Just started out - Designer toy store

[kingkao]

So I just opened my online store, www.kingkao.com, starting off slow. Starting to get more and more wholesalers with each day. Anyone with some feedback on the site. Thanks.

Update: Took everyone suggestions and revamped the site. Blog is now active using wordpress. Feedback again please.

[kennyt18]

So I just opened my online store, www.kingkao.com, starting off slow. Starting to get more and more wholesalers with each day. Anyone with some feedback on the site. Thanks.

Here's some tips for you:

1) Change your pricing to USD
2) Target the US and European Markets as opposed to CAD. You'll get better bang for your buck for your advertising dollars.
3) Change your shipping costs. It won't be $6CAD for shipping
4) Contact various "Trend" magazines/websites such as TrendHunters.com and see if they can post/blog about your site.
5) Google Adwords is your friend.
6) Partner up with some businesses that share the same demographic as your customers and RECYCLE the customers from their business to yours and vice versa.
7) Model some of your business/marketing ideas from http://www.tokyobayinc.com
8) Also, put some real contact information on your website.

Good luck with your business.

[kingkao]

What do you mean by real contact information?
And I was thinking bout putting in Canadian dollars because I want to let people know where it is coming from and that there will be customs when it gets shipped elsewhere.

[kingkao]

btw...thats some great feedback man.

[kennyt18]

What do you mean by real contact information?
And I was thinking bout putting in Canadian dollars because I want to let people know where it is coming from and that there will be customs when it gets shipped elsewhere.

The Canadian Market is too small. Your marketing dollars will go alot further in the USA. If you have real contact information (i.e. Address, Telephone) people will see that it is coming from Canada so you don't need to put it in CAD.

[mart242]

No real contact info = I won't buy.

[deejayspinz]

My 2c worth:

I suggest you get rid of the pink/blk checkered siding... annoying to the eye when you scroll fast... It also takes too much away from the product focus as the pink is so intense.

Contact form - suggest you build an online form for submission questions. Requiring the user to open their own email client to contact you is old -skool.
As noted previously, ppl want to know where you are (generally). Your contract info does not give a good gut feel that you are for real and have a physical presence... (even though you are entirely online).

Kingkoo graphic (top left) - the image quality is not so hot. Remember your presentatation online is the one shot you have at convincing someone they should buy at your shop. If you opened a new store and had scruff beat up signs and a messy entrance, but where displaying fancy clothing, ppl might think twice about walking on to the store...

Checkout - not sure if it is possible, but you should try to maintain as much of a look-and-feel of the original site when the user is taken to a 3rd party checkout service provider. eg - Try to drop your logo on the site. This provides continuity to the transaction...

Other than that, its a nice start. Good luck with it... These sort of things are always a big jump...

[Jon Lai]

I suggest you get rid of the pink/blk checkered siding... annoying to the eye when you scroll fast... It also takes too much away from the product focus as the pink is so intense.

+1

It blends the color when you scroll and people's attention might be directed there.

IMO, he doesn't necessarily need to make his prices in USD if he manages to allow users to select the country they're from, and change prices accordingly.

[HopeItHelps]

I use 1024X768 and I have to scroll to the right to see your whole webpage. May want to make your page less wide. The logo has 'blurry' text, may want to sharpen the logo. At the bottom of your page put your mailing address and phone # for contact. Use web form for online contact.

[bujanx]

Hmm, I didn't know Munnys were sold pre-styled.

Neat =)

[Neovingian]

Here's some tips for you:

1) Change your pricing to USD
2) Target the US and European Markets as opposed to CAD. You'll get better bang for your buck for your advertising dollars.3) Change your shipping costs. It won't be $6CAD for shipping
4) Contact various "Trend" magazines/websites such as TrendHunters.com and see if they can post/blog about your site.
5) Google Adwords is your friend.
6) Partner up with some businesses that share the same demographic as your customers and RECYCLE the customers from their business to yours and vice versa.
7) Model some of your business/marketing ideas from http://www.tokyobayinc.com
8) Also, put some real contact information on your website.

Good luck with your business.

+1

It blends the color when you scroll and people's attention might be directed there.

IMO, he doesn't necessarily need to make his prices in USD if he manages to allow users to select the country they're from, and change prices accordingly.

I agree with what many of the previous posters already said,

I'm a designer toy collector myself, so I knopw a thing or two about collectibles.

Some other tips or changes to consider:
- Change your "what are designer toys" section, on your site you have a question, which leads you to a link with a video?
- You also have a disclaimer that states there is profanity in the video. I would remove that completely and find a video that does not include profanity it may turn off potential custy's or businesses who want to work with you.
- Why not explain and use the video to compliment your definition.
- Minimize the size of the logo in the corner
- Contact info
- You might want to offer some incentive or small disount for RFD members since you posted on this site thread.

The site doesn't look polished yet, i'd work on that a bit.
i'd be skeptical about buying, although I am a collector...

Best of luck, maybe I might buy something.

[george benjamin]

You're logo is not properly placed or it's just too big.

Make it smaller and keep it to the left right, and more important, make a banner or something.

It just doesnt feel right.

[kingkao]

Thank you all for all the constructive criticism. It helps a lot.
Looks like I have a lot of visual details to fix.
I still think it`d be best to stick with the $CAD pricing. Just so it is clear people know where it is coming from and for now I am aiming at the Canadian market, even though I do realize it is a small one.

Hmm, I didn't know Munnys were sold pre-styled.
These are not munnys. They are dunnys. Dunnys are always designed by artists and its not possible to get a blank one of them.

Also, I`m still confused about this contact info, because I am working out of my house currently and don`t have another venue for storage anything. So technically, all I have is a phone number.

???

[kennyt18]

I still think it`d be best to stick with the $CAD pricing. Just so it is clear people know where it is coming from and for now I am aiming at the Canadian market, even though I do realize it is a small one.


I understand your statement but I think you are missing a vital point. Selling to Canada and the USA is the same thing. There is no real difference between the two except the shipping costs and GST/PST. So why in the world would you focus in Canada? All of your marketing dollars and effort should only be focused in the US Market. Please tell me the SPECIFIC reason why you are targeting Canadians? You can tell me your reason but I'm 100% sure that your reason is unjustified and illogical.


Also, I`m still confused about this contact info, because I am working out of my house currently and don`t have another venue for storage anything. So technically, all I have is a phone number.


You should still put your home address and phone number. You already made your home address and phone number public information by your whois information. So it's too late to remain anonymous. LOL. How do you like them apples, Kelvin Kao of Markham. Hehehe..just joking...

[kingkao]

Thanks for all the comments. My site has been revised. Please tell what you think.

and kenny, you already have to make fun of my first name. O if I was paid a penny for all the times I have been called Kelvin, I think I`d have...realistically...$10.

More comments would be helpful. Thanks!

[baz5]

Site is very slow, took about a minute to just load for me.
Those colors don't work well together. Search for Web 2.0 colors and use some of them.

[wheel]

Put up your home address. If you don't want to do that, get a mailboxes etc box which will give you a street address, and post that. My american business address is exactly that - a mailboxes etc address. But you need a physical address - vitally important. I check this all the time when I'm shopping online, to see if it looks like a real business or a fly by night. If the contact info is obscured, I basically never do business with them.

[kingkao]

WOW, I didn`t know there were web 2.0 color palette. Well I`m pretty close with the Flikr pink. lol. I kind of like the colors. Well, obviously, since I used them. I`ll consider changing colors if everyone thinks the colors are hurting the eyes and people can suggest a palette. I did post my address so everyone can trust me. :razz:

[kingkao]

And I will eventually change a bit more of the heading into CSS and stuff, but, my knowledge to say the least is weak and if I could, I would do an entire site in flash. Haha. My internet is pretty fast, so it loads up pretty fast, might have to do with previous loads and caches though. I shall test and try to minimize loading. For now, non-issue.

[Whiplash7828]

WOW, I didn`t know there were web 2.0 color palette. Well I`m pretty close with the Flikr pink. lol. I kind of like the colors. Well, obviously, since I used them. I`ll consider changing colors if everyone thinks the colors are hurting the eyes and people can suggest a palette. I did post my address so everyone can trust me. :razz:

use a color wheel to determine appropriate color schemes. I find complementary colors appealing (opposites on the color wheel).

download this (http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/downloads/color-wheel-pro.exe) and use it in demo mode...you'll understand what I mean.

[kingkao]

Thats a pretty neat program. Quite cool. But have you seen whats across from pink. Sorry, I have this fascination with pink, and it is quite the fascination. I guess I could go monochromatic with that, but that'd be a lot of pink.
HAHA. At first when he said color wheel, I thought you meant your cute display picture. HAHAHAHA!

[Whiplash7828]

Thats a pretty neat program. Quite cool. But have you seen whats across from pink. Sorry, I have this fascination with pink, and it is quite the fascination. I guess I could go monochromatic with that, but that'd be a lot of pink.
HAHA. At first when he said color wheel, I thought you meant your cute display picture. HAHAHAHA!

see...now at least you're talking the talk :)

[kingkao]

bump

[amynurse]

You may consider getting a mailbox that has street address as your contact info so you have contact information that is not your home address. These boxes cost about 30 dollars a month and give your business that professional look you are after. The UPS stores offers this service and they will forward the mail automatically or you can visit your box 24hrs a day. I should know my husband is opening a UPS store in Edmonton.
http://www.theupsstore.ca/

[batman321123]

If shipping is always $6, maybe what you should do is jack the prices of the toys by $6 and then tell everyone it's "FREE SHIPPING!!!!!!". You could use fewer exclamation marks if you want.

[kingkao]

I think jacking up the initial price really does not work. Its a real turnoff.

[kingkao]

bump

[george benjamin]

One advice i can give you, which you will probably ignore me on, is make a blog talking about high end toys.

[george benjamin]

One advice i can give you, which you will probably ignore me on, is make a blog talking about high end toys.

OOPs sorry, you already have one, but its dead.

[kingkao]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, lately I've been busy getting adjusted to new job. I will have it updated continuously shortly. Thanks!

[kingkao]

Bump! Have a look and critique.

[xaltair]

The website seems simple enough, easy to navigate. Your logo design is archaic and kinda conflicts with the website design. I do like some of the toys though. :cheesygri

[kingkao]

What do you mean archaic? Why doesn't it match?
Need something more modern?

[neverdoanything]

What do you mean archaic? Why doesn't it match?
Need something more modern?

Your logo is okay, but it could be improved a bit.

First of all the background behind the "K" seems to have some sort of texture applied to it. I would get rid of the texture, and go with a solid pink. I see what you are going for, but it really doesn't work for a good logo design. It's extra cluttter that doesn't look good at certain scales.

Also your logo looks horribly bitmapped. Do you have the logo in EPS or AI format? If you paid a designer, and they only provided you TIFF's, JPEG's, or GIF's -- I'm afraid you got ripped off. You need to have a vector file. It doesn't look good - look at how the edges are jagged. You may have the correct files, but they were not resized properly.

Hope this helps. If you need any help with this, feel free to give me a PM.

[neverdoanything]

Site is very slow, took about a minute to just load for me.
Those colors don't work well together. Search for Web 2.0 colors and use some of them.

You should get the latest internet patch, I'm already running Web 2.1 (Get with the times!)

[kingkao]

I did get ripped off, by myself. LOL. No. I did all the design work myself. Not exactly expert in the whole photoshop business. I think when i did shrink it, it got a bit worse, and i used a poorer quality when i made it into a .jpg because of filesize. I'll try to fix it and maybe PM you when im done. Thanks for the suggestion!

[neverdoanything]

WOW, I didn`t know there were web 2.0 color palette. Well I`m pretty close with the Flikr pink. lol. I kind of like the colors. Well, obviously, since I used them. I`ll consider changing colors if everyone thinks the colors are hurting the eyes and people can suggest a palette. I did post my address so everyone can trust me. :razz:

Ignore the Web 2.0 pallete. "Web 2.0" is just a buzz word that people use, it really has no clear definition.

The colours are fine. The Use of the colours are not so good.

I'd change the light blue you have in your navigation bar to the same blue that you have in your logo. Consistency is good. You've got two colours - Blue and Pink - use them. And white too.

Back to the logo - this is related to colour though. I'd try doing a reverse of your logo on the pink. What I mean by that is using white. Since your logo already has pink in it, and the background is pink, the blues clash too much. I'd change everything that is blue in the logo to white. This is just a variation of the logo - you can still keep your current logo - but a reverse of the logo would look good in this situation.

[neverdoanything]

I did get ripped off, by myself. LOL. No. I did all the design work myself. Not exactly expert in the whole photoshop business. I think when i did shrink it, it got a bit worse, and i used a poorer quality when i made it into a .jpg because of filesize. I'll try to fix it and maybe PM you when im done. Thanks for the suggestion!

What program did you design it in.... Please don't say Photoshop...

I understand that you are not an expert, but logos should never be done in Photoshop. You want your logo to be flexible. You want to be able to resize it to the tiniest of size and still be readable. And you also want to be able to blow it up to the size of a billboard and not pixelated. When you do a logo in Photoshop, you are designing it out of pixels. When you do a logo in a vector program such as, Illustrator, you are making your logo out of lines and shapes (not pixels) - so therefore it can be resized to any size without losing quality.

Now lucky for you, your logo is relatively easy to trace into a vector file. You will want to have a vector file before you do any prints of logo (Business Cards, Invoices, Stationery, etc.) If you print using the Photoshop file - you are going to have a poor quality logo.

I'm not meaning to sound harsh, not everyone is an expert in everything. I'm just letting you know what should be done. If you are just planning to have your graphics on the web, and not print, then your original Photoshop file should be fine (You just need to resize it properly), but it doesn't allow you to be flexible in the future.

[kingkao]

Thanks neverdoanything. Don't worry, be more harsh. I need criticism. I did everything in photoshop. Downloading illustrator now and hopefully update soon enough.
Yeah, I like my colours, but I think I will change the navigation bar to the darker blue. Thanks!

[kingkao]

Bump to an updated site and additional feedback.

[kingkao]

critique?

[stevelam]

the shadows/blurs on the left/right sides look a bit rough. also not a fan of the font you chose for the main navigation across that blue strip.

i think the toys themselves are pretty sweet though and should be more than enough to overcome any inconsistencies on your site.

[stevelam]

just to give you a heads up on what your potential competition sites look like:

http://www.tomvining.co.uk/designs/tc-shop-new.htm

[kingkao]

Thanks, I am well aware of competition. It is fierce. :evil:
But, I will beat them with a stick.

[snufkyn]

well, here it is:

-right now it has a very made-from-cookie-cutter look to it (banner-frame-frame)
-and not a very good cookie cutter either.... :(
-the two main colors don't go well together (fuchsia and navy?)
-BUT you carry dunny :) :) :)
-AND tokidok :razz: :razz: :razz:

[kingkao]

So someone wanted an update on my site project and how my business is going. Getting traffic on a site is hard stuff with a lot of competition. Posting on forums is a good way to get traffic. Also, my blog that is connected to my site brings a bit of traffic that is a bit related. More and more visits come in just from random search engine searches. Its amazing, but true, even though I am near the end of the google search. I'm not talking a lot of hits, but, whatever. Also, try to direct sales from ebay over to my site. That was going well until Ebay shut me down for an unrelated matter, hopefully will be up soon. I am on probation for selling these microsoft OEMs. PLEASE get me back up.

Cause I must say, a lot of my sales were coming from ebay just so I have a good cash flow and change of inventory. I'm currently in school, so I am super busy and havn't had much time to do much changes, but will be on another work term, so it will be all hands on deck and I'll try to get this thing really rolling.

Things I have learned...well...NEVER ship international ground mail. These things get so lost, don't even save the extra money. Also, I am sending everything internationally saying everything is a gift. I am sure I am going to have to change this soon, but for now, its working and keeping people happy.

Just filed my first annual GST return, hopefully that comes out good. I should get refunds because a lot of sales are not from Canada and I get charged GST when I import stuff here. So I should be able to claim that back. See how that goes. Went to tax seminar at city hall, which was quite useful and free. Recommended for people who know nothing about anything like me.

I can not say I am making considerable money. Not really working with a lot of capital though. So hopefully I will have better news in a couple of months from now. Exams are coming up.

Hopefully I keep learning about business and my own business continues to grow.

[dooly]

hey, i was wondering if you were considering getting new products... whenever i buy things like figures online, i try to buy a bunch at once to save on shipping costs. Although your toys are cool, I personally wouldn't be able to find 5 that I really like to make an order. I think having more variety would definately help. Maybe more of those blind box mini toys...might also help you sell those display staircases as well. On a different note, do you do pickups for ppl who live in markham ? :P might be interested in buying something in the future.

[kingkao]

yeah. I have done a couple of meet ups. always good to meet new people. just haven't had the money to get more stuff in. waiting till i work again. push everything i got into this. i realize i aint got enough stuff. lol. will have lots more soon!!!

[kingkao]

So another update for people who are interested. I have ditched my previous e-commerce provider in Shopify and have finally made the switch with Magento since they got past their 1.0 stage. Magento is great and provides everything Shopify does but better, just needs a bit more tech savvy.

Open Source FTW. So that is the latest from me. Check out the new redesign.

[bembem]

So another update for people who are interested. I have ditched my previous e-commerce provider in Shopify and have finally made the switch with Magento since they got past their 1.0 stage. Magento is great and provides everything Shopify does but better, just needs a bit more tech savvy.

Open Source FTW. So that is the latest from me. Check out the new redesign.
Open source is not always FTW... Magento does have its pitfalls... like a constantly changing DB structure, to changed functions which break themes upon upgrades, to super slow load times, and a lack of documentation.

Constructive criticism? The load times are painfully slow. The homepage took 5 or 10 seconds plus to load up. Adding to cart took 10 to 15 seconds or more. From those load times, I'm guessing you are on Magento 1.0.x still...

Btw, what kind of hosting do you have? You might need to optimize things a bit, and/or experiment with the cache settings in the admin.

I'm in the process of finishing up a Magento store now... so I have some personal experience.

It looks like you are using a modified version of the default theme, which is usually fast. But it looks like you are overloading your page. I honestly would not have the patience to shop at your site. For example, the COMPARE function is not necessary and would simply and speed up your site if you remove it.

Best value? Grid? 10 per page? etc.. etc.. too confusing.

Again, you have too much stuff. Like is the calendar, poll, or back to school banner necessary. Its just creating clutter and slowing down the site. Put the poll, calendar on the blog, and figure out a simple and effective graphic to push people to the blog. Make a catchy title like "Tokyo Toys Today - find out whats hot!" and people will go. But keep in mind that you want the eyes to be on the shop, and not on your blog. IMO, i'd rather people buy my toys than read my blog.

The newsletter is a GREAT way to draw people in for you. Keep it simple. Give people a reason why they should signup. Coupons? Prizes? Latest pics? Backgrounds? etc... put the newsletter box high or low so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Remember, the money making things should be seen, not fluff like your poll.

The color scheme is VERY depressing. Using PINK is a GREAT idea... just your puce or whatever color background makes me seriously depressed. White is a great background, and it makes your thumbnails look professional.

For a toy store, your theme is not very effective. The store, http://www.missblythe.com/store/ , is very effective. It doesn't have too much dead space, but is simple and gets to the point. If I buy, I want fast and easy. I want to see the top items, or featured items. Sometimes less is more.

I could go for hours, but hopefully that helps. Everything above is just my opinion.

Btw, have you figured out how to do the taxes? Or did you put Ontario to 12% and all of Canada to 5%? The preferred way would be to have Ontario as 7% and have the all of Canada 5% to be combined. It looks like you just put Ontario to 12% since there isn't a breakdown in taxes.

[coolspot]

Here's some tips for you:

1) Change your pricing to USD
2) Target the US and European Markets as opposed to CAD. You'll get better bang for your buck for your advertising dollars.


Site should accept multi-currency enabled; this way you won't have any conflict. Canadians can pay in CAD, Americans in USD, Europeans in Euros.

[kingkao]

Thanks for the criticism bembem. I guess I am seeing fast load times because I load the time so god damn much. I forgot to turn back on the cache, I hope that helps. Come to think of it though, I am seeing 3-5 second load times. Damn. I am using Godaddy shared server, sooooooo...yeah.

Taking off the compare function was a bit of a hassle so I left it there in case it comes in handy for someone. I got that white background suggestion, I guess I will change it to help ease the eyes.

Do you still like the color palette with a change of the white inside background?

Yep. For the tax I put 5 for Canada, 12 for Ontario. That seemed to do the trick. When originally bringing up my store on RFD, majority of people said have all prices in USD. Everyone is use to USD and hits market better. Although I do realize a way to change currency on the right column would be beneficial and will look into.

I guess 9 items on front page is a bit much, I will shrink it down to 6.

Please keep criticizing my store please. Thanks.
I think I am running Magento 1.1.2

[bembem]

The main problem for Magento is the initial load, and the time it takes to add something to the cart, and checkout. If you tweak your settings enough, you should be able to improve it a lot. For example, turn on the compression: http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/10460/

As of now in IE, your site took 11 seconds to load for me... 3 seconds to view a product... and a full 24 seconds to add an item to the cart. And at about 6:25 PST, your site is down for me.

The colors now are MUCH MUCH more eye pleasing. Some of the CSS doesn't lineup but thats easy to fix.

I'm not a fan of flash on e-commerce sites unless it is absolutely necessary. Your image slideshow flash might be better in javascript or dhtml... it might make your site faster, and be compatible with more users.

You should have a better title and be sure to use of meta tags. "King Kao - Bringing the best Toys of Tokyo to your door" or something like that.

The first few items in your store is out of stock. Instead of having just a general listing, you may want to have some featured items, sale items, and best sellers. Generally, people can't buy it if they can't see it... if you have some items you want to get rid of, the front page is where you want to put it.

Again, just some constructive criticism... but the main focus is sales... a lot of people lose focus and try to make the site too pretty.

[legendofxix]

Top navigation bar, you have a "tab" for a Download section.
You have no downloads so why bother having this tab there?
If you want to try and keep the overall size of the tabs without having to remove anything I suggest you replace downloads with something else.