Online Ordering?
I was just looking at your shop’s site, and wishing the teas had descriptions. Turns out that they do, but I have to highlight the text to see them. Same with the “About Us” section. Maybe adjust the font/background colors to make the text more visible (or is it just my bad vision)?
Wanted to say thanks again for everyone’s comments. To Jaime, recently there was a software update, and apparently all our text was washed out. BUT we just fixed it, so please return and let me know what you think.
Wanted to say thanks again to everyone who has been helping with advice and suggestions. Come follow us at our Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/That-Tea-Shop/108704225852413
I have a few more questions,
So far our site has been up for more than a month, and we have not had any orders…..
My questions to all of you are,
What are we doing wrong?
How should I be marketing this?
What can I do to improve our chances of actually getting browsers to become buyers?
As always, advice is always appreciated.
Well, at the moment I can’t access your site. It appears to be temporarily down?
Seconding that – your link just takes me to a blank page. There are also plenty of other tea blogs and communities online, maybe try promoting yourself in different places.
I don’t know enough about marketing to really advise you, but you should know that on Steepster at least, most of the people you’re talking to are familiar with and order from a variety of companies. So the question you’d need to answer for me is: why should my next order be from you instead of Adagio? Instead of Harney & Sons? Instead of Life in Teacup, or Teafrog, or Dragonwater, or any of the other companies I know I like?
Speaking solely for myself, you’d probably need to carry a broader variety of teas to interest me. When I order from a new company, it’s generally because they have one or two distinct teas that interest me (unique blends, flavors, or origins), and I build an order around those.
If you want to reach a wider audience, I know many companies send free samples to tea bloggers to get their name out there – Teaviews comes to mind, and "It’s All About The Leaf, both are community review sites. I chose most of my first loose leaf teas based on AuthoriTea’s reviews. I don’t know if you’re active on twitter, but there is a tea community of sorts there. Good luck!
It is back, there was a software update again. Please let me know what you all think. Again, any advice is always appreciated.
Nice site, although you don’t ship to Canada so that rules me out as a customer I’m afraid.
It might make your teas easier to order if you had a drop down list of quantities instead of giving each amount its own page. There also doesn’t seem to be anything on the Accessories and Tea Sets pages – I don’t know if that’s deliberate or not. Maybe have a ‘coming soon’ if you don’t have them in stock.
Offering samples, either with an order or for a small price, might also stir up interest. Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback, it helps. I did notice what you were talking about for the accessories, and will be fixing that later today. BUT to see them, when you are looking at the main page, there is an arrow next to the Accessories, Tea Cup sets, and the Tea Sets, those open the categories and you can see what there is. Again, thanks for the help.
Hi, I’m hoping you are still seeking feedback. My advice would be to add some decaf black selections.
I realize that decaf drinkers are a small subset of tea drinkers as a whole, but those of us who prefer to drink a black decaf don’t have any options on your website.
I’m kind of terrible with constructive criticism… I really don’t like to give or get it. But, I’m going to try to be honest. :)
Presentation is super-important to me. When people don’t have an actual product in hand to sample or even just look at, the website is the only thing they have to go on. I admit that I am a bit fussy when it comes to this, and it doesn’t matter how good the product is, if I don’t like the site. (I don’t do a lot of webdesign, but I’ve spent time with it, and my husband is a webdesigner and has run a few online shops and websites. So, I’m probably a little biased, and I know some people wouldn’t even think about it.)
The site is good. I really like the name, which is one of the more important things, I think. Some of the things I would work on, if it were me…
Photography It’s great quality, but they are all the same set-up. Kind of… stock photography? Different pictures would give the teas (and the site) more personality.
Design The interface is good, and I like the colors. I think a logo would help a lot. Again, it would add personality. I don’t know how much control you have over the look of it, because you’re being hosted by ShopsOnline, but I think you would be able to upload a logo. If you don’t have anyone around who would be good at this (or the photography, for that matter) check Craigslist for graphic design students/newbies who are looking to build their portfolios. Cheap labor. :)
Products – I think you have a good selection, but the most important thing for me when deciding on a shop is whether or not I could get the product elsewhere. I think one or two unique products, like a special flavored blend or a very unique accessory would help. Deciding I have to have the ONE thing would lead to a sale, and probably cause me to throw a few old standbys in the cart as well.
…wow. That was kind of a novel.
Novel though it is, it is a great help. I appreciate the insight, and we will be working on all of your suggestions. TY again.
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