Product Ownership: Creating 'GO Delivers' to Overcome COVID-19 Challenges in Luxury Delivery

Solutions & Initiatives

Product Ownership

As the Product Owner for the Application, I was tasked with spearheading the end-to-end development of the platform, but also had to ensure alignment with the company’s operational needs and strategic goals. This involved defining the minimum viable product (MVP) requirements by balancing customer expectations, logistical constraints, and technological feasibility. In the meanwhile, leadership closest to the business began engaging groups of migrant workers displaced by the COVID restrictions to compose a salaried workforce for the delivery service, ensuring that the platform was not only a revenue generator but also a social initiative.

Unbeknownst to me, the largest aspect of my role would actually be to coordinate between operations and technology teams, bridging the gap between business needs and technical execution. This began with regular sprint planning sessions to gather requirements and feedback loops to detail L2 and L3 processes. I had to ensure that the development team had clear priorities and deliverables. Additionally, I led stakeholder alignment meetings to gather insights from restaurant managers, delivery personnel, and executive leadership, refining GO Delivers' functionality to drive operational efficiency and business growth.

Vehicle Routing Optimization

To enhance logistical efficiency, the team tackled the quintessential Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) (I covered VRPs using modern practices during my time at SMU), a complex challenge involving multiple deliveries, time windows, and resource constraints. Using data-driven modeling, I was able to A-B test for best point-to-point routes in the central business districts of Hong Kong. Our offshore developers and operations teams optimized said routes further, reducing delays and minimizing redundant travel, thus saving on fuel costs. Over the course of the coming months, we were able to leverage real-time traffic data on Google's APIs, enhancing the platform’s decision-making capabilities, leading to a significant reduction in delivery time variability (Said variability meant having to give complimentary meals, allaying loss in brand recognition).

Beyond algorithmic optimization, the dispatch teams worked to implement practical solutions, dynamically routing adjustments and real-time driver reporting on group chats based on order priority. This helped ensure the team worked around on-the-ground challenges such as road closures and peak-hour congestion.

Customer Journey Mapping

Given the group’s (a href="https://www.smaply.com/blog/customer-journey-luxury-brands") luxury positioning (/a), leadership made it clear, that no matter the size of order, delivering a premium experience was paramount. From a development standpoint, this meant the end-to-end CX had to be meticulous, identifying critical touchpoints that could elevate the delivery experience. This included briefings for riders and restaurant staff, optimizing the ordering flow, handover protocols, and packaging/delivery presentation that mirrored the in-restaurant experience.

In the first four months, we created an in-house guest taskforce to manually track and match orders with the internal CRM system (Quite a sight to see accountants, GROs, and comms directors all in the same bullpen). This allowed us to track VIPs, large orders, and customer preferences, using data and promotions to enhance cross-selling, which would often be overlooked in a takeaway or delivery context. To ensure service excellence, I developed customer experience guidelines for drivers and logistics personnel, covering everything from packaging standards to the final handoff. Additionally, I established feedback loops by analyzing customer reviews and delivery performance metrics, enabling ongoing improvements. These insights led to enhancements like pre-arrival notifications, upgraded food packaging to maintain quality, and a personalized approach for high-value customers.

Cross-Border Development Management

Managing an offshore development team in Singapore required seamless coordination and clear communication to ensure the product met its ambitious timelines of onboarding. I acted as the bridge between the management team and remote developers, translating business requirements into actionable development tasks in a waterfall model, onboarding modules to the application in a structured fashion. This involved creating detailed user stories, setting sprint objectives, and ensuring all technical components integrated smoothly with internal restaurant management systems (Revel, SevenRooms).

One of the key challenges was aligning the front-end and back-end development while maintaining a consistent user experience. By implementing rigorous testing protocols and conducting frequent sync-ups, I ensured that the platform delivered a stable, high-performance application. Additionally, I worked closely with cybersecurity experts to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and secure customer transactions.

Delivery Optimization

To uphold the brand’s commitment to quality, I designed a logistics model that guaranteed all deliveries within the Kennedy Town to Tin Hau corridor were completed within 10 minutes. This required careful analysis of order fulfillment patterns, driver allocation, and bottle necks through real-time tracking. We were also able to determine hyper-efficient delivery zones with strategic driver hubs in the Central and Wanchai districts.Finally, 'walkers' coordinated deliveries which were near the outlets to minimize transit times, maximize fleet utilization, and reduce stalling.