We had reached an inflection point where the organization had become overly focused on building integrations at the expense of solving our customers' core problems. After three years of learning, it was clear we needed to fundamentally rethink our product strategy to reflect what we'd discovered about what truly mattered to our users. I recognized this strategic misalignment and led the development of our 2026 product strategy to refocus the company on driving real customer value. I began by synthesizing three years of learnings across multiple data sources. I analyzed quantitative metrics including ordering patterns, search behavior, and funnel drop-off rates to understand how customers were actually using the product. Beyond the data, I conducted stakeholder interviews across the organization—speaking with teams on the distributor side, supplier side, finance, and customer service—to capture what they were hearing directly from customers and how they conceptualized the problem space we were addressing. After synthesizing these insights, I drafted the strategy document and iteratively shared it with stakeholders to ensure alignment before presenting to C-suite leadership. The strategy fundamentally transformed how we prioritized and built products. We shifted from spending 90% of our effort on integrations to investing almost 100% of resources toward initiatives aligned with the new strategic direction, with a particular focus on driving order fidelity. Even when we did build integrations, we ensured they were designed and scoped to support this core strategic objective. While longer-term business metrics are still materializing as leading indicators, the immediate impact was tangible: the team reoriented entirely toward creating experiences and experiments focused on driving ordering among retailers, and business stakeholders across the organization aligned around this new customer-centric approach.
Maryana Vrubel
Head of Product & Design
