With hundreds of stores across New Zealand, the success of the rollout was a key business priority and depended not only on the function of the system itself but on whether leaders and frontline staff understood it and saw the benefits of using it. At scale, adoption means more engaged staff and greater efficiencies.
The challenge:
For many store leaders and frontline staff, the idea of the change felt unfamiliar and uncertain. Leaders lacked the language and tools to talk about the new solution confidently, and staff were unsure what it meant for their day-to-day roles. Without a people-focused approach, there was a high risk of low engagement and inconsistent uptake across stores.
The solution:
Over 18 months with eight pilot stores, Our employee experience partners, Purple Shirt, blended Human-Centred Design (HCD) with change management to ensure the solution was shaped with, not just for stores. They began with user research to uncover staff sentiment, expectations, and training needs, then translated these insights into practical communication and engagement tools that made the change something people could connect with:
- Interviews with leaders and frontline staff to uncover expectations, concerns, and to help inform training.
- Co-created communications frameworks at both co-op and store level to ensure clarity and consistency at every stage.
- Equipped leaders with confidence through talking points, visual artefacts, and practical support that made conversations easier.
- Brought the rollout to life in-store with story-led collateral, and a service blueprint to guide post-pilot adoption.
The results:
The pilot rollout showed strong employee engagement and clear productivity gains in stores using the new tool compared with those without it. Leaders reported feeling more confident in leading conversations about the change, and staff could see the benefits in ways that felt relevant to their role.
This people-led foundation gave the organisation confidence to expand beyond the pilot and commit to a nationwide rollout. What could have been delivered as a purely technical implementation instead became a connected, people led change that not only engaged staff but gave them the confidence to use it.
