Hey Zazzlepreneurs
As creators on Zazzle share their experiences and concerns here and via the Zazzle community form, it becomes apparent that there are specific areas where Zazzle could assist creators to enhance their workflow and maximize their financial rewards. Below are suggestions as to how Zazzle could assist creators.
Please weigh into the discussion with you thoughts, experience and ideas in comments.
1. Mockup and Cover Photo Automation
Introduce automated mockup and cover photo generators to save time.
Below is an outline of how such a system could be implemented and its practical benefits.
Automated mockup generators are software solutions that automatically place a design onto a product template to create a realistic product image. Here's how they can be integrated:
Integration with Design Uploads
When a creator uploads a design, the system automatically applies it to a range of product mockups.
Creators can select which product types they want their design to be showcased on.
Customization Features
Provide options for creators to adjust the positioning and scaling of their designs on the mockups.
Allow creators to choose different backgrounds or scenes for their mockups to fit different themes.
High-Quality Output
Ensure the generated mockups are high-resolution and visually appealing.
Create mockups that reflect the product's material and texture for a more realistic look.
Benefits of Automated Cover Photo Generators
Cover photos are crucial for attracting customers and can influence the perceived value of a product.
Time-Efficient Process
Creators can generate professional-looking cover photos for their products instantly.
Reduce the need for external photo editing software and manual adjustments and the costs associated with this.
Consistency and Branding
Maintain a consistent aesthetic across all product listings.
Allow creators to insert their branding elements into the cover photos automatically.
Steps to Implement Automation
Research and select a robust mockup and cover photo generation software.
Integrate the software with the current Zazzle platform's infrastructure.
Test the generator with a group of creators to gather feedback and make improvements.
Roll out the feature to all creators with clear instructions and support.
Continuously update the generator based on user feedback and technological advancements.
By implementing automated mockup and cover photo generators, marketplaces like Zazzle can significantly enhance the workflow for creators.
2. Allow images to be downloaded with transparent backgrounds (shadows added) ready to add quickly and easily to self-made mockups off Zazzle.
The benefits of this (in the absence of item 1) is to further speed up the mockup creation process.
3. Enhanced Collection Management
Make it easier to bulk remove items from collections.
Increase the 'add products' page view to show more products (100). If you wish to add 300 items, going page by page when the feature starts from page 1 each time is very time consuming.
Add a feature so that hitting the 'back button' when editing anything in collections takes you back to the page you last viewed. Currently it takes you back to the start so you have to begin your search again.
Enable bulk actions for adding emails - this can be a generic email so does not need to be tailored for each collection individually in many cases. Or add a generic email that creators can edit. Generic being a thank you to the customer and advice that they upscale their event with matching items from the collection. Request to share/follow store etc.
The collection feature should feature a collection cover and be a single item representative of the collection as a whole as seen on the collection pages of creator store. Flooding this filter with single items defeats the idea of a 'collection' filter as the wide range of collections is not visible due to the high volume of single items from a single collection (as many as 300) dominating the search.
Remove the grouping feature for collections. When viewing on a product page the 'other items' when grouped are invisible. As example, a cross-sell collection on the page may suggest 2 items (let's say stickers) when there may be 40 stickers. but due to grouping, it is referencing '2 groups' not 2 products. This is not clear for customers who do not know there are many more color options and themes available when it suggests there are only 2. When the customer selects one such option, the color variations do appear as circles below the product, but it is NOT clear what these represent.
Marketing Support for Creators
Add a share feature for Instagram
Fix the issue of images not showing for Facebook (hit and miss).
Add the text when sharing collections to 'X' ( Twitter) as currently it just shows the link.
Visibility
Reduce the number of Editor's picks dominating main categories, some categories have Ep's several pages deep including in the 'NEWEST' filter. Currently filters are misleading to customers as they do not represent most popular/newest if they are flooded with Ep's. The same applies in some 'lowest price' filters. It has been suggested EP's are featured as a carousel.
Analyze data to identify which types of products benefit most from cover photos and prioritize accordingly.
Provide creators with feedback re findings re the increased sales for products with covers and collections with covers. Real statistics when they become available would be helpful.
Share more insights on what types of designs and products are currently trending.
Provide sales data analysis tools to help creators understand where Zazzle creators efforts are most effective.
Absolutely. I agree with the suggestions in the post. Under the Zazzle system from a few years ago, my workflow allowed me to create roughly 20-25 products per hour of work. Obviously design itself takes longer, but I'd normally be looking at creating about 25 considered products per design (depending on the niche).
In contrast, I worked relatively hard last month on designs for the 'Moments' competition - on my main Zazzle account. I think I managed 12 products (1 for each design) in the month. (Of course, now I have the designs, I can start 'porting' them to other products - since the competition required all the cover images, videos, etc. Scaling up to more products will not require…