THE CHALLENGE

Staples’ existing in-store shipping system left much to be desired. It wasn’t intuitive, it was overly complex for the store associates using it, and its lack of technical logic was bad for business and customers alike. It couldn’t keep up or scale up to meet Staples’ growing needs.

• Comparing carrier rates within the system was not possible

• Address input mistakes often wouldn’t be detected until the package was out for delivery

• No integration of international customs forms or indication of when they were required

• No simple solution for processing prepaid drop-offs – the most common form of shipment today

The limitations of the archaic shipping system resulted in frequent delivery delays and mistakes, as well as long turnaround times for each customer at the counter and in turn, everyone behind them in line.

This fault-ridden system marked a valuable opportunity to turn a poor experience into a great one.

THE RESULT

This was PNI’s first shipping solution, and we’re incredibly proud of what we made and how we made it. Thanks to the ingenuity and collaboration of our Austin and Vancouver offices, we launched Falcon: the primary desktop application, and Raven: its mobile-friendly, customer-facing component.

Our Product team led the discovery of the user persona, their pain points and developed a product vision to satisfy them. UX took charge of establishing a brand new user flow. They broke down the process so that it’s simplified, progressive and frictionless. Our developers created the technology, integrating address validation and auto-complete, an accurate rate and delivery estimator, and dynamic logic to detect and populate customs forms when needed for international shipments.

This first-to-market multi-carrier shipping estimator has made a triumphant impact since launch. Sales are up, order accuracy is near perfection, and customer turn-time has improved dramatically. That’s a big win.