How annoying that this appears ABOVE a product listing - immediately potentially directing a buyer away from a shop as soon as they’ve landed on the page. It’s especially annoying on a mobile phone as the product details are pushed almost off the screen.
I’m all for supporting and promoting fellow craftspeople, but this feels unfair and wrong.
I’ve read so many posts complaining of recent poor sales - surely this can’t help as it encourages people to tap away from the product that caught their eye. At a craft fair it would be the equivalent of the organiser coming up to your stall - just as a customer appeared to be about to buy - and suggesting they look at something on the other side of the marquee.
I agree. It makes the assumption the prospective buyer was looking for that particular thing ( in your example, a hanging heart) and sends them off to other shops selling something similar. Maybe it was just that one that particularly caught their eye for some reason, and drew them to that shop, rather than thats what they were looking for? Using the craft fair example, they were drawn to your table because a particularly attractive pink heart caught their eye, not because they went out shopping specifically searching for a hangung heart. Surely the next step is that they browse your table, not get sent off to look at someone elses heart that they had walked past, or hadnt yet got to? IF they had come to the fair specifically to buy a hanging heart and found the one that caught their eye had just sold, they would go off and look round other stalls for one without any prompting.
In the same way one would think that if they were on a mission specifically to buy a hanging heart on Folksy, and the one they clicked on came up as sold, they would do a search and find the others available themselves. If, however, they are just browsing, then it is that shop that surely should be browsed first?
I was checking this out on my shop items and it doesn’t do this. It looks like if you take a break from your shop i.e go on holiday it sends potential buyers off somewhere else. Why can’t there be something that says shop closed but still to take orders. I.e have the date when the shop re opens.
That’s interesting ie. It only happens if you’ve closed your shop (in my case atm because I have a full order book - as I’ve explained in my Shop Announcement). Thanks for highlighting that.
But it still seems unfair - prioritising Folksy per se over an individual seller. And a bit bizarre to suggest ‘lounge shorts’ as a great alternative to a hanging heart …
Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get over it - perhaps I’ll extend all my shipping times (would be great if this could be done in bulk rather than by individual product) and take my shop out of holiday mode …
Yes. When an item is sold, not when the shop is on holiday.
So, (sorry, repeating what I said before) if the person was looking very specifically for that sort of item, and that one was sold, they would look elsewhere on their own, and would not need directing. If, however, they were generally browsing, then surely they should be encouraged to continue browsing the shop they came too, not be immediately directed off to other shops?
Ideally maybe the header should give a choice - sorry you have just missed it, would you like to browse this shop and see what else they have ( link to shop) or see what other shops sell items similar ( selection of similar items from other shops)
I don’t like it either, I think if it needs to be there then it should show items from the shop the customer landed on.
Someone mentioned holiday mode, I know in the past when this has been raised Folksy explained that when a shop is on holiday mode it gives alternative suggestions because some sellers leave Folksy but keep their shop front or are on holiday mode for lengthy amounts of time. I think there needs to be a way around this so when we close for a weeks break our items and shops still show up in searches. Similar to having a sale, whereby we put the dates in for the duration of the sale then it automatically stops that discount code being used after our end date. If it can be done for discounts why can’t something similar be set up for holiday mode. I don’t think it’s fair at any time to point potential customers elsewhere.
Instead of it sending custom to alternative shops it could come up with an announcement saying this shop is on holiday and will reopen on X date. I also think the tiny announcement of a shop being on holiday mode at the top of the shop is too small and easily missed by customers. It needs to be made obvious that the shop is on a break but will return. Those shops that’s are permanently closed would not put dates in for reopening so at that point it might perhaps be fair to offer alternative items but it still wouldn’t be necessary as a potential buyer would hopefully just continue their search if they really wanted to find something.
Closing shops whilst on holiday should not mean we go blind to potential customers by not appearing in any searches. If someone pops by to look for something they have seen before but can’t remember the shop name and that shop is on holiday, it will return no results and the customer will think that shop is no longer on Folksy.
It does bring items from the specific shop if there are any, otherwise it will bring items from other shops.
I think we must understand here that although we want to keep a customer in our shop, Folksy is a platform and wants to keep a customer in the platform and increase the possibility of making a sale through whichever shop. This happens on most (if not all) platforms. I might lose as a shop from that, but another shop might get a sale, so that’s a win for Folksy, job done.
Similarly, if you are not interested in the item, and want to have a look in the shop, you will not click on the suggestions (as they are irrelevant to you), and you will click on the “view shop” instead, to look at the shop.
I must admit, whether I like it or not as a shop (I don’t of course), as a customer when I am after something specific enough to put it on the search engine, I like seeing items relevant to that, and I have clicked and bought from suggestions like this. If I am looking for a peg bag for example, and the suggestions bring up cushions, I find it annoying, I ignore them, as I’m not after cushions. But if I am looking in general, then this is when I go and look in the entire shop, will favourite items and might go back later, when I do need the items.
The idea of asking me what I want to see, to me just makes things too complicated. Internet is fast, online shopping is fast, if you want to open a conversation with me when I do shopping you just lost me as a customer, I never liked it even in physical shops with actual people, let alone start a multiple choice conversation with a shopping platform the two options are already there, I like the suggestions I click, I don’t like them I go back to the shop or the search results. Simple, easy and fast.
Sorry if I come across too abrupt, just my opinion
I often worry I come across as abrupt, when often I am just airing some thoughts and different ways of looking at things, rather than shouting hard and fast opinions!
. Glad to say.it reappeared. Are you seeing it as a guest?
the two options are already there, I like the suggestions I click, I don’t like them I go back to the shop or the search results. Simple, easy and fast.