All work
Case study 03B2B ecommerce
Designing for Pik-a-Pak stockists who already know what they want
Pik-a-Pak's stockists reorder items they already know, often by product code. Interviews shaped a redesign with every code listed, precise restock dates and shorter product pages.
- online interviews with stockists
- 6
The challenge
Pik-a-Pak needed a major revamp of their wholesale website for stockists who place large restock orders. The team needed to know what stockists need from a trade site. Trade pricing varies by customer, so prices should show only after a customer logs in. The site still had to look appealing without them.
What I did
- I interviewed a range of stockists online. Each session covered their business, how they buy, and a short usability task on the site.
- I fed findings back to the designer, who built prototypes.
- We then tested the prototypes with users to check they were easier to use.
What I found
- Stockists buy items they already know, in large orders, to restock their shops.
- They primarily search by product codes. Some products have several codes, which could mean a search failed to return the correct result.
- Users needed precise restock dates, not vague "restocking soon" messages, so they could plan ahead.
- They wanted short product pages.
- The site had a lot of bugs, such as dead categories and categories that didn't show all the relevant products.
- Users felt their relationship with their rep made a real difference to how many items they got and how they found new products. Some users had close relationships with their rep, while others received very little communication.
What changed
- I made sure the site listed every code for every product, so users searching by code could always find what they needed.
- I worked with Pik-a-Pak directly to make sure they cleaned up their product database.
- I fed the inconsistent rep experience back to Pik-a-Pak.
- Products now have precise restock dates, which increased customer confidence.
- The designer and I created simpler product pages and smaller product cards, so users could see more products at once.
- We worked out how the site could still look attractive with prices hidden until login.
Testing the prototypes
Testing led to some reworded buttons and a clearer checkout process. Mostly, it gave the team confidence that the redesign worked for users.
Want to talk about this study? Email me or download my CV (PDF).