Soldsie Spotlight: Prissy & Proper

For Kacie Sullivan, the sole proprietress of the rapidly growing Facebook store Prissy & Proper, everything is coming up roses. Not only has she very recently married the love of her life, a Green Beret, but she has also managed to fulfill a dream that her husband’s military service seemingly obstructed—opening a store stocked with chic threads for trendy women.

Taking Off

“I grew up in a very small town in south Arkansas,” Kacie explains. “I loved to shop with my mother, but we would have to drive over two hours to the nearest mall. Back then, I thought, ‘I would love to have my own brick-and-mortar store. I could sell all the things I really love and share them with girls who don’t have access to them.’”

As the realities of adulthood set in, however, Kacie grew more hesitant about money and logistics. Dedicating herself to the military life, she realized that owning a physical store would be out of the question—not to mention finding the capital for the initial investments. She became a flight attendant instead, and until recently has led a jet-setting life.

“Over the last two years, I saw these businesses pop up on Facebook,” says Kacie of how she got started with comment selling. “I thought it was wonderful. That’s the beauty of Facebook: it allows you to build something from the ground up without having to start with a huge investment.”

Inflamed by the prospect of setting up shop online, Kacie conducted research on vendors, products, branding, and marketing tactics. To learn about the life of a retail seller, she consulted local boutique owners and received advice from her father, an entrepreneur and “a huge source of support and wisdom.”

Two months ago, Kacie opened the proverbial doors of Prissy & Proper to outstanding response from friends and fans alike. For this young business owner, they’re really one and the same. Says Kacie, who credits her peer group for spreading the news about the store, “With Prissy & Proper, I feel like I’m shopping with my girlfriends! I keep it personal and encourage interaction. I want Prissy & Proper girls to look and feel great in what they buy, so I work hard to get them the right sizes.”

Building Community

Prissy & Proper’s sudden popularity is a testament to good customer service. Kacie’s constant presence on the page has drummed up a sense of community among her Facebook fans. The Soldsie store, in fact, has become a virtual space for girlfriends to congregate and shop despite being scattered all over the world—not only does Kacie herself reconnect with her flight attendant friends, but her customers also tag each other in the comments!

“I love it when Prissy & Proper girls tag their girlfriends and say things like, ‘This dress is perfect for you,’ or ‘Can I pull this off?’” says Kacie. “We have a lot of mothers and daughters that tag each other and shop together, too. Even if you don’t live next to each other–or even in the same country–you can still shop together here. It really is a lot of fun!”

The store has also attracted international attention, with 25% of business going to other military wives based in Europe, where it’s difficult to find trendy clothes on a tight budget. Kacie, remembering her military friends abroad, has begun reaching out to this audience—just another way that Prissy & Proper has bridged physical borders.

Easy Comment-Selling

As for the operations side of running a fast-rising Soldsie store, Kacie relies on Soldsie to keep track of orders and shipping.

“By far the biggest benefit is how organized Soldsie keeps me,” states Kacie. “It’s easy for customers to connect to the app and pay, so their privacy is protected. I love that I can look up any customer’s name to see their order and comment history. It makes everything seamless!”

Kacie has big plans for Prissy & Proper, including her own line of high-end shirts bearing the brand logo. “I would love to customize orders and branch into different products,” says Kacie, who plans to start a new line of children’s smocked clothing this summer called Sweet & Smocked. “I am just a 31-year-old girl chasing after my dreams!”

Soldsie is excited to serve a merchant with such respect for customers, passion for product, and ambition for brand. Check out Prissy & Proper to get your shopping on and possibly make a new girlfriend or two!

Photo credit: Lianna Klinger

Customer Memo Boxes on Invoices

Soldsie merchants allow order customization in any number of colors, sizes, and add-ons. Now, we up the ante with the appearance of customer memos on invoices. This allows space for customers to leave notes or special instructions before checking out.

The new invoice features a text box for notes from the customer. This is ideal for monograms, so you may want to ask users to choose initials in a custom Invoice Message (set this up by going to Settings > Invoicing > Invoice Message). In the above example, the customer has requested, “Please monogram JRF!”

These instructions show up when you visit your Invoices tab in the dashboard, or when you right-click on the invoice number to preview. You’ll also see the information on the packing slip and .CSV file, making order fulfillment a breeze. The possibilities don’t just stop at monograms, either–this customer memo space is designated for special shipping instructions, shout-outs, requests, or any other messages your fans may have!

Win $50: Soldsie Ticker Grand Opening and Giveaway!

Your favorite social commerce site strikes again! Soldsie, the easiest way to buy and sell on Facebook, is excited for the beta launch of Soldsie Ticker, a stream of awesome products that our thousands of merchants are uploading in real time! Track this self-updating ticker to be the first to comment “Sold” on all sorts of goodies–adorable rompers for your child, bohemian jewelry for you, or rustic candleholders for the home.

The Soldsie Ticker is a breeze to navigate: just browse through new sales and click on the photos to be taken to the original product post. We hope that it’s a fun discovery tool for users to find new favorite merchants and fabulous items!

To celebrate the launch of the ticker, Soldsie is giving one lucky sweepstakes winner any Ticker item of their choice (up to a $50 value)! Hurry: the giveaway runs from Monday, April 29 to Monday, May 13th. Enter as early and as often as you can!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simplify Shipping: Integrate with ShipStation

This Feature is in Beta testing. Please contact us if you would like to start using it!

It’s every vendor’s dream to take the headache out of shipping and focus on sales. Soldsie makes that a reality by integrating with ShipStation, a web-based shipping platform that handles order fulfillment for online retailers. Now you can import your orders into ShipStation as soon as you receive payment, and your customers will automatically get a tracking number for their own records.

Connecting your Soldsie store to ShipStation is easy:

1. If you are not a current ShipStation user, click here to sign up for a free trial. Complete Steps 1 and 2 in the ShipStation signup process.

2. When you reach Step 3, it’s time to integrate Soldsie with ShipStation!  In a new browser tab (Mac users, hit command + T), access your Soldsie Dashboard and visit Settings.  In the box that reads “ShipStation Setup,” create a username and password and hit save. Copy the link above your username–you’ll need that in a minute!

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3. Return to the ShipStation signup flow and select “Custom Store.”

4. Enter the username and password that you chose in your Soldsie Settings page, and paste the link in the box that asks for “URL to custom XML page.”

5. Change “Product SKU” to “Product or listing Name.”

6. Set up your preferred shipping clients.  Once you’re done, ShipStation will automatically start fetching your paid Soldsie orders, and you’ll see a notification like the one below.

7. Once your paid orders are imported to ShipStation, pay for and print postage. Make sure you select “Notify Marketplace” to let Soldsie know that you’ve shipped the items.

ShipStation will update the status of the product to “shipped” in Soldsie.

Badabing, badaboom–Soldsie will automatically send your customer an email to let them know that their item is on its way.

And a tracking number will be included on their invoice!

Prompted Invoices

At Soldsie, we know that our retailers’ priority is to get customers what they want–as soon as they want it. That’s why the platform supports customer registration, automated invoices, and now, prompted invoices!

We issue prompted invoices to customers whose comments are incomplete. This means that someone says “Sold” without specifying color or size, or something is spelled incorrectly in the comment, or the option he or she requested is unavailable. The user receives an “empty invoice” that allows him or her to edit the quantity and product options–you’ll know when someone receives one of these customizable invoices because it will read “prompted” in your dashboard view.

Rest assured that customers will not be able to check out if they select an option or item that is already sold out. On top of that, prompted customers won’t receive reminder emails (just in case they didn’t intend to purchase anything!).