Honda Grocer Companion: Grocery Service Vehicle Improvement App

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Date

2023-05

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

The Honda Grocer Companion digital vehicle app was developed as a partnership project with HONDA, investigating how to increase competitiveness with their next-gen vehicles by observing future grocery shopping trends and redesigning the cars' assistive aspects to improve this experience during grocery store pick-up. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the incomes of consumers, which have decreased dramatically. Despite this, global shopping volumes have surprisingly increased, thanks to the safety, ease of use, and other advantages of online shopping. As a result of the pandemic, individuals and companies have had to rethink their daily activities and reimagine their lives. COVID-19 has driven the creation of new solutions to address the rapidly changing world we live in, with even the most mundane tasks, such as grocery shopping, being affected. One successful adaptation by retail stores has been the pivot to the "dark store." A dark store is a location that has been closed and repurposed into a center for fulfillment operations. This trend raises questions about the future of grocery stores and transportation and how we can design these elements to function together seamlessly in our daily lives. This thesis consists of months dedicated to research-based product development. During this execution phase, I conducted many research assessments, ideation, and targeted interviews and surveys. The outcome of the process is an innovative digital feature installed in the vehicle hub center to highlight the significance of future vehicle development while shopping for groceries online. The app fosters interaction between the user and the fulfillment workers, enhancing communication during the online shopping process. Conveniently, users can now shop from their vehicles without having to leave during the typical grocery shopping experience.

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Business Category, 3rd Place, Denman Research Forum

Keywords

Honda, Design, Vehicle System, Grocery Store

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