

Ask HN: Feedback on our concept?  "Instant Chat" when you're in a retail store - fitandfunction

We're trying to solve the problem of a) needing help in a store and b) not being able to find an employee.<p>Specifically, we want the service to handle both a) where is x? and b) what do I need to accomplish y or to make z?<p>http://www.helpping.co/<p>You're lost in the store, but there's a "magic" button in front of you.<p>Would you use it?
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aiurtourist
I don't mean to sound cynical, but are you sure this is a problem worth
solving?

Yes, it's a problem, but it's along the lines of my microwave getting dirty
over time, or needing to fill a car tire occasionally. I don't need or care
about a service that only cleans microwaves or only fills tires.

If you want to improve on brick-and-morter, feet-in-the-store retail problems,
why not, say, show me a big pinterest-style list of everything in every
grocery store around me? That would save me some time instead of perusing up
and down aisles and not being sure whether I should visit that farmer's market
that _sometimes_ has interesting stuff.

~~~
fitandfunction
You make a good point, and candidly, we're not sure. The crux of the problem
as we see it is that:

\- If you enjoy shopping, you're probably pretty good at it, and don't need a
lot of hand-holding.

\- If you don't enjoy shopping, then a store is a bad solution. A better
solution is "don't go to the store at all, we'll ship you the stuff," aka
Amazon

What we're really trying to do is find the segment of the market that cares a
lot about this? i.e. Willing to go shopping, if stores can just make it bit
easier when you get there.

Thoughts?

~~~
aiurtourist
> What we're really trying to do is find the segment of the market that cares
> a lot about this?

Yes. Go do that. Like, right now. Find people you don't know who you think are
your target demographic and ask them. They're probably in the grocery store
right now.

You'll come back thinking (A) that nobody really this problem, (B) that
everybody has this problem, or that (C) nobody thinks they have this problem
and you need to show them that it is a problem and that, once you do, you'll
change their life forever. B is probably a little delusional. C sounds really
time-consuming and expensive.

~~~
fitandfunction
Yeah. Thanks for that. We've done some of this and we're seeing (a) or (c).

We've kept going because we "feel" that there's something to be "fixed" inside
a store.

For example, discovering new products inside a store is really painful.
Typical "big box" stores are >100,000 sq ft with >100,000 products.

Want to find a "healthy snack that taste like wheat thins and goes well with
cheese"? Well, we have a wall of a 1,000 products. What you're looking for
might be in there somewhere.

What do you think of this related problem?

~~~
aiurtourist
I'm no expert, but I'm very sure that the difficulty in finding items in a
retail store is by design.

If every customer walked in, grabbed exactly what they needed without looking
at anything else, paid and left, the stores would probably make half as much
money. It's common knowledge that "big brand" items in a grocery store go on
the eye-level shelves because the distributors have paid more, and I remember
reading that the ends of the aisles ("caps" maybe?) are super-primo real
estate - that's why the ends always have Pepsi and Tostitos and big-name
items. It's probably the same reason there are "impulse items" in the aisle
when you check out. Oh, hey, yeah, I _do_ need some gum, why not buy a pack.

~~~
fitandfunction
Yeah -- It's definitely by design.

It's also by design that milk and bread are in the back corners of the store.

But, ecommerce makes this disdain for the shopper unsustainable. 10 years ago,
if you're store sucks, you don't really have a choice. Now, if you're store
sucks ... well I can buy a majority of the stuff I need through Amazon,
Diapers.com, etc.

So, could HelpPing be a timing play? Helping change stores right when they
need to change ... so that they can survive to 2020?

This sounds too theoretical even as I type it

~~~
aiurtourist
I don't think the grocery store will change anytime soon. :)

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flexxaeon
There's no app/service for this already? This is a pretty good idea.

I like the "chat" aspect especially since (on the backend) it could be taken
care of with machine learning & automation. Most of the time looking for a
store employee I just want to know what aisle product X is in.

As a third party service for smaller stores and a white label solution for
larger chains, it sounds like a nice business model.

~~~
fitandfunction
There are apps that handle different parts of this, e.g. Aisle411 for product
location, AisleFinder, etc.

But, in our early tests, what we found is that shoppers quickly move from
"where is x?" to "what do I need for y?"

Our general hypothesis is that you need both machine learning / automation +
human agent to create enough value for the shopper that they want to come back

~~~
flexxaeon
_> But, in our early tests, what we found is that shoppers quickly move from
"where is x?" to "what do I need for y?"_

I figured that would be the case. I imagine that there would be a "HelpPing
administrator" (similar to live chat support on websites) that could a) jump
in to assist on more complex questions and b) assist in mapping those complex
questions into the system algo?

I like the idea. Get out there and do it. I hope, though, that the button
isn't gonna look like the "easy button" from Staples ;)

Edit: Also, check patents and/or patent asap

~~~
fitandfunction
The "prototype" you see in the video is actually a Staples Easy Button with a
piece of paper taped over it.

You don't like the shape?

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fitandfunction
One of the problems we're running into is that this problem (need for location
and advice) does not seem to be an acute problem for users. In other words,
most people are bothered by it, but not bothered so much that they pull out
their phone to download an app.

What's HN's thoughts on this?

Should we keep searching for users for whom this is "a hair on fire" problem?
or, try to find a different related problem that's more painful (for more
people)?

~~~
aiurtourist
If you're thinking of making this an app, consider two processes:

Mine:

1\. I realize I need something and don't know where to find it. 2\. I look
around for a person who looks like they work here. 3\. I ask said person.

Yours:

1\. I realize I need something and don't know where to find it. 2\. I
magically and suddenly remember, "Oooh, there's an app for this that I
downloaded last night when I was looking for apps that would improve my
shopping experience." 2\. I pull out my phone from my pocket. 3\. I unlock my
phone. 4\. I navigate around my phone looking for the app which takes a while
because I can't remember the name of the app or the icon. 5\. I open it and
wait for it to load. 6\. I wait for geolocation to warm up while it tries to
figure out what store I'm in. 7\. I finally get a button that says "Ask now."
8\. I click the button and wait. 9\. A squawky voice attempts to help me, but
by now I've forgotten what I'm looking for.

I'm really not trying to shoot you down, but I think you could find a bigger
problem to work on. :)

~~~
fitandfunction
Ha! I like the second "story."

Btw, I think it explains the lack of user traction of apps like Aisle411,
ShopKick, etc. They take too long to use and they don't "fit" well with a
shopping trip.

What keeps us churning on this space is the magnitude of the $ spent. $1.4T
spent annually in low-service stores (e.g. Walmart). These formats have
minimal shopper-facing technology (lots of great supply chain stuff) and have
evolved slowly.

So, that goes us thinking ... so far, still thinking

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makerbreaker
A lot of stores already have this "magic" button. It simply pages an employee
and brings them to you. And yes, I would use it.

~~~
fitandfunction
We've seen this to. Target has been particularly good about doing this.

Have you used the current solutions? What did you think of them?

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redegg
I would get rid of your use of "OnStar".

~~~
fitandfunction
Thanks. We've dropped the "OnStar" adjective.

What do you think about the "Instant Chat" analogy?

