Studio Behind The Scenes – Selling Online

Today we are doing something a little different & giving a bit more of a detailed insight into the behind the scenes of the Rachael Taylor Studio as we give you tips & tricks for selling online. This is a promotional feature for SenditNow.com. However, my thoughts & words are my own based on my own experience with the service.

Where we sell

The studio’s two main marketplaces are our own online shop & Not On The High Street. Today we will be talking about our experience selling with NOTHS & any hints & tips we can give you for if you are a new seller or you just want to improve your storefront.

Experience in selling

The studio has been selling on NOTHS for 6 years and when we first started selling the marketplace was a lot smaller & there was a lot less competition. We started out with a few small items such as tea towels & cards & we now have a range of over 160 items.

To stand out you really do need to have a unique, good quality, eye catching product to grab a customer’s attention. This means there are a lot more things to think about when uploading your products:

• Invest in good product photography – customers only get one image initially when browsing to judge your product by – make sure it is a good quality one. Also make sure to photograph your product exactly as it would be used
• Relevant & enticing descriptions – make sure your descriptions really explain your product to its fullest potential but also make them exciting to read
• Offer options or personalisation – customers like to feel they are getting something special & unique. Give them choices whether this is through design or colour or the option to add a personalised name, initial or message or even a gift wrap option
• Packaging – package your items with care & attention – really think about packing your items in a special way so that the customers feels like they get an experience when they open it
• Postage – post your items out in good time – a lot of customer comments & reviews tend to be based on delivery time. Use a courier service such as SenditNow to guarantee cost effective, speedy delivery

How to promote your products

Social media can be a hugely useful tool for promoting your products. We currently use most platforms but the key ones are Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. In addition we also send out regular newsletters to a database we have built up over the years.

Our general top tips for social media are:

• Add personality to your posts rather than a direct promotion – we like to ask questions, talk about seasons & encourage interaction with our followers
• Add images to your posts – they provoke more engagement (make sure you set up your images at the correct size for each platform – see this article for sizes information)
• Create ‘infographics’ – these can be as simple as adding text to your images or as complicated as a breakdown of how to use your product
• Facebook adverts are actually very useful at reaching new audiences if you can afford to use them
• The more hashtags the better on Instagram – we tend to add them as a comment rather than to the main post so they aren’t as distracting
• Keep things positive, reply to comments & reviews & interact with your followers
• Make sure you are following magazines & any press – features can literally come from anywhere

Gaining a good reputation

Currently on NOTHS we are at 100% for positive reviews & we have had some really lovely customer comments.

Our good reputation has been the result of several factors:

• Good delivery time – we offer speedy delivery & always liaise with customers if they need their delivery at a more specific time
• Good response time to enquiries – we always reply within at least one day of receiving an enquiry
• High standard, good quality items & packaging – we have made sure all of our items sent out are the best quality they can be & are packaged well

Packaging items

We like to give a customer what we describe as an ‘experience’ when they receive our items, particularly if the item has been bought as a gift & has been gift wrapped. We use materials that match our branding & are also colourful & fun as well as exciting to touch & unwrap such as; coloured tissue paper, twine, ribbon & our own gift-wrap.

We also like to send customers free items such as little postcards or greeting cards to make their package that extra bit special.

For bulkier or more fragile items we take special care to package these up so that they will receive the least amount of damage in transit.

Here’s how we package our products:

• For fragile items we have bulk bought a large roll of bubble wrap, which we line our boxes with as well as wrap around individual items. TIP: We tend to avoid using tape so that it doesn’t get stuck on the items
• Also for fragile items we have a roll of tape with the word ‘fragile’ stamped on which we tape around the box
• For bulkier items we use strong cardboard boxes
• We tape every corner & opening to avoid any possible water damage
• We always mark on the box which way up the box needs to be

Shipping items

When you are an online business (& not a physical store) you have to depend on postal services to get your items quickly & in good condition to a customer. Sometimes you are taking a risk when using standard services as packages get lost or damaged all of the time. This is why we use courier services such as SenditNow which is a fast & reliable service that guarantees delivery to your customers. The service is cheap, super easy to use & is great for both UK & international deliveries. I find the email notifications really useful as I know when my items were safely delivered to our customers which really helps to give peace of mind.

We hope this information has been helpful whether you are just starting out or are struggling with selling online. Let us know what you think!