Editors' Pick and Special Picks in the Zazzle Marketplace

[Scott]

Hi Everyone,

I’ve removed a discussion from public view because people were forming conclusions based on bad data. The title of the conversation was “Editors/Special Picks 99,000 - Some stores 3000 - can we compete?” I do respect the time and effort that was put into the research, and my response to some of the comments is below.

This is about using the term “gifts” in search. It used to be that this would show you ALL products, which meant that you could drill down into categories and see all products in that category (or you could do this with Special Picks, as in the previous discussion thread). This is no longer the case. This page was converted to a new style of page, which has more SEO-friendly content and contains fewer products in the search results. The upside here is that the page loads quicker and is better for SEO. The downside is that you don’t get to see every single product. This makes the new style of page bad for collecting data as you’re only working with a subset of the full product catalog. So that you’re aware, a human search results page will contain a “/s/” in the URL, while the more SEO-friendly page contains a “/c/”.

Secondly, I wouldn’t put too much weight on the “Zazzle Select” Special Pick. This is NOT a performance-based award or program. It was the name given to an idea that we’ve (slowly) been testing out. The idea here is to have the customer upload their template text and image first, then we’ll generate a search results page that contains the customer’s image and text on it. This is undoubtedly a better way to visualize products, but it does add a LOT of extra work for Creators ahead of time. Here’s an example page to check out: https://www.zazzle.com/featured/graduation+card+maker

Like many other closed beta tests, we worked with a small-ish group of Creators to test out a new idea. They were selected based on some parameters (I’m not sure what they are in this case), and the Creators agreed to perform a certain type of work without any guarantee that the products would sell. Not sure what our plans are for this program moving forward, but I don’t believe we’re looking to expand it at this time.

[KeegansCreation]

Holy Moly! This clears something up that has been baffling me for ages. I couldn't figure out why, for example, drilling down to clocks from the sidebar gave 115, 329 results but putting clocks in the search bar gave 534, 767 results. After all, "clocks" appeared in the search bar in both cases. So now I know. Thank you for the info. I never noticed the subtle "c" and "s". I just was baffled by the discrepancy based on how one navigated to a page.

[CrazyMermaid]

Thanks for the added info Scott. Really appreciate it. You've explained the "c" and "s" search results before and it is an important parameter to understand. 

[Windy]

The link provided returns only this: Invalid Parameters Specified

[jennifer22]

Copy and paste the link and it should work for you.

[Barbara]

Thank you, Scott, for the insight.

I suddenly realized that an easy way to remember 's' vs. 'c' might be that s=search and c=customer.

Colorwash's Home

[klstock]

You can enter a store name into the search field (as it appears in the address bar, without spaces is the way I did it) then use the filters to narrow those results to editor's picks only and still plainly see that some of these are getting an inordinate amount of editor's picks.  Like I said in the previous thread, I don't care how many editor's picks an editor wants to give to any particular person - the issue is when those are stuffed on the first page of search results. What shows up under the "popular" filter should be by what is actually popular via sales - not preferential positioning.  That is a matter of someone engineering results and having the power to effect one person's income over another's.

That preferential positioning is enabling some to earn more due to more visibility in the marketplace, while causing others to earn less due to getting pushed back in results. That is the issue I have with it. 

[Scott]

The search bar at the top of the page was designed to search for products, not stores. So searching for "Disney" is not going to necessarily show you all products from the Disney store. 

The rest of this post seems to fall outside of the topic of my original post, so it's probably best discussed in another discussion thread.

[klstock]

It shows the products of the store - whether all products or not is immaterial to my point - which is that you can get a good idea of the amount of editor's picks for a store and that some are getting an inordinate number of editor's picks which are being stuffed to the front of search results. That was the specific topic of the thread that your post was about! 

[Scott]

The previous discussion was not about only Editors' Picks. It was about how some stores have a LOT of Special Picks + Editors' Picks. I copy/pasted the subject line of the previous discussion in with my original post. Special Picks are a bit strange because they include awards handed out by the staff here at Z (Editors' Picks), and they include badges for special programs (Zazzle Select) which sounds like an award, and Digital, etc. So, although it may seem like having a lot of Special Picks awards may seem like favoritism, this is really not the case. That's really the main point that I was trying to make with my post.

Now, whether these Special Picks should be prioritized in the search results page...that's a whole different discussion. This topic has been mentioned a few times now, and the team is aware of the feedback.

[klstock]

I understand your explanation about the special picks. Whether they are special picks/editor’s picks or whatever picks, they are being stuffed into the top of search results and they are bumping back designs that were on the first page due to sales. That is not right.

The fact that someone gets a lot of picks doesn’t mean favoritism is going on – maybe the person just does awesome stuff! And as such, it will sell. Customers can find it, and that designer can promote it. It would rise naturally in the search results as it sells and merits it.

Where it appears favoritism is a factor, is when something gets catapulted to the front page, knocking out others who were already there. It is often the same names that come up repeatedly - some of which are prolific purveyors of generic clipart (here I am spending hours doing cover photos because we are told it will help to stand out in the marketplace – and yet there is a preponderance of generic clipart that gets propelled to the front page!). Is it right that one person has to spend hours promoting to try to drum up some sales due to less and less visibility in the marketplace while another gets auto-plunked on the first page with nearly each new product?

There is understandably going to be frustration felt from these issues.

Someone in a different thread had a good suggestion for a row on the first page to be a carousel that you could scroll across for editor's picks and/or to sprinkle in new designs, without clogging up the entire first page (and second and third, etc) with editor's picks. Or maybe put a more prominent “click here to see our featured editor’s picks” section (and rotate those).

 Editor’s picks (or whatever special picks) should have no preferential placement. Give out as many to whoever anyone wants, but leave them wherever they are in the marketplace/search results. If they sell well, they will move up to the top of search results by merit.

I am glad the team is aware of the feedback on this and hope it results in positive changes.

[Connie]

What would be the point of being an Editor's Pick, though, if there is no preferential treatment?

[CarlaRolfe]

I have a handful of editor's picks. Whenever I see one I think the same thing. "Oh, that's flattering".  It's nice to be recognized by someone for a design you created. 

Never once have I presumed an EP on a product should garner preferential treatment or shoot it to the top of a search, or page 1 of a category.  To me, those ranks belong to the products that earned their place there by being popular and selling well, editor's pick or not.  Especially considering, when you go to the MP the default sort is "popular".  Also considering, some of my EPs have strikingly LOW sales, and the don't deserve to be at the top of any "popular" search.

So what then, is the point of zazzle handing out Editor's Picks?  Good question. Maybe it's just folks in the department saying "nice work, it caught my eye, good job". Maybe it's to encourage designers to promote the product more.  But I have to agree with @klstock that those products should stay right where they're at in MP rank, until or unless they do start selling better, and do become more popular. 

[Connie]

EP's ARE popular, at least with Zazzle. I think it's a good way for newer products and sellers to have a chance to be seen in the marketplace. The products that "earned their place there," at least from sellers who have been on Zazzle for years, had a much easier ride, because back then there was a LOT less competition! Now there's millions of designs on Zazzle, and it's a lot harder for new products to ever get found.

[klstock]

I’ve been on Zazzle since late 2018 and only doing it very sporadically and part time when I can fit it in between other things. 95% of my stuff is original art created by me. Easy ride? Not a chance! I have worked my ass off, as I am sure those who came before I started worked their ass off too.

Less competition? There was actually more competition in 2018 (and before) than there is now because people earned their spot at the top – editor’s picks didn’t get you launched above others onto the first page. You had to work for that via doing your own promotions as well as affiliates working to promote designs. The “auto-launch-to-the-top” feature didn’t exist then. Nobody gave me a hand-up to put me ahead of someone else “to get found”. I worked hard for that, as no doubt others did also.

When I want my new product to “get found”, I work my ass off on Pinterest to promote it.

Bumping people up over others who have worked hard to earn it just so they can “get some exposure” is not the answer.

One row at the top of a page that highlights and rotates new designs/editor’s picks – that seems a much better approach in my opinion.  

[ThankYouAlways]

Preferential to the point where one designer has received dozens for one product (with little variation) which is displayed on the first page so that higher selling designs which have taken years to establish are pushed way back? A fairer alternative needs to be introduced. It was different a few years ago.

[Connie]

A fairer alternative would be for the people who pick the products not to choose dozens of the same or very similar design on the same product. But I think if implemented properly, there's nothing wrong with giving Editor's Picks a marketplace boost. It's a way for new designs to be recognized for the merits of the design, especially now that there are so many more products in the marketplace. Years ago, it was FAR easier to get your products established in the marketplace, because there was so much less competition. So now those products have good traction and don't need any boost from Zazzle.

[ThankYouAlways]

I started in 2015 and can say it was definitely not easy to get established back then in fact I felt disheartened and so didn't create for a year. I then decided to try again and worked so hard. I researched and created and learned what worked and what did not, and I'm still learning!

I did receive a few Editor's Picks on some of my best selling products and those products had to work for it. The process seemed much fairer back then and EPs were not over populating the market place at one time. 

Scott did say the team are aware of the current positioning of them. 

After all these years I am grateful for what I earn on Zazzle and hopefully the team will be able to provide a solution for all designers.

[klstock]

 I just thought of them as icing on the cake, like "Cool, someone likes my design and is giving it a little recognition".  Most of the editor's picks I have received came after those products had already sold well - they were not bumped ahead of others in search results. 

If I were a customer shopping on a website for the first time and saw everything on the first page(s) of results was an editor's pick, I would get the impression it was some type of gimmicky marketing ploy. 

[Westerngirl2]

Some of the editor's picks are wonderful. Some of them are like........what?

I ran across a mug that was an editor's pick. It was a single alphabet letter monogram. It was, of course, a font that Zazzle offers, so it was easy to change the template. That was it. A single alphabet monogram on a white background. The same store had dozens and dozens of Editor's Picks. And I found the mug because it had garnered a pretty good position in the MP. I have no way of knowing how well it has sold, of course.

I understand that minimalism is trendy, but it seems that an Editor's Pick should have a bit of design effort. But heck, what do I know?

[Connie]

Yes, some of their choices really don't make any sense!

[Caprice]

So...how are the products in the subset (the /c/) chosen?  Sales?  Popularity?  Editorial input?  🤔 

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@Scott wrote:

This is about using the term “gifts” in search. It used to be that this would show you ALL products, which meant that you could drill down into categories and see all products in that category (or you could do this with Special Picks, as in the previous discussion thread). This is no longer the case. This page was converted to a new style of page, which has more SEO-friendly content and contains fewer products in the search results. The upside here is that the page loads quicker and is better for SEO. The downside is that you don’t get to see every single product. This makes the new style of page bad for collecting data as you’re only working with a subset of the full product catalog. So that you’re aware, a human search results page will contain a “/s/” in the URL, while the more SEO-friendly page contains a “/c/”.