Survey Responses
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Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to complete the customer survey I sent in last week's newsletter. There were so many useful suggestions. I think I’ve managed to read through all the ones that have come in so far and I just wanted to respond to some of the general themes running through a lot of the responses.
Men
First off, I’m so sorry to all the men! I know the men's section is a mere shadow of its former glory. I’d best level with you, I’ve taken a very serious hit over the last few years (what with all the emergency warehouse moves and other near total disasters and personal troubles) and the amount of stock I can afford to carry is less than half what it used to be 3 or 4 years ago. Even at its height my menswear sales were less than 20% of my business (maybe the website name is too gendered idk), so sadly, menswear has fallen by the wayside while I’ve been forced to cut my range. I really hope this is something I can fix soon!
Plus Sizes
This is where I do have some good news! Dark in Love will have some for us in a couple of months! They’re going to be offering them across most of their new styles, so that’s very exciting. I’ll also keep offering them on any Necessary Evil I get to make. Speaking of which…
Necessary Evil
Thanks so much to all of you who mentioned your support of the brand! I’m so keen to release more styles. A fair few of you mentioned a wish for more everyday, wearable pieces, which was definitely in my future plans for Necessary Evil, so it’s nice to feel like I’m heading in the right direction. It’s just going to take me a hot minute is all. Anything I have manufactured myself has big old minimum orders and with the amount of stock I can afford to carry being so limited right now, I have to go real slow on this one. Which brings me to my next point…
Made to Order Stuff
Having, for nearly 20 years, only ever sold items I have held in stock, I’ve recently moved into offering some homeware direct from the manufacturer and some made to order items. As I’m sure you can imagine, this helps with the current limits on my stock holding, big time! That said, I want you all to know, I’m approaching with extreme caution and keeping the core Kate’s Clothing values of quality and service. The made to order T-shirts and footwear are all really amazing quality, the boots especially. I resisted for ages but I’m so in love with my pair. The designs are exclusive and all my own. I’m not just churning out AI artwork for them like so many are doing now, it’s all my heart and soul. I’m not judging on AI use by any stretch, there’s plenty out there that would say my use of basic photoshop to adapt some of the artwork is cheating. I’m just trying to offer you something different, genuine and authentic.
Sizing Info
Several of you mentioned difficulty figuring out the right size to get. This has been a battle since the very beginning but I’m still working on it. There are some fancy bits of software out there that could help but they’re expensive. I have more control over our own brand items like Necessary Evil, so I can make sure they’re true to size and give solid advice. In the meantime, we’ll keep doing all we can to give you the information you need and you can always email in or use the chat for advice. Your emails will generally go to Marjorie first, but you can request that she passes them on to me personally if you’re not totally satisfied.
Other Brands
Quite a lot of you mentioned Killstar (although for one of you it was in the context of never stocking them again!). I am going to look at stocking a very carefully selected range again. (sorry to that person but I promise I’ll avoid the things with nonsensical mixtures of symbols). We’ll see how it goes. A couple of you mentioned Hell Bunny too so I’ll see how things go with Killstar first. A fair few of you mentioned Disturbia but they only sell direct these days, they cut out the retailers a few years back. For the US based brands some of you mentioned, I’ve not been able to make imports from the US viable, I’m careful to make sure I pay all my import taxes properly and fully and it seems that puts me at a disadvantage. The same applies to imports from many other countries too.
Reward Points
A few of you mentioned not being able to use your reward points vouchers along side another discount, so I wanted to let you know you can always email us to exchange some of your points after you've placed an order. Just use the other discount and then email us to tell us how many points you'd like to exchange.
Style on a Budget
This is a thing for so many of us and to those of you who outright apologised for not buying more, I just want to say I totally understand and that you’re still helping to support this little business, even just by opening my newsletters (it helps the email providers consider them worthy of attention). Every time you interact with me on social media or you share a product or link, it really, really helps. Every time you view the site it helps build KC’s web presence just a little. Every mention on Reddit or whatever, every follow, every post like, it all helps so much! So please know that I’m grateful every single time!
Finally
There were many other points and many useful suggestions that I’m still working my way through, but this blog has covered some of the recurring points that I felt I needed to share with you all. So for now, I just want to say thank you again! I’m humbled by how very lovely so many of you are.
Kate
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