Xuan
Zhang.
FENDI
Non-Merchandise Management
Case Study
Background
Fendi's non-merchandise items refer to PR samples and spare parts. For Fendi China, the brand managed these non-merchandise items heavily depending on manually Excel-based methods. A lot of inner teams are sharing and using these non-merchandise items, but these teams do not have one shared system to check the inventory and status of these items. To external fairs, Fendi PR/Mkt teams send lots of PR packages and samples to celebrities and influencers to promote their products. In the process of sending and returning, the manually Excel-based method will cause problems, such as loss of samples and unclear inventory. When I was working at SF Express, one of the Chinese top logistic companies, Fendi is already one of our big clients who use our delivery and logistic service. It is natural and convenient for us to provide a digital solution for Fendi to help them solve the above issues and help SF to improve customer stickiness
Project Overview
Our Non-merchandise management solutions mainly focus on helping brands manage PR samples and spare parts. With a WeChat mini app and a web-based management system, brand can have an integrated, comprehensive sample/spare parts management process throughout a controlled life-cycle as they are purchased, received, stored, transferred, borrowed, and returned.
Company
My role
Product Designer
Tools
Adobe XD, Sketch
Responsibilities
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User research
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Business research
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Persona
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User flow
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IA & Wireframes
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Mi-fi & Hi-fi
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Prototyping
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Usability testing
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User training
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Project duration & stages
2 months
Business research
Stage - Research
Fashion & luxury brands are struggling with profitability as trends are pushing faster. Sample management for fashion businesses is key to boosting overall brand performance. An efficient samples management solution can help brands make fashion design samples at the right time and the right place and hopefully boost press and media coverage of products. There is no competitive product on the market (in China) that focus on non-merchandise management for the luxury brand since the target audience groups are too little, and such a product requires connecting with multiple logistic systems like WMS and ERP. Therefore, it's a good timing for us to utilize SF Express's logistic ability to create this product, once it is implemented, it can be applied to other luxury brands and most of them already use our logistic service.
10 Million
An efficient Sample Management system can help brand save up to 10 million a year.
Nearly 30% of the samples were lost after they were borrowed.
30%
6 months
More than 50% of the samples were returned after more than six months.
Stage - Research
User research
User research methods
Quantitative
SUS Survey
10 questions
How do you feel about the current management process?
Qualitative
Interviews
4 participants
Qualitative
Card sorting
Moderated
Target users
Marketing team
Logistic manger
PR team
Third-party agency
Influencer
Warehouse manager
Pain points and key insights
Transfer Samples
Transfer process often takes few days, the in-transit stock need to be removed from total stock and unavailable in any orders until they are received.
Assign Samples
supply chain management team need to assign stock within departments everytime their purchased samples arrive, which takes a lot of time.
Return Samples
Transfer process often takes few days, the in-transit stock need to be removed from total stock and unavailable in any orders until they are received.
Manually correcting warehouse inventory often results in inaccurate data.
Adjust Samples
Order Samples
The number and types of samples that can be ordered by different users are different. For example, agencies can only place orders for samples allocated to them by the mkt team.
User scenarios
Teams from sales, design & production, control & logistics, and PR all play a role in samples workflow. The marketing team and PR team use this system to make transfers and order samples. The supply chain management team & risk marketing team use the web application to check stock status, adjust stock and assign stock within departments. Third-party agencies also use our system to borrow samples from FENDI and lend them to celebrities or influencers.
User motivations and demands
Marketing team
Third-party agency
Logistic manger
Warehouse manager
User persona
Stage - Define
Ashley Jones
" Love trying new products all the time. Hate the hassle "
Age/gender:
34/Female
Occupation:
Suply chain manager
Location:
Shanghai, China
Family status:
Married, 1 kid
Goals
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Try to make the sample management process more efficient and transparent.
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Find out how pr and marketing teams are using samples
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Spend as little time as possible allocating samples within departments
Pains
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Spend too much time allocating samples
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Have trouble tracking samples. Traditional excel-base sample management method is inconvenient and inaccuracy.
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Have no idea how the MKT team and PR team are using samples.
Motivations
Track missing samples
Supervise sample flow
Purchase samples out of stock
Ensure sample stock accuracy
Devices
Phone 75%
Use phone to contact co-worker
Tablet 0%
Never use tablet at work
Laptop 25%
Use laptop to manage stock
Chris Wang
" There is nothing technique about my work, we need sth from 21 century. "
Age/gender:
28/Male
Occupation:
PR Assistant
Location:
Shanghai, China
Family status:
Single, 0 kid
Goals
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Send PR samples to agencies easily
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Get a reminder when samples need to be returned
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Transfer samples between showrooms and warehouses
Pains
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Currently using Excel to track samples that are borrowed
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Sometimes forget which PR samples need to be returned
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Spend much time to transfer samples
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Never get an accurate stock from the supply chain team
Motivations
Transfer samples to showroom
Send samples to agencies/clients
Initiate a return
Search sample by image or barcode
Check sample stock
Devices
Phone 50%
Use wechat to contact clients
Tablet 5%
Sometimes use tablet at work
Laptop 45%
Always use his laptop to work
Stage - Ideate
About Project
CHALLENGES
SOLUTIONS
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Fuzzy roles and duties
Due to a lack of staff, I was also in charge of the product manager's, project manager's, and even test engineer's portion workload.
I was given the chance to use my potential to its fullest and to go through the entire design thinking process. I gained some project management experience as well.
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Obstcales in user research
I performed interviews with stakeholders to better understand their workflow and needs. The recruitment of interview participants is quite diffcult. The majority of the target audiences work regular jobs and have limited free time.
I frequently visit my clients in order to get detailed information, and I build a strong rapport with them at the start of the project, which also paves the way for the project's overall smooth progress.
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Design and business interests Conflictions
We need to productize this system in accordance with SF's commercial objectives, but Fendi has proposed some requirements that don't align with our business strategy, therefore we must strike a compromise between user needs and business needs.
The non-merchandise management workflow of Fendi as a luxury brand is extremely valuable. Our ability to sell the system to other luxury companies, including the later Dior, is made possible by Fendi being our system's initial customer.
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Complicated Organization Structure
Fendi's multiple departments are involved in the management of samples. Each department has its own needs. How to meet the needs of various user groups and achieve smooth management from top to bottom is a major challenge for us.
With the in-depth exploration of organizational structure, we also help users to simplify some unnecessary processes in daily work, and reversely help them optimize the sample management process
Key technologies we used
Empowered by Baidu AI Cloud, with its Image Recognition & Search APIs, we provide users with 3 different approaches to search for products in the system.
AI-Powered Image Search
We implemented role-based access control in our mobile and web applications to allow stakeholders to have specific permissions to access and manage resources.
Role-Based Authentication
Utilized Shun Feng (SF) Cloud, which offers an efficient, effective and high-quality One-stop cloud computing solution to protect client’s data using sever-side encryption.
SF-CLOUD Service
For our clients to return samples to FENDI after usage, we provide scheduled pick-up service using the WeChat mini app, which is a speedy and high-quality "door to door" express service
Scheduled Pickup Service
System Architecture
Our non-merchandise management system includes sample and spare parts management, each featuring a WeChat Mini App and a web-based application.
The PR and marketing teams and third-party agencies will mainly utilize the WeChat Mini App for inventory transfers, PR sample orders, and return initiations.
Meanwhile, the supply chain team will primarily use the web application for sample purchases, warehouse management, and client management.
Information Architecture
User Flow
This user flow provides a detailed depiction of the sequential steps and interactions, showcasing precisely how users can navigate through and make use of the key features embedded in our app.
Stage - Design
UI Sketching
The sketch on the left represents the initial draft of the main pages for this app. It is formulated based on the information and results gathered from the preceding two phases.
Core Scenarios
1
Product Recognition/Search
Our app enables users to search for products using three approaches: Barcode Scanning for quick results, AI-Powered Image Recognition for capturing images, and Keyword Search for a versatile search experience.
2
Inventory Transfer
The marketing team can utilize the app to seamlessly transfer inventory between warehouses and showrooms.
3
Sample Borrowing
The PR team uses the app to assist clients, including third-party agencies, celebrities, and KOL, in borrowing FENDI samples.
4
Sample Returning
The PR team employs the app to initiate a sample return procedure for clients. Once the return order is initiated, clients only need to provide their address and schedule an SF pick-up service. The SF delivery team will then visit their door, pick up the sample, and return it to FENDI. This streamlined return process not only simplifies the entire procedure but also boosts the sample return rate. Moreover, the SF delivery service ensures the safety and security of valuable samples during transportation.
Stage - Iterate
Usability Test & Iterate
We conducted usability tests and continuously gathered user feedback to improve the system's user experience. Our team meticulously analyzes the feedback, evaluates requirements, and iterates on the system for ongoing improvements.
Despite our extensive efforts to enhance the user experience and ensure the system's ease of use, we acknowledge that the learning curve for a new and complex system remains high. To address this, we have implemented various methods to help users acclimate to the system. This includes providing offline training sessions, creating online tutorial videos, and incorporating in-app Q&A features to facilitate a smoother and more accessible user learning experience.