Our Very First Order
Hello all. Did you hear the news? Did you at least hear the birds singing? We received our first order this week! It's official now. We have a working web store. I haven't followed up with our customer yet, which I intend to do, just to be sure we handled it ok. I feel like I want to do that for the first few orders.
It happened last Sunday. Carol and Ryan were visiting for the weekend and Ryan was playing in a soccer tourney. So, as the game was just getting started and we were outdoors enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, we SOLD something! Nice.
I checked it Monday morning and discovered the order. It was from a customer that has been in our brick and mortar store before. When I called Carol with the news, she immediately gathered up the three magazines that were ordered and asked for the phone number. "I'll just call her and tell her they're ready" Carol said in her enthusiastic customer pleasing voice. We do this a lot for folks so Carol is used to will-call orders. I said "I don't think that's what she wants"... waiting for it to sink in for Carol. Carol's reaction was a perfect Homer Simpson... DOH!
As we discussed the processing of our first order, one of the things that stood out was the outrageous amount of shipping we charged this poor woman. Three magazines shipping UPS Ground to a location about 15 miles away and our system charged her $10.39. We have other options so it was a choice but we still thought it sounded high. I double checked the UPS site and am sadly disappointed to say, that's how much they charge. Carol took it to the UPS store, not knowing how to use our PDG shipping utility just yet. The actual charge was something over $12.... we have an account and everything....???
We are still reeling from the shipping charge shock. I think it could be a business killer. I'm going to change our system so that the first choice in line is the most reasonable shipping cost. I see now that I should have done this in the first place but I'm learning as I go.
All's well that ends well, right? By the way, Ryan's soccer team won..:-) Life is good.
Till next time,
Sandy
