This opportunity to build and rethink the order fulfilment process for Ajio B2B and B2C VMS sellers sets some high expectations and I was fortunate enough to get to work on this project which is a very crucial flow for any
e-commerce to achieve and has the potential of impacting millions of sellers.
O V E R V I E W 📖
As a UX Designer in the VMS team, I got the challenge to redesign the entire order fulfilment process for Ajio B2B & B2C.
The initial vision was all about empathising with the sellers. We wanted to understand the seller's perspective – the problems they faced – by talking to them and with the Reliance operations team (as they also handle and connect with the seller side of things more than anyone). This would pave the way for a more user-friendly system for all.
Let’s delve in!
As this was a large scale project which took a lot of time and effort to get implemented, I will only showcase selected parts from the project that will illustrate my thought process, design direction, and the nature of my work. This will provide a glimpse into the approach that led to a successful solution for our sellers.
Role
Product designer
Projects
Order fulfilment
Drop ship bulk management
JIT B2B & B2C
3P Forward
Returns - claim SPF
Goals
User retention
Reduction in clicks
Usability
Duration of fulfilment
Seller growth & performance
Areas to focus
Order processing
Inventory management
Logistics
Returns
B2B and B2C Sellers
JIT and Dropship
Packing and printing
M Y W O R K F L O W 🌟
W H A T ' S T H E S C E N E 🔎
Context
Reliance offers a Just-in-Time (JIT) fulfilment shipping model for sellers. Sellers receive orders, fulfil them in the warehouses, pack and forward them to Reliance, and manage inventory only upon order placement. Reliance then distributes these orders directly to customers from their CDCs, streamlining the process for sellers.
Now we begin discovering “More about JIT & the issues”⚠️
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Secondary research (Competitive study and white paper research)
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A lot of discussions with the Product and engineering teams.
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Calls with the internal stakeholders to discuss their departments and issues they have been facing in dealing with the sellers.
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User interviews and field visits (warehouses/offices) to empathise and understand the existing work flows.
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Discovered current user flow to get more clarity on how things works across the systems.
In this case study I will only be focusing on JIT model (B2B which is one type of fulfilment in the E- commerce industry)
Started understanding the current system first, how it functions - figured out the major insights for the JIT model.
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JIT Delivery
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Longer lead time due to warehouse QC.
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Benefits:
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New seller onboarding.
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Maintain buyer-seller anonymity (for now).
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Seller Capability:
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JIT vs Dropship depends on seller's ability to ship individual orders.
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Major difference in B2B and B2C Payment:
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COD offered.
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10% upfront payment required to process order.
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S E L L E R I N T E R V I E W S 🧐
& Field research
Conducted interviews with sellers to gather qualitative data on their pain points and visited multiple warehouses to observe the order fulfilment process in real-time and identify bottlenecks.
To gain a holistic understanding of the seller experience, I also conducted research sessions with internal teams from various departments to learn about their workflows and the challenges they encounter when interacting with sellers.
A comprehensive research report and internal newsletters were published to share key findings with the teams.
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M A P P I N G & I N S I G H T S 🧭
Through extensive user research, I gained a deep understanding of the challenges. Approaching these insights with a fresh perspective, I delved into each pain point to truly empathise with user needs.
To effectively synthesize a vast amount of research data, I explored various tools, including Dovetail. This platform is invaluable in helping me systematically analyze the information and extract actionable insights.
While I cannot share the full research synthesis due to confidentiality, this document provides a glimpse into various key findings I identified. Here are a few of the most significant issues we uncovered.
T O W A R D S C L A R I T Y 🎬
Having sifted through a vast dataset, here are the critical problems we pinpointed and are tackling:
This is the pack station where seller moves and packs his boxes. As mentioned above, a lot of problems lies in this particular section which leads to other delays and mismanagement.
S E L L E R L I F E C Y C L E 📈
For a better understanding of a journey he follows end to end, this is the estimated map with touch points:
Through further analysis, now the problem statements are solidifying, providing a clear foundation for ideation. This journey map gave more clarity from an ideation point of view.
Here are the concise "PROBLEMS 🚨" in the most simplistic way possible.
L E T ' S S O L V E 💡
Throughout the order fulfilment journey, sellers encounter various hurdles at different stages. We've focused on the most pressing issues that directly effect sellers lives to ensure maximum impact. These include upcoming, open, and packing shipments, which are the stages where sellers experience the most significant delays.
Let's delve deeper and explore potential solutions for open and packing order challenges.
Exploring all the possible use cases by breaking each element from the open and pack tabs separately
Initial concepts:
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Box detail in slider/ no separate screen
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Upfront all packs info and collapsed version
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Multiple boxes and their details in the open tab only
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Article labels warning
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Different ways to show packs and order details & quantity.
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What if there is category wise listing?
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In upcoming they can see product wise/style wise
Brainstormed a lot of concepts to figure out use cases and constraints:
Specific use cases that need to be considered:
1. Seller & Buyer cancellations
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Sellers may need to cancel orders if they lack sufficient stock or resources in the warehouse.
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Currently, sellers can cancel an entire order by setting the quantity to zero (0).
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Preventing Unnecessary Cancellations: Line items within an order that are not assigned to a box are automatically cancelled from the seller's side.
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Seller sometimes don’t process orders which are latest to reduce the chances of buyer cancellations.
2. Filters
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Order date> 30 days data to be shown, past data 30 days will have all orders expired or breached.
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Filtering the categories is reflecting orders which are not even active.
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"Fulfil By" Time: Prioritise Orders for Timely Delivery: This option emphasises how "Fulfil By" time can help sellers prioritise orders to ensure timely delivery.
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Top selling category filter for the sellers having diverse catalogs. This will make the decision faster-what to go in which box.
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Sellers are familiar with SKU IDs, allowing them to search for orders by SKU ID or Order ID is needed.
3. Moving and creating b0xes
(Basically, seller has to pack multiple shipments
in boxes and send them to the CDCs)
This is what we need:
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Box serial number, Box configuration, Box weight, dimensions, heights etc., Open and close box
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How can they edit a box and make changes
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Adding a new box
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Delete and save the box
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Defaulted box
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Box ID at the time of box creation
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All packs belonging to one order ID have to move in boxes before generating the invoice for a particular shipment.
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Partial processing is not allowed currently.
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Packs can be split into separate boxes but not left behind.
4. Partial processing
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At this time seller should be able to split his packs into multiple boxes before generating the invoices. If one order has 3-4 line items and all of them have different weight & sizes, So they need to go in separate boxes.
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Selecting the quantity of order before moving to box and a warning of what is left behind to process asap.
5. Labels
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Individual shipment labels for each pack (pack label)
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Box labels: A label on each box before shipping
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Article label only for B2B2C
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Printer configuration (So that in s single click seller can print all the labels)
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Labels are printed generally while packing but sometimes after packing too. Depends on seller preferences.
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At which step the printing should be done for box labels and shipment labels. Before invoicing, while generating the invoices, while moving to boxes? (Open question)
6. Scanning
6. Orders & Packs
Critical decisions
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There has been a lot of discussion back and forth with the PMs to brainstorm what is the better choice for the seller to move his orders to boxes (As this the main thing to solve)
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Many concepts were discussed with the team.
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After this one week long discussion with the product managers we were all convinced to have a separate overview screen for the box section and an upfront order list. (For ref check below the wireframe)
Later moved on to considering and finding out more use cases on CDC's with the help of PMs and the existing flow:
The importance of CDC in this flow
(CDC is the distribution centre where seller sends the packages)
Proposed initial Solutions
Concepts after ideating for the open tab
In the above mentioned screens there is only one view box section which can accommodate only one shipment at a time so to create multiple at the same time basis on the CDC we need to do something else.
"Multiple shipments getting processed at the same time in different CDCs"?
Sub tabs under tabs, these CDCs are now like buckets each one have a separate view box section which means each cdc can have multiple shipment created.
Latest box: This overview section is what creating a lot of information clashes.
Now finding ways to remove it because the info displayed in this box is not that important.
Crucial decision making on "Orders X Box creation X CDC"
While initial discussions revealed mixed opinions on using tabs, we ultimately recognized it as the most effective solution for navigating the complexity of the CDC section.
Also, Implemented "All Orders" tab for comprehensive order visibility. This empowers sellers to view all orders, regardless of CDC, facilitating a complete picture of their order volume.
Resolving the CDC issue created a more intricate user experience for box management. Key functionalities for sellers now include: creating boxes, viewing box contents, editing box details, managing box state (open/closed), deleting boxes, closing all boxes, and tracking total boxes and items per box. This screen requires a comprehensive redesign to account for these expanded functionalities.
How can we ensure seamless integration between the CDC solution and box actions?
Multiple iterations later on each of these elements covering multiple use cases for the CDC X Box overview X Move
Seamless Integration with Carriers: Crucial for a smooth flow
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One Shipment can have one carrier partner only and one CDC
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If a shipment is created, only one CDC orders can be added to it and one carrier can be assigned.
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Orders from same carrier can only be added in one shipment.
Ideation on carrier:
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After considering these points, I presented all ideas to our stakeholders, we discovered multiple scenarios related to the carrier partners.
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One of our project PM suggested to have this option of having carrier as filter because we do not have many such cases at the moment where we need multiple carrier partners as 99% of the carrier partners is only 'one' carrier.
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So, instead of having 'carrier' tabs which will confuse the user more its better to have it as an automated filter at the top.
So yeah, just how I explained all the use cases and scenarios for the 'shipments moving to box' along with CDC and carriers. This is how I solved other elements of this flow as well.
Like the cancellation flow, upcoming orders flow, modification, manifest, invoicing and so on
Ready to see some final ideas? Let's dive into what emerged from our problem solving phase!
That's not all! We've got more to unpack.
We addressed the majority of identified issues, but there's always room for iterations. An adventurous UX challenge was waiting for me!
We received another set of business and product challenges which were needed to be solved before moving ahead but why now? What are these challenges? Why did we face them? ... it's yet another story to tell.
Early stakeholder engagement is crucial for effective mental model shifts. This collaborative approach ensures everyone is on the same page from the outset, maximizing design efficiency and output quality.
So now was the time for me to co-create with my developers/ engineering teams/product and business teams. Our initial idea and vision stayed the same but we had to tweak it a bit to accommodate new use cases. Let’s look at the feedbacks of stakeholders to understand deeply of what actually needs to be done next?
The Iteration phase starts now!
How we navigated our boat towards success in the middle of all the challenges that kept coming? 🚀
C O N S I D E R A T I O N S
For Design adaptations
Multi-user login confusion:
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If Agent 'A' processes BlueDart orders for CDC X and logs off, will Agent B see those open orders upon login? (and vice versa)
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If both agents create boxes for the same Ship Rocket-CDC X combination, which open boxes will each see?
Mid-session logout
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Unclear progress upon login. How will users see what was in progress, open, or processed before logging out?
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Limited Multi-Order Selection: When processing orders, sellers can only select items with a valid OLSK. This restricts them from creating shipments that combine orders with and without OLSKs, even if they share the same carrier and CDC.
Limited data access:
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Users lack clear visibility into which orders are currently being worked on within a shipment, leading to potential data conflicts.
Partial Order Shipment Confusion:
The system creates a shipment when any item from an order is moved to a box. This creates a problem:
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The backend can't distinguish which remaining items (from partially scanned orders) are still in the open tab.
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These unscanned items are already linked to the shipment, making it unclear which orders they belong to.
Challenge: Order Selection Clarity
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Currently, the backend system struggles to identify which specific orders are included in a newly created shipment at the packing station. This lack of clarity leads to two issues:
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If the seller doesn't scan all intended orders, the backend can't differentiate between completed and on hold orders.
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Understanding of OLSKs
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Multi-user Order Management
A problem well stated, is a problem half solved.
This problem-solving stage is what I truly enjoy, though we got a lot of new use cases to cover in this phase but brainstorming solutions and taking up these challenges head-on is always fun to me.
As I said This project had been through a rollercoaster ride of new ideas and solutions everyday. This time, it is with more deeper understanding in terms of development areas from backend logics to frontend constraints.
Way to solve our open orders and packing the boxes
Open tab
Pack station
Shipment tab
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Moving a single line item triggers two actions:
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The entire order gets sent to the packing station.
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The specific line item you moved gets placed in its designated box.
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Any remaining line items from the original order stay in the same tab, but are now categorized as "partial."
R E F I N I N G C O N C E P T S
One more time
After all the discussions I had with the developers up until now, I was onto developing/Re-iterating new concepts considering all the limitations in mind.
Each of the elements in this case study had been through a lot of ideations and multiple rounds of iterations including the earlier problem that i mentioned like assigning orders, upcoming orders, invoicing and so on. Here for the process I am only focusing on open orders and packing station where movement of shipment is happening.
Iterating my way towards success🌻
Only a few new use cases on cancellation indicated that we need potential friction with the cancel button and a need for bulk cancellation functionality was there. Through brainstorming with Crazy Eights, I developed a solution for the cancellation flow too that will be detailed out in the final designs.
U L T I M A T E D E S I G N D E L I V E R Y
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Move to pack station: Orders can be moved from ‘open’ to ‘pack’ from here.
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CDC will be used as sub tabs where seller can process orders independently in parallel.
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Seller can search by Order ID or SKU ID
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Category filter: To make seller’s decision faster basis on the category he can decide what to pack in which box.
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Dispatch by: will be alarming for the seller to keep a track of time while shipping.
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List of orders will only show the order ID and details of order ID can only be fetched when seller expands the list.
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Clicking "Modify" opens a modal window, allowing seller to modify either the entire order or specific line items within the order.
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The default view will show orders from the past 30 days. This acts as a global filter, automatically additional filters will be applied within that timeframe. To see all orders, simply remove the 30-day filter, and the list will reset.
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When any category is selected, all the orders having those category items will reflect along with other line items.
Modify or cancel :
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All items can be cancelled with 'cancel all' button.
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(-) minus button will be enabled by default i.e. he can only reduce the quantity. Once reduced, seller can use plus button until the update CTA has not been clicked.
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Once updated the 'process quantity', rest all will be cancelled and a warning will appear to reconfirm.
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A confirmation window will appear when the seller clicks "Update" to ensure they intended to cancel the order with the adjusted quantities.
Selection of orders:
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Once the line items are selected, system will automatically filter same carrier and Olsk statuses basis on that selection.
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Carrier logic: If 'Bluedart' is applied then the system reflects all Bluedart orders which then checks for the true state of OLSK.
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Selecting these orders confirms acceptance and packing, triggering an acknowledgement to the backend.
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Pick list can be generated by pdf or by excel to help the pickers.
Assigning & Re assigning:
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Assigning orders: both Sellers and Managers can assign and re-assign tasks, Sellers can also select a Manager to oversee their work with a self assign option as well.
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A long list of agents will be displayed in a manageable way with pagination. This allows seller to view 50 agents per page and easily navigate through the full list.
Packing station:
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During packing, sellers can select specific quantities to move into boxes. Remaining items will be held in the pack station area until the invoice is generated.
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Sellers can create a flexible number of boxes to meet their individual packing needs.
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Line items which are not allocated to any box will be cancelled during the generation of invoice.
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Global checkboxes for bulk selection.
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If one whole order is selected using the bulk checkbox then other individual line items belonging to other order IDs can also be selected.
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Any order ID can be removed from packing station, with all its line items to the open tab.
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Shipment can be deleted: ALL items will be removed to the open tab.
Box management for shipments:
Management of Boxes:
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Default box is created with box type default- can be changed using the box type dropdown.
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To create a new box, seller need to save the currently open box. Only one box can be actively edited at a time.
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Box can be deleted and the content inside the box will be removed to open state again.
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Optional weight input field for the seller to enter for logistics purposes.
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He can select box types from the dropdown or if needed he can also create more box properties.
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When all boxes are saved, seller can generate the invoice and move forward.
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Clicking "Generate Invoice" will trigger a quick check to ensure all items are assigned to boxes. Any unassigned items will be highlighted, allowing seller to review and add them before finalising the invoice.
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‘Print all’ is for printing bulk article labels and box labels.
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A red dot will appear on edited boxes, prompting sellers to double-check labels for accuracy before finalizing.
Automation for scanning:
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Click "Scan and Move." The scanner instantly activates, ready to capture item details. Sellers can scan items using either SKU codes or unique packaging Jio codes.
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The scanner works for all the orders present in the current open shipment.
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When he scans any product the total number of pcs will reflect and seller can select how many quantities he want to move to the box.
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Rest all will go back to the open orders in pack station.
Log of open shipments - Pack tab:
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This pack tab is a log of all the shipments created from open tab, the status will remain open until the invoice is not generated.
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This is for the seller to keep a track on all the shipments that has been created in a particular CDC.
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By clicking on the hyperlink (shipment no.), seller can go to the pack station to see what all orders are there in this shipment and the boxes created respectively.
Upcoming orders:
The ultimate Handoff
This project aimed to establish a seamless design-to-development handoff process, minimizing back-and-forth communication and ensuring smooth implementation.
Here are my key strategies:
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Early Developer Involvement (Post Ideation): Engineers were actively engaged from the initial stages of design iteration. This fostered a collaborative environment where limitations were discussed upfront, preventing future roadblocks.
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Transparency and Communication: All design decisions and crucial considerations were documented and communicated transparently throughout the process. This kept developers informed and ensured alignment.
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Comprehensive Documentation: Each screen was meticulously annotated, detailing use cases and potential scenarios for optimal understanding.
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Interactive Prototype: A detailed prototype showcased the user interactions within the design, enabling developers to visualize the user experience.
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Continuous Collaboration: To avoid surprises and maintain control, regular communication with developers was maintained throughout the development phase. This facilitated on-the-fly adjustments as needed.
