I have had a lot of interest in the t-shirts I've designed for Steemit. Coming up with a seamless solution has been difficult, but I want to present several scenarios to you for feedback.
At the moment I have a design inventory of 100 EOS logo based art and 16 STEEMIT logo based art. I plan to continue to release STEEMIT logo based art until I get to 100 assets.
Scenario #1: Webpage Based
- User visits a webpage and chooses the t-shirt designs they want + sizes. (pain point #1)
- User clicks a button to pay for their merch.
- User enters any promotion codes, link to upvotes, etc.
- User is given the option of which currency they want to pay with. (pain point #2).
- User enters their physical address and email. (pain point #3)
- User chooses their currency and sends the payment and the memo field is populated with an order number.
- User receives a confirmation email with estimated arrival time.
- Order is shipped.
Scenario #2: Email Based
- User sends an email requesting the latest 30 items in inventory and request desired currency to use.
- Email is sent with inventory and an address to send the payment.
- User replies with their order, promotion codes, link to upvotes, their transaction id as proof of payment.
- User receives a confirmation email with estimated arrival time.
- Order is shipped.
Scenario #3: Email Based Subscription
- User opts to have a fixed number of t-shirt designs sent monthly. The shirts sent are selected by me.
- User pays a subscription fee that covers a years worth of t-shirts, and replies with the transaction id, link for upvotes, and whether they want
to be emailed when their next shipment is sent. - User receives a confirmation email.
- Order is shipped monthly for one year.
Scenario #3: Email Based Subscription With Priority
- User opts to have a fixed number of t-shirt designs sent monthly. The shirts sent are selected by me.
- User pays a subscription fee that covers a years worth of t-shirts, and replies with the transaction id, link for upvotes, and whether they want
to be emailed when their next shipment is sent. - User receives a confirmation email.
- Order is shipped monthly for one year.
- Users with a subscription get priority on limited print designs. (pain point #4)
Pain Point #1
This may sound weird, but I hate the thought of dealing with websites. Even wix.com which provides free hosting is a pain because it provides yet another site to bookmark and remember. And hosting costs plus domain costs are minimal, but if my t-shirt idea doesn't pan out, I will have a domain I barely use and let expire.
I like the idea of having the business be email based (very similar to mail order companies) because I can let email providers / cloud storage host my content for minimal costs.
Pain Point #2
Having a user choose a cryptocurrency implies they don't have a preferred cryptocurrency. It also implies they want to see the full selection of cryptocurrencies every time they purchase.
Supporting multiple cryptocurrencies is a minor problem, because if someone sends ETC (for example) I eventually have to convert that to a currency my t-shirt manufacturer accepts. I currently have a workaround for this, but it still needs to be mentioned. The work around is to convert all currencies sent in to BTC and use a Coinbase/Shift debit card to pay t-shirt manufacturers. This has been tested and works well.
Pain Point #3
I have always despised having the option of either entering all my shipment information multiple times as a guest, or having to create an account. Why can't I use credentials from some other social site?
My idea for an email based service means transmitting the address once. If you have access to your email, then your account will always be associated with the address provided from that email account.
Pain Point #4
This is a good and bad scenario.
A benefit to this pain point is that someone who has committed to supporting my design above and beyond an upvote for one full year will get priority if I decide to only sell 20 t-shirts of a specific design. They get the rare item for their sacrifice.
But a bad side to this is if I have 21 year subscribers. There will be one yearly subscriber, based on the time of payment, that will not get to enjoy the privilege earlier subscribers get.
Link For Upvotes
I mention link for upvotes without an explanation, so I will describe that feature here. I have whaleshares and beyondbits and will send a whale vote to a customers steemit post as a thank you for showing interest. It will be limited to the first 100 orders. I also have used booster and randowhale on my own posts as well as for other Steemians.
These vote bots are an excellent way to reward active Steemians that feel like their post aren't being seen.
Thank You
To those who have upvoted or resteemed the logo art posts, and/or filled out the form to receive an update when this service goes live, THANK YOU!
To those who have filled out this form expressing interest in the t-shirt designs I've posted about here, these are my current thoughts, and my next step is to work on presenting the inventory in a pleasing way.
After writing this post, I've realized I will probably go the email order route with subscription and custom t-shirt options. I will use your feedback to help fine tune this concept to establish a good approach.