Define the assortment for each selling location
Map which products, prices and availability apply to each location or service area. Agree how the assortment reaches the storefront and who corrects inaccurate information. Bring category-specific requirements such as units of measure or variable quantities into discovery rather than assuming they are standard capabilities.
Questions to work through
- Identify assortment and pricing ownership by location.
- Define product identifiers and quantity representations.
- Document category-specific requirements for validation.
Connect the delivery promise with serviceability
Decide how location, inventory and delivery constraints affect the options shown to a shopper. Establish who owns serviceability information and how a change reaches the ordering journey. Evaluate delivery options against the actual fulfillment model rather than making an unsupported speed promise.
Questions to work through
- Define which locations serve which customer areas.
- Agree how unavailable options are handled before checkout.
- Test changes in serviceability and fulfillment capacity.
Give picking and exception handling equal attention
Walk through how an order becomes a picking task, how staff confirm the items and what happens when physical stock differs from the system. Document the business policy for missing items, customer communication and basket changes. If substitutions or quantity changes are required, validate the precise workflow with the product and implementation teams.
Questions to work through
- Test a basket with an unavailable item.
- Define who approves changes and informs the customer.
- Confirm the effect on order totals, payment and inventory.
Trace the handoff from preparation to delivery
Agree the states that matter to store teams, dispatch teams and customer service. Define how a prepared order becomes a shipment, how delivery progress is communicated and who investigates failed handoffs. Keep operational data connected to the original order so exceptions can be resolved with context.
Questions to work through
- Assign ownership at preparation, dispatch and delivery stages.
- Test a delayed or failed handoff.
- Agree reconciliation and customer-service procedures.
Pilot a representative operating area
Choose a pilot that includes the assortment, stock behavior and operational exceptions your business actually faces. Review the full basket journey with merchandising, store, delivery and support teams. Confirm module availability and any requirements involving specialized inventory handling, food operations or external systems during scoping.
Questions to work through
- Define acceptance criteria for normal and exception journeys.
- Reconcile catalog, inventory and order records.
- Review operating readiness before expanding the rollout.