Samsung is a global leader in hardware manufacturing and boasts a massive, diverse product portfolio that spans everything from state-of-the-art smartphones to washing machines. The company’s vast array of digital products presents an opportunity for tremendous connectivity via an integrated ecosystem.

In mid-2019, Samsung approached Upside and asked us if we could prepare a showcase for their upcoming Samsung Developer Conference that would demonstrate the omni-channel nature of Samsung’s ecosystem while also highlighting their new voice assistant, Bixby.  

We decided that grocery delivery would make an excellent example case. 

Traditional retailers face significant competition and operate on low profit margins and large scale. Their industry is customarily brick-and-mortar-based, with customers driving to supermarkets for regular shopping trips.

Recently, however, retail grocers have faced competition from their peers and from quick commerce companies, such as Gorillas or Instacart, that have mastered the digital channel. Brick-and-mortar retailers need to branch out into e-commerce to stay competitive, and to do so they need to be clever about acquiring and retaining online customers. Some retailers have partnered with shopping list apps, allowing customers to more easily order groceries from their stores. 

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These conditions present a perfect scenario to demonstrate the advantages of Samsung’s ecosystem. Bixby, being integrated into all Samsung’s devices, becomes available at numerous touchpoints throughout users’ homes.

Usually, people construct their grocery shopping lists over the course of a week or so.  Items are added piecemeal as shoppers realize new needs – e.g., when perusing the fridge, someone may realize that they’re running out of milk and want to add milk to their shopping list.  

With Bixby, that task becomes totally frictionless. The shopper can simply tell Bixby, which is integrated into their smart fridge: “Hey Bixby, add milk to my shopping list”. 

In some cases, there may be multiple matching options available (e.g., 2% milk, whole milk, organic milk, chocolate milk, etc.). In such cases, the display that’s available in all Bixby-enabled devices will let the customer find and choose their preferred option. 

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To make interactions even smoother, Bixby automatically learns customers’ preferences. As it keeps gathering information, it will start automatically picking options that match customers’ tastes.   

Customers can build their shopping list with Bixby and/or a web interface throughout the week. When they decide to finalize their order, Bixby will redirect them to a full checkout experience. 

The entire process is aimed at increasing customer loyalty and lowering ordering friction. By combining the best features of both voice and visual interfaces, this integrated, smart system maximizes the benefits of a connected experience. 

Our showcase was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from the attendees of Samsung’s event. The voice ordering use case for grocery shopping has since been implemented by multiple players in the industry, including Carrefour and Walmart.

Upside was responsible for strategizing use cases and designing and implementing the showcase solution. Together with Vue Storefront’s team, we demoed the solution during the Samsung Developer Conference.