Ain't No Party Like A Crochet Store Launch Party!

Let's launch a website!!

We've finally done it! Candy Cap officially has its own, professional website, designed by yours truly (Yes, I did all of it myself. I have a background in website design and coding so it was more fun than challenging, especially with Wix's features). But what does this new website mean for customers?

Well, a lot of really exciting things! The main reason we wanted to switch to a professional website over Ko-Fi is due to Ko-Fi's limited customization options. The only real way we had to offer custom items was through the commission's tab, which if you never saw it, was very long, clunky, and hard to understand. There was no way to ensure we got all the information we needed, which led to some annoying back-and-forth email chains.

It created more problems than solutions, but we didn't want to take away the option to fully customize your dolls. That's half the benefit to a small business, after all - A big company would never take the time to gather every specific request you have and carefully add all the details you want. Take one of our latest commissions for example. A customer wanted a recreation of their cat who had recently passed, and we took the time to hunt down the perfect yarn and eye color, found a pattern in a position that their cat used to love to sit in, and even added a special recreation of their cat's collar to the mix. You can't get that kind of care and attention anywhere else besides a small business.

So finding a way to allow for as many customization options as possible was critical for our shop's mission. Opening our website was simply the best way for us to accomplish this. Wix offers a lot of options for both customer input and selections on products, so you can select your colors, themes, add-ons, and more for every item we offer. And we offer a lot of different options! Just explore our shop page and you'll see just how detailed we can get!

Building Community Engagement for Our Crochet Store

But that's not the only reason we put in the time and money to design this adorable crochet store website. We wanted to build a community, one that could connect and grow and enjoy our plushies. From this desire grew our new site membership program, which allows you to register for an account, receive badges for things like reviewing products and being a returning customer, and loyalty points for purchases, birthdays, and more. Our loyalty program allows for flexible discounts using your points - 10 points equal $1 off, or wait to get 40 points and get free shipping (up to an $8 savings depending on the order!). You earn 20 points just for signing up, and another 20 points on your birthday. That's already free shipping on one order, just for signing up and celebrating your birthday! Wow!

Our new website is going to make things so much easier, both for our customers and for us (we are, after all, a business of one!). From an easy search and filter system for our many products to gift wrap options, this site is designed to make things as simple and easy to find as possible. No more scrolling down the endless Ko-Fi listings with no easy way to find what you are looking for. We now have filters like price range or category, sorted by name or date added, and individual pages for our most popular items like Mushrooms or Custom Dolls.

Make Your Perfect Look-a-like Doll!

This brings us to the number one reason we switched to a unique website - our custom dolls! We're now offering custom look-like-me dolls! They are plush but poseable with wire inserts, have dozens of customization options from vitiligo to disability aids and medical devices, and are just so cute! You can get a whole wardrobe of fully custom clothing pieces designed for your doll, mix and match wigs, and add fun crochet accessories like headphones and purses. It's just like customizing a ball-jointed doll - only softer!

We are so excited to have this new website, and we can't wait to hear all your feedback on it. If you have any ideas for features you'd like added, errors you spot, or accessibility problems, please reach out and we will be sure to address them in our next update. Thank you for reading about some of our favorite features, and enjoy the launch party as we slowly roll out all our new products and features!