What do wish your favorite tea retailers would do that they aren't doing today?
As a tea retailer, I get caught up in promoting our products and services, which means I forget to step back and look at the big picture. What do customers really want? Is there something you are not getting from your tea retailers that you wish they would do? It could be a product, service, promo, etc. Would love to get your thoughts!
-Piccolo
Use good base teas for flavoured blends. Too often it is some generic crap and makes the whole thing taste meh.
I want tea that blows my mind with flavor! :)
I appreciate being able to buy sample sizes of teas before I commit to larger sizes. That is a big hesitating factor for me with buying tea online. Friendly non pushy customer service is a huge plus. I like it when companies list an average caffeine content of a serving so I know what time of day I can drink it. I like feeling good about a company I’m supporting. That can come in the form of their business ethics (sustainable practices, using recycled materials, supporting small farmers in the case of tea, using products that are not bad for my health like too much food coloring)or in supporting causes that they feel strongly about (giving to food banks and other local charities, planting tress or supporting programs in other countries that make lives better). I like knowing that a portion of the money I’m spending on products in general is going to better the world, in what ever form that may be. It’s not a deal breaker if they don’t, but it gives an extra warm fuzzy feeling with that warm cup of tea.
samples, samples and more samples. I HATE having to buy more than 1oz just to try a tea. there are a few companies that i love because i can pick up samples of all of their teas for about 1$ each (a few cups worth)and then can pick which ones to buy.
Option for teas (especially herbal blends) without steiva and/or rooibos, or artificial additives. even the idea of making the otherwise same blend without these included.
and be very clear about which blends have these.
more info on possible side effects of the aforementioned inclusions….
samples or sample packs.
As a Teajo fan, I can say that 2 of the things I like a lot about Teajo is well priced samples (2.95)that average 10 cups per sample, and the fact that the base is good for flavored teas. I also like it when companies throw in a free sample with an order. High shipping costs can be a deal breaker.
I’ll echo the shipping costs. Especially when I see that canada shipping is like 3 times the price of US shipping.
Yes! Teajo’s sample sizes are excellent. I generally make my tea in a 16 oz. mug, and that pretty much takes up the entire sample offered by many companies. If I mess up the steep or my taste buds are off a bit that day I may not like the tea and won’t have another chance at it later unless I buy another sample — which I probably won’t.
I will have to echo two things and add a third.
Echo
1. Samples! I am not always sure about a tea, so if I can’t buy a sample and have to START at 3oz or more, I’m always weary. (Unless there’s a huge sale, but then I end up with the problem I have now that I have like 3 oz of a tea that nobody particularly enjoys, but I don’t want to throw it away!)
2. Cheap shipping! $25 or $30 minimum for free shipping is acceptable. $15-20 is even better! Having a $75 limit for free shipping, then charging $6-8 for any order below that definitely guarantees I am NOT making a purchase!!!!
New
Clear ingredient labels on tea! I don’t do dairy, so it’s especially important when discussing flavors like “chocolate”, “Cream”, “Caramel”, etc. Sometimes they are non-dairy, sometimes they are definitely dairy. A simple allergy warning (or “Vegan friendly!”) is much appreciated! I’ve passed up many orders because there aren’t any ingredient/allergy lists and I just can’t take the risk.
One of my old Teavana favorites that didn’t have dairy before now magically does, though the ingredients haven’t changed… hmmmmmm!
Now that I’ve brought it up, are Teajo teas labeled if they contain dairy? I’m interested in the dark chocolate mint, but am uncertain of its dairy content. I know it just says, “cacao”, but sometimes- for some strange reason- I’ve seen cacao, chocolate chips, and cocoa nibs all used interchangeably though they are very very different items!
I am excited now, as I didn’t know you offered sample sizes before! :D
No dairy in any of our teas. Our Dark Chocolate Mint, Raspberry Chocolate Bark and Dark Chocolate Dream are all made with natural raw cacao (nibs or chips) and no dairy.
Appreciate everyone’s feedback thus far! I’m discovering that not only do we need to do a better job of differentiating ourselves on our home page (www.teajo.com), but we need to be more visible on Steepster. Not many on here know that we:
- use single estate, pure Assam tea in all of our flavored black teas
- use only natural ingredients/flavorings
- offer 10 cup samples for purchase
- cheap everyday flat shipping of $3.75 and free shipping over $35
- have a rewards program, etc. etc.
Looks like I’ve got some work to do!
I might not have been paying enough attention before because I have never ordered from you yet- and your teas sound delicious!
I’ve just been waiting for the next sale since i missed out on the awesome black friday sale you had haha
A lot of things I have seen and heard about your company appeal to me but sadly I don’t like Assam tea very much. I very much appreciate you stating the base of your teas – that is something that companies rarely do and I so really wish they would.
Since you’ve asked about things our favourite retailers aren’t doing – one of the other things I really like, is the ability to create my own custom sampler pack. A lot of tea companies have samplers (which are great!) but the ability to modify them or make your own is really great! Della Terra is the only company i know of that allows for this, but that’s not saying much with my limited exposure. I just know my favourite retailers don’t all do it heh
Speaking of samplers, do you care if the samples are packaged in a nice gift box? Since we just started offering samplers a couple of months ago, we didn’t have time to research the perfect box and just put them in the shipping carton. We can customize samplers, but we don’t have the ability to do that on our website. You would have to email or call.
I don’t personally. All I really appreciate in terms of samples is when they are in resealable packages. I know it’s a bit more work on the seller’s half but i appreciate it, especially when the samples have more than a few cups worth. I hate having to move them to other containers or having to tape them up after use and hope they don’t go stale.
as long as the samples don’t arrive overly dusty, personally, I don’t overly care either way,
though I do keep and reuse nice sturdy boxes to help with household organization, and “branded” shipping boxes from tea companies have been great for quick storing my tea samples thus far.
I prefer resealable packaging for samples as well but I am not too fussed about nice boxes. It’s a nice touch if giving the samples as a gift but I am buying for myself more frequently than not so I would rather not pay more for packaging. I would like to mention that for me a 10 cup sampler is quite big. If I am getting a sample, I expect maybe 3 to 4 cups. If I have 10, it’ll probably take me so long to get through the sample that I’ll never order the full size. Actually, that’s brilliant but probably not a good way for you to make money, heh.
Nice gift boxes just fill up my recycling bin faster. I prefer the least amount of packaging as possible. I agree that resealable pouches especially for samples are quite nice.
I agree on the resealable pouches. And gift boxes seem unnecessary? I mean, you could make them an option, with a price increase IF you choose the box, especially around holidays. But otherwise it seems like it would just jack up prices unnecessarily for most of us, who are buying for ourselves.
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