UXVideoGraphic DesignDevelopmentHousehold Appliances

New ways to educate customers on coffee

When it comes to buying a new piece of tech, you can’t beat speaking to an expert. That’s the power of the Currys colleagues.

Challenge

Currys wanted to develop an intelligent eCommerce tool designed to assist customers in choosing the perfect coffee machine based on their specific drink preferences.

With a wide variety of coffee machines on the market, it can be overwhelming for customers to determine which one best suits their needs, particularly when considering factors such as the types of drinks they enjoy (espresso, cappuccino, latte, etc.), their skill level, and desired features.

The challenge is to create a seamless, user-friendly tool that guides customers through a series of questions or options, allowing them to filter and select coffee machines that meet their preferences.

This tool should integrate easily into the Currys website, deliver personalised recommendations based on drink types, and enhance the overall shopping experience by making the decision-making process easier and more enjoyable for customers."

How can we emulate the experience of talking to a Currys tech expert in our educational buying guide content?

cartoon of a man explaining coffee machine buying guide

Cartoon of various coffee items like espresso, americano etc

Cartoon of various coffee items like espresso, americano etc on mobile layout

Strategy

The idea was to create tool that combined face-to-camera video that emulates a conversation with a colleague in-store, and clickable buttons to guide the customer through the journey. This means the customer gets the experience of chatting with an expert about a product, and can use the information relayed to them to make several choices, leading to their ideal coffee machine.

collage of images of coffee buying guide application

Solution

We looked at products in this category on Currys’ site to draw up a decision tree. This was developed to ask the perfect questions in the right order, eliminating incompatible product types to find the customer’s perfect match. Our production department then scripted and filmed clips in which a Currys colleague gives friendly, benefit-led descriptions of product features to inform the customer on what would fit them best. At the end of the journey, the customer will be recommended a product and prompted to ‘shop now’.

try me

Customers colleague interaction is such an important part of our Currys in-store experience, but it's been a missing part of our customer journey online. The coffee buying guide changed that, giving us an interactive way to help customers find answers to their questions, guiding them through the journey to find the right coffee machine.

And they loved it! The reaction was remarkably positive through our user testing, with customers commenting that it made such a big difference they'd like to see similar functionality brought to other categories, which is now in the works.

After the success of this tool, the Currys Coffee Buying Guide was nominated for Best Platform / Technology / Tool for Content at the 2024 UK Content Awards. Up against tough competition (including from another iSite project) it took home the trophy.