Wednesday, June 24, 2020

The Big Move Happens on July 1!


Hey, STAMPlorations friends! A little over a month ago, I began the process of moving the STAMPlorations store to a new e-commerce platform. Next week, the main store is re-launching in its new home and I'm pretty excited about it!

STAMPlorationsLast week, our Outlet store and Digital store opened there and I hope you like the new look. The new platform is much sleeker and the checkout process is more streamlined. Try shopping the Digital store -- the Bloomin' Spring Coffee Basket is a free download for a limited time.

The great thing about having all three stores in one place is that discount codes/coupon codes/gift codes can be set so they'd work across all stores. So you can shop in all the stores and put different products in your cart and have one code work for all. Such is the case with the special 20% off code just for those who sign up for the new mailing list. (You can sign up here.)

What's new with the big move?

  • With all 3 stores under one roof, you'll be able to put different products in your cart and do just one checkout.
  • Auto-applied discounts, promotions, and freebies! Some promotions automatically kick in when a certain amount is reached. For example, every order of $40 or more automatically includes a free STAMPlorations grab bag and you'll see this promo added during checkout. If we're running instant $$ or % off for a specific category, the instant discount is reflected on the product price.
  • A freebie of the month where you just pay shipping.
  • More giveaways -- in July, we've got 2 giveaways coming: one for the main store (winner drawn at the end of the giveaway) and another giveaway for the digital store (a winner is drawn every week)


What's going away with the big move?

  • The wishlist function, for one. I love the wishlist function of the current store and the new platform doesn't have this functionality. However, there are third-party wishlist creation sites out there. (I have one that I recommend and will share later for use in our wishlist linky parties.) 
  • Gift certificates given as prizes are also going away, as the new platform does not allow the generation of codes without purchase. (I would have to buy gift certificates from myself to give away as prizes -- which doesn't make any sense really.)
  • So starting July, all prizes we offer (for challenges, special posts, and challenges we sponsor) will be in the form of gift codes (also referred to as discount codes, gift vouchers, coupon codes) and these codes apply to products only. 
  • The good thing about this is that if you win in our challenges or comment-to-win posts, your gift code will work on both the digital store and main store -- no need to choose the store to use your prize on. If you don't wish to pay for shipping, then you can use your gift code on the Digital store. I'm in the process of converting many of our clear stamps into digital stamps. With postal services all over the world experiencing significant delays in delivery or having suspended (partially or completely) their services, going digital seems to be the way to go...at least for now.
  • Even though gift certificates are going away, gift codes issued as prizes will still have an expiration date of 3 months from the date they were issued + they can still accumulate -- as long as you don't use the first gift code issued to you. For example, if you win a $5 gift code for winning a challenge in June, you'll be issued a $5 gift code that expires on October 31. The following month, you win a $15 gift code for commenting in one of the July featured posts. If you have not used your $5 gift code yet, $15 will be added to it and the value of your gift code becomes $20. However, the expiration date will not change -- it will still need to be used by October 31. 

So what happens to the current store?
  • It will remain open until September 30. This is so that those who have gift codes and gift certificates have plenty of time (and notice!) to use them before it closes permanently. 
  • However, that store now has significantly reduced inventory -- all products from there are completely moved over to the new store and just a few hundred are left. 
  • By August 1, there will only be 100 or fewer products found there because well...it costs $$$ to maintain a second store and tracking two sets of inventory can get confusing and likely to cause errors in my own accounting :o) 
  • So if you have a gift code and/or gift certificate, make sure you use it soon on the current store because it will not work on the new platform.

The move to a new platform is way overdue and I'm glad that it's finally happening! If you haven't yet, I hope you'll check out the re-opened Outlet Store and Digital Store. And then come next Wednesday, July 1, you'll come check out the new Main Store!





PS: Our Birthday June Sale only has a week left! Snag select products at 40% off while they're there! Use code 7YEARS on checkout.

PPS: Our little company turns 7 this month and we haven't really done much to celebrate it. COVID-19 and the resulting manufacturing delays + mail delays/suspensions made it challenging to put together a birthday celebration event and send out stash to my design team. It was simply logistically difficult. Then in the last 4.5 weeks, I had to take on the gargantuan task of familiarizing myself with the new platform, moving 1000+ products to the new store, designing the non-product pages, and testing everything to make sure things run smoothly. Oh and I shouldn't forget that I have two incredibly active little girls -- they're really the bosses! -- who basically take up most of my waking hours (and even some of my sleeping hours). So we'll simply celebrate at a later date (September or October).

PPS: I guess we are doing a little celebrating -- have you checked out our current promotions page? We have a $50 Gift Code Giveaway and it ends in 6 days! Lucky winner will receive a $50 gift code to use on the new store.

5 comments:

Spammers have been in full force lately so I had to turn comment moderation on. We love hearing from fellow crafters (not spammers), so your comment will be approved as soon as possible. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us :o)