A Case study on conducting Root Cause Analysis for E-commerce platform

Days ago, I worked on a Problem Statement which went like this, ‘There is a sudden drop in orders placed in the Electronics category on Amazon, As an Amazon Product Manager, Find potential reasons behind it?’. I’ve used Root Cause Analysis method to tackle this Problem Statement & I’m putting down my approach down below.

My Assumptions:
- Amazon has multiple shopping categories, Electronics (TVs, Tabs, Laptops) being one of them.
- Orders placed in Electronics categories have dropped all of a sudden.
- No data other than ‘Orders placed in Electronics Category’ is currently available.

The first and foremost thing to check should be whether the Analytics System (which tracks metrics such as Orders placed, Number of clicks etc.) is malfunctioning. If it is working fine, we can narrow down our approach to external as well as internal reasons behind this issue. So, let’s start with External Reasons.

Potential External Reasons:

Competitors such as eBay/ Snapdeal have launched any campaign which are offering huge discounts in Electronics category.

New Competitor has entered the market and is offering huge discounts particularly on electronic items.

Any famous Public figure or Social Media Influencer faced issues with an electronic item bought from Amazon. His post is getting viral.

Public Protests against imported electronics goods (since Electronic Goods are mostly imported from China) are gaining ground.

Government Policy has been announced on safe disposable of electronic goods /extra taxes on Electronic goods. Electronic items have become expensive now. Consumers are unwilling to buy latest gadgets due to this policy.

Electronics item — Trader’s/ Dealer’s / Distributor’s Unions are publicly accusing Amazon for some reason.

Major electronics manufacturing Company has admitted it produced faulty components. They have recalled their products for Manufacturing Issues.(Issues such as Battery explosion/ Overheating)

News on how electronic devices are responsible for Health Issues is making rounds.

Update on Breakthrough Tech has been announced which might make current electronic devices obsolete.

Potential Internal Reasons:

Amazon has acquired an e-commerce Company which majorly deals with Electronics. This acquisition is grabbing customer attention.

Amazon has launched Sale on Clothing line. This is taking customer’s attention away from Electronics category.

New App Update didn’t give much exposure to Electronics category. Electronic items are less discoverable.

Any Update related to electronics category might contain bugs (Add to cart/ Check out process is buggy for Electronics category)

New Updated App version is too complex to understand. User Journey in Electronics category is not smooth.

New Discount Offers on Electronics (Redeem points/ coins) are complex to understand. People are getting confused while placing orders.

Footnotes:

To conduct Root Cause Analysis, Questions such as, Is it observed in any particular region/ state? Is it observed in specific age group/ gender? Is it happening on Mobile app/ Website/ Both? Is it observed in specific Device type/ App version? could be asked.

Attention should be paid to Social Media/ News Media / Consumer Forums/ App Store reviews to find potential causes.