DELIVERABLES
TEAMS
Ashley Lee - Business Analyst
Yi Liu - Financial Analyst
Mikhail Mathias - Social Impact Analyst
Ivy Wei - UX strategist
Save the Planet, Say NO to Single-Use Plastic
Bali is a small island in the southeast of Indonesia whose economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism. Tourists come to Bali for a cheap, convenience-laden, tropical getaway, and at the same time generate an unseemly amount of plastic waste. Bali’s waste management system is rudimentary, and cannot cope with the steadily rising demands that the growing tourists are placing on. As a result, more plastic waste than ever is ending up in oceans and landfills or being burned, releasing harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
Zero Waste Bali (ZWB), Bali’s first bulk food store, offers over 700 organic and non-organic healthy food and eco products that are unpackaged and plastic-free. With a focus on expanding its sourcing channels and supporting the local community of suppliers, ZWB is leading the way to shop plastic and package-free in Bali.
HMW identify ZWB’s pockets of revenue channels and strategically enhance the consumer experience for the best economic and social impact outcome?
How Zero Waste Bali impacts ethical consumption
Process
The challenges
ZWB has been growing faster than originally expected with three main target audiences:
- Consumers – either shopping in-store or online
- Business – e.g. cafés and restaurants, discounts applied if purchasing in bulk
- Education – via training and workshops
In the long run, ZWB would love to have a review of its sales channels and consumer experience, with considerations of operational efficiency, thus developing a positive profitable business model and ethical consumption impacts.
User analysis
The data contained in the research will not be made available to others without permission. Sources of information include online research, company marketing information and internal business database (Loyverse and Quickbooks), Instagram surveys, questionnaires within the Facebook group, and one-on-one interviews with both current consumers and prospects:
Retail customers:
- In-store: ZWB sells its products directly to walk-in customers through its retail stores and franchises.
- Online/Refill: Customers are able to post their containers to ZWB and purchase items via its website, and then ZWB ships the products back to customers.
Wholesale channels:
- ZWB is able to order a great number and series of products from suppliers and send them in bulk to business partners, such as eco-resorts, eco-villages, and hotel kitchens (to serve their customers). Wholesale pricing will be applied.
- Supermarkets (work in progress)
Survey insights
As per the findings of responses, we came to obtain the current customer profile (for defining user persona). 69.2% are living locally (in Bali) and 71.1% heard about ZWB from social media, whereas 34.6% from Word of Mouth (WOM). Most prefer a brand with good quality and reasonable price. When it comes to zero waste, people mostly have awareness; however, the main challenges would be a culture of ‘laziness’ and ‘convenience’, high pricing, and mostly accessibility (e.g. living far away from ZWB). Surprisingly, 69.2% of respondents would be considering shopping online.
1-to-1 interviews with the business customers
The general manager of an eco-resort said:
“ Our resort’s philosophy is to be plastic-free and environmentally friendly. Our guests are mainly Europeans coming for surfing and other sports activities. We are willing to order a range of eco-products for our customers to use in the bathroom...to offer them a happy experience. There is no air conditioning in our resort, so it is especially hard to maintain liquid products. We have to throw them away with plastic bottles if leftover. We do not want that. I found ZWB from google research. Even though the pricing is sort of high, we want our customers to know that we are not just into making money. In regards to the product range, the top items are bamboo toothbrushes, shampoo bars, earbuds, and cotton pads.”
Limitations
The questionnaire results were limited to people who are within the Facebook group who have tablet/computer and internet access. Most are well-educated. We did not think this affected our research negatively as they are currently the main customers and prospects.
The telephone interviews with business customers were narrowed down to 4 interviewees. However, we believed most eco-hotels/resorts would have similar thoughts.
Constraints
As the online business model (specifically the refill service) is not yet thoroughly tested and proven, we could only anticipate the possible challenges, such as low take-ups due to cultural barriers. After its launching, we would potentially lack the operational experience. Also, significant funds, infrastructures, and human resources might be required for the core revenue models we selected to promote.
Workshops, team meetings, and syncs with clients are essential to align priorities, build roadmaps and develop a strategy that hits the right spot effectively.
Outcome
I had the opportunity to lead UX for a set of products below:
Value proposition design for both B2B and B2C
Concept design for Mobile App
User flows for refill service
Due to confidentiality and sensitive financial data, the work is available upon request via iamivywei@gmail.com. Thank you!
My friend and I were making our own natural toothpaste!
