7 → 2
Steps to order stock
Ordering used to start with an empty shelf. Now it's two steps: open the alert, place the order.
Redesigning how retailers reorder stock and set up weighted campaigns
The problem: Store managers only found out a product had run out when the shelf was empty, and ordering took seven manual steps. Weighted campaigns were calculated and typed in by hand.
What I did: Joined midway as one of two designers and owned two flows, Replenishment and Campaigns, plus the design system. Interviewed 6 managers from 6 customer businesses, analysed three months of real campaign data, and ran workshops and tests with 5 store managers.
Key decisions: Alerts grouped by urgency, one overview to act from, orders with supplier and cost filled in, and two ready-made weight templates after finding that 94% of weighted campaigns followed two patterns.
Result: Ordering went from seven steps to two, with 35% less operational friction. Campaign creation became 25% faster with 78% fewer errors. The redesign is live in several stores.
Part of the Focalpay platform: products and prices set up here power the Cashier POS and the Mobile shopping app.
The Focalpay Back-office is where retailers manage everything the POS and the shopping app use: products, stock, prices and campaigns. Customers ranged from the footwear brand Icebug to supermarket chains like Matrebellerna and Matvärlden.
I joined the project midway as one of two designers. I owned two flows, Replenishment and Campaigns, and the design system. When my colleague moved on, I became the only designer on the team, working with the PM and engineering.
Both flows had the same problem: the system left the remembering, the checking and the maths to store managers.
I interviewed 6 managers from 6 customer businesses, covering both flows. They did real tasks while thinking aloud, and I followed up with questions.
Managers had no warning before a product ran out. To prevent it, they checked their best-selling products one by one.
"Every time base prices change, I'm double-checking campaigns by hand."
Weighted campaigns were set up by hand. Discounts on products sold by weight had to be calculated and typed in, which managers described as slow and easy to get wrong.
Managers found out when the shelf was already empty.
Finding the supplier, working out quantity and cost, and writing the order email, every single time.
Discounts on products sold by weight were calculated and typed in manually.
An empty shelf is a terrible notification system.
Part 1 · Stock
Before, ordering stock took seven steps, and the first one was a surprise.
Before · 7 steps
After · 2 steps
Open the alert
Out-of-stock products, grouped by urgency.
Place the order
Supplier, stock levels and cost already filled in.
Deliveries are then tracked in the app, and overdue orders flag themselves.
One overview, four clear paths, and notifications that point to each of them.
Notifications
Grouped by urgency
Replenishments overview
Four summary cards
Out of stock
Place order → Create order, emailed to the supplier
Setup needed
Set current, min and max stock inline
Incoming deliveries
Awaiting, with overdue warnings
Confirm receipt: full or partial, invoice and notes
Shelf refill
Products to restock on the shelf
All notifications live on one page, grouped and colour-coded: red for products out of stock, yellow for overdue deliveries, blue for products that still need stock rules. Each group says in one plain sentence what needs doing.
Notifications grouped by urgency, each with one clear next step.
The Replenishments page opens with four summary cards: Out of stock, Setup needed, Incoming deliveries and Shelf refill. Managers start from what needs them, not from a list of thousands of products.
Summary cards on top, every product's stock status below.
Alerts only work if every product has a minimum and maximum stock. Products without them are collected in one list, where managers set current, min and max stock directly, in pieces or kilos, without opening each product.
Setting stock rules for 15 products from one screen.
From the Out of stock list, one tap opens the order. Current, min and max stock and shelf amount sit at the top. The supplier's email fills in automatically, and the total cost is calculated from the latest in-cost. Managers can add a second order for another supplier, then send it by email straight from the app.
Out of stock: every product one tap away from an order.
Stock levels up front, supplier and cost filled in.
"Moving stock level to the top sounds like a small thing. For us, it saves 20 minutes a day."
— Assistant Manager, MatvärldenOrders don't always arrive on time or complete. Incoming deliveries shows how many days an order is overdue, and managers confirm each delivery as received or partially received, with the invoice and a note attached.
Overdue deliveries show how many days late they are.
Confirming a partial delivery, with the invoice and a note.
Part 2 · Weighted campaigns
Weighted campaigns, for products sold by weight like fruit or deli items, were set up by hand. Managers calculated each discount and typed it in.
The interviews told me this was painful, but not why. So I asked our supermarket customers for their last three months of campaign data and analysed it myself. 94% of weighted campaigns followed one of two patterns.
So instead of a form where every campaign meant doing the maths, I designed a three-step builder: About → Terms → Products. In Terms, managers choose a campaign type in plain words, including two ready-made weight templates. Each type shows only the fields it needs.
Step 1: name the campaign; dates are optional.
Step 2: two weight templates, next to the regular campaign types.
| Template | Terms | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Template A | Buy over X kg for Y SEK | Near-expiry items · Bulk purchase |
| Template B | Buy under X kg for Y SEK | Premium deli · Small-portion buyers |
In one session, a manager wasn't sure what "Base unit price" meant. Other users with similar businesses agreed: their everyday words were clearer than field names from the database. So the builder speaks the way stores talk.
Nobody walks into a deli asking for the base unit price.
A live weight campaign, in plain words.
What changed for store teams
Steps to order stock
Ordering used to start with an empty shelf. Now it's two steps: open the alert, place the order.
Less operational friction for store teams
Assessed in a workshop with the same 5 store managers, from prospective customers, who tested the campaign builder.
I gave 5 store managers the same campaign tasks in the old version and in the new one, and measured how long they took and how many errors they made.
average task time · 3.6 errors per session · 2 of 5 would use it daily
average task time · 0.8 errors per session · 5 of 5 would use it daily
Faster campaign creation
Average task time down from 4m 20s to 3m 14s.
Fewer errors
From 3.6 to 0.8 errors per session.
"The campaign builder finally speaks our language."
— Store Manager, IcebugLight and dark mode, and the main components
Dark mode
Light mode
I built a design system with a light and a dark theme. Both share the same components, spacing and interactions; only the colours change, so store teams can choose what works in their lighting. Below: foundations, buttons, and inputs and forms.
What I learned
Part of what made the template builder work was the vocabulary. It used the words store managers already used every day. When an interface uses database names, it feels like a tool for the system. When it uses the words from people's jobs, it feels like a tool for them.
The interviews told me campaign creation was painful. Three months of campaign data showed me why, and what to build. Asking customers for their data took more effort than another workshop, but it turned a general complaint into a clear design decision.
Managers shouldn't have to remember to check. When the system warns them early, they act before the shelf is empty.
Looking back
I'd ask for the campaign data at the start, alongside the interviews, instead of after them. The data explained the problem much faster than another round of conversations could.