Sobeys in-store checklist
An interim solution for checkout: create lists at home, check off in store
(Sobeys)
In 2024, IBM led the redesign of Empire’s national eCommerce platform, modernizing digital storefronts across banners including Sobeys. However, most grocery purchases still happened in-store, leaving digital teams unable to measure their influence.
Without measurable impact, how could IBM prove the transformation was working?
I led product strategy from research and concept to launch, delivering a checklist feature for customers that bridged meal planning to in-store shopping. This closed the online-offline measurement gap, enabled teams to measure digital influence on store purchases and prove the ROI for a major client.
With IBM's help, Sobeys was modernizing its digital experience to compete with major grocery retailers, but one critical capability was missing: customers could not complete checkout within the website.
Instead, users were redirected to Voilà.com, operated by a third-party fulfillment vendor. Voilà was bringing in only a small portion of marketshare but adopting native checkout functionality was not feasible at the moment for Sobeys.
IBM’s mandate was to deliver measurable outcomes and I was responsible for driving the strategic direction of the website transformation. The only way to measure conversion was to track online to in-store purchases.
80% of customers using the website to view the online flyer before drop-off. When I interviewed eight customers, they shared that online websites were just another touchpoint along their budgeting and meal-planning journey.
Rather than introducing a new tool, we evolved existing functions:
1) Favourites → recurring household staples
2) Checklist → trip-specific planning
The challenge now was understanding how we can adopt this Shopping List feature with real-world user behaviours. I interviewed 20 shoppers across four of Sobeys' prioritized market segments and found opportunities for functions of final designs:
Tracking 'go-to' grocery essentials
Participants sometimes forgot to add items to their lists and only remembered to buy them when they came across them in-store.
Accurate product pricing by store location
Participants liked seeing online prices for products because they could calculate total grocery costs without cross-referencing flyers. Prices on Voila,com were different from in-store Sobeys inventory.
Collaborative list-building
Interview participants mentioned that they often contributed to one master shopping list within their household. Sometimes, it was hard to keep track of what everyone's needs are, so giving editing permissions to household members was a good opportunity.
Generative AI: meal-plan recommendations
When participants shopped, they were motivated by deals which most of the time influenced decision-making around what meals to prep for the week. This decision-making was a big pain point that could connect existing Sobeys recipes catalog to products.
In-store coupons & deals (out-of-scope)
Incentives for actively tracking points and potential for shoppers to receive exclusive awards for using the checklist. This was an area that would make sense to revisit later on when a native check-out gets implemented.
After several rounds of brainstorming, we determined that the user journey was comprised of two distinct phases: 1) building the grocery list, and 2) tracking its completion during in-store shopping.
We landed on a toggle feature to switch between the two phases. However, I realized there were still some kinks to smooth out in how users transitioned between these modes.
Some dealbreakers...
Multiple important interactions on one screen, diluting focus
We were still mandated to include redirection to Voilà.com
Lack of a clear end state reduced motivation to finish tasks
Therefore, greater chance of list abandonment and data completeness
I redesigned the flow around two intent-based paths: 1) delivery via Voilà or 2) in-store shopping. I defined clear completion states so user actions could be measured and translated into reliable KPI conversion signals.
Before
The use of the toggle to switch between phases of adding items and checking them off led to passive engagement.
After
CTAs function as a decision point that create a moment of commitment, between saving money by shopping in-person or choosing delivery with Voilà.
Before
Pricing varies across store locations—not only between in-store and online. Even though users select their store earlier, the existing disclaimer is understated and risks being overlooked.
After
Displaying a map of the selected location provides clear confirmation while subtly transitioning users into an in-store shopping mindset.
Before
I noticed that items couldn’t be removed, potentially leading users to check them off just to clear the list—producing inaccurate data.
After
A clear “remove” action distinguishes between when users mark a product as purchased or abandoned. Additionally, we added an "undo" option to recover accidentally marked items.
Checklist interactions, paired with Scene+ loyalty data, provide visibility into how digital engagement drives in-store purchases across Sobeys’ 255-store network.
My design direction not only helped IBM communicate measure by creating a bridge between digital browsing and physical shopping — but also users.
In usability testing, 7 of 8 participants expressed high interest in using the Sobeys website for the list, a notable shift from earlier interviews where shoppers were uncertain about its value.
The feature itself contributed to a broader digital transformation initiative with a projected 23% growth in revenue.
