Enhancing Inventory Challenges
Nuuly - Q4 2024 - 4 weeks
My Role
Product Designer, UX Researcher
Nuuly is a subscription-based clothing rental service where you are able to rent six clothing items each month from a vast array of brands. This allows the consumer to try out new trends and styles without fully buying them.
Background
Nuuly is experiencing low customer retention, with many users frequently pausing or canceling their subscriptions. Competitive research across top rental services (Rent the Runway, BNTO, and Fashion Pass) revealed common user frustrations around sizing, fit, and limited inventory availability.
This project aimed to uncover the specific pain points driving Nuuly’s turnover, with the goal of identifying opportunities to improve user satisfaction and long-term engagement.
Business Problem
Discovery
I interviewed six rental clothing subscription users (5 who use Nuuly, and 1 that uses RTR) to understand their pain points when it comes to sizing and fit of rented items and see how we can improve their overall experience.
Women between the ages of 25-35 trying to find their style while saving money.
The User
Users shared two main frustrations with the rental subscription service: inventory issues and sizing
100% of Nuuly users had issues with in stock inventory
“I had a destination wedding in FL I had saved items for, when my edit opened that month and I went to rent the items half of them were out of stock”
71% of the participants were irritated with the return process
“I hate not having any items while I wait for my next box to arrive. I wish I could keep some items into the next edit”
80% of participants paused or canceled their Nuuly subscription due to inventory
“I'd add items to my cart, but then some things would be out of stock before I could finish. So, I'd rush to pick items and then be stuck with clothes I didn't even want.”
86% of users feel the process to determine their size was tedious
“I spent hours going through reviews and looking at photos, it felt like a part-time job.”
User Problem
Surprised to learn that although users found it time consuming to determine their size for each item, they were more frustrated by the out of stock inventory.
Ultimately, users feel they aren’t able to receive the items they desire each month and the service is not worth it.
Solution
Users invest time browsing the platform and curating their selections for the month. However, when it’s time to check out, many of the items are unavailable. How might we reduce the frustration caused by out-of-stock items to improve the overall rental experience?
***There's much more that goes on between research and hi fidelity prototypes. I'm happy to do a deep dive into my process upon request.
To improve user satisfaction and address ongoing inventory frustrations, I introduced two new features:
Solution
Reserve for Later - The option to reserve favorites for future deliveries
Item Rollover - The ability to roll items into the next month
Reserve For Later
New feature that allows users to reserve an item for later if it’s not available in the current month or if they want to guarantee it for a future event.
Item Rollover
New feature that allows users to roll over two items into their next edit so they can keep items they love for longer.
Overview of newly added features designed to improve inventory satisfaction and increase user retention
From Waitlist to Wishlist
Reserve For Later
Item Rollover
Outcomes
I conducted a Usability Test and determined the added features increase user satisfaction by providing alternatives for returns or out of stock items.
80% of users said they felt less frustrated when an item is out of stock, knowing they could reserve it for a future edit.
71% of users said the rollover feature inspired them to reinstate their Nuuly.
The new features provides users with peace of mind when renting items for the month, knowing they will receive the items they desire making the service worth it.