FAQ and Best Practices
What’s on this page?
Associates & Runners
What am I trying to do with this app?
- The Runner App makes it easy and straightforward to request items from backroom inventory.
- The Associate’s goal is to engage the Shopper and make a sale. The Runner App helps the Associate put items in front of the Shopper quickly.
- The Runner’s goal is to get a timely response to the Associate, so that the Associate can communicate that information with the Shopper.
- The hope is that with quick responses, Associates can continue engaging the Shopper in the selling process, provide a great experience, and enable sales.
Why are there so many confirmation steps?
The Runner App is just as much about accuracy as it is about speed. Confirmations are baked into the workflow to ensure that the communication given to both Runners and Associates is accurate, and to ensure that no request or response is made by accidental taps by mistake.
How can I stop missing notifications?
- Notifications are a critical piece of the communication workflow between Runners, Associates, and Shoppers.
- To ensure notifications are not missed, select Persistent Alerts:
- Under General Settings > Notifications > Runner App > Select Persistent instead of the default Temporary.
- This ensures that notifications remain visible until the next one appears.
What do the avatars mean?
Your Profile Picture appears in the top right corner of the Runner App.
- When you are a Runner, the Avatar shown on the requests is the Associate you are helping.
- When you are an Associate, the Avatars shown on the runner requests you created is the Runner that is helping you.
- If no Runner has accepted your request yet, it will show as Unassigned.
The fonts are too small for me to read! What can I do?
- Tulip Runner App supports Apple’s Dynamic Fonts. This means that you can adjust the size of the text to suit your needs.
- Under** General Settings**, select **Display & Brightness > Text Size**
OR
Under **General Settings**, select **General > Accessibility > **enable the** Larger Text** option - Adjust the slider to your preferred reading size.
What are the timestamps telling me?
- Timestamps for any request that is open or in progress shows time since requested
- Timestamps for any request that is closed shows time since completion.
Associates
Why is it taking so long for my request to arrive?
- Most knowledgeable Runners should know exactly where the item requested is based on the name & image. However, if it is taking too long to find, it is likely an inventory accuracy issue.
- Through statistics, it is possible to see how long runs are taking on average, see the most requested items, as well as see the most failed items. This is valuable insight to improve inventory organization on a daily basis.
- User testing shows that Runners will get faster at fulfilling requests as time goes on.
Why is inventory constantly unavailable?
- If inventory is perpetually unavailable, there may be further inventory accuracy issues.
When Runners mark items as Unavailable, they are prompted to input a reason code to know exactly why, and this feedback should be acted on by store management.
Flipping back and forth is awkward, any way I can make this easier?
- The Tulip Runner App is a separate app from the Tulip Retail Assisted Selling App to comply with Apple’s app decoupling strategy.
- The fastest way of returning to Assisted Selling is by using the backlink found in the top left corner of the screen. Alternatively, users can double-click the home button to context-switch back and forth between apps.
Runners are missing my notes. What should I do?
- Runners should be trained on how to manage requests and what to look at within requests.
- Notes are most easily found in In-Progress tile views since this is where Runners are directed once they accept a request.
What do I do if the Shopper leaves the area?
- If the Shopper moves to another part of the store, Associates should open the detailed view of the Open request and edit the Shopper’s requests to provide the Runner with an updated destination where they can deliver the item.
- If the Shopper leaves the store altogether, Associates should open the detailed view of the Open request, enter the request editor, and cancel the Shopper’s request so that the Runner can discontinue their search.
- Best practice is to not hover around the Shopper, but instead be on the lookout for the Runner who has accepted your request so you can approach the Shopper with their requested item.
How frequently should I be using the nudge button?
- Associates can nudge all Runners if their request hasn’t been picked up quickly enough.
- Associates can also nudge a specific Runner if their request has been accepted but is taking too long.
- There should be an internal agreement on how much wait time can elapse before a nudge should be sent. For example, +1 minute if no one has accepted, +2 minutes if it has been accepted.
- Above all, Associates should action the nudge button if Shoppers seem to be getting impatient, or if the Shopper is asking about the item.
- Once an Associate sends a nudge, they cannot nudge again until they leave the screen and return; this is to prevent too many nudges being sent.
Runners
What helps me find a requested item?
- The exact location of requested items within the backroom inventory is difficult data to have at the ready; inventory moves around, and items can go missing or not be accurately reflected within the inventory counts.
- While the Runner App will reflect location data if available, Runners should rely on the product name, product image, item type, and SKU to provide hints as to the whereabouts within the backroom inventory. The title will indicate the exact variant of product requested as well.
Where do I go after I find a requested item?
- Associates are required to input a destination for the Runner to deliver the item to.
- Associates need to select a drop-off destination for each request to ensure that Runners are given the correct information. The Runner App does not offer a default destination option to prevent Associates from rushing through a request without providing the correct destination information.
- Managers need to set available destinations before requests can be made.
What do I do when my request gets cancelled?
- Discontinue the search and move on to the next ticket. If en route with the request, return the item to the correct location in the backroom inventory.
What do I do when inventory is unavailable?
- The goal for Runners is to respond with an accurate answer to a request as soon as possible. If the item cannot be found within your agreed upon time, mark the requested item as Unavailable, and provide a reason code that can be investigated later.
- Associates are expected to communicate appropriately with the Shopper and interest them in another item.
- If there is a note attached to the request asking for something else, fulfill the note regardless of whether the item was found or not.