Optimizing Coop Sweden’s Omnichannel Click and Collect Experience

Coop is not just a supermarket; it is a collaborative institution woven into the fabric of Swedish daily life. With over 800 stores owned by a staggering 3.8 million members, they are a massive entity. However, being a giant in the food industry often means agility is a challenge. As a premier retail design agency in Sweden, Blink has long admired Coop’s commitment to sustainability and community. They approached us because they realized their digital promises were writing checks that their physical store environments were struggling to cash. They didn't just need a facelift; they needed a functional revolution in how their customers interacted with the brand outside of the traditional aisle-browsing behavior.

To solve this, we couldn't just guess. We conducted store audits, shadowed shoppers, and analyzed the "last mile" of the user journey inside the store.

Our strategy was to treat the "Click and Collect" service not as a logistical operation, but as a branded product in itself. Many competitors in the Nordics treat pickup points as utilitarian warehouses—cold, grey, and industrial. As a leading retail design agency in Sweden, we took the opposite approach.

We decided to inject playfulness into functionality. We moved away from standard directional arrows and sterile text. Instead, we focused on "The Living Brand". We aimed to create a visual thread—a literal and figurative line—that a customer could follow from their couch to their car trunk. This required a concept that was universally understood, language-agnostic, and inherently friendly. We weren't just designing a sign; we were designing a behavior.

Implementing a design change across 800 stores is a logistical beast. As a retail design agency in Sweden handling massive accounts, we had to ensure scalability. The design had to work in a flagship store in Stockholm and a small local coop in rural Norrland.

One major challenge was the architectural diversity of the cooperative. Some buildings are modern glass structures; others are retrofitted heritage buildings. We created a modular design toolkit—a "kit of parts"—that allowed local store managers to apply the Walking Bag vinyls, totems, and hanging signage in a way that fit their specific floor plan without breaking the brand guidelines.

We also had to coordinate closely with the digital teams to ensure the app update launched simultaneously with the physical store refits. This synchronized launch was critical to the "seamless" promise.