New

As of 10.1.21 (October 1st, 2021), Cratejoy Marketplace Sellers will no longer be able to automatically export Cratejoy Marketplace Customer emails into 3rd party email management tools or softwares.

Previously, Cratejoy Sellers could automatically export customer emails into 3rd party email management softwares.

Cratejoy has removed this capability in order to protect Cratejoy Marketplace customers from being added to email lists without an appropriate opt-in process and ensure that Cratejoy is in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the CAN SPAM Act.

We understand that this is a big change for some of our sellers and are happy to answer any questions that arise. Ultimately, Cratejoy must be in compliance in order to protect our customers, our sellers, and our company.

The Cratejoy Team is actively working on ways that our sellers can communicate with buyers about their products on the Cratejoy Marketplace.

Currently, buyers or prospective buyers can reach out to sellers using the “Contact Seller” button. These messages will come directly to your Seller Portal in the Seller Inbox tab.

You can also include custom notes to subscribers by using the Custom Order Notification Note. This can be found and customized on your Marketplace Settings tab. This note will be included in all Cratejoy Marketplace Purchase Confirmation emails (this message is sent by Cratejoy).

If you are gathering emails for marketing purposes, we recommend that you consult the CAN-SPAM Act for more information and guidance on email marketing.

If you have customers outside of the USA, we do recommend researching the different laws surrounding marketing in the countries where your box is being purchased.

New

Improvement

Last year we asked all Cratejoy Marketplace sellers about their shipping practices so that we can improve the way we present this information on your Cratejoy Marketplace Listings.

Thanks to this valuable information, the Cratejoy Team has updated the way listings present shipping information and shipping schedules on the Cratejoy Marketplace.

Communicating your shipping information, clearly and concisely, means more confident purchasing for your customers and more sales for your business!

Here are some benefits of this new feature:

• Get featured in sales & promos
  • The Cratejoy Merchandising Team can more effectively merchandise listings with clear shipping info!
• More sales!
  • Buyers will feel more confident subscribing when shipping information is clear
• Fewer customer questions
  • Displaying clear shipping information means less customer messages asking about shipping schedules

To use this new feature: go to your Product Listing tab on your Seller Portal and edit the shipping section.

Use the helpful tips to create an informative, easy-to-understand shipping section.

Currently, this update is available to Cratejoy Marketplace Sellers that are using Per-Product Listings. This update is only available for monthly (month-to-month, 3 month, 6 month, 12 month) or weekly subscription listings.

This update is not available for quarterly, bimonthly, or biweekly listings.

(Read more here about how to upgrade your store to Per-Product Listings.)

This update does not impact Platform stores.

Read more about how to update shipping information:

• How to enter the shipping information that will display on a listing
• How to set up shipping schedules

Here’s what the updated shipping section set up will look like on your “Product Listings” tab in your Seller Portal:

Here’s what your customers will see on your Cratejoy Marketplace Listing:

​

And lastly, here is the Order Confirmation page that will your Cratejoy Marketplace customers will see after they have made a purchase:

​

​ We’re so excited to see you increase your sales and grow your business with this new feature!

Best, Cratejoy

New

PLEASE NOTE: This change only impacts Cratejoy Marketplace Listings.

Over the past year the Cratejoy Marketplace has been transforming from a Per-Store Listing format (only one listing allowed per seller account) to a Per-Product Listing format (multiple listings allowed per seller account, one listing per product).

Starting today, August 2nd, all Cratejoy Marketplace stores may create product listings and convert to Per-Product Listings when ready.

All stores may be auto-migrated on or after September 30th, 2021. Our Cratejoy Product Team is working diligently to make sure that the auto-migration goes as smoothly as possible.

Got questions about how to migrate or anything else related to this change? Attend our Office Hours where the Cratejoy Success & Product Team will be answering your questions live!

• PPL Office Hours
• Wednesday, August 25th @ 1 pm CST*
• Register Here

(*We'll have two other dates for Office Hours in September. Register at the link above.)

We highly recommend manually migrating because:

• Auto-migration will only migrate your first listed product on your current (per-store) listing; all other products will not be active/represented until you make separate listings for each of them
  • Manually migrating allows you to set up all your active products on visible listings
• Manually migrating before the deadline allows for more time to properly set up your listings before Holiday Shopping Season
  • Having your listings ready to go early so you don’t miss out on any holiday sales!

(Learn more about how to set up Per-Product Listings here.)

Important Note: Listing Names will no longer be the name of your store.

Each product name will need to be updated because the product name will become the name of the listing.

This is very important because the listing name is what potential customers will see on search results and your storefront.

Product names can always be changed by navigating to the Products tab on your Cratejoy Marketplace Seller Portal.

(While you are migrating and updating your listing use Cratejoy’s Listing Quality Guide to effectively evaluate and improve your products & listings.)

Benefits of Per-Product Listings

• Improved search visibility = customers find your listing(s) easily & quickly
• Future growth = design new products to perform better by reaching specific groups of customers
• More high-quality listings = better represent your product catalog on Cratejoy and more chances to be featured by Cratejoy
• Update your listings more quickly = after the initial listing approval, you may make edits and updates that will immediately go into effect (without waiting for approval from Cratejoy!)
• More control over which products get featured = you can now pick and choose which listings you’d like to participate in a Cratejoy Marketplace sales or promotions
• Present more detailed Shipping Information to customers = access our latest version of the shipping information section in your product listings

(Learn more about how to set up Per-Product Listings here.)

Watch our Per-Product Listing Walkthrough + Q&A hosted by the Cratejoy Product Team:

More about Per-Product Listings: ​

How to Set Up Per-Product Listings

• Per-Product Listings FAQ
• Changes Due to Per-Product Listings
• Per-Product Listing Guide

New

Inside this edition of the Cratejoy Newsletter: Product Updates and New Features designed to increase your profits + upcoming webinars to help you grow your business.

Stay up-to-date on all of our new features so that you prepare your business for the - fast approaching! - Holiday Shopping Season.

Don’t have time to read the whole newsletter? Skip to Cratejoy Condensed at the bottom!

Upcoming Webinars

1. Conversion Optimization Webinar + Q&A

Join us next week for a webinar + Q&A session all about how to increase your conversion rate and get more sales!

When: Friday, July 30th @ 1 pm CST

Register Here

2. August New Seller Webinar

Are you a new-ish seller to Cratejoy? Join us for a webinar that covers the basics of launching your business + lots of tips to help you create a strong start for your business.

When: Friday, August 6th @ 1 pm CST

Register Here

New Features

1. Seller Inbox

All Cratejoy Marketplace sellers now have access to our newest feature: the Seller Inbox!

This feature will allow you to view and reply to Cratejoy Marketplace customer messages from your Seller Portal.

You can read more here about how the Seller Inbox works or go directly to your Seller Inbox by opening the Messages tab on your Seller Portal.

2. Per-Product Listings

Over the past year the Cratejoy Marketplace has been transforming from a Per-Store Listing format (only one listing allowed per seller account) to a Per-Product Listing format (multiple listings allowed per seller account, one listing per product).

All stores - that are not currently using Per-Product Listings - will be auto-migrated by September 30th, 2021. Our Cratejoy Product Team is working diligently to make sure that the auto-migration goes as smoothly as possible.

You’ll receive more communications about this update (and how to best migrate your listings) soon! Learn more about Per-Product Listings here.

3. Variant Pricing

We’re happy to announce that all Cratejoy Marketplace sellers now have our new Variant Pricing feature!

This new feature gives you the ability to simplify the way you offer variants on subscription products on your Marketplace listings.

Examples of variants:

• A coffee subscription box that offers 1, 5, or 10 lb bags of coffee at different price points
• A spa subscription box that offers different choices of bath bomb scents
• A comic book subscription box that offers different t-shirt sizes

Here are some benefits of this new feature:

• Offer more customization and selection to your subscribers
• Set different price points for different variants
• Set inventory at the variant level and manage it with custom SKUs

Learn more here about how to use variant pricing for new or existing subscription products.

Updates & Improvements

1. Enhanced Scoring System

Cratejoy is always looking to provide more clarity surrounding how we examine each feature of your listing(s) in order for you to properly improve for higher visibility and conversion.

In keeping with this commitment to clarity, we’re excited to debut our enhanced listing scoring process. The goal of this new system is to better serve the sellers and customers who make up the Cratejoy Community by setting clear expectations on what constitutes a high quality listing.

Instead of providing only one score for your listing, we will score each feature on a scale. This detailed scoring helps us provide better feedback which your business can then use to optimize listings (this will increase merchandising opportunities and conversions). From there a total score is given and determined if it meets:

• The minimum for Marketplace standards (to be live on the Marketplace)
• The minimum for Merchandising standards (to be included in upcoming promotions and affiliate programs)

If a listing score falls beneath the minimum for Cratejoy Marketplace standards, it will be rejected and you will be notified with specific guidance on how to improve your listing before submitting again for approval.

New Listing Quality Score System Breakdown

• The minimum score for Marketplace is 9
• The minimum score for Merchandising is 19

Please note: The Cratejoy Team is in the process of scoring all active Cratejoy Marketplace listings with this new system. Our team is manually scoring to ensure that we score each listing correctly and provide the best feedback to sellers.

(Read more in depth about Listing Quality Scoring & the minimum required score for each section here.)

2. Transactional Emails Update

Recently, we told you that Cratejoy is taking over some Marketplace post-purchase transactional emails (order confirmation, shipping updates, and more).

The updates we are sharing with you today are centered around Cratejoy’s efforts to engage and retain your marketplace subscribers by improving the overall customer experience on Cratejoy.

Cratejoy now sends the following messages (related to Cratejoy Marketplace orders) on your behalf:

Subscription Reactivated Email

• This communication is sent when a Cratejoy Marketplace customer reactivates their subscription
• Informs the customer that the reactivation was successful
• Provides information about when the next box will ship

Subscription Cancelled Email

• This communication is sent after Cratejoy Marketplace customers cancel their subscription
• Informs the customer that the cancellation was successful
• Provides reactivation button
• Provides estimated month of last shipment

Subscription Expired Email

• This communication is sent to Cratejoy Marketplace customers after their subscription has expired
• Informs the customer that their subscription has expired
• Provides step-by-step instruction on how to renew the subscription

Leave a Review Email

• This communication is sent to Cratejoy Marketplace customers prompting them to leave a review
  • This email will send 5 days after delivery confirmation (requires accurate tracking numbers added to shipments)
  • Or a set number of days after the order is placed, depending on the billing type of the subscription:
    • Monthly (includes bi-monthly, quarterly, and any monthly ad-hoc billing type): 50 days after order
    • Weekly: 10 days after order
    • Biweekly: 20 days after order
• Includes a prompt for customers to track their package if they have not yet received it.

3. Customer Email Collection Update

Previously, Cratejoy Sellers could automatically export customer emails into 3rd party email management softwares.

Cratejoy has removed this capability in order to protect Cratejoy Marketplace customers from being added to email lists without an appropriate opt-in process.

If you are gathering emails for marketing purposes, we recommend that you consult the CAN-SPAM Act for more information and guidance on email marketing.

Cratejoy Condensed

• Attend an upcoming Cratejoy webinar (We swear they’re fun!) - Register Here

• New Features

  • Sellers can now reply to customer messages from the Seller Portal using the Seller Inbox. Learn more about the Seller Inbox
  • All Cratejoy Marketplace Stores will be converted to Per-Product Listings by September 30th, 2021. We’ll be sending out communication to stores that have not migrated soon. Learn more about Per-Product Listings
  • Simplify the way you offer variants on your listings! Learn more about Variant Pricing

• Updates & Improvements:

  • Enhanced Scoring System - use our tips to create a high-quality listing and increase your chance of getting featured! Learn more about the Enhanced Scoring System
  • Cratejoy now sends the following emails to your Marketplace customers: Subscription Reactivated - Subscription Cancelled - Subscription Expired - Leave a Review

• Customer Email Collection Update - Cratejoy has removed the capability of sellers to automatically export Cratejoy Marketplace customer emails to third party email softwares

Thank you for being part of the Cratejoy Community. Keep an eye on our webinar information page for opportunities to engage with other sellers and the Cratejoy Team as we help you grow and sustain your business.

Stay tuned for our Holiday Preparation Content Series - coming very soon!

New

We’ve got great news for Cratejoy Marketplace Sellers: the Seller Inbox is live!

This feature will allow you to view and reply to Cratejoy Marketplace customer messages from your Seller Portal.

Previously, any messages from Cratejoy Marketplace customers would come to the email that you designated on your Marketplace Settings tab (or your admin email if you haven’t designated a specific address for customer messages).

Now, those messages will still come to you via email and you can reply as normal. In addition to being able to reply from your email inbox, there is now a Messages tab on the Seller Portal where you can view and reply to these customer messages.

(Note: just like when you are responding via email you can attach images/pdfs (currently limited to just images/pdfs) and they will be sent to the buyer as attachments. Additionally any images/pdfs the buyer sends in response will be displayed in-line in the message inbox along with the message.)

Nothing will change for the customer experience.

All customers will still be able to send messages to your store by clicking on the “Contact Seller” button.

**To read and respond to customer messages from the Seller Portal: **

1. Log in to your Seller Portal. You’ll see a new tab labelled “Messages” on the left side menu.

2. Click “Messages”. This will open up your Messages page. You can now read and respond to Cratejoy Marketplace Customer messages!

New

We’ve got BIG NEWS that we are excited to share with you: Cratejoy is upgrading the way your Marketplace listings work! With our new Variant Pricing Feature you can set prices, SKUs, and inventory for subscription products on a variant combination level. (We are releasing this feature in phases to all of our sellers.)

Offer more choices to your customers and get more sales —without the hassle of creating listings for each variant— with this new feature!

The Cratejoy Product Team has recorded a walk through + Q&A session all about Variant Pricing. Check it out here.

What is Variant Pricing?

Variant Pricing allows sellers to set their prices, SKUs, and inventory for subscription products on a variant combination level.

Previously, sellers were unable to set their own SKUs for their subscription products. Sellers were also restricted to setting their prices and inventory for subscription products at the product level.

Allowing sellers to set prices, SKUs, and inventory for subscription products on a variant combination level enables them to better represent their marketplace offerings and improve their listing quality.

Examples of variants:

• A coffee subscription box that offers 1, 5, or 10 lb bags of coffee at different price points
• A spa subscription box that offers different choices of bath bomb scents
• A comic book subscription box that offers different t-shirt sizes
• A craft subscription box that offers enough materials for 2 crafts or 4 crafts at different price points

Benefits of Variant Pricing

Here are some benefits of this new feature:

• Offer more customization and selection to your subscribers
  • Subscribers value the experience of personalization
• Sell different versions of the same box on one listing
  • Offering a lower cost/ mini version of your products will help increase sales
• Set different price points for different variants
  • Offer more expensive/ luxury items without raising the prices for all subscribers
• Better control of your inventory
  • Use variants to present your inventory more effectively
• Increase buyer confidence
  • Customers are more likely to buy from a clear, concise listing where they can easily understand their purchasing options
• More opportunities for marketing/ getting invited to Cratejoy sales
  • You can market each individual product you sell
  • Cratejoy can merchandise your box more easily

With this new feature, each store can have variants on products separated out on individual listings. We’re putting the power into your hands to make the decisions that work best for your business!

How to Set Up Variant Pricing

Once Variant Pricing is enabled for your store, all new and duplicate products you create will have the Variant Pricing controls after the product is created.

For existing products, you can either duplicate a product or add variant pricing through a new button at the top of your Product Pages in the seller portal next to the Save button. Duplicating a product will let you preview what new controls Variant Pricing gives your product.

Read more about how to set up Variant Pricing here.

Variant Pricing FAQ

Q. Is there a way to add variants to existing products?

A. No. Not at this time. The recommended way to add variants to a product is to create a new product and hide the old product. Variants are a required, non-trivial choice from the buyer. When you add a new set of choices, there is no way for Cratejoy to generally and intelligently make that choice for buyers.

Q. Is there a way to automatically transfer existing subscribers to a new product?

A. No, not at this time.

Q. What do I do with existing customers on old products?

A. For short-lifetime subscriptions, the natural churn of subscriptions will move your active subscriptions over to the new product over time. You can also use the “Change Product” option in the Subscription View’s “Actions” menu to move long-running subscriptions over to the new product and make variant, term, and survey choices on behalf of the customer. Read more about the Change Product Tool here.

Q. How many variant combinations can I offer on one listing?

A. Currently Variant Pricing can support up to 2,000 variant combinations. We do not recommend offering this many variants as it would be difficult to manage inventory and SKUs if you offer this many combinations.

Q. What is the difference between the customer survey and product variants?

A. Variants are interchangeable variations of a product. From the size, color, style, etc. Your subscribers choose from the specific options you set up.

Surveys are a way to gain information from a subscriber without having to know all the options beforehand. Examples include ‘Do you have any allergies?’ or ‘When’s your birthday?’

Survey responses cannot be changed after a customer has ordered their subscription.

Variant selections can be updated by the customer at any time and will reflect on any unshipped shipments for that subscription. Read more about the difference between surveys and variants here.

Q. I use a fulfillment center. Should I use Variant Pricing?

A. Our team highly recommends using Variant Pricing if you use a fulfillment center. The different SKUs are needed to ensure that each box has the correct variants.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are making changes to a subscription that change the general contents or price of the subscription, be sure to use the “Notify Customer” options when using the Change Product tool.

New

Inside this edition of the Cratejoy Marketplace Newsletter:

Upcoming webinars to help you as you grow your business, new features designed to increase your profits, and Marketplace Updates centered around improving your experience as a seller while reducing customer churn.

Don’t have time to read the whole newsletter? Skip to Cratejoy Condensed at the bottom!

Upcoming Webinars

Variant Pricing Walkthrough + Q&A Session

Join us next week for a webinar walkthrough on our newest Marketplace feature: Variant Pricing.

The Cratejoy Product Team will be covering how to best use this feature to grow your business. We’ll also be answering questions (related to this topic) live!

• Cratejoy’s Variant Pricing Walkthrough + Q&A Session
• When: Friday, June 25th @ 1 pm CST
• Register Here

July New Seller Webinar

Are you a new-ish seller to Cratejoy? Join us for a webinar that covers the basics of launching your business + lots of tips to help you create a strong start for your business.

• New Seller Webinar
• When: Friday, July 9th @ 1pm CST
• Register Here

Product Updates

Recently, we’ve told you about how Cratejoy is working to engage and retain your marketplace subscribers by improving the overall customer experience on Cratejoy.

The three updates we are sharing with you today are centered around increasing customer satisfaction and providing visibility for sellers into customer communications.

Welcome Email Update

Previously, when a customer made a purchase on the Cratejoy Marketplace they received a Welcome Email directly from the store (if the store had the welcome email feature enabled). This resulted in customer confusion about what they had purchased and sometimes led to cancellations.

As Cratejoy takes over the responsibility of Marketplace communications, Marketplace customers will no longer receive the legacy unformatted Welcome Emails directly from sellers so we can remove that confusing experience. If you are using the Welcome Email for your website purchases, those will not be impacted by this improvement.

As we transition away from seller-sent welcome emails on the Cratejoy Marketplace, any information that sellers would like to communicate to a new buyer can be added to the custom Order Notification Note (this is included in the Order Confirmation Email - sent by Cratejoy after a Marketplace purchase).

You can customize this note on the Marketplace Settings tab on your Seller Dashboard.

Order Receipts & Shipment Notices Message Log

Sellers can now view logs for sent and delivered order receipts and shipment notices related to Marketplace purchases. (Reminder: these emails are now sent and managed by the Cratejoy team.)

In order to view whether these emails have been sent or received, please check the Customer Details and History Views on the Subscriptions Page on your Seller Dashboard.

Variant Pricing (New!)

Two weeks ago we gave all Cratejoy Marketplace stores access to our new Variant Pricing Feature! If you’ve been using Variant Pricing, we’d really like to hear what you think about this new feature.

Use this survey to tell us:

• How Variant Pricing is working for you
• Let us know what changes would make Variant Pricing better for your business

​Variant Pricing Survey​

If you're interested in learning more about how Variant Pricing can help your business, please join us for:

• Cratejoy’s Variant Pricing Walkthrough + Q&A Session
• When: Friday, June 25th @ 1 pm CST
• Register Here

If you've previously registered for this webinar, please note that the date has changed to Friday, June 25th. If you cannot attend, a recording will be posted on our webinar information page the week after the webinar.

Cratejoy Condensed

• Attend our Variant Pricing Walkthrough + Q&A Session to learn more about our latest feature! - Register Here
• Marketplace Updates:
• Marketplace customers will no longer receive Welcome Emails from sellers. Use the custom Order Notification Note to communicate important info to your customers.
• View sent message logs for order receipts and shipment notices related to Marketplace purchases by selecting Customer Details and History Views on the Subscriptions Page.
• Let us know how Variant Pricing is working for your business - Variant Pricing Survey​

Thank you for being part of the Cratejoy Community. Keep an eye on our webinar information page for opportunities to engage with other sellers and the Cratejoy Team as we help you grow and sustain your business.

New

Two weeks ago we gave your Cratejoy Marketplace store access to our new Variant Pricing Feature!

If you’ve been using Variant Pricing, we’d really like to hear what you think about this new feature.

Use this survey to tell us:

• How Variant Pricing is working for you
• Let us know what changes would make Variant Pricing better for your business

​Variant Pricing Survey​

If you're interested in learning more about how Variant Pricing can help your business, please join us for:

• Cratejoy’s Variant Pricing Walkthrough + Q&A Session

• When: Friday, June 25th @ 1 pm CST

• Register Here

If you've previously registered for this webinar, please note that the date has changed to Friday, June 25th. If you cannot attend, a recording will be posted on our webinar information page the week after the webinar.

Improvement

New

Recently, we’ve told you about how Cratejoy is working to improve the customer and seller experience by managing communications related to Cratejoy Marketplace purchases.

The two updates we are sharing with you today are centered around keeping your customers updated and providing visibility for sellers into customer communications.

- Order/Shipping Update Email: this will be sent to Marketplace customers 5 days after an order is placed to let them know that the order is being prepared, but has not shipped yet. (If the shipment notice has already been sent, this notification will not be sent).

Please note: the above update has been paused while our team reevaluates the impact of this message.

• Order Receipts & Shipment Notices Message Log: sellers can now view logs for sent and delivered order receipts and shipment notices. (Reminder: these emails are now sent and managed by the Cratejoy team.) In order to view whether these emails have been sent or received, please check the Customer Details and History Views on the Subscriptions Page on your Seller Dashboard.

Frequent communication often preempts customer frustration and results in fewer inquiries about the status of an order.

As we continue to improve the Cratejoy Marketplace to better serve you, we are grateful for your patience and do hope that these updates will free up valuable time as you grow your business.

Best, Cratejoy

Improvement

Recently, we’ve told you about how Cratejoy is working to engage and retain your marketplace subscribers by improving the overall customer experience on Cratejoy.

This plan includes changes to Cratejoy Marketplace communications. Previously, Cratejoy and sellers sent multiple different types of communications to Marketplace customers. As Cratejoy works to improve the Marketplace (for customers and sellers), our team has taken over many of these communications in an effort to reduce customer confusion and increase customer satisfaction.

Previously, when a customer made a purchase on the Cratejoy Marketplace they received a Welcome Email directly from the store (if the store had the welcome email feature enabled). This resulted in customer confusion about what they had purchased and sometimes led to cancellations.

As Cratejoy takes over the responsibility of Marketplace communications, customers will no longer receive the legacy Welcome Emails directly from sellers so we can remove that confusing experience. If you are using the Welcome Email for your website purchases, those will not be impacted by this improvement.

As we transition away from seller-sent welcome emails on the Cratejoy Marketplace, any information that sellers would like to communicate to a new buyer can be added to the custom Order Notification Note (this is included in the Order Confirmation Email - sent by Cratejoy after a Marketplace purchase). You can customize this note on the Marketplace Settings tab on your Seller Dashboard.

We’re grateful for your part in the Cratejoy Community and look forward to continuing to improve your experience as a seller.