Sell It With Cartfly

Happy Thanksgiving From Cartfly!

 

Hoping all of our Cartfly merchants out there have a profitable Black Friday (11/28) and Cyber Monday (12/1)!!

If you still have not put your Holiday Sales Plan together, please read our very informative eNewsletter "Get Your Piece of the Holiday Shopping Pie" to stake your claim in the online shopping frenzy that is right around the corner. Read about tips to boost your sales online, networking advise and creating customer loyalty all year long.

Featured Store: Eyedentity Threads

Eyedentity Threads, an urban clothing market for skaters, snowboarders, musicians and artists, was started in December by Kyle Porter in Denver, CO. All merchandise sold through Eyedentity Threads is printed by hand. There is a wide variety of inventory including shirts, hoodies, wallets, stickers, tanks, and dresses.  They offer multiple designs for most of their items. "Eyedentity Threads prides itself on the quality of the products produced" explains Porter. "We focus on creating high quality products more than creating a large quantity of mediocre products."

As Porter started printing his merchandise for the store, he knew there was a definite need for an online presence to further promote and sell his products. As he checked out how other local stores advertised on Facebook and MySpace, he discovered Cartfly and thought it was perfect. "Cartfly has given me the opportunity to sell my products online without having a company website and without paying large fees to sell my products. This has helped people outside of the city I live in find and purchase my products."

Porter is currently using his MySpace blog to help promote a Holiday Sale he has going on. He is offering specials such as 'buy three, get one free' as well as free shipping. He did not forget to put a time limit on the sale and hopes to reign in new customers with these incentives. Eyedentity Threads has very unique designs and high quality products, so why not help support the local merchants this holiday season and buy something you can't find at the mall.

We’d love to hear about your Cartfly Store success. Email us at info[at]cartfly[dot]com to be a featured Cartfly merchant and we’ll do a story about you!

Coming Up Thursday: Cartfly Tip of The Day

A Friendly PSA from Cartfly!!

Shop online...it's safer!

Featured Store: Grandiose

Grandiose, a vinyl and street-wear boutique that opened on October 3rd, is the creation of Andrew Brearley and his partner Nelson Bautista. After long debates, brainstorms and many drinks they decided to pack up (from Chicago and San Diego) and moved "to combine the things we are both passionate about, music and clothing, and give Phoenix a taste of street culture that we've been a part of for so long. There was no real central place here for people like us to hang out, shop or feel a part of downtown, so this was a perfect opportunity." said Brearley. Based on street culture, Grandiose attracts and serves a wide variety of lifestyles. "We're really aiming at 15-30 year old men and women into streetwear fashion, hard to find brands, and designs that appeal to everyone from punks to preps to nerds to hipsters." 

Now that they had a plan, the next thing they needed was a website. "We didn't have a budget for our website just yet, and we wanted some internet visibility for our store. A few friends recommended us to Cartfly, and since it's free, it worked perfect for us." Cartfly has helped Brearley "show off our wares, and introduced locals to our shop without having to pay a designer for an expensive website!" They also have their Cartfly store on their MySpace page and have been featured in many local blogs.

When asked 'Why people should shop at your store?', Brearley shares "we offer stuff no one else sells in the Valley. We are personable, love to be a part of the community, and are always trying to make the shopping experience with us comfortable." They carry and rep brands that are hard to find anywhere else in Phoenix like The Hundreds, Fresh Jive, Archrival and Miss Wax.

We here at Cartfly wish nothing but the best of luck to Grandiose. Keep your eye on them as they will be hosting gallery shows, in store performances, parties, and events. If you're interested in DJing or having your band play at the shop, contact them directly.

We’d love to hear about your Cartfly Store success. Email us at info[at]cartfly[dot]com to be a featured Cartfly merchant and we’ll do a story about you!

Coming Up Thursday: Cartfly Tip of The Day

Tip: Twitter!

What is Twitter?

According to Wiki, it is is a free social networking and micro-blogging service, that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. 

The 'About Us' page on Twitter says, "In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens—from breaking world news to updates from friends."

Regardless of what "they" say about Twitter it is has allowed people, in 140 characters or less, to more deeply connect, share resources, share online opportunities, collaborate and even poll each other.

We found a video from the good people at Common Craft that will sum this all up for you. Cartfly is loving Twitter, so come follow us!

Featured Store: I-ShopTheWorld.com

Michael DeVries and Sonya Seybold are the founders of I-ShopTheWorld.com. Their mission is to help their customers save money on unique native products from all over the world...and they are doing a great job! They have hundreds of handcrafted/handmade products from specialty food items to jewelry to home decor...plus they even take custom orders.

Michael and Sonya have a big picture plan for their site including online and offline, business-to-business sales of their products. They are also looking at larger scale import/export options to increase orders and sales. There is even a fund raising angle coming soon where organizations will earn a portion of the profits from all the I-ShopTheWorld.com sales generated through their referrals. As if this was not enough, a portion of the proceeds from all sales go to local charities, generally to help the community from which the products were produced.

It was very impressive to see how well Michael and Sonya have embraced the Cartfly model to help grow their business. They have their store embedded on Live Journal, MySpace, Piczo, Xanga, and Blogger. Just a few days ago they even posted a blog post showing off new merchandise and their Cartfly store. According to Michael, "There will be more stores in the future as we continue to expand our I-ShopTheWorld Social Networking and Blog sites to others that also support the Cartfly widget!"

Since this dynamic duo is all about expanding their success via internet marketing, it is fitting that they found out about Cartfly on a marketing forum. It was recommended to them as a free alternative to eBay. "It [Cartfly] provides us with a very attractive and easy to use means of displaying our products to customers all over the world."

We are very proud to be helping a business with such a great reach and tireless work ethic. "Like anything worth doing, this takes time and effort so don’t give up and keep working towards making positive progress towards your goals everyday!" said Sonya. With that kind of advice for others, they have no where to go but up!

We’d love to hear about your Cartfly Store success. Email us at info[at]cartfly[dot]com to be a featured Cartfly merchant and we’ll do a story about you!

Coming Up Thursday: Cartfly Tip of The Day

Tip: Creating Customer Loyalty

Loyalty is not about short-term promotional strategies or appreciation programs that are launched today and forgotten about tomorrow. It needs to be about ongoing customer interactions that consistently exceed the needs and expectations of your customers, even if they are online. Build loyalty through engaging your customers and winning their commitment. This can be measured in customer satisfaction, retention, referrals, sales and profits.

Loyalty is a give and take relationship. A customer spends money, provides their personal data and hopefully becomes a potential advocate for your store. You give your customers recognition, use their information to better meet their needs and may even reward them for their loyalty. Building loyalty is not just about points and rewards though. It is about identifying and nurturing the yield a long-term, reciprocal, value-added relationship. It requires putting your customer at the center of your business process.

Since it costs 5 times as much to bring in a new customer than to keep an existing one, the easiest way to ensure loyalty is through customer service. Customers want to be loyal, so why do they leave? They leave because of a lack of attention to plain-old customer service. If you want your customers to be loyal, follow these tips:

1. Always tell customers what you CAN do for them. Never tell them what you CAN’T do. If they have a problem, give them a solution.
2. If a customer is angry, let them vent. Remember it’s not personal and do not interrupt them.
3. Remember your customer’s name and use it. Write it down during the conversation if necessary so you don’t forget.
4. Always end each contact (email or conversation) with a “Thank you” or a message of appreciation for their business.
5. When speaking to a customer, make certain that your tone of voice matches your words. Remember, your tone of voice can contradict your message. Actively listening and wear a smile even while on the phone!
6. Follow up on your solution. Contact the customer, at a later date, to make sure that their problem has been resolved and they are pleased with the outcome.
7. Ask if there is anything else that you can do for your customer. Taking the time to ask shows the customer that you value them and often results in increased business and a more than satisfied customer.

Coming Up Tues: Featured Cartfly

Featured Merchant: Philip Sayce

Philip Sayce was born in Wales, UK and grew up in Toronto, Canada. Sayce, a very sought after session guitarist, was part of Jeff Healey's band in the late 90's and shared bills with acts like The Allman Brothers Band, Gary Moore, Johnny Winter and even B.B. King. In 2001 he relocated to L.A. and was asked to join the nationally touring band Uncle Kracker. He was introduced to Melissa Etheridge in 2004 and the rest they say is history.

Sayce just returned home from a 3 month tour across America and Canada with Etheridge, playing venues like Madison Square Garden, The Chicago Theatre, the legendary Massey Hall in Toronto, and The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. He also had the honor of performing with Melissa at the historical Democratic National Convention and the Human Rights Campaign in Denver.

Sayce's loyal followers started a Fan Club where fans could congregate, share photos and stories. The President of the Club, Eagle Feather, thought this would also be a great place to sell official Philip Sayce merchandise. He was looking for a solution where he could bring a store directly to the fans. Eagle stumbled upon Cartfly and knew it was a perfect fit. The fans come to the Fan Club page and the MySpace Street Team page to talk about Sayce, meet other fans and the merch is right there.

We’d love to hear about your Cartfly Store success. Email us at info[at]cartfly[dot]com to be a featured Cartfly merchant and we’ll do a story about you!

Coming Up Thursday: Cartfly Tip of The Day