Excellent reply, thank you. I agree with you. A business owner should take it upon the expense in fixing a wrong. And I am not saying that Dayphne of What a Pup Wants is right for ignoring an obvious problem. The customer made a purchase and with all the scary things going on with stolen identities and credit card numbers (this just happened to me last week); the product should have been shipped on time. But, I also know in business -- there are TWO sides to EVERY story.
I always tell online retailers to NOT drop ship. With so many designers selling retail on their website (something I advise them NOT to do); when they drop ship a product to your customer and you don't have a packaging agreement in place, you risk losing that customer. Why would the customer shop from you when they can easily shop from the OEM/Designer? It feels almost like privilege to do so.
But I am adamantly against Designers competing against the very people who put them into business in the first place. They should not sell retail. The only sort of ecommerce they should offer is wholesale and yes, a gallery of images/descriptions and route all potential customers to their retailers.
I understand the benefits of drop shipping, but it is not helping you build your brand. You are, effectively, building the designers brand. Also, every one of the 30 designers I represent, don't drop ship. I want them to focus on designing. The better they are at designing and focusing on upcoming trends, the better off and more successful retailers will be. I am sure we can both agree on that.
Regarding your website:
www.imapreciouspup.com, I did check out your site and am very familiar with many of your designers. I seem to have a knack for looking at particular product and knowing where it came from.
I do have a few suggestions for you that will only increase Internet traffic for you:
-In your page titles: drop the word "item" and use the following to build brand and attract customers: "Im A Precious Pup Luxury Online Pet Boutique - Luxury Dog Products & Pet Boutique - Designer Dog Clothing for Teacups and Small breeds - Yorkies" (don't use the quotation marks)
You will notice a serious increase in traffic. The top search engine keywords, besides dog toys are:
luxury dog products
pet boutique(s)
luxury
dog
designer dog products
teacups
yorkies
Do you receive some sort of webstats? You need to track your users on your site and see what your most popular product offerings are. At first glance, I personally and professionally think you have too many products on your website. Keep in mind that the average online consumer of luxury dog products doesn't have the attention span to go though every page and look at all the various dog products. Gorgeous as they are, I advise you to keep your top sellers and focus on no more than 6 styles. You can always change product every 2-3 months.
Also, when I click on any particular link, I want to be taken directly to the page that sells any particular product. I don't want a box to appear before my eyes in which I have to scroll and select. Trust me on this one, remove those boxes - have the links connect directly to a page that offers all your designer beds, toys, collars, harnesses, clothing, etc. and your users will be much happier.
An online website is all about the user’s experience. Make it easy for them.
Another thing I noticed: you mention where your products come from. REMOVE all designer names from product descriptions. Did you know that the vast majority of users that go to online pet boutiques are people who OWN online and offline pet boutiques? Yep....you are advertising to them what you offer in product. Essentially, instead of them doing the research for their own pet boutique (i.e. sourcing), they can go to your website read who the product is made by and google that company.
Protect your product offering. Don't make it easy on future direct competition and indirect competition (offline).
Also, you may want to proofread your Policy (amd = and) - I am just picky about that..sorry!
Well, I know you didn't ask for my advice on your website, but I have a pretty hefty background in ecommerce consulting and producing successful pet boutiques; both on and offline.
Please take my suggestions positively.
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Originally Posted by BrookeB676 I would just like to add that I have a business very similar to my spoiled pup, bark pups ave aka what a pup wants, and although I can respect what you are saying, I do want to make it clear that one of the reasons that I have nearly zero returns or complaints is because I follow my orders through from beginning to end, and if it takes me 24 hours to sit at my computer to write emails, I make sure that I let my customer know that their order has been sent and if there are any problems/concerns feel free to contact me. IMO There is no excuse for someone not receiving an order, I couldnt even comprehend losing one. I feel that if you are in this business you have a responsibility to your customer, the person who is investing their hard earned money in your product/service, to make sure that they are receiving what they are paying for. And you cannot blame it on dropshipping. Businesses (which many are doing today) are dropshipping everything. I started out that way as well only stocking some items, but I quickly changed because I didnt want the fate of my business to be relied on another company, even if they were my vendor. Of course not everything can be stocked, but when I do have a dropship order for a stroller or carrier, I personally call the company after placing the order to stay on top of it and make sure the right item gets shipped at a reasonable time.
What I really want to say is that although business owners, especially in this industry, may run into some issues, that shouldnt be at the expense of the customer. My dad has been in business in Houston for over 30 years and has taught me some valuable lessons when it comes to running a business. You have to have a passion for what you do, you have to take it seriously, and if something goes wrong, you have to take care of it at your own expense. That is why I am in business, I am not perfect AT ALL, however I get things done at my own expense rather than the customers, because that is part of the responsibility of owning a business. |