I’ve noticed on my order notifications today (possibly yesterday too) that the back side invitation thumbnail is being shown to customers and to me instead of the front. So, for example, items that are blank on the back make it look like the customer will be receiving blank cards.
I just had a customer reach out to me and ask if her order was blank, and I imagine I’ll be getting more or possibly cancellations because when customers go to their orders page, it looks like they have ordered blank invitations.
Here are 2 most recent examples. Instead of the front side thumbnail, if customers go through the “next” it ends on the back thumbnail, and the back (sometimes blank because it has no design intentionally) shows. The last customer who contacted me told me that it looked like her order was for blank cards (because Zazzle is showing the last viewed side as the order thumbnail instead of the front).
@karmakay
I would assume that the image is not included for privacy reasons, so that customer names and other personal details from an order are not exposed.
It is probably too complicated to attach the exact personalized design to the message. I can imagine that the previews are not generated with the customer’s data, because that could create weak points in the chain between the server, the customer data, and the product.
Keeping the customer’s information connected to the product within the ordering system is one thing. But including that specific personalized product in an email would be different, because the information could potentially be read by automated systems, bots, or anyone who gained access to the email.
I have also just learned something here while reading along: when a product has two sides, it makes sense to put the most important image on the first side.
Even if you might originally have imagined the product being used differently.
I also noticed something from my own order. The single-sided invitations and cards I bought were printed with the reverse side upside down. Online, I read both sides from left to right and they appear correct. But offline, when I hold the card and naturally turn it over, the reverse side is upside down.
This did not happen only once—I noticed it with both postcards and flat cards. I am still wondering whether this was only an issue with the products in my own order, or whether they are generally set up this way. They are still usable, but they look wrong when you hold and turn them normally.
The upside down thing would be one of their manufacturer’s issues. On my signs, cards, etc, I do have the design on the front. The customer’s last view before editing is showing as their order thumbnail to them. So then they message me wondering if their cards are blank and asking me to double check their orders. On the customer’s end, the front side of cards needs to be shown next to their order so they don’t mistakenly assume they’re going to be shipped blank cards or signs etc.
Edit: and there are some that come through correctly showing the front sides. It seems to be because that was the last “realview” image the customer looked at before editing. So it should be easy to force the “realview” image to be the front image on the customer’s side. I don’t care what it looks like in my notifications. I just don’t want customers to message and/or cancel because they think they’ve ordered blank products.
I completely understand, and I would be very confused as a customer too if I placed that kind of order.
However, I can imagine that, for the privacy reasons mentioned above, it may be intentional for the order overview not to include a true proof, but only a generic product image that does not show the personalized details.
For wedding items especially, I almost think it would make sense to have a separate proof step: a PDF showing exactly what the customer has ordered, with a message such as, “This is the design you ordered. Please check it and approve it for printing.” Otherwise, it is confusing for everyone.
I was easily able to show the customer a preview in their cart on my own website before I pointed everything to Zazzle. It’s not about what I can see, because I don’t really care about that. It’s what the customer sees.
Ha! I have ordered things as samples. When your last view on the product page is the back side, and the back side is blank, that is the thumbnail shown in your cart and later as your order thumbnail.
The other day, someone in this forum was looking for a video they could use to show customers how to place an order on Zazzle.
Either we need more of that kind of customer guidance, or it would be wiser to invest that time in the platform itself and improve the ordering process.
On the one hand, creators are not being paid for customer support. On the other hand, making the ordering process so confusing that it requires helpers and explainers does not seem very sensible.
Zazzle, I have been reading some of the suggestions here.
In your post about templates, you said that customers often drop out during the ordering process, which is why you added templates to the Design Tool. Many people here keep pointing out both larger and smaller things that do not work as they should.
Elke explained very well how disappointing it is when someone fills in the Moments fields, but all of their entries disappear when they switch to another template.
Karma shows here how frustrating it is to see an empty preview image, when it might be possible to show the actual personalized images as previews in the email.
I would also like to add that, after reading the reviews on the site over the last few days, something seems to be wrong with the ordering process.
And the app is not available internationally either, even though mobile shopping is becoming increasingly important.
Right! Here is an example showing someone else’s design. So I view the front and then add to cart, the front is shown as my cart/order thumbnail. But when I scroll to check all sides before adding to my cart (ending at the back blank side) the blank back is my cart/order thumbnail. Not all customers do this, but the careful ones do check all sides. And the careful ones are more apt to worry and cancel their order or reach out to designers when they see the blank back side thumbnail as their order.
It just creates confusion for the customer. I imagine it’s a super easy fix to add a line of code on their order pages that calls the front “realview" image instead of the last viewed realview
In the Technical forum our main goal here is to collect bug reports and get them worked on as quickly as possible. To help support this effort we would prefer that communication stay focused on the bug that’s being reported. Other conversation, product suggestions, feedback, and any other conversation should happen elsewhere. The more on-topic we stay, the more efficiently we’ll be able to understand the scope of the issue, and the sooner we’ll be able to start working on a solution. Thanks in advance.
Yes, sorry. At first I thought this was a new issue, but I think it was coincidence that there were multiple customers/notifications in a row showing the back thumbnails. Since posting this, I have had others coming through showing the front. It was the customer who reached out to me while seeing multiple in a row that made me think it was a new glitch.
Here’s hoping the issue gets viewed in its actual context so cause and effect don’t get lost in translation. I’ll keep quiet now and let the magic happen.*
Here is an example showing someone else’s design. So I view the front and then add to cart, the front is shown as my cart/order thumbnail. But when I scroll to check all sides before adding to my cart (ending at the back blank side) the blank back is my cart/order thumbnail. Not all customers do this, but the careful ones do check all sides. And the careful ones are more apt to worry and cancel their order or reach out to designers when they see the blank back side thumbnail as their order.
