Company
Flieber is a technology company focused on helping multi-channel online retailers optimize their inventory and efficiently operate their supply chains. The system uses advanced data analytics and machine learning to connect sales forecast, inventory availability, and supply-chain decisions in real-time. The result is a drastic reduction in the stock-outs that hurt sales and overstocks that hurt margins and capital allocation. The co-pilot for inventory decisions
Glossary
Channel
Retail channels are the various places consumers can purchase products, including in-store locations, and e-commerce websites. A retailer is omnichannel when is present in most channels, and provides customers with a seamless and unified brand experience, regardless of the channel.
Operator
Responsible for streamlining all e-commerce activities, retaining long-term consumer relationships, preparing promotional campaigns, and managing inventory.
Purchase Order / PO
Legal document form used by a buyer and sent to a supplier for an order. A purchase order specifies items, quantities, prices, and credit terms for a purchase from the vendor.
Transfer Order / TO
Document used for executing the transfer of goods from one warehouse location to the other or from one storage unit to another within the warehouse. The transfer order occurs for the purpose of warehouse management or order processing.
Project overview
Role
Lead designer
Development
2 months
Release
2023
Context
The current landscape of inventory management is characterized by bureaucracy, complexity, and disarray. It involves managing multiple Excel files, emails, and platforms concurrently, all while juggling the demanding tasks of data analysis, decision-making, and day-to-day repetitive chores.
One of the most vital, time-consuming, and repetitive tasks executed by operators or operations teams on a daily basis is the creation of transfers. This process entails thoroughly examining the inventory, meticulously assessing the requirements for each warehouse location, compiling an Excel spreadsheet with the quantities to be relocated, notifying the relevant individuals via email, and manually generating transfer orders (TOs) on Amazon.
For Flieber customers, a substantial portion of this workflow had already been streamlined. However, operators were still burdened with the manual task of creating TOs on Amazon, in addition to the extra effort required to manually update Flieber.
At the end of the day,
why should we build this Feature?
Goal
Centralize all actions required from Amazon sellers to complete a transfer order (TO) in Flieber.
Scenario
INTEGRATION ANALYSIS
POSITIVE
-
Quantities are already suggested by Flieber
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When to transfer is already suggested by Flieber
-
The initial Amazon integration already existed on the Flieber platform
NEGATIVE
-
Flieber doesn't have all the data required by Amazon to create and register a TO
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Amazon has 2 different flows with multiple different APIs for TO creation
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Amazon makes it hard to keep the sync with the created TO on both platforms
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To cover all bases even an MVP would demand a lot of engineering resources
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Make the flow seamless and fast to act on, but still collect all required data.
User profile
SMB
Single brand and operations team with up to 3 people usually. Sells on Amazon.
User
Single operator dedicated to the entire inventory management process.
-
Excel user
-
Medium tech trust
-
Medium tech familiarity
Enterprise (Aggregators)
Multibrand and operation team with more than 3 people usually. Sells on Amazon.
User
Multiple operators and other area leads dedicated to the inventory management process.
-
Excel user
-
High tech trust
-
Medium tech familiarity
Development strategy
01.
Proof of Concept
Make small changes by repurposing preexisting components and flows and making them available for a few customers. The goal is to prove the interest in having such a feature.
Faster to build, and harder to use.
02.
SPD Only
Focus on covering the biggest user case only at first: small parcel delivery.
SMB will be the only ones contemplated by this iteration.
Harder to build, easier to use.
03.
SPD + LTL
Focus on covering the missing user case: less than truckload.
SMB and Enterprise will be contemplated by this iteration.
Easier to build, and easier to use.
∞
Testing and Iterating
Testing sessions, Pendo mapping, data compiling, and improvements after each step.
Flow definition
Style definition
Multistep form in a bottom drawer
Clusters of required data of the form are separated in multiple steps, making the understanding of the complex flow a little more organized. To indicate progress and navigate through steps a stepper component was created.
Because the push to Amazon flow happens within the context of an already drafted TO, but a lot of real state is required, the preexisting bottom drawer component was chosen as the wrapper for the flow. Keeping consistency and velocity in mind.
