From Legacy Friction to Competitive Edge

Capitol Distributing faced a significant operational bottleneck: a legacy ordering app so friction-heavy that retailers consistently missed strict order deadlines, yet still expected next-day deliveries. Next-day deliveries is a huge competitive advantage for the company, one that cannot me compromised.

This created a cascading crisis for logistics, warehouse staffing, and customer service. The existing UI buried critical information 4–5 taps deep, making the “quick” task of inventory replenishment an overwhelming chore that users procrastinated on until it was too late… or worse, took so long they’d miss the deadline despite starting early.

Strategy

As the end-to-end design lead, I treated this as a behavioral design challenge. After interviewing retailers, I realized they weren’t just ordering, they were calculating margins and shelf-space in real-time amidst a busy workday.

Visual Urgency & Hierarchy: I overhauled the search and Quick-Add features, reducing the taps required for a standard weekly restock by 40%. Visual updates helped users find their workflow path quickly and reduced noise.
Operational Sync: I partnered with developers to implement custom ordering lists, significantly streamlining the replenishment cycle.
Discoverability: Retailers are always on the lookout for high-performing products as well as new and seasonal items. Integrating suggestions, lists, and reports both surface these products for retailers while opening another avenue for marketing growth with CPG partner brands.

Result

The redesign moved the app from a necessary evil to a core competitive advantage.Post-launch, we saw a measurable increase in orders submitted before deadlines, drastically reducing the strain on delivery and warehouse operations.

By automating workflows and surfacing product discovery, we not only increased sales but also transitioned our sales team from order-takers to strategic category consultants.