Re: GNOME Store

[Stormy Peters <stormy gnome org>]

+1 for Zazzle.

Thanks for putting together the info!

Stormy

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Paul Cutler <pcutler foresightlinux org> wrote:
> I spent some time researching Zazzle and Cafepress, and put up a page on lgo
> at http://live.gnome.org/GnomeMarketing/Merchandising.
>
> I didn't find a lot of information about competitors to the two of them.
>
> Overall, they're both very similar.  Both offer similar merchandise,
> affiliate programs, customizable look, embeddable content and more.
>
> My personal recommendation would be Zazzle.  Zazzle hosts more (and arguably
> better) brand stores for companies than Cafepress.  If you assume they went
> through a RFP selection process, there is probably a reason the likes of
> Disney, Mozilla and Mattel (Barbie, Hot Wheels) chose Zazzle.
>
> Cafepress has a slight edge on pricing, on average 5-10% (though they do
> charge $60 for a premium store) but Zazzle handily beats them in assortment
> of products to choose from.  I encourage you to look at Zazzle's t-shirt
> offerings, especially the women's selections as a comparison.
>
> I also liked Zazzle's choice of posters and print offerings better.
>
> Most of the novelty items, such as mugs, stickers, magnets, etc were priced
> similar between the two.
>
> Please review the wiki page I added at
> http://live.gnome.org/GnomeMarketing/Merchandising and let me know if there
> are any areas you would like additional information on.
>
> Paul
>
> On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 10:23 AM, Paul Cutler <pcutler foresightlinux org>
> wrote:
>>
>> Ok, that helps with the direction.
>>
>> I agree with Stormy that it would be neat to have our own designs -
>> especially when we can get the community involved, or have things like
>> limited edition runs.
>>
>> I spent some time yesterday comparing Zazzle's and Cafepress's premium
>> store options.  I'll type up a comparison over the weekend and send it to
>> the list.
>>
>> If anyone has any other suggestions of companies to look at, please let me
>> know.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 10:17 AM, Stormy Peters <stormy gnome org> wrote:
>>>
>>> There's also Threadless, but they only do tshirts.
>>>
>>> Currently, Hackerthreads decides what merchandise with which logos and
>>> asks the board for approval. Some of the issues I know we currently have
>>> with them, and we've told them, are issues with the user interface and
>>> payments.
>>>
>>> I would like to have the Zazzle/Cafepress model where we could make up
>>> our own designs and decide which merchandise they could be offered on.
>>>
>>> Stormy
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 9:07 AM, Paul Cutler <pcutler foresightlinux org>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dave, thanks for linking the lgo page below, that was very helpful.
>>>>
>>>> I guess the first question I have is, are we unhappy with
>>>> Hackerthreads?  Specifically, financially?  Has anyone reached out to them
>>>> to see if it's possible to assort more merchandise, and change the look and
>>>> the feel of the store?
>>>>
>>>> As far as more merchandise goes, looking at their other stores /
>>>> affiliates they host, I don't think there is, as they appear to specialize
>>>> in t-shirts.
>>>>
>>>> I don't think any of the requirements have changed much in the last 5
>>>> years sine that was put together.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the work that was done back then, and the stores that were
>>>> under consideration:
>>>>
>>>> * Zazzle: Still in business, now has Mozilla as a client
>>>> * Cafepress - the wiki page mentions
>>>> * OpensourceFactory:  Specializes in books and software only
>>>> * Sorucewear  / Mayopi:  Don't appear to be in the merchandising
>>>> business anymore
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Other than that, the only other site that was similar that I could find
>>>> was Printfection.com.
>>>>
>>>> Paul
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 6:01 AM, Dave Neary <dneary gnome org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> While the project didn't go through to completion because the company
>>>>> we
>>>>> signed with went out of business, we have gone through this process
>>>>> before - I documented the process and hit on some of the very same
>>>>> issues you mention - gnome.org URL, selection of products, and Zazzle
>>>>> was among the companies I talked with.
>>>>>
>>>>> The process is documented in
>>>>> http://live.gnome.org/FoundationBoard/MerchandisingAgreement
>>>>>
>>>>> As I understand it, Zazzle will do specific custom deals for high
>>>>> volume
>>>>> brands. For lower value brands such as our, you can easily set up a
>>>>> custom shop-front with the Zazzle store management software like this:
>>>>> http://www.zazzle.com/southpark
>>>>>
>>>>> I also understood from our discussions that Zazzle could set up vhosts
>>>>> for a store.gnome.org sub-domain, but that they couldn't do a fully
>>>>> custom interface for us - it would be a standard Zazzle shop-front.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Dave.
>>>>>
>>>>> Paul Cutler wrote:
>>>>> > Hi, I wanted to continue a conversation regarding a GNOME store that
>>>>> > I
>>>>> > had sent to the foundation-list
>>>>> >
>>>>> > (http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/2009-April/msg00060.html)
>>>>> > and per Stormy's last email in the thread, continue it in marketing.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > We currently have an affiliate store set up at Hackerthreads:
>>>>> > http://www.hackerthreads.com/items.asp?Cc=GNOME&Bc=
>>>>> > <http://www.hackerthreads.com/items.asp?Cc=GNOME&Bc=>
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the information on the
>>>>> > current setup, including adding products and the revenue model.
>>>>> > However, in my experience at a former employer running e-commerce
>>>>> > sites,
>>>>> > having a punch out site with a different URL decreases customer
>>>>> > conversion to buy.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > One alternative that came up in #marketing in IRC last week was using
>>>>> > Zazzle, who manages the Mozilla store (http://store.mozilla.org/).
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Some ideas around a GNOME store, that may help increase sales &
>>>>> > revenue:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > * GNOME URL (store.gnome.org <http://store.gnome.org>)
>>>>> > * User generated logos / content that can be added to merchandise
>>>>> > * Limited edition merchandise (Could we create demand by having
>>>>> > certain
>>>>> > artwork / logos available for a limited time?  Or create a campaign
>>>>> > or
>>>>> > use merchandise to support a larger campaign for GNOME)
>>>>> > * Greater selection of products
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Of course, this would probably cause more work - setting up the
>>>>> > store,
>>>>> > managing inventory (Mozilla has a clearance store), HTML, requesting
>>>>> > and
>>>>> > approving logos and artwork from the community, etc.  My idea may be
>>>>> > totally crazy considering all the other work around the website
>>>>> > that's
>>>>> > going on as well.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I'm not sure what value added services Hackerthreads or Zazzle can
>>>>> > offer
>>>>> > around these ideas, or what other ideas the community may have to
>>>>> > add,
>>>>> > but these were some things I thought we may want to think about.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I'd like to gauge if there is any interest in the community around
>>>>> > this
>>>>> > idea?  If so, we may want to create a small team that can help screen
>>>>> > artwork, choose what kinds of merchandise to sell in conjunction with
>>>>> > a
>>>>> > fulfilment partner, and work with the web team to get a store
>>>>> > implement.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Thoughts or concerns?
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Paul
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> >
>>>>> > --
>>>>> > marketing-list mailing list
>>>>> > marketing-list gnome org
>>>>> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing-list
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Dave Neary
>>>>> GNOME Foundation member
>>>>> dneary gnome org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>> marketing-list gnome org
>>>> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing-list
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>