Wholesale Buyer App
I led the design from concept to launch for a B2B eCommerce application to simplify transactions between sales and small business owners, while navigating the complexities of California’s cannabis regulations.
Concept to Launch
Scope
3 Months
Duration
CPO, Full-stack Engineer
Core Team
Design Lead
Project Role
Flow Kana
Flow Kana, a leading cannabis infrastructure company in California, invested in platform technology to support every stage of the supply chain. This approach created flexibility in a volatile market and increased the financial return to California’s small farmers, which was at the heart of Flow Kana’s vision.
About the Client
Every stage of the supply-chain represented several distinct workflows and personas.
Head of User Experience
Job Title
Sep 2017 - Nov 2019
Timeline
The Challenge
At the time, B2B customers could only place orders with their account manager through door-to-door sales or over the phone. Our growth was throttled and customers were frustrated by the manual process.
Deceptively Complex
Legal & Financial Constraints
New and shifting state laws limited what was possible and added a high level of complexity. In addition, national banks still declined transactions related to the legal cannabis market further limiting what was possible online.
Highly Competitive Period
The legal cannabis industry was in its initial phase and highly competitive as a result. Where most companies focused on one step in the supply chain, Flow Kana’s mission was to optimize the entire process end-to-end in order to give the highest return to the farmer.
The Research
I had no prior experience or knowledge of the cannabis industry. I took several trips to California to meet with every people from every step of the supply-chain in order to gain a better understanding of both the process and the persona.
Observations
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Store owners, our customers, were already busy with many tasks including managing inventory. They found it frustrating to wait for an uncertain period to know if they needed more inventory. They preferred to order as soon as possible to quickly complete this task.
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Account Managers favored a personal approach when acquiring new customers. This strategy led to a drop in quality of service for returning customers.
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When customers came back to place new orders, it was usually because their initial order had sold out. These customers often wanted to repeat their previous order, with only a few small adjustments.
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Like wine, cannabis has many factors that both customers and account managers consider. When deciding which products to order, we discovered that every customer valued their own method highly and treated it as their own differentiator in a crowded market.
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Given the sensory aspect to the cannabis market (like wine), many account managers did not think that customers would adopt an eCommerce platform and thought it would lessen the customer’s connection to Flow Kana. We needed to ensure that our solution solved our account manager’s concerns as well as the customer’s.
A Token of Appreciation
As a thank you to users who participated in our research, I shared bottles of homemade maple syrup from my trees. 😋
The Solution
A flexible interface that leverages traditional eCommerce experiences to create a feeling of familiarity and trust, yet tailored for the nuances of a dynamic industry and unique buying process.
Fully Responsive Web-App
We ensured both platforms provided a robust browsing experience since our research gave no indication of which users would prefer.
Robust filtering for both experiences was critical since many buyers expressed unique priorities when browsing for inventory.
Before & After
Use the embedded Figma prototype below to compare a simplified version of the customer journey.
Little Details, Big Impact
Reserving Products to Streamline Legal Requirements
The rate of change with state and federal laws made online transactions prohibitively complex and users primarily wanted to place orders quickly. By opting for a simple reservation experience, the experience avoided a massive amount of effort that would have provided little impact on the core problem.
We used an informal tone as an extension of the way account managers interacted. In addition, we assumed the risk operationally if orders were cancelled or changed to expedite the reservation and delivery process. This created trust critical to the product’s success.
Last Order to Cart
We noted that user’s, despite what they said, would frequently place the same order as their previous with some exceptions. We prioritized allowing a user to reserve the same set of items from a previous order.
Due to the speed with which inventory numbers changed, this meant supporting a series of common “edge cases” where some or none of one particular item would be available from the previous order.
Design System First
Given the time pressure and lack of precedent in this industry, it was unknown what information would be most important, most-consistently in how users wished to browse our availability inventory. By prioritizing a systems-first approach to our tables, we were able to easily modify how each card appeared and in what order it appeared in. Several small changes were made as browsing preferences became more clear over time.
Easy Access to Deep Functionality
I decided to hide the powerful search and filtering features to provide a cleaner initial experience that was focused on the products we sold. The application would remember the toggle state of the filter drawer to ensure continuity in their experience.
The Results
I am extremely proud of the results from this project. This was a complex domain that I had virtually no prior knowledge of. From effective user research, we were able to identify areas of focus that would support the desired outcome.
The chart shows Flow Kana’s revenue mapped against YoY industry growth during the same period. The Wholesale Buyer app launched in Beta in the middle of 2017 and later made it available to all customers by 2018.
Major Revenue Contributor
Facilitated over $4 million dollars in revenue in 2022 from 435 customer accounts.
Changed the Sales Strategy
48% of monthly revenue attributed to online sales and evolved the sales model from a ‘push’ to a ‘pull’ as a result.
Critical Differentiator in the Market
Helped position Flow Kana as the #1 brand in its category and was a critical piece of our fundraising.
Revealed Customer Behavior
30% of sales occurred outside of normal business hours, surprising our sales team and opening up new channels.
Looking Back…
Accessibility ConsiderationsI can tell now that contrast and sizing of certain elements are likely difficult for some users. Due to he limited audience of ~400 customers using this product however, this likely did not effect the outcome in any significant way.
Navigation ReworkAs the business grew, it added new categories of products that were not considered at launch. This led to a tabs-over-tabs pattern that I would prefer to have addressed.