Vision Statement

The Grocery Store Assistant will be used to improve the grocery shopping experience by helping shoppers navigate through the store. Expanding on common list features, the app will include information about items like price, nutrition facts and location within the store. It will offer the option to pay in advance or order groceries for pickup.

The primary users of the app are household grocery shoppers. The app will allow users to search for items and add them to a grocery list, eliminating the need for a paper list When shoppers are at the grocery store, they can look up the specific aisle or section of an item and by showing the users what items are on sale, they can compare items and shop smarter. On top of this, the system will look at the user’s current grocery list and find the shortest route through the store and display it on a bird’s eye view map.

Since convenience is the focus of the app, users will not only be able to create, discover and save new recipes, but they can add the ingredients directly from the recipe to their grocery list. This means the application will have a social aspect where users can share their favourite recipes. The app will also have recommended recipes that become more precise the more the user interacts with the app. Another way the app simplifies the grocery shopping experience is finding the nearest grocery store to the user and giving the option to save that store as their preferred store. When a store is selected, users can search for information such as hours of operation, address, departments, what items are available, details about promotions, and whether mobile ordering is available.

Grocery shopping can feel like a chore, so the apps goal is to minimize shopping time by allowing users to pay on the app and skip the checkout. Users can pre-order products like meats, dairy and baked goods, instead of waiting at the counter. Users can even order items directly for pick up. The routing system will ease the amount of work the user needs to do by grouping similar items and placing more fragile items, such as fresh produce, to be picked up last. Ultimately, the app will save the user time, making their shopping experience easier, quicker, and more convenient.

To assess the apps success, it will require user feedback, including whether they prefer our app over their current shopping method and if they use the pay/order in advance features as part of their daily shopping routine. Another measure of success will be if the app reduces the average time spent in the grocery store.

The system is intended to be accessible to users at home and on the go. Thus, it is envisioned as a mobile application to support the use of the app inside and outside the store. Future releases will branch out and support a more diverse selection of goods such as fashion and technology and could include a delivery system where users would add the items they want to their cart and have them delivered.