Metrics question

As a Product manager at a food delivery app, you observe a downward trend in number of orders fulfilled. How would you identify the root cause??

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What this question tests

Structured root-cause diagnosis distinguishing demand-side, supply-side, and operational causes for a fulfillment metric decline.

Clarify orders fulfilled versus orders placed, since a gap between the two points to an operational problem rather than a demand problem.
Segment the trend by region, restaurant category, and time of day to see if the decline is broad or concentrated.
Check demand-side causes: fewer orders being placed at all, possibly due to pricing, a competitor promotion, or seasonality.
Check supply-side causes: driver availability shortfalls at peak hours, or restaurant partners dropping off the platform in certain areas.
Check operational causes: rising cancellation rate from long wait times or stock-outs, showing up as placed-but-not-fulfilled orders.
Propose next steps based on the most likely cause, such as addressing a driver supply shortfall or restaurant partner churn.

Distinguishes orders placed from orders fulfilled explicitly, a key diagnostic split pointing toward operational versus demand causes.
Separates demand-side, supply-side, and operational causes into a clear investigative framework.
Names driver supply shortfalls and restaurant churn as concrete, category-relevant possible causes.
Segments by region and time of day, recognizing fulfillment problems are often localized to peak-demand windows.

How would you distinguish a driver supply problem from a restaurant capacity problem?
What would you do if the decline was concentrated during peak dinner hours specifically?
How would you validate your chosen root cause before proposing a fix?