All images are owned by Eli Boahen, and cannot be used without express permission from them.
From January to May 2021, I led a project where I produced
posters to improve customer relations, sales, and helped
customers understand the services available at BookOff USA.
BookOff USA CX Design
The project explained below was
the main project I worked on
during those 5 months.
I was a Sales Associate at
BookOff NYC for about 6
months. I learned a lot about
the second-hand market and
took time to listen to customers
and understand their needs.
After working the floor and
getting lots of feedback, I
realized that BookOff had some
obstacles that effected all
aspects of the business.
In the Fall of 2020, I got a part-time job
at BookOff NYC. My goal was to gain
customer service experience and
experience working in a Japanese
company. What I found was an
interest in CX and Service Design,
which soon turned into this project.
After months of interviewing
customers and coworkers,
and making mental notes,
I present to you my map!
. . . It’s a little hard to follow.
Let me show you it this way:
The Customer
The Company
The Employees
Customers struggle
to find items
Employees
frequently remind
customers about store
hours & services while
shelving
Less sellers
means less
inventory
Many customers do not
know that they can sell
their items in-store
Surplus invetory is
disposed of,
increasing losses
Inventory numbers can
fluctuate based on how
many items sellers bring
Employees need to
infom customers
about promotions
at the register
Employees at the register rotate
between 3 roles at the front
counter: Purchase, Payout, and
Checkout
Delays at checkout
answering cutomer
questions &
infoming them
about promotions
Altogether, there was an information gap and this gap
had an impact on customer experience, employee
experience, and company sales. The marketing
strategy at that time exacerbated other pain-points
across the board.
I focused on how to improve company-customer
communication to close that information gap. My first
step on that journey: What are our goals?
How can we help customers find what they’re
looking for, know if BookOff may have it, inform
them about the selling process, and answer their
frequently asked questions?
Signage
With this, I understood what each party needs
and their pains.
Now, how do I help them?
ü
Customers who were already
shopping spent more time in store
looking for other merchandise
Check-out time decreased and
employee efficiency as many
questions were answered on the signs
The selling process became more
streamlined: Less customers went to
the check-out line to sell items and
new customers knew where to line up
to sell items
Employee efficiency increased:
More time spent shelving, a decrease
in FAQs at check-out or while
managing merchandise
New customers
The project was a success!