cybersix Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hi all, this is my last thought to try to gather interest from site's visitors..I read here and there and I was thinking to organize it like this:-party last two weeks;-hostess has a 20% from the total sales (without shipping) if the total is more than 50 euros ($70 more or less). I thought of doing so to keep it simple..-hostess can use the credit immediately or accumulate it.I'm doing my own invitation card, I will complete it with hostess name and dates, them make a PDF out of it to be sent via email or printed.Any opinions? Suggestions? Something I should be warned about?TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpowell Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 We have done several online parties. Sometimes they are great, sometimes the person sells nothing. But there is really nothing to lose.We do the same thing as far as sending the host/hostess an invite card announcing the party with the dates.Also, for the percentage of sales we simply send them a gift certificate to their account on our site for the value that they can use how / when they would like.Overall I'd say if you find people have an interest in hosting a party it can be a great way to bring others to your site. Word of mouth is great advertisement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 thank you.I don't have a cart on the site, so I will keep track of hostess credit by hand, but as you said it's a zero cost way to spread the word out there.. or at least I hope!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSoaps Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I'm not trying to sound antagonistic, just asking a question... If you do not have a cart on your website, how are you planning on collecting orders? I'm assuming email or phone. That's fine if you are.Just a word of advice from someone who's been working through the internet only, a retail website really needs a fully functioning shopping cart, where the customer doesn't need to interact with me at all. Now before someone accuses me of being hypocritical , since I ran my supply site for about 5 months without one, taking all orders by phone and email, it's a little different. We're a community. Soapers, Chandlers. Most of my customers already knew me from the groups and this forum. It made it so there's a lot less hesitation in contacting me with critical financial information. But the people who will be invited to these online parties, they won't know you at all. And human nature, very simply, will make them much more hesitant to call you up, and give you their credit card information. Like I said, I'm not trying to be antagonistic, I just wanted to make sure you viewed your set up from a customers point of view. It's not very expensive to set these things up nowadays. A lot of shopping carts are free nowadays. You'd just need to make sure they have the capability of collecting credit card information. That info is then sent to you for you to process with your merchant of choice. Other merchant systems process the card completely, and you don't even need to worry about it or handle the information (these do tend to be a little more expensive though).The concept is wonderful. I had toyed with the idea about a year ago, and got sidetracked. But I should look into setting it up again. Actual home parties are hard for me to do time-wise. And with gas prices, people are reluctant to come to them, even if they are close. That and people are busier and busier these days. This seems like a nice relaxed way to go about it instead!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I don't have a cart on the site, so I will keep track of hostess credit by hand, Even with a cart, I still have to keep track of hostess credit by hand, as I don't think there's a way for my cart to track it. It's best if the hostess is paid by store credit/gift certificate rather than cash as it's "cheaper" for you that way. For the invitations, you could also have the option of having the hostess send out her own, instead of using yours. I think most people make the invitation instead of having the hostess do it, but for me personally, I don't pay much attention to emails coming from someone I don't know. Even if the hostess (whom I know) sent it to me, I can tell that it wasn't written by the hostess, and usually I won't pay much attention if I know my friend did not write it personally. But that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 Soaperworkshop, thanks for the insight.i don't have a cart now because of many reasons, I don't have the time to build an online shop, don't have the money to pay someone else to do it (and I'm such a perfectionist and jealous of my things that I would never pay someone even if I had the money!) I didn't find a way to set up things for a cart. For example, I let people choose how they want their pillars, colors, fragrances and so on, I don't make pillars in one color and the colors could not match the scent if a customer wants..I'm trying to OPEN OsCommerce, my time is so limited that i don't have the time to seat down when I'm home. I intend to build a shop and a cart but it requires time and a careful planning. I don't make this for a living, it's more than a hobby but not yet a business. I have so few orders...for now it worked well, people can pay with paypal or credit cards, I send the invoice and everything is done. This would be one more of the things I do, it can't do any arm and when and if I will set up a shop it will be ready.Italian are not so used to online shopping. they (we..) are "old style" and prefer a human contact, so for now things can go this way. when I'll take a break from this big order I'm on I will think at the cart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Sabrina, if Italians are more "traditional" in their shopping behavior, then there is probably no rush to create a cart. But if/when you decide to create one, one way to do it quickly would be to have the item default to a "standard" color for each fragrance. If they want it customized to a particular color, you could have them input in the message area what color they want. Obviously this isn't the best way, but it's a simple way to get a cart out there quickly. Besides, some people do not want to think too hard when they are making a purchase! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 Sabrina, if Italians are more "traditional" in their shopping behavior, then there is probably no rush to create a cart. But if/when you decide to create one, one way to do it quickly would be to have the item default to a "standard" color for each fragrance. If they want it customized to a particular color, you could have them input in the message area what color they want. Obviously this isn't the best way, but it's a simple way to get a cart out there quickly. Besides, some people do not want to think too hard when they are making a purchase!Thanks Sudsnwicks.I already thought of something similar, but my idea was more complicated!! I wanted to put a choice listo for color 1 then one for color two.. one for "finishing" (rustic, chunky..) and one for the fragrance. It can be done, yours is a easier and quick way, so I may think about that first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 If your hostess does not mind the extra hassle, you could give the customer the option of calling /emailing you directly to order, or submitting their order through the hostess. I think some people could be shy to call or even email to someone they do not know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 If your hostess does not mind the extra hassle, you could give the customer the option of calling /emailing you directly to order, or submitting their order through the hostess. I think some people could be shy to call or even email to someone they do not know.Good idea, I will add this option on the page. I already uploaded the candle party page today, I will track visitors to know if they look at it or not.I understand that having a cart could make things easier, and I just realized my hosting doesn't have any cart support, so I should look for another hosting service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 One more thought - you could have a PDF version of the invitation as well as a text version which the hostess can just include in the body of her email. I don't know about others, but I am very lazy to open attachments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 I was planning a PDF invitation, I could tell the hostess she can write her email as she want and if she want she can include the pdf I send her.. I'm afraid that the hostess could forget something important to say to her guests, so I prepared a full info invitation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I'm afraid that the hostess could forget something important to say to her guestsWell, as far as I can think of, the only thing she really needs to tell her guests is the party start/end dates and for them to mention the hostess name when they order. Even for the dates, I tend to be flexible, and if someone were to order a little before or after the party, I don't disqualify them. So the only really important thing is for them to mention the hostess name, and if you tell the hostess they need to do that so that she can earn her rewards, I'm sure she won't forget! If she forgets the other things, it's probably no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 Uhmm yes you're right, after all is in hostess' interest trying to remember to include what she needs for the party..I can tell you probably nobody will be interest in this thing, after all my mailing list members don't even order the free tarts I offer them... but it's a funny idea, so I'm happy to try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I can tell you probably nobody will be interest in this thing, after all my mailing list members don't even order the free tarts I offer them... but it's a funny idea, so I'm happy to try it!I can tell you too, that I don't do a lot of parties. The feature is available but I haven't actively promoted it. But I figure, the webhosting company isn't charging me extra for putting these extra paragraphs in, so why not, as I've got nothing to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 I can tell you too, that I don't do a lot of parties. The feature is available but I haven't actively promoted it. But I figure, the webhosting company isn't charging me extra for putting these extra paragraphs in, so why not, as I've got nothing to lose.:highfive: that's exactly my way of thinking, it has no cost so why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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