Feedback for videos: please don't skew the marketplace

[Connie]

I'm extremely disappointed in Zazzle for adding videos to Media Manager! As a shopper, I find them annoying, distracting, and aggravating (especially with sound!), but what really bothers me is that Zazzle penalizes those who don't have the time and money to jump on every "shiny new object" they come out with.

"Our existing commitment to an enriched customer experience is only enhanced as products that feature Cover Photos (and now Videos!) will continue to be favored in the Marketplace and will be showcased throughout the customer experience."

So then, they will say: "See, it increases sales!" Well of course, products that are featured and promoted will have more sales than those that aren't! But it doesn't accurately reflect the actual impact of those added distractions.

REAL, ACTUAL Marketplace testing would be if they didn't favor them in the Marketplace, and "let the chips fall" naturally.You can't honestly claim to have done real-world testing, when customers only see the products you want them to see!

It would be fine to have that option for those who have unlimited time and resources to make videos. But it is extremely unfair to penalize the rest of us. And they can't honestly claim they AREN'T penalizing us, when they admit right in the Media Manager Playbook, that they are actively favoring the products with videos in the Marketplace and customer experiences! If you favor certain products over others, not because of the actual merits of the designs, but because of the "bells and whistles," you ARE in effect penalizing the products that don't have those bells and whistles.

I'm resigned to the fact that the viability of my store is time-limited, and I will eventually be phased out. But it is really disheartening, after all the hundreds of hours and dollars I've spent on cover photos, (not to mention losing all that time I could have spent making new products) to be shunted aside because I'm unable to make videos.

I wonder if there is any way to get a petition going to Zazzle, to stop the artificial skewing of the Marketplace, and let actual real-world customers shopping in a fair marketplace be the determining factor of search results.

[PAZP]

IMPRESSIVE! 

[Barbara]

Thanks, Pat!

Colorwash's Home

[mokoosh]

Demoralizing. If Zazzle wants to have a less static site, and easy to understand it, it can spend more money and hire more engineers for their team, or contract them,  and let those engeneers works to  create video mockups for all, or most types of products, as they did with t-shirts. I takes of course more expense, and time on Zazzle side to do that.  Zazzle provided mockup videos for t-shirts.

Why not provide those for more products? Why not for leggings also? I think it is overdue. And other products also?  And in addition Zazzle could also give designers the option to include own photos and videos?  Bu tit is not done, and it is discouraging. Instead of doing that, they want user, individual designers to do such individual work. It takes time to produce good videos, as one psoter noticed already, even the short ones. Zazzle pushes this job on shoulders of individual designers who use this platform, dangling a carrot of featuring them higher in searches, increased sales etc.

So many internet companies push now for profitability, and savings. Sometimes it can backfire, and frustrate users. Pushing too much, too fast. I for sure will be doing less for Zazzle, and will be focusing more on other creative things. But  Zazzle is great, is fun, but I see now it rather not for me.

[Barbara]

@mokoosh, when wandering the marketplace, I haven't noticed all that many product covers, which has led me to believe the majority of designers aren't going to, nor can they, spend eight hours a day, seven days a week bent over their computers making covers, fussing with collections, and creating videos. Surely Zazzle knows they'll lose an awful lot of designers if they insist we do all that work without compensation. My personal thought is to do what floats our boats and to not worry about the rest of it.

Colorwash's Home

[mokoosh]

P.S. Z of course did good job strategically, business clever, with strong PR move on their side, timely placing the competition for creating moments, (a very strong point for Z type of business model) softening the blow of cover photos and videos hoops, and a morale improving move. Win 5000$! promoting this competition strongly, to the point of getting spammy.

Productivity improving too, on the low budget of combined prices, before important time of increased Christmas traffic.

Even though it is not my problem anymore, as I decided to be much less involved with Z, I think Z designers deserve better. Z pays 15% for third party recommendations resulted in sales, why not to give the designers bonuses for certain levels of sales? And adding yearly awards, like above mentioned competition, not as a PR move, or productivity improvement boost, but as designer appreciation move?

[Digitalbcon]

@mokoosh …they did.  Zazzle did pay bonuses, years ago.  That was all part of the carrot and stick approach to business.  I was designed to get every on board.  Then the carrot is taken away and they introduced the stick (with the carrot of course)…third party referrals for a bonus greatly reduced) and this is the way it goes.  I got off that boat a long time ago.

[mokoosh]

The market place will be skewed, it is a reality of publicly traded company. I checked today, and saw that Z became publicly traded last year. Which means, in US, there in such situation is strong push for making profits for investors, and generous bonuses for top level management, attracting top management talent,  (expensive) etc. So, it is also in Z interest not to provide mockup templates for cover photos, or for videos, and promote those designers who will include them as own work in their listings, and push that individual designers will be creating those, more in social media style. Because this creates more diverse data, which equals  data more valuable, for data scraping,  AI learning etc. More users, more diverse data equals more value for the company. Not skewing will be not profitable enough. Kind of sad, but well...