Increasing Macy's Card Utilization at Checkout

I led creating the UX strategy focused on increasing Macy’s Card usage among existing cardholders by aligning the team on a phased roadmap

Company & role

Macy's Inc.
Lead UX Designer

Timeline & platform

3 months to define strategy & hand off phase 1 designs
Macy's web & app

Credit strategy prioritization

Focusing on the right problem

My team and I assessed the Macy’s credit lifecycle and identified two key opportunities: improving first-time card usage after approval and increasing card usage among existing cardholders during checkout.

While other team members focused on improvements to the application and onboarding experience, I led the UX strategy for the second initiative, helping customers better understand the value of using their Macy’s Card during checkout.

Customer research

A familiar card, but not the default choice

Our analytics and research team revealed that many Macy's cardholders weren't using their Macy's card

  • Cardholders defaulted to alternative payment methods out of habit

  • Macy’s Card benefits were not surfaced when deciding how to pay

  • Customers didn't understand the value (free shipping, points, rewards)

We uncovered the opportunity to present relevant benefits in bag and checkout.

Current state

The existing experience lacks rewards guidance

  • Rewards calculations were inaccurate, harming trust

  • Credit benefits were disconnected from the payment decision, requiring customers to remember or seek out information on their own

  • The points tracker UI was outdated and confusing

My approach

A phased strategy

I facilitated alignment across Product, Credit, Loyalty, and Checkout teams to find the right approach.

I started by defining what the ideal credit engagement experience could look like, then worked backwards to find an MVP that fit within the constraints of the existing backend. This helped us move quickly while still bringing some of the long-term vision into the first release.

Phase 1: Embedded Payment Guidance

The first phase brings the Macy’s Card into the payment section alongside the customer's default payment method, displaying card benefits closer to when customers are deciding how to pay.

Strengths

  • Surfaces Macy’s Card benefits when customers are choosing how to pay

  • Includes a "Set as default" option

  • Lower build complexity enables faster launch

Tradeoffs

  • Focuses on earn rates and card benefits rather than calculated rewards value

  • Relies on existing rewards infrastructure while backend improvements are in progress

Phase 2: Enhanced rewards comparison & points tracker

The second phase adds comparative points value messaging and an enhanced points tracker

Strengths

  • Makes points accumulation and card value more tangible

  • Increases visibility into rewards progress through an improved points tracker

Tradeoffs

  • Requires back end changes

  • Longer path to implementation

  • Requires solving for multiple edge cases and payment states

Tradeoffs

  • Requires back end changes

  • Longer path to implementation

  • Requires solving for multiple edge cases and payment states

Impact & reflection

Driving alignment & long-term impact

  • Defined a phased roadmap to balance speed and impact

  • Aligned Product, Checkout, business stakeholders, and executive leadership (including the CDO and CFO)

  • Enabled a fast MVP launch

  • Created a path for future checkout enhancements

Creating a phased approach gave my team a way to move quickly, learn from real customer behavior, and build toward a more integrated checkout experience over time.

Stay tuned for results and insights from the initial launch. 😎