Challenge Summary
Welcome to "AutoZone - In-Store Experience Enhancement Idea Generation Challenge". We need your creative ideas and innovation to create a better in-store experience for AutoZone customers and AutoZoners. For this challenge, we want you to investigate and ideate a solution to bring the Brakes Category from behind the parts counter to the retail floor. The ideas presented should accomplish this by increasing retail floor visibility, awareness and education of brakes within an 8ft - 10ft space. Visual renderings would be an added bonus, but not required.
Looking forward to seeing your creativity, best of luck!
- You can join 2nd round even if you're not joined 1st round.
Background Overview
The AutoZone business model heavily leverages the in-store experience to deliver a majority of the company's sales. In a retail environment that continues to evolve and customer behaviors that have shifted to the heavier use of digital technology, AutoZone would like to explore ways to enhance the in-store experience to better serve customers, emerging digital experiences in our physical store environment.
We have 3 main products in our store:
- Brakes
- Oil
- Battery
We would like to focus specifically on enhancing the in-store experience for BRAKES. We would like to focus on brakes and can adapt those findings to other areas of the store (Oil and Battery). The Oil (10ft - 20ft) and Battery (10ft – 20ft) categories have a great presence on the retail floor. When a customer comes to our store because they need brakes, typically, they are frustrated, they have heard a squeal, a grinding noise and know that something is wrong and they will need to spend money to fix it, and it is usually an unplanned expense.
The current experience in our stores when needing to buy brakes requires a customer to wait in line to be assisted with an AutoZoner (an AutoZone associate). The AutoZoner will input their vehicle year, make, model into our in-store parts search system so that the right part for their vehicle is identified. In addition, the AutoZoner is there to answer any questions related to information about part quality, life of the part, part warranty information, or reason for price differences. In addition, many AutoZoners are familiar with vehicle repair and can provide advice about additional parts or tools that might be needed, share tips about how to do the job right, and show content (videos or system diagrams) so customers can see more detail to feel confident they can do the job. Our hard parts (brake pads, rotors, and hardware) are placed in the behind the counter only accessible by an AutoZoner because there are too many part variations needed for the number of vehicles on the road. The brakes messaging within our store today is minimal in the form of signage located on shelf end caps behind the counter, showing a very high-level visual of our assortment.
Challenge Goals
Enhance the in-store experience to better serve customers, emerging digital experiences in our physical store environment to help customers find the right part for their needs and budget.
Challenge Requirements
You need to do research to find backgrounds for this kind of projects, see how other samples can help us and outline the in-store improvements/enhancement details you come up with, show us how it should work.
Your submission must cover the following topics at least (you can go beyond):
- Your concepts must consider how best to create/increase retail floor visibility, awareness, and education of brakes within an 8- 10ft available space.
- Concepts should utilize (digital) content/display to aid customers in self-service, self-education, and self-selection of products prior to AutoZoner/counter engagement
- Concepts should address cross-sell and sell-up opportunities in brakes, battery and oil categories
- Provide some mockup visualization to explain your concept better, it can be created from anything (Photoshop, Axure, Illustrator, Visio, 3DMax, Blender, etc)
- Future concept is what we are looking for today. A phased approach would be a nice option. How can we implement something today then upgrade in the near future. A plan to execute.
Deliverables Format - Make sure to follow this format in your documents:
- We are looking for ideas! - but we also need a structure to your ideas so we can understand them and make it easier when reviewing.
- Your ideas should also be realistic..and ideally solving our problems!
- You can send PDF, plain text, Word, OpenOffice, 3D Sketch, Video or HTML files. Choose whichever format you find most convenient.
1) Idea
- High-level overview/statement of the idea
- One or two sentences describing your idea.
2) Name
- Application or project name and any "tagline" you would like to associate with your idea (This does help during evaluation!)
3) The User Story
- This is critical. 3-4 paragraphs describing your idea, solution and potential technology
4) Details
- Any quick sketches, wireframes or designs/images to better explain and pitch your idea
5) Pitch
- Imagine trying to sell your idea
- Present your solution in a professional manner/package.
Documentation
Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1alHNSmZI7_MmdEX0s5cnkxNXc/view?usp=sharing
- Existing Store Map (65W2R - Wide Store Map.pdf / 7N2R - Narrow Store Map.pdf)
- Existing Store Photos (storePhotos.zip)
- Brakes Product Sample and Vendors:
-- Brakes In-Store Signage Hard Part Endcaps (HPEC) - Duralast INSTORE Sign Mockups_ver3817.pdf
-- Brands of Brakes that AutoZone Carries (Brake Brands includes IMC.png)
-- Features and Benefits of our house brand Duralast (2017 Commercial Catalog Brakes.pdf)
Target Audience
- Customer and AutoZoners
- Our AutoZoners may not always have full, detailed knowledge of our Brake offering. The AutoZoners sell our products, especially Brakes since they are in the back. We need to make sure that the in-store solution not only HELPS the AutoZoner sell more product but also informs the customer on the right part to buy.
Judging Criteria
- You will be judged on your creativity of the idea and how well you addressed the outlined requirements.
Submission and Source Files
Preview Image
Create a 1024x1024 JPG or PNG file in RGB color mode and place a screenshot from your submission within it.
Submission File
- Your ideas can be presented in any way you want as long as the idea proposition is clear. We encourage the use of images (the design and professionalism will not influence the score/placement of the submission), to explain otherwise hard to understand ideas.
- You may submit a zip file containing PDF, plain text, Word, OpenOffice, 3D Sketch, Video or HTML files. Choose whichever format you find most convenient. We don’t take care too much about the submission files as long as they are "readable" and you cover all the requirements.
Source Files
Identical to your submission file.
Final Fixes
As part of the final fixes phase, you may be asked to modify your ideas and documents. We may ask you to update your idea document based on checkpoint feedback.
Looking forward to seeing your creativity, best of luck!
Round 1
Submit your idea for a checkpoint feedback.Round 2
- Submit your final idea plus checkpoint feedback.- You can join 2nd round even if you're not joined 1st round.
Background Overview
The AutoZone business model heavily leverages the in-store experience to deliver a majority of the company's sales. In a retail environment that continues to evolve and customer behaviors that have shifted to the heavier use of digital technology, AutoZone would like to explore ways to enhance the in-store experience to better serve customers, emerging digital experiences in our physical store environment.
We have 3 main products in our store:
- Brakes
- Oil
- Battery
We would like to focus specifically on enhancing the in-store experience for BRAKES. We would like to focus on brakes and can adapt those findings to other areas of the store (Oil and Battery). The Oil (10ft - 20ft) and Battery (10ft – 20ft) categories have a great presence on the retail floor. When a customer comes to our store because they need brakes, typically, they are frustrated, they have heard a squeal, a grinding noise and know that something is wrong and they will need to spend money to fix it, and it is usually an unplanned expense.
The current experience in our stores when needing to buy brakes requires a customer to wait in line to be assisted with an AutoZoner (an AutoZone associate). The AutoZoner will input their vehicle year, make, model into our in-store parts search system so that the right part for their vehicle is identified. In addition, the AutoZoner is there to answer any questions related to information about part quality, life of the part, part warranty information, or reason for price differences. In addition, many AutoZoners are familiar with vehicle repair and can provide advice about additional parts or tools that might be needed, share tips about how to do the job right, and show content (videos or system diagrams) so customers can see more detail to feel confident they can do the job. Our hard parts (brake pads, rotors, and hardware) are placed in the behind the counter only accessible by an AutoZoner because there are too many part variations needed for the number of vehicles on the road. The brakes messaging within our store today is minimal in the form of signage located on shelf end caps behind the counter, showing a very high-level visual of our assortment.
Challenge Goals
Enhance the in-store experience to better serve customers, emerging digital experiences in our physical store environment to help customers find the right part for their needs and budget.
Challenge Requirements
You need to do research to find backgrounds for this kind of projects, see how other samples can help us and outline the in-store improvements/enhancement details you come up with, show us how it should work.
Your submission must cover the following topics at least (you can go beyond):
- Your concepts must consider how best to create/increase retail floor visibility, awareness, and education of brakes within an 8- 10ft available space.
- Concepts should utilize (digital) content/display to aid customers in self-service, self-education, and self-selection of products prior to AutoZoner/counter engagement
- Concepts should address cross-sell and sell-up opportunities in brakes, battery and oil categories
- Provide some mockup visualization to explain your concept better, it can be created from anything (Photoshop, Axure, Illustrator, Visio, 3DMax, Blender, etc)
- Future concept is what we are looking for today. A phased approach would be a nice option. How can we implement something today then upgrade in the near future. A plan to execute.
Deliverables Format - Make sure to follow this format in your documents:
- We are looking for ideas! - but we also need a structure to your ideas so we can understand them and make it easier when reviewing.
- Your ideas should also be realistic..and ideally solving our problems!
- You can send PDF, plain text, Word, OpenOffice, 3D Sketch, Video or HTML files. Choose whichever format you find most convenient.
1) Idea
- High-level overview/statement of the idea
- One or two sentences describing your idea.
2) Name
- Application or project name and any "tagline" you would like to associate with your idea (This does help during evaluation!)
3) The User Story
- This is critical. 3-4 paragraphs describing your idea, solution and potential technology
4) Details
- Any quick sketches, wireframes or designs/images to better explain and pitch your idea
5) Pitch
- Imagine trying to sell your idea
- Present your solution in a professional manner/package.
Documentation
Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1alHNSmZI7_MmdEX0s5cnkxNXc/view?usp=sharing
- Existing Store Map (65W2R - Wide Store Map.pdf / 7N2R - Narrow Store Map.pdf)
- Existing Store Photos (storePhotos.zip)
- Brakes Product Sample and Vendors:
-- Brakes In-Store Signage Hard Part Endcaps (HPEC) - Duralast INSTORE Sign Mockups_ver3817.pdf
-- Brands of Brakes that AutoZone Carries (Brake Brands includes IMC.png)
-- Features and Benefits of our house brand Duralast (2017 Commercial Catalog Brakes.pdf)
Target Audience
- Customer and AutoZoners
- Our AutoZoners may not always have full, detailed knowledge of our Brake offering. The AutoZoners sell our products, especially Brakes since they are in the back. We need to make sure that the in-store solution not only HELPS the AutoZoner sell more product but also informs the customer on the right part to buy.
Judging Criteria
- You will be judged on your creativity of the idea and how well you addressed the outlined requirements.
Submission and Source Files
Preview Image
Create a 1024x1024 JPG or PNG file in RGB color mode and place a screenshot from your submission within it.
Submission File
- Your ideas can be presented in any way you want as long as the idea proposition is clear. We encourage the use of images (the design and professionalism will not influence the score/placement of the submission), to explain otherwise hard to understand ideas.
- You may submit a zip file containing PDF, plain text, Word, OpenOffice, 3D Sketch, Video or HTML files. Choose whichever format you find most convenient. We don’t take care too much about the submission files as long as they are "readable" and you cover all the requirements.
Source Files
Identical to your submission file.
Final Fixes
As part of the final fixes phase, you may be asked to modify your ideas and documents. We may ask you to update your idea document based on checkpoint feedback.
Please read the challenge specification carefully and watch the forums for any questions or feedback concerning this challenge. It is important that you monitor any updates provided by the client or Studio Admins in the forums. Please post any questions you might have for the client in the forums.