How Evidence-driven Design Uncovered $200M in Lost Revenue in Pharmaceutical Ordering

When I joined the project team improving a Fortune 10 pharmaceutical distributor's ordering experience, I didn't anticipate the complexity. What seemed like a straightforward digital problem turned out to be a nuanced case study in customer adaptation to unintended systems.

Hidden Pathways of Customer Behavior

This global healthcare services giant, one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors, built an empire supplying drugs and medical supplies to pharmacies, hospitals, and healthcare providers worldwide. Their distribution network formed the foundation of their business model, supplemented by medical-surgical supplies, logistics services, and healthcare technology solutions including pharmacy management software.

Despite their market dominance, something wasn't adding up. Orders were being abandoned at high rates, and no one could explain why.

"We knew customers weren't completing orders, but we couldn't see the behavioral patterns causing it."

The revenue implications were significant, over $200 million annually.

The problem wasn't just technical. Global logistics challenges created a complex environment where customers developed workarounds for inventory shortages. They used the ordering platform in ways its designers never anticipated, parking orders to monitor stock availability and leveraging competing platforms for better pricing.

Mapping the Customer Journey

Our cross-functional team, which included a product manager, data analyst, UX researcher, and product designer, approached this challenge methodically. We needed to understand not just where customers were dropping off, but why they were creating alternative pathways through the system.

The breakthrough came when we stopped assuming customers followed our ordering flow. Instead, we used behavioral analytics to map actual user journeys, revealing five unintended pathways that accounted for 71% of backordering activity.

"It was like discovering secret passages in a house you knew. These customers were resourceful in response to unmet needs."

A revealing pattern emerged around the backordering process. Customers discovered they could use this feature not as intended – to secure out-of-stock items – but as a price-monitoring tool. They placed items in backorder status, then periodically checked for better pricing from competitors before finalizing their purchase.

We uncovered the reasoning behind this behavior through qualitative interviews. One pharmacy manager said: "We're operating on razor-thin margins. When we need to order fifty different medications, even small price differences accumulate. The system wasn't giving us what we needed, so we created our own solution."

Redesigning with Reality in Mind

With this understanding, we shifted our approach from fixing "user errors" to addressing legitimate unmet needs. The solution required strategic improvements and tactical design changes.

1. Strategic Realignment. We developed clearer pathways and guardrails for backordering, acknowledging its dual purpose for inventory management and price comparison.‍
2. ‍Behavioral Design. We created distinct routes that accommodated established user behaviors while providing clearer signals about pricing stability, instead of opposing them.‍
3. Process Streamlining. We rebuilt five critical ordering pathways, focusing on reducing friction points that caused users to abandon their carts.

The implementation faced challenges. Legacy systems needed careful modification, and internal stakeholders needed convincing that unintended user behaviors weren't "wrong" but valuable signals about market needs.