DESIGN OPPORTUNITY: word count 285

Problem description:
Neighbourhoods’ grocery stores are
essential in our everyday life. Living near a
grocery shop not only lowers the money
spent on our food but also the amount of
waste and helps maintain a healthy diet1.
However not all neighbourhoods have the
spaces to accommodate up to 6000 sqm
of supermarket. That is why it’s so
important to value small businesses that
take up less space. To offer the same
amount of products that normal size
supermarkets have, these grocery stores
have way less movement space and often
can’t accommodate normal size carts.
However the alternatives are not always
the best option.

A very common alternative to the normal size

shopping cart. Even though it’s smaller and could
potentially fit even in a smaller aisle, it’s not stable
enough when turning (products could fall out of it).
Moreover the basket is at a low level, resulting in
discomfort when putting in or taking out of it items. I
researched at my local store for 1 hour and
discovered that, when these types of baskets are the
only choice, over 68% of customers result in carrying
the groceries only by hand, with a high risk of
breaking a product or having to renounce on
something because it’s too heavy.

(an example of how much space normal size cart take)

Red shopping cart image: (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71em-uOjnDL._AC_SL1500_.jpg )

1
Lay, Eric. “Benefits of Living near a Grocery Store.” Meadow Brook Mobile Home Park, 23 June 2021,
https://meadowbrookmobilehomepark.com/blog/benefits-of-living-near-a-grocery-store/#:~:text=It%20is%20alway
s%20easier%20to,available%20when%20they%20need%20them. ).
(https://pagni.blogautore.repubblica.it/2010/07/12/piccoli-negozi-contro-supermercati-secondo-voi-chi-vincera/.
DESIGN BRIEF: word count 184
Design a shopping cart that can provide a better shopping experience even in small
grocery-stores. The product must fit into a 1.5m aisle but at the same time fit a 5kg of
grocery, hence be very resistant. The carts should be able to be stacked up or closed when
not needed to reduce space waste and they should possibly be able to carry both as a trolley
and by hand.

The cart should be easy to manoeuvre and move around without any items falling out of it.
While the average customer is around 40 years old2, the target audience ranges from 13
years on, as they're around that age when they start to go around by themselves3 and they
can carry the weight of groceries. It’s important the items are easily accessible without the
person needing to bend too much when putting or taking out a product. The mechanism
used to stack the carts and the one that opens them should be intuitive, the cart should be
lightweight and not cause any major harm considering the people that could come in-contact
with it.

SPECIFICATIONS: word count 918

2
Mitova, Teodora. “21+ Grocery Shopping Statistics for Every Customer in 2023.” SpendMeNot, 10 Mar. 2023,
https://spendmenot.com/blog/grocery-shopping-statistics/.

3
Momplex, Miranda. “What Age Should Kids Be Allowed to Go out by Themselves?” Mission Momplex, 25 May
2022, missionmomplex.com/what-age-should-kids-be-allowed-to-go-out-by-themselves/?utm_content=cmp-true.
Specifications Justification

1. Target Audience 1.1 The product should The average age of the people
be designed for people visiting the supermarket is 40 years
aged 14 on old, while the youngest audience
that will probably use my cart is 14
1.2 The target audience years olds, as younger people won’t
are both people that shop be going to the supermarket.
in smaller grocery stores Moreover, just like other market
and people who want to proposals, my cart can be useful
do a smaller grocery both in small groceries and in bigger
ones.

2. Target Market 2.1 The target market are This means that any requirement
both big supermarkets made to accommodate one of the
and small grocery stores two target markets should not affect
the other. In big supermarkets my
product is not going to replace
normal size carts, but it will be used
by whoever wants to do a smaller
grocery.

3. Function 3.1 Has to hold up to On average a small grocery weighs

15kg of grocery about 15kg, as I found in an
interview I did at my local grocery
3.2 Must be stackable or store. I based my data on small
closable to save up groceries as my product will either
space be used by people who don’t need
to buy a lot or shop in small
3.3 The cart itself must supermarkets. Moreover it’s
not weight over 5 kg important for small grocery stores to
save as much space as possible,
3.4 When turning and in meaning that when not needed the
other critical moves all carts should not be cumbersome.
the cart must be in The cart can’t weigh more than 2 kg
equilibrium. so that it’s possible to be carried by
hand even when it’s stacked. Finally
when making turns if the cart is not
in an equilibrium position (for
example not all the wheels are
touching the ground), the food may
fall and become ruined.

4. Cost 4.1 The prototype will After doing some research I

cost me a maximum of understood that carts sold wholesale
70€ are in this price range, where normal
size carts can go up 100€, while
smaller carts are around 30€. I
decided to have a similar price to
smaller carts as the materials used
and size will be similar, however
additional functions may raise the
costs (that’s why the range is
 between 30 and 50€).

5. Size 5.1 The cart should have These measurements are thought to
the largest side of provide a good amount of
maximum 120cm to movement and comfort even if there
easily move (have around is not much space to the greatest
15 cm margin from every number of users, especially
side) in an aisle of 1.5m.considering the wide range of
people that the product is directed
5.2 The basket should be to.
easily accessible One side must be under 30cm so
(between their arm reach) that two people meet in an aisle
to the 50th percentile going in opposite directions, they
(71.84cm) can turn the basket and fit.

5.3 Handles should

consider the 50th
percentile hand
measurements (8.49cm),

5.4 One side of the

basket must be under
30cm large

5.5 The basket should

have a capacity of
minimum 45l (half the
size of a normal basket)4

6. Performance 6.1 The cart should be These are all requirements that a
able to turn in every normal cart should have to be fully

4
Rollawaycontainer. “Carrello Spesa Supermercato in Filo Metallico 90 Litri.” Rollawaycontainer,
https://www.rollawaycontainer.it/carrello-spesa-supermercato-filo-metallico-90-litri.html#:~:text=Il%20carrello%20
spesa%20supermercato%20misura,di%20contenere%20spese%20anche%20abbondanti.
 direction (performance functional in more than one
related to the wheels) situation.

6.2 Can be carried both

by hand and
pulled/pushed

7. Aesthetics 7.1 Should be minimal The minimalist look will

accommodate more than one style
7.2 must use a colour of supermarket, hence appeal to a
neither too dark nor too wider audience. Moreover the more
light simplistic looking the more people
will understand how it works.
Furthermore a colour that is too light
will get stained and ruin easier, while
a darker colour will hide too much
dirt, hence not show when it needs
to be cleaned. The colour must be at
the middle of the spectrum.
Moreover colours like green, red,
orange, yellow are bright colours
hard to miss, making them more
memorable for the customers and
even helping them spot them and
maybe prevent accidents. Finally
these same colours are thought to
induce people to buy more and to
make them feel more hungry.

8. Materials 8.1 Use non-toxic As food may be put inside the cart,
materials the materials used can’t be toxic.
Moreover the high tensile strength
8.2 Use materials with prevents the cart from wearing out
high tensile-strength, after being pulled by the user and
toughness and the weight, the toughness prevents
compressive strength the spread of cracks and finally the
compressive strength may help
when stacking the carts one on top
of the other.

9. Manufacturing 9.1 must be

manufactured using
workshop equipment or
outsourced to local
manufacturers

10. Safety 10.1 The product Because of the very close contact
shouldn’t break if under a between the user and the product,
15 kg pressure the customer should be secure while
using it in a proper way.
10.2 Mechanisms used in
the product (for example
the movement of a part)
shouldn’t injure the user
10.3 in case fo crash
between two carts the
cart shouldn’t break and
cause more harm (for
example break into sharp
pieces.)