I’ve always wanted to open a store. It’s an ongoing joke that I squirrel things away for the store that I don’t have! But I have culled my “inventory” down to the essentials since moving several times in the last five years or so.
It’s antiques and random stuff I love. I know enough about retail to know I don’t know enough about retail. My fantasy store might never come to be, and that’s okay. A couple of weeks ago, I opened an online store right here on this website. It’s broken into two categories: the G and F Boutique, and my books.
Merchant in Waiting
Thank goodness for my pal Andrew, who helped walk me through the process. In September, I wrote about how I accidentally started modifying the ENTIRE site when I thought I was working on a small part of it. (Andrew rescued me then, too!) It turns out that I already had the components I needed to open the virtual store.
Apparently, I added a storefront to this website about a decade ago when I was operating Lisa’s Pieces which was a small version of my retail store idea. We sold Derek’s handmade wooden furniture, steampunk lamps and other whatnots, mostly on consignment at local stores. I guess I considered taking it online and then decided against it. Anyway, the infrasructure has been here all along, I just never activated it.
Andrew works with websites all the time. He was able to configure things quickly and get them up and running. The store has two areas – Gracefully and Frankly, and books. I’ve sold a bunch from each category since it went live.
Two Small Glitches
A couple of things happened pretty quickly. First, was determining shipping cost. After researching every type of shipping method, Canada Post came out the clear winner on price and speed. Then its employees promptly went on strike. Everyone’s hoping for a quick resolution but it’s not looking likely – both sides are very far apart on major issues. So, people are placing orders with the understanding that they’ll have to wait.
Glitch number two was my error. This online store platform offers three options: pickup, free shipping, or flat-rate shipping. Orders come from all over the country so pick-up isn’t possible. Shipping does have a hard cost so neither is it “free.” But I had mistakenly set the same $2.10 flat-rate shipping for everything. Somebody could buy five books and still pay $2.10! YIKES! I changed that in a hurry!
Of course, the G & F Boutique is stocked in partnership with my podner Erin Davis. We are grateful for the G & F Queenagers (and those who love them) who have placed orders. Once I’m able to ship again, a flurry of deliveries will go out. But the best part? Communicating with people about the podcast, my books, and other things. It’s the way I imagined it would go if I opened my store and people stopped by to look around, only now it’s virtual. Maybe it’s even better than retail. Once the strike is over, of course.
“I know enough about retail to know I don’t know enough about retail. ”
Wise words, and well said!
We still love our two Lisa Pieces!
Thank you, Dan. 🙂