Monday, September 10, 2012

New Party Pack Options and a Facelift for InkberryCards.com!

It's been quite a while since my last blog post, mainly because I've been super duper busy filling orders and working on some very exciting NEW projects! Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some info on the new projects, so stay tuned...but first I thought I'd debut a little website and shop update.

Over the weekend, some new updates went into effect on the Inkberry Cards site. Our new website format has some cool new features for ordering invites and oodles of matching items to go with our most popular invitations and themes. Below is a quick peek at the new look but feel free to click and check out the new site yourself! I've outlined the main changes below and would love to hear how you like the new site when you check it out!




So what's new on the site? A LOT! Here's a quick list and some helpful information for getting around:

1 - All designs are presented and sold as DIY, printable designs. While I had this feature before, in the past you also had printing options directly on the same page, showing different papers, quantities and address options. It could be confusing at times and after over a year's worth of research on our order trends, DIY won out as the more popular option amongst shoppers. It was a close race though - almost half of my customers DO purchase our professionally printed invitations, so do not worry - you can still add printing services, it's just in a new place on the site now. See #2, below.

2 - Printing can now be added for invitations and large stickers in a new section called Printing Services. Professional cardstock printing is still available for all of our cards, but now it will be added in a separate section where you can choose your quantity and paper. You will receive the same premium quality, professional grade cardstock as before, along with white envelopes for all printed orders. Cardstock paper choices available include Standard Smooth, Fine Linen, Metallic Pearl and 100% Recycled Cardstock. You will simply choose your invitation or card design first ($18) and add it to your cart, then go to the Printing Services tab to add your paper choices and quantity.


3 - Oodles of new matching items and new DIY party packages are now on the site! This is probably the biggest change in the shop and one that I am really excited about. There are now 34 new party packages currently to choose from with even more going up in the next month. I had to call it somewhere if I ever wanted to release the new site and I thought 34 should be a good number to start with, don't you think? :) The 34 you see on the site are my most popular designs so I think it's a great start!




4 - New Matching Party Printables section is where you can find our new and improved DIY Complete Printable Party Packs. You will also find categories in this section for cupcake toppers, favor tags, water bottle labels, banners and pattern papers for any of these items that are not included in the current party packs.

5 - New pricing for the complete party packages and a change to what's included in them. Our new printable party packages are $29 and come with new and improved printable items such as: coordinating cupcake toppers, decor stickers, favor tags, water bottle labels, thank you notes, food buffet cards, a happy birthday pennant banner and a circle alphabet banner that allows you to create any custom worded banner that you may need! You will receive your PDF print file for your selected printables within 24 hours of purchase (if not much sooner).

6 - Invitations are sold separately from the party packages. The new party package pricing of $29 does not include the invitation. I did this for a few reasons - mainly because we have multiple invitations that could go with certain party packages - for example a photo version or non-photo version. This way, you can pick the invite you need and we personalize it for you, separately from the party pack. This also allows customers who may have purchased an invitation at an earlier time, to still order the matching party pack whenever they are ready! Also, most of our party package items are available only in DIY printable format, whereas the invitations may have printing services added to them. (You can also add printing for any of the 3" round circle stickers).

7 - A la carte options for party printables - This is also a huge, exciting change for our party packs. You no longer have to buy the whole party pack - you can choose a la carte items out of every available party pack and simply purchase what you need! You just select what you want and "Add To Cart" and you are done! In the past, I have always set up special orders or mini party packs to accommodate this, but I know going forward this will be a much easier way of ordering just what you need, when you need it! Check out the party packs and a la carte feature here.

Just select the items you want from the drop down boxes and "Add to cart"

8 - Banners are now included! While I have always designed banners for customers for special orders, they were not part of our previous party packs. I'm happy to say that now all of our party packs include a 5x8 Happy Birthday pennant flag banner, as well as a 3" circle alphabet banner, which can be used to spell out any words you need for your celebration and decor! 

9 - Color variations and custom party pack designs can be requested to be added to the shop. While we continue to add to our line of DIY printable items, we have changed the process for requesting color variations on our party packs. We now ask that a request be made at least 2 weeks in advance of purchase and we will add your requested party pack design or color variation to the shop for you to place your order. This helps us maintain a standard practice for custom design requests and allows the new party packs or color options to be available for everyone as a brand new item offered in the shop. Requests can be made by email at jenn@inkberrycards.com. (NOTE: this does not apply to invitation designs needing color changes. Invitations needing custom colors can still be requested at time of order and invitations will still be received in the same turnaround time as indicated on the site which is currently 1-2 business days).

10 - Condensed categories for easier browsing and shopping! You may notice that our main categories have changed from the old site. We have the majority of our children's party invites in the Party Invitations section, and you can now choose to browse by Kids Invitations (this includes ALL children's invitations we carry), Twins Invitations, First Birthday Invitations and Milestone Invitations. If you are looking for Baby Shower invites, you will now find those under Baby, along with baby photo announcements and baptism/Christening invitations.

11 - A cute new website facelift and logo. Of course, I could not make all of these technical and product changes without making some cute new design changes as well. You will notice the new site design colors, fonts, backgrounds, buttons and logo!

12 - There is still more to come! While this is a TON of new items, improvements and enhancements that we have rolled out - there is actually still a lot left to do! My next phase of updates coming over the next month will include 10 more party package designs, plus all of my NEW 2012 Christmas and holiday photo cards. If you are already shopping for Christmas and the holidays now, my 2012 holiday photo cards are already up on Snapfish and you can check them all out here!

I really hope you like the new site and changes! I would love to hear your feedback or answer any questions you may have.

Have a great week!!
Jenn