Opinion on Shop Sections?

[Former_Member]

I have a shop where many items are made to order but there are some items that are made and ready to ship.

In your opinion is it better to keep the ready to ship items in shop sections with like items
OR
Is it better to have a "ready to ship" section of the shop people can browse if they need a gift in a hurry?

Thoughts?

(If anyone feels up to critiquing my shop a bit too, I wouldn't mind that either.)

-Cass

[Former_Member]

You have to think like a buyer. Since most of your inventory is necklaces/pendants I would continue using sections that breakdown the different types of pendants - just as you have. That way if a buyer sees a tree pendant they like they can go to that section and find all of them easily. I don't have any suggestions on making changes to the sections you already have.

[Former_Member]

I have been considering it since I do get quite a few emails from people asking if items are ready to ship or if I have things they can get faster. Some things are one of a kind, but overall I wonder if the OOAK pieces would sell quicker if put into a "ready to ship" section. I know I have seen other shops do it and I have shopped from the ready to ship section before when in a hurry... IDK I was hoping to get more opinions.

[ModernSwitch]

My shop is a mix of ready to ship (20%) and made to order (80%), so that people can find what they are wanting quickly, I keep everything organized by style, not by ship time. I find people do not mind waiting for shipping. I keep it like this January through October.

November & December, because of the holidays, I do move all the ready to ship items into their own "Ready to Ship" section. I have no idea if this has been beneficial or not, haven't taken the time to really see.

I also think a lot of it would depend on how many items you would have in the "Ready to Ship" section. Something that can be quickly glanced through, 20-40 items. Chances are someone looking for something to ship now, doesn't have time to wade through 300+ listings. So if it's short, they don't find what they want, they can still checkout the rest of your shop sections to see if there is something they like.

[Former_Member]

As a buyer, I would want to see everything you have of one kind so I'd know what your work is like, and ALSO see in the same place that you do custom orders of that kind of thing.

[JewelMeShop]

I would keep the sections the way you have it. Most buyers first search for specific items. Shipping time comes after that.