Brand Strategy | Experience Design | Service Design
Brandcenter Project | 4 weeks
The quick pitch:
How can Dollar Tree beat low expectations as it prepares to renovate 1,000 stores in 2020? By reflecting the scrappy spirit of its shoppers, who can find potential in anything—especially a dollar.
See the full case study below!
What I did :
Camped out at dollar stores to observe shoppers in the wild.
Talked off-the-record with in-store and call-center employees.
Studied how mazes and fun-houses design for surprise.
Artifacts: brief, personas, shopper journey, communications framework, pitch deck.
Background
The headlines called Dollar Tree a “disappointing destination.”
For most of Dollar Tree’s history, a polished reputation hadn’t mattered—a good deal was a good deal. But with rising competition from big-box behemoths and endless opportunities to bargain-hunt on Amazon, Dollar Tree was due for a makeover, starting with 1,000 of its stores in 2020.
Problem
Shopping at Dollar Tree is perceived as the sacrifice for a good deal.
At Dollar Tree, an overwhelmed employee jokes from his station at the cashwrap: “I’m done - I’m only part-time, man.” Neglected stock boxes crowd the aisles. Where shelves aren’t bare, they’re strewn with picked-over remains. But when you’re only paying $1—what more could you expect?
Enemy
“You get what you pay for.”
Dollar Tree shoppers can’t stand Dollar Tree’s chaos, but because they're only paying $1, they feel they don’t deserve a cleaner store, stronger customer support, or an easier shopping experience.
Brand Truth
But $1 is Dollar Tree’s point of pride.
Dollar Tree is proud to remain the only “dollar store” true to its flat $1 promise.
Opportunity
How can Dollar Tree’s retail experience defy expectation of what $1 deserves?
“So much depends on being convenient for someone to get a low price, so the store kind of escapes [the obligation to be] nicer. It’s almost like an afterthought.”
— Courtney, 27, family budgeter, Michigan
Insight
For Dollar Tree shoppers, “value” is as much about potential as it is about cost.
Brides building weddings of their own; family budgeters creating Christmas morning-magic from Dollar Tree’s shelves; teachers getting crafty for the classroom: Dollar Tree shoppers navigate the store with eyes for what $1 can become:
Momentum.
Like archaeologists, Dollar Tree shoppers indulge in a kind of finder’s inertia. Excited by one great deal, they’re driven by the chance to find another.
Pride.
Displayed in YouTube hauls and unboxing videos, shoppers appreciate the store as a place of endless bounty for those savvy enough to seek it out.
Potential.
More than 250k Dollar Tree crafters fuel Facebook groups dedicated to building something from nearly nothing.
Strategy + Target
Dignify the Dollar.
Dignify Dollar Tree as the springboard for what a dollar can do.
Scrappy by Necessity
On a tight budget, she’s used to saying no, but she likes to wander Dollar Tree because its prices offer the opportunity for a guilt-free ‘yes.’
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Scrappy by Nature
Whether she’s a teacher, nonprofit manager, or club volunteer, she looks to Dollar Tree as a revolutionary alternative to funding projects big and small.
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Retail Reinvention
A Dollar Can.
A reimagined retail experience that reflects Dollar Tree shoppers’ commitment to finding potential, and building from it.
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Find exactly what you need … or feel free to wander.
Our transformed floorplan uses vinyl floor signage to map the journey between everyday staple products and the surprising seasonal, craft, toy, and gift discoveries that make shopping at Dollar Tree special.
Modular storage
makes it easier for employees to restock items and easier for shoppers to find them.
Centralized cashwrap
enables employees to respond to shoppers more quickly, and to more subtly monitor the store.
“Middle of the house” counter
bridges the backroom and front floor, allowing employees to easily store, unload, & organize stock shipments.
Finding potential in old stock.
With a low stock-turnover rate, Dollar Tree needs to sell older items more quickly. A ‘surprise me-chine’ of $1, $3 and $5 packs of surprise toys and seasonal goodies offers an easy treat for parties, holidays, classrooms, clubs, and teams.
Bridging the digital gap.
End-cap touchscreens help digitally-driven shoppers find and bulk-order items online, scan them for recipe or craft tutorial suggestions, and learn what other members of the Dollar Tree community have done with their dollar.
Building a community around #ADollarCan.
Pinterest craft tutorials and low-budget recipes keep the convo going in-store and online. On Instagram, users following the #ADollarCan hashtag can swipe to order.
Buck Truck
Introducing Dollar Tree’s potential outside the store.
Mintel reports that, while 80% of shoppers say dollar stores offer great value for money, one-fourth don’t include dollar stores in their consideration set. A traveling Buck Truck, which offers on-the-spot items and online bulk-ordering, introduces Dollar Tree’s potential to those who may not think to visit the store.
Supplies at public schools
A partnership with teachers’ #ClearTheList fundraisers encourages families to help buy supplies for the 94% of public-school teachers who spend their own money on the classroom.
Bridal DIYs at wedding conventions
A majority of modern newlyweds have DIY’ed at least one item for their weddings. Dollar Tree can solidify its place in the DIY wedding industry by joining middle-class bridal conventions.
Want more?
Fun fact: I studied mazes, funhouses, prison design philosophy, Maxxinistas, and art galleries to develop design principles for this project. See what I learned here.
My team:
My part:
Project/creative brief
Brand strategy
Communications plan
Target personas
Deck narrative, design, and presentation
Journey map
Shop-alongs
Store visits
In-depth interviews
UX research
Social listening
Cultural deep dive