Part 3 The Heartsy Deal - Helpful Hints

Taking part in a Heartsy promotion and receiving a huge amount of Etsy orders for Jacaranda Designs in the space of a few days is an event you have to be ready to handle efficiently. I've summarized some helpful hints that I feel may help you get prepared.

1. Have as much stock on hand before the promotion as you can. It's going to save a lot of time if you don't have to make your products as the orders come in.

2. Stock up on packaging and mailing supplies. Depending on how you package your product, you will want to stock up on items such as bubble envelopes, boxes, ribbon, tissue, business cards.

3. Create a spreadsheet ahead of time. On my spreadsheet I had the following columns:
a. Coupon Number
b. Customer Name
c. Amount of Etsy Order
d. Invoiced
e. Paid Invoice
f. Purchase Date
g. Shipping Cost
h. Shipping Status
i. Date Shipped
j. On Back Order
k. Etsy Fees
l. Paypal Fees
m. Remaining Shop Credit

I know it's a lot of columns but it certainly made it easier for me to track all the data.
As soon as Jacaranda Designs Heartsy coupons started selling, I started updating my spreadsheet and continued to do so through the entire week.

4. Make sure your expected shipping times are very clear on your Shop announcement.  I committed to shipping out all orders within three days of payment.

5. Day One - spreadsheet and responses. On Day 1, I did not even try to start shipping orders. I spend my entire time updating my spreadsheet as orders came in, renewing items that had sold and responding to customer inquiries (you may have a lot of these)

6. Day Two - Invoicing and Shipping. On Day 2, I started by invoicing all those customers who had spent more than the coupon value. Once I had sent off the invoices, I started to package up all those orders that had been paid in full (i.e. customer had spent less than the coupon value). On the evening of Day 2, I sent out emails to all the customers whose orders had been shipped that day.

7. Day Three, Four and Five. As invoices were paid, I packaged up those orders. Many individuals did not use their coupons on the first day so the remainder of the week was spent also dealing with a few orders coming in.

Anyway, that was how I got through a very busy time for Jacaranda Designs. My hope is that this information will help you if you decide to embark on a Heartsy promotion. You may not approach it the same way as I have but whatever you do, stay organized!