dedicated social media platforms(with swift response team). For the learning  launch, we used the social media platforms: A customer reaches out to us via Instagram/whatsapp and  receives a response in 3-5 seconds. Upon customer’s readiness, a menu list is sent, that allows the  him/her to choose the exact delicacy, alongside what they would like to be included (such as types of  meat, vegetable, toppings etc.). The customer sends delivery details, confirmation email is sent, and the  customer receives the meal in an hour.

A dedicated logistics company was also saddled with the task of ensuring that orders were delivered  within specified timeframe. This was conducted within a month.

Insight

Our key takeaways from this exercise was that- a lot of customers value comfort and would be more  inclined to a brand/vendor that provides such. We also gathered more data for a valuable customer  experience such as : types of meals customers ordered more frequently, locations where orders were  frequently delivered and the demography of customers among others.  We also learnt that we could  further automate the processes as some customers still found it stressful to type delivery details and  dish option. How about creating a platform where people could just register and their info is saved,  which is used recurrently, except the customer wishes to change address?

Approach

Having used the learning launch tool, we are now ready to fully launch our app and go fully online. We  have realized that people want to get orders delivered to them, get their meals by just tapping their  phones and not necessarily going into a physical restaurant. COVID-19 outbreak has changed a lot of  things and people have become more digitally inclined.


Challenge My challenge is to improve the customer experience that people have when they patronize our food business ( partnership that I run with a group of friends ) . Before the COVID-19 outbreak , we had a physical Kitchen where customers could walk in , choose from a list of options from the menu and the food is cooked in a short while . Meals range from local meals to continental . The Kitchen is different from other restaurants , in that , food is made according to each customer ’s specification . Sales have been very slow since the pandemic began , primarily because of the restrictions , hence we want customers to sit in the comfort of their homes / offices , and choose specific ingredients they want in their soups / meals and get it delivered in an hour . The goal is to deliver an end - to - end amazing customer experience . Selection The team has decided to use the Learning launch tool since this is meant to quickly test the idea to a selected group of customers . Application For our learning launch , we focused on the execution of the online orders , particularly , we wanted to see if we could deliver online orders swiftly and within the specified time frame ( our proposed time was one hour ) . This , we believe will help us overcome hurdles of restrictions due to the pandemic and we could win as many customers as possible with the new online kitchen . An app was developed for this purpose in addition to the dedicated social media platforms(with swift response team ) . For the learning launch , we used the social media platforms : A customer reaches out to us via Instagram / whatsapp and receives a response in 3 - 5 seconds . Upon customer ’s readiness , a menu list is sent , that allows the him / her to choose the exact delicacy , alongside what they would like to be included ( such as types of meat , vegetable , toppings etc . ) . The customer sends delivery details , confirmation email is sent , and the customer receives the meal in an hour . A dedicated logistics company was also saddled with the task of ensuring that orders were delivered within specified timeframe . This was conducted within a month . Insight Our key takeaways from this exercise was that- a lot of customers value comfort and would be more inclined to a brand / vendor that provides such . We also gathered more data for a valuable customer experience such as : types of meals customers ordered more frequently , locations where orders were frequently delivered and the demography of customers among others . We also learnt that we could further automate the processes as some customers still found it stressful to type delivery details and dish option . How about creating a platform where people could just register and their info is saved , which is used recurrently , except the customer wishes to change address ? Approach Having used the learning launch tool , we are now ready to fully launch our app and go fully online . We have realized that people want to get orders delivered to them , get their meals by just tapping their phones and not necessarily going into a physical restaurant . COVID-19 outbreak has changed a lot of things and people have become more digitally inclined .