Dollar General CX Audit: Making Savings Easier to Trust

Heuristic evaluation, competitive assessment, and in-store research, July 2026

Research Findings

The three streams pointed to the same conclusion. Dollar General does not have a savings problem. Its savings system is one of the deepest in value retail. The problem is that shoppers cannot prove those savings before they pay.

In the app, the heuristic review found that savings and pricing were the largest problem group, with 97 findings, 20 or more of them critical. Deal labels were inconsistent. Prices often lacked an original or final amount. Several deals appeared without showing which would apply, and the system could apply a lower-value coupon without telling the shopper. Coupons clipped in the app could not be unclipped. Core tasks also broke: search returned irrelevant results, some delivery and shipping steps failed, and a payment error could empty the cart.

Against competitors, Dollar General’s savings depth stood out. Adding five essential items to a basket took 36.7 seconds, faster than Target at 45 seconds and Kroger at 47.7 seconds. But trust lagged. Walmart shows savings and total price before payment. Target applies discounts automatically. Kroger ties coupons to shopping lists and store trips. Dollar Tree and 7-Eleven win on simplicity and speed. No competitor in our set combined savings depth, trust, and easy access. That position is open.

In the store, the same gap showed up at the shelf and register. Shoppers planned in the app and then tested that plan against reality. Experienced shoppers built baskets around threshold offers, checked prices one item at a time, and taught each other coupon rules. Newer shoppers did not have these workarounds. The app said an item was available when the shelf was empty, or showed it out of stock when it was there. Shoppers could clip a coupon that looked eligible, but whether it would apply at checkout stayed uncertain. Associates often could not explain why a coupon had failed, and how a problem was resolved depended on the manager on shift.

Shoppers described it in their own words. One review summed up the pattern: “I plan my savings in the app, but by the time I get to checkout, the price is different, the coupons don’t apply, and the items aren’t even in stock.” In the store, shoppers repeatedly checked phones, shelf tags, promo tags, and receipts to answer one question: what will I actually pay?

What this means

The app earns early trust. In the pre-shopping test, participants rated finding deals at 4.4 out of 5, clipping coupons at 4.6, and would recommend the app at 4.6. Confidence then dropped. Inventory trust scored 3.2, and participants rated frustration when savings failed at 1.9, where a lower score means more frustration. Shoppers were optimistic when they started, then grew uncertain as they read coupon terms and checked stock and final price.

The bigger cost is what happens when savings fail. When a promised saving does not appear, some shoppers abandon the items at the register, some pay more than they planned without complaint, and some ask staff for help. Each of those outcomes weakens trust in Dollar General’s savings promise, and the shopper, not the system, carries the loss.

Recommendations

We identified four areas where Dollar General can rebuild confidence:

1. Make savings verifiable. Show applied savings before checkout, validate coupons in real time, and explain coupon rules in plain language.

2. Make inventory trustworthy. Show more accurate stock status and offer substitutes before a shopper commits.

3. Give associates visibility. Show why a coupon failed, break savings down by item, and give staff the tools to resolve problems.

4. Create a consistent recovery path. Standardize escalation and override guidance so customers are protected when a saving fails.

The three research streams all support these areas.

Expected Outcome

If these changes work, the research points to fewer coupon disputes at checkout, fewer wasted trips caused by inventory mismatch, higher basket completion and coupon redemption, and more consistent store experiences that build repeat use. These are expected outcomes based on the findings, not measured results. Most of the baselines needed to measure them are not yet in place, so measuring them should be part of the next phase.

Next step

We recommend moving into Phase 2, focused on mapping coupon logic, building a recovery blueprint, and supporting store teams. The fastest first step is to make the savings rules clear to customers and associates.

Note on sources: The 49 figure counts only the heuristic evaluation. Competitive and in-store results are not totaled with it. The pre-shopping, in-store, and competitive results come from small samples and show direction rather than rates across all shoppers. Business value estimates are left out because they rest on assumptions that have not been validated.

From Research Engagement to Strategic Partnership

How I Led a Customer Experience Assessment That Uncovered Growth Opportunities and Helped Strengthen Long-Term Client Engagement

Overview

A large U.S. value retailer operating 20,000+ locations nationwide approached our team to evaluate the effectiveness of its customer experience across digital and physical channels.

While the initial engagement focused on research and assessment, the broader business objective was clear:

Demonstrate strategic value quickly, uncover actionable opportunities, and build confidence in a longer-term customer experience partnership.

As UX Lead, I saw an opportunity to go beyond a traditional audit.

Rather than simply documenting usability findings, I focused on identifying strategic opportunities, connecting customer needs to business outcomes, and proactively surfacing areas where our team could continue driving impact long after the engagement concluded.

This approach ultimately helped transform a research initiative into a roadmap for future collaboration.

My Role

UX Lead & Strategic Research Lead

I was responsible for:

• Defining the engagement strategy

• Establishing research frameworks

• Leading experience evaluations

• Driving insight synthesis

• Identifying high-value opportunity areas

• Building executive-facing narratives

• Facilitating stakeholder conversations

• Translating findings into future-state opportunities

Most importantly, I focused on ensuring that every research activity generated actionable business value rather than simply producing observations.

The Challenge

The client had invested significantly in:

• Digital savings tools

• Loyalty experiences

• Coupons and promotions

• Delivery and fulfillment capabilities

• Omnichannel experiences

However, there was uncertainty around why customers were still experiencing friction, hesitation, and reduced confidence across critical journeys.

At the same time, our team needed to demonstrate value quickly and establish ourselves as strategic partners rather than tactical researchers.

The challenge became:

How do we uncover meaningful customer insights while simultaneously creating momentum for long-term transformation?

My Approach

Instead of conducting a single research activity, I designed a multi-layered assessment program.

Heuristic Evaluation

Led a comprehensive evaluation across:

• Discovery

• Search

• Navigation

• Product discovery

• Coupon experiences

• Checkout

• Fulfillment

• Account management

• Customer support

This allowed us to identify recurring customer confidence barriers rather than isolated usability issues.

Competitive Benchmarking

Reviewed leading retailers across:

• Value retail

• Mass retail

• Grocery

• Convenience

The goal was not to identify who had the best interface.

The goal was understanding:

• What creates trust?

• What reduces effort?

• What drives confidence?

• What keeps customers returning?

This shifted conversations from features to customer outcomes.

Research Synthesis

Rather than treating every finding independently, I led a synthesis effort that connected:

• Customer needs

• Experience gaps

• Competitive patterns

• Business opportunities

This helped create a much larger strategic story.

The Breakthrough Insight

One of the most important moments during synthesis was realizing that many seemingly unrelated observations all connected back to a single theme:

Customer Confidence

Customers weren't asking for more features.

They were asking for reassurance.

Confidence that:

• Savings would apply

• Prices would be accurate

• Products would be available

• Delivery would work as expected

• Issues could be resolved easily

Once we reframed the problem through this lens, individual findings became much more meaningful.

What initially appeared to be dozens of disconnected observations were actually symptoms of a much larger trust opportunity.

Going Beyond Research

One of the biggest contributions I made during this engagement was proactively shifting the conversation from findings to opportunities.

Instead of presenting:

"Here's what's broken."

I consistently reframed conversations around:

"Here's where customer confidence can be strengthened."

and

"Here's where business value can be created."

This changed stakeholder discussions from defensive conversations about problems to collaborative conversations about growth opportunities.

Strategic Opportunities Identified

The assessment surfaced several strategic themes:

Increase Trust in Savings

Help customers clearly understand, verify, and benefit from available savings.

Reduce Customer Effort

Simplify navigation, discovery, filtering, and repeat purchasing.

Strengthen Critical Journeys

Improve reliability across search, login, checkout, and fulfillment experiences.

Unify Digital and Physical Experiences

Create stronger continuity between planning, shopping, and in-store execution.

Create Competitive Differentiation

Position the retailer between:

• value-retail accessibility

• and mass-retail confidence

A position few competitors currently own.

Impact

While the project began as a research engagement, the value delivered extended well beyond research.

The work:

• Created executive alignment around customer experience priorities

• Revealed strategic opportunities rather than isolated issues

• Identified future areas of investment and optimization

• Demonstrated proactive thinking and partnership-level consulting

• Helped establish a foundation for continued engagement

Most importantly, it showed how UX research can influence business strategy—not just interface design.

What I'm Most Proud Of

This project reinforced what I believe great UX leadership really looks like.

It's not about finding the most problems.

It's about finding the most valuable opportunities.

By connecting customer behavior, experience evaluation, competitive intelligence, and business needs, I helped transform a traditional assessment into a strategic growth conversation.

The result wasn't simply a report.

It was a roadmap, a stronger client relationship, and a clear vision for how customer experience could become a competitive advantage.

Skills Demonstrated

UX Leadership • Customer Experience Strategy • Executive Storytelling • Heuristic Evaluation • Competitive Analysis • Opportunity Discovery • Stakeholder Management • Research Synthesis • Business Strategy • Service Design • Workshop Facilitation • Client Consulting • Growth Mindset • Strategic Partnership Building