Modernizing the Hershey’s B2B ordering experience
Customer.Hersheys.com was Hershey's legacy B2B ordering experience for direct-order customers.
Challenge
Low adoption, high abandonment, and inaccurate pricing were creating friction throughout the ordering experience and limiting customer confidence in the platform.
Challenge
I led a cross-functional team in creating a net-new ordering experience and adoption strategy designed to increase customer confidence, simplify ordering, and support long-term platform growth.
Outcomes
Secured executive alignment and funding by delivering a comprehensive vision, experience strategy, and implementation roadmap.
Defining a best-in-class experience
Hershey's approached the transformation as a two-phase initiative, with Phase 1 focused on strategy and solution definition, and Phase 2 reserved for internal implementation.
As Design Director, I led multidisciplinary workstreams to deliver Phase 1 in just 20 weeks:
Vision Setting (3 weeks)
Facilitated stakeholder workshops to align on business goals, KPIs, industry trends, and product vision.
Discovery (6 weeks)
Synthesized existing research and analytics, conducted market analysis, and defined customer segments, journeys, strategic opportunities, and key capabilities.
Design (11 weeks)
Led the end-to-end design of the future ordering experience, including information architecture, content strategy, product capabilities, visual direction, scalability planning, and go-to-market recommendations. Usability testing was conducted to validate solutions and refine the final vision.
Introducing Hershey Orders
We transformed Hershey's end-of-life ordering portal into Hershey Orders, a modern B2B commerce experience designed to simplify ordering, increase customer confidence, and support the evolving needs of direct-order customers.
Increasing product visibility across the journey
A key business goal was increasing visibility across Hershey's portfolio while helping customers discover new products throughout the ordering journey. To support this, I architected merchandising capabilities that surfaced relevant brands, products, and promotions across key customer touchpoints.
Featured brands and products surfaced throughout navigation and homepage experiences.
Promotions personalized by customer segment and geographic region.
Product recommendations integrated throughout the purchasing funnel.
Eliminating guesswork from order qualification
Hershey Orders required customers to meet a minimum order weight before checking out, but there was no easy way to track progress toward this requirement. To reduce friction and improve order completion, I introduced several enhancements:
Standardized product imagery, Material ID, and quantity weight across the experience
Persistent weight tracking that provided real-time visibility into order progress
Together, these improvements helped customers understand ordering requirements and confidently complete purchases.
Making pricing and availability transparent
Research consistently identified pricing and availability visibility as a major source of friction in the legacy portal. Customers could not view either until checkout, creating uncertainty throughout the purchasing journey.
To address this, I worked across product, business, and technology teams to align stakeholders around surfacing pricing and availability directly on the product detail page. This required balancing customer needs against business and technical constraints, ultimately creating a more transparent purchasing experience that enabled customers to make informed decisions earlier in their journey.
Optimizing a high-value customer workflow
Research revealed that Quick Order was the most frequently used feature in the legacy portal, making it a high-impact opportunity for improvement. Working closely with my team, I prioritized and designed new capabilities that streamlined repeat purchasing and reduced friction for high-volume buyers.
Product recommendations for out-of-stock items
Upsell and cross-sell recommendations based on order contents
CSV upload templates for bulk ordering
“
I feel this is a strong design, visually appealing and comfortable, while at the same time intuitive and easy to use.”
– Usability Testing Participant
Positioning Hershey Orders for adoption
Given how strongly customers had rejected the legacy portal, Hershey Orders needed to be positioned as more than an upgrade. It needed a compelling value proposition that could rebuild customer trust and drive adoption of an entirely new ordering experience.
To support this effort, I helped define the product's positioning, identity, and value story, ensuring the experience reflected customer needs while remaining true to Hershey's brand.
Positioned Hershey Orders as an innovative leader in snacking while remaining rooted in Hershey's brand heritage.
Grounded the value proposition in customer research and the unique needs of B2B buyers.
Developed the tagline "Business Made Sweeter" to clearly differentiate Hershey Orders from Hershey's consumer-facing experiences.
Delivering on measurable outcomes
During vision-setting workshops, we aligned stakeholders around a shared set of business and customer KPIs that defined success. These metrics guided prioritization throughout the engagement, ensuring every recommendation was intentionally designed to drive measurable outcomes.
Increasing engagement
Personalized products, content, and recommendations tailored to customer segments and regions.
Transparent pricing and weight tracking that increased confidence in ordering and reduced friction throughout the purchasing journey.
Increasing return visits
Enhanced capabilities for faster reordering and order management.
Merchandising experiences tailored to customer segment, geography, seasonality, and purchasing behavior.
Increasing average order value
Expanded merchandising, promotion, and upsell opportunities across navigation, product listing pages, product detail pages, Quick Order, and cart experiences.