Becoming an experience champion with service design
05.08.2025 - 07:15
MediaMarktSaturn is evolving from a pure product seller into a customer-centric omnichannel service platform. Such a restructuring also means doing things differently. MediaMarktSaturn wants to make the customer's shopping experience even more pleasant and personal. One way to meet this challenge and introduce new processes or services is the service design method.
Contact
MICHAEL STENGL
Spokesperson Technology, New Business Models
corporate-communications@mediamarktsaturn.com
What I like about service design workshops is the energy that is generated in the room. When people from different departments come together in an atmosphere of trust and develop ideas together on how to improve a customer experience, it's wonderful. I always call it a "nest of trust" where everyone can contribute their own ideas and enrich each other's ideas. This "yes and mindset" brings a lot and is simply fun.
Stefan Wörnle, Manager Customer Experience, Service Design at MediaMarktSaturn
Service design is based on many principles of design thinking
To become an experience champion, we need to know our customers' needs and the various contact points along the customer journey. Service Design uses many elements of the design thinking method and works in so-called sprints with the main phases of analysis/research, idea development/evaluation and implementation. In the research phase, for example, NPS surveys, customer inquiries and complaints from the contact center are used to try and understand what exactly is important to customers when shopping. The aim is also to find out what problems exist. This data is discussed in a series of workshops with representatives from different departments and employees from the stores. This creates a common, broad and in-depth understanding from a technical perspective. Employee concerns are also addressed here.
What 'needs' or 'pains' does a customer have?
In collaborative workshops, the project team actively identifies customer needs, challenges and elements that trigger enthusiasm, thereby gaining a holistic picture from both the customer and employee perspective. A tried and tested tool is the customer journey map. It shows which steps a customer goes through. It also shows which needs and pain points customers or employees have on this journey. On this basis, potential for improvement is identified at each step, the so-called opportunities. Each opportunity is developed in a team to find a solution. The many ideas must then be evaluated according to their impact on the company and feasibility. Finally, after prioritization, a procedure is drawn up with the most important task packages and responsible parties for each workstream.
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Many companies are still at the first stage of dealing with customer journeys
Digital transformation is not only shaping customer expectations to have an outstanding shopping experience, it is also changing the way customer interactions are researched, managed and optimized. To manage customer journeys and the associated customer experience improvement measures, MediaMarktSaturn relies on tools such as Conceptboard, smaply and, most recently, "TheyDo". The tool, which is being evaluated as part of a proof of concept, allows a number of so-called macro-journeys (e.g. the purchase of a washing machine) and many micro-journeys contained therein (e.g. the payment process at the checkout) to be mapped in hierarchies. Such a proof of concept demonstrates the feasibility and functionality of a project before it is developed further. The developed improvement ideas per journey and their implementation can also be managed in the tool and connected with interfaces to tools such as "Jira". It is also possible to integrate real-time KPIs such as the Net Promoter Score. When managing a large number of journeys and the associated improvement measures, the tool saves the teams involved up to 40% of their working time.
Shaping the customer journey with artificial intelligence
Modern tools also allow customer journeys to be created automatically directly from unstructured, qualitative data such as customer feedback. On the basis of this AI-supported framework, the project team then goes on to generate ideas for improving the customer experience. This partial automation can save a considerable amount of time. Now that MediaMarktSaturn has set up a secure test environment for the use of Chat GPT with Sandy, it is possible to try out the design of customer journeys based on detailed instructions. This innovation is also trained as part of a broad-based training program on service design at MediaMarktSaturn with 2 online training courses and a 2-day workshop.
Service design sprints thrive on interdisciplinary teams working together over a defined period of time
Service design skills are in demand: service design sprints at MediaMarktSaturn are characterized by effective interdisciplinary cooperation between different departments. This approach makes it possible to react specifically to the requirements of the departments involved and at the same time brings the comprehensive knowledge of the project team to bear. This approach has already led to the implementation of successful projects in the areas of store processes, category management, sustainability, marketplace and many more. Given the importance of service design for the company, a comprehensive training program was launched in March 2024. Special attention is also paid to skills such as interdisciplinary expertise, customer orientation and customer journey knowledge when recruiting new employees.
Click & Collect - a result of a service design sprint
Click & Collect Express: Service at MediaMarkt and Saturn is now even faster
Customers can pick up their online orders within 30 minutes at a store of their choice, provided the goods are in stock. This was made possible by a group-wide rollout of approximately 44,000 employee smartphones, including in-house developed apps such as "MyStore" and "Pick&Pack".
Ingolstadt, February 24, 2022: The pandemic, with its numerous lockdowns, has demonstrated that a perfectly tailored omnichannel offering – the availability of products, services, and advice both online and offline across all channels – is more important than ever. While MediaMarkt and Saturn's Click & Collect service was already popular and frequently used before the pandemic, it has experienced a significant boost since the first lockdown in spring 2020. Currently, around half of all products ordered from the MediaMarkt and Saturn online shops are picked up in-store. To accommodate this trend, the two electronics retailers have optimized their Click & Collect service so that all products available directly in-store can now be picked up within 30 minutes of ordering online – making online shopping even more enjoyable.
- MediaMarkt and Saturn are making their omnichannel offerings even more attractive.
- Many products can now be picked up in-store within 30 minutes of ordering online.
- All stores nationwide are now open to all customers again.
The mix is key: Online shopping has become more popular than ever, especially since the pandemic – at the same time, many consumers still desire personal advice and additional services, such as repairs or picking up online orders in-store. The advantages of Click & Collect: Delivery fees are eliminated, and customers save time, as they can often pick up their products on the same day they order. Furthermore, the ordered products can be conveniently paid for in-store. For those who want their products even faster, Click & Collect Express is now available: Many products ordered at www.mediamarkt.de and www.saturn.de can now be picked up in-store within 30 minutes – provided the products are in stock at the selected store.
Click & Collect offers the convenience of in-store pickup. Click & Collect Express is primarily made possible by digital support: In-store employees use their company smartphones and a specially developed app to process orders. This significantly speeds up the process, and goods ordered online are ready for pickup in the store within a very short time.
It's this easy: Before ordering in the online shop, select your preferred store, and you'll immediately see if the desired product is ready for pickup. In your shopping cart, under "How would you like to receive your products?", click the "Ready for pickup" option and complete your order. You can also choose whether you prefer to pay online or in-store upon pickup. It couldn't be more convenient or faster.
Furthermore, MediaMarkt and Saturn are pleased that, thanks to the nationwide lifting of the 2G and 3G restrictions in retail, they can now welcome and advise all customers in-store again. The existing social distancing and hygiene rules will, of course, continue to be observed. Customers can find information about the currently applicable Corona regulations in the individual stores at www.mediamarkt.de/de/service/coronainfos and https://www.saturn.de/de/service/coronainfos.
The development of service design at MediaMarktSaturn
