Is That Your Final Answer?... er change?
Yes, this is the final change. After hearing from many of you and reading posts, we will be making the change on November 1, 2010. On the 1st we will limit the number of swaps to 10 per month. That's just over 2/week. We think this is very reasonable for both customers who aren't interested in swapping and customers who are.
We are also going to include an auto reject to a swap if a customer asks for a product that they already have 3 of in their la Carte. This will be based on the date an item is added to the la Carts--this and a few other changes will be made to prevent the continual challenge of hoarding and creating alias accounts.
Many of the measures we've taken have stopped hoarding--the biggest measure was simply asking. Thank you all for following this request. We are still seeing a few--if you haven't had your account paused and received an email don't worry, it's not you.
We are continually looking for ways to make this a SWEET experience for all. We love the community that has developed at CropChocolate.com--many times we have taken advantage of this feature on the site. Like JeepMama said, "I love not only CC, but have come to think of Jon, McCall and Huck as online family along with my CC friends." We couldn't say it better.
Thank you all for being patient with us as we figure out this challenge.
As for the 31 day expiration, you know we'll work with you if you need a few extra days. We always have.
Sweetly,
Jon N. and CropChocolate.com
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
What? More Changes?
We know. We know. All these changes. Today we added the "31 Days to Check Out" message in yesterday's blog post so we could get it up well before the changes happened but for those who didn't read it here's what it said:
"One more note, because of some constraints, we are going to change some of the la Carte rules. At any given time, we are floating about $200K in product in the la Cartes. If we can minimize some of the debt this puts on CropChocolate.com we will be able to continue with the la Carte program and the sweet deals. In order to do that we are going to test a 31 day la Carte rather than a 45 day la Carte in efforts to keep product moving."
Besides the $200K that's tied up in la Cartes, we also have another $200-300K that's tied up in planning, upcoming or unsold inventories. That's a lot of diapers.
The faster we can get product off our warehouse shelf, the more product we can offer at SWEET prices. What's more, the more brands we can add--like Ranger, Bo Bunny, Little Yellow Bicycle and more. We've talked to over 2 dozen brands that want in on the SWEETNESS, now we just need to get things movin'. If you need a little more time, you know we'll work with you.
Another change. When we created the CropSwap feature, the intention was never to allow few to shop for many. The intended purpose was to give those who couldn't check something out in the allotted time frame a little leverage--to use an item as a bargaining piece. That's not how it's being used. Instead, it's being used as a "I'll shop for you if you'll shop for me" feature.
We are a one-deal-at-a-time site and the customer that spends their time online should have the 1st chance to get what they want or waited for. Of course there are extenuating circumstances but those should be rare. So what we're doing is putting a limit of 5 swaps/month for every customer. It will give you the chance to still use the swap in your favor as leverage while giving other non-swap customers a chance to get the goods. Our concern is that the CropChocolate.com community has become a group of swapping clans.
To relate what two customers have said, "I love Crop Chocolate but since I can never get what I want, I will no longer shop here. The community has turned into a small clan that only looks out for each other." And, "I love your store but the swapping and trading needs to stop. I am a customer that does not have time for the sweet talk and I do not think I should have to chat and get to know the ladies that grab everything. I am sure I am not the only one that gets upset about this. I know from reading the comments that this is still going on. I will spend what little bit of time I have shopping where the product is not sold out. I hope you will put a stop to this before you lose any more customers."
These two comments are just snippets of several hundred emails we've received regarding this matter. As we have thought of solutions for this challenge, a set number of swaps--about 1/week--seemed like a fair solution.
Thanks for all you do to keep CropChocolate.com so SWEET!
Sweetly,
CropChocolate.com
We know. We know. All these changes. Today we added the "31 Days to Check Out" message in yesterday's blog post so we could get it up well before the changes happened but for those who didn't read it here's what it said:
"One more note, because of some constraints, we are going to change some of the la Carte rules. At any given time, we are floating about $200K in product in the la Cartes. If we can minimize some of the debt this puts on CropChocolate.com we will be able to continue with the la Carte program and the sweet deals. In order to do that we are going to test a 31 day la Carte rather than a 45 day la Carte in efforts to keep product moving."
Besides the $200K that's tied up in la Cartes, we also have another $200-300K that's tied up in planning, upcoming or unsold inventories. That's a lot of diapers.
The faster we can get product off our warehouse shelf, the more product we can offer at SWEET prices. What's more, the more brands we can add--like Ranger, Bo Bunny, Little Yellow Bicycle and more. We've talked to over 2 dozen brands that want in on the SWEETNESS, now we just need to get things movin'. If you need a little more time, you know we'll work with you.
Another change. When we created the CropSwap feature, the intention was never to allow few to shop for many. The intended purpose was to give those who couldn't check something out in the allotted time frame a little leverage--to use an item as a bargaining piece. That's not how it's being used. Instead, it's being used as a "I'll shop for you if you'll shop for me" feature.
We are a one-deal-at-a-time site and the customer that spends their time online should have the 1st chance to get what they want or waited for. Of course there are extenuating circumstances but those should be rare. So what we're doing is putting a limit of 5 swaps/month for every customer. It will give you the chance to still use the swap in your favor as leverage while giving other non-swap customers a chance to get the goods. Our concern is that the CropChocolate.com community has become a group of swapping clans.
To relate what two customers have said, "I love Crop Chocolate but since I can never get what I want, I will no longer shop here. The community has turned into a small clan that only looks out for each other." And, "I love your store but the swapping and trading needs to stop. I am a customer that does not have time for the sweet talk and I do not think I should have to chat and get to know the ladies that grab everything. I am sure I am not the only one that gets upset about this. I know from reading the comments that this is still going on. I will spend what little bit of time I have shopping where the product is not sold out. I hope you will put a stop to this before you lose any more customers."
These two comments are just snippets of several hundred emails we've received regarding this matter. As we have thought of solutions for this challenge, a set number of swaps--about 1/week--seemed like a fair solution.
Thanks for all you do to keep CropChocolate.com so SWEET!
Sweetly,
CropChocolate.com
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cruise News and Changes
Many of you have been asking when we're having the contest for a Cruise Giveaway. Well it's coming up. First week of November in fact. We'll be doing an online crop coordinated by Megan Ann with some help from McCall. There will be several challenges and each challenge will have a prize--free cruise tickets on the CropChocolate.com Cruise 2011, a Cricut, a Slice Cordless Designer and more. What's more, we'll be running other prize contests where you can win the same stuff--all thanks to some changes to SweetTALK.
If you don't win the Grand Prize don't worry your pretty little faces, CropChocolate.com is going to offset a lot of the cost for the cruise and offer tickets for only $299 per person. SAY WHA??? $299? Yep. We're finalizing the dates in March and the ship and destination but rest assured, it will be a great ship and good fun will all your friends from CropChocolate.com!... and any other friend/husband/sister/son/daughter/neighbor you want to tell.
More info is on the way.
In other news; you may have noticed the "gift card" tab in the upper CropChocolate.com tab bar. You can now buy CropCredits from anybody you want. Weather they're a CropChocolate.com customer or you just want to give a Christmas gift to a scrapper in your local crop. It's pretty simple, just choose an amount, enter the person's name and email address and we'll take care of the rest--after you finalize the gift transaction that is. The person will receive a SWEET email with a gift certificate and a unique token key that they can redeem. Pretty simple stuff.
Knowing that the time of giving is upon us, we're also going to do some shopping for YOU. Over the next few months we'll put up links to different stores, product, and stuff that your lover, mother, or dog may love to get. Simply click that link or one of the google links in The Crop to see what's up. We'll help you find some cool things... we hope.
Huck and McCall are healthy and well. Thank you all for your gifts, prayers and thoughts of interest on our behalf. We are SWEET on YOU because you're so dang SWEET on others.
One more note, because of some constraints, we are going to change some of the la Carte rules. At any given time, we are floating about $200K in product in the la Cartes. If we can minimize some of the debt this puts on CropChocolate.com we will be able to continue with the la Carte program and the sweet deals. In order to do that we are going to test a 31 day la Carte rather than a 45 day la Carte in efforts to keep product moving.
Pretty cool news huh?
Sweetly,
CropChocolate.com
Many of you have been asking when we're having the contest for a Cruise Giveaway. Well it's coming up. First week of November in fact. We'll be doing an online crop coordinated by Megan Ann with some help from McCall. There will be several challenges and each challenge will have a prize--free cruise tickets on the CropChocolate.com Cruise 2011, a Cricut, a Slice Cordless Designer and more. What's more, we'll be running other prize contests where you can win the same stuff--all thanks to some changes to SweetTALK.
If you don't win the Grand Prize don't worry your pretty little faces, CropChocolate.com is going to offset a lot of the cost for the cruise and offer tickets for only $299 per person. SAY WHA??? $299? Yep. We're finalizing the dates in March and the ship and destination but rest assured, it will be a great ship and good fun will all your friends from CropChocolate.com!... and any other friend/husband/sister/son/daughter/neighbor you want to tell.
More info is on the way.
In other news; you may have noticed the "gift card" tab in the upper CropChocolate.com tab bar. You can now buy CropCredits from anybody you want. Weather they're a CropChocolate.com customer or you just want to give a Christmas gift to a scrapper in your local crop. It's pretty simple, just choose an amount, enter the person's name and email address and we'll take care of the rest--after you finalize the gift transaction that is. The person will receive a SWEET email with a gift certificate and a unique token key that they can redeem. Pretty simple stuff.
Knowing that the time of giving is upon us, we're also going to do some shopping for YOU. Over the next few months we'll put up links to different stores, product, and stuff that your lover, mother, or dog may love to get. Simply click that link or one of the google links in The Crop to see what's up. We'll help you find some cool things... we hope.
Huck and McCall are healthy and well. Thank you all for your gifts, prayers and thoughts of interest on our behalf. We are SWEET on YOU because you're so dang SWEET on others.
One more note, because of some constraints, we are going to change some of the la Carte rules. At any given time, we are floating about $200K in product in the la Cartes. If we can minimize some of the debt this puts on CropChocolate.com we will be able to continue with the la Carte program and the sweet deals. In order to do that we are going to test a 31 day la Carte rather than a 45 day la Carte in efforts to keep product moving.
Pretty cool news huh?
Sweetly,
CropChocolate.com
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