Net Promoter Score in Percentages January – July 2010

Customer satisfaction is our passion – and we unfortunately hit a satisfaction pot hole. We’re also not afraid to let you know what everyone else thinks about us. So, here is another look at our recent custom satisfaction statistics in the form of our Net Promoter Score (NPS on Wikipedia).

Wait, What does NPS mean again?

We’ve written quite a bit about NPS – but for those who need a refresher, here’s a review of how we measure customer satisfaction. We ask one question: “How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?” Answers range from 0 (very unlikely) to 10 (extremely likely). Responses are divided into three groups: promotors (9 or 10), passives (7 or 8 ) and detractors (0 – 6). The NPS is then calculated by taking the percentage of promoters and subtracting the percentage of detractors. This allows for a range from 100% to -100%.

What’s up with the roller coaster ride above?

The graphic above shows the coarse our NPS score took since the beginning of the year. We entered the new year with a strong score of 45.2% (three quarters of companies which measure NPS fall below 35% – putting us at the top with companies like Apple, Amazon and Harley Davidson). continue reading ‘NPS Took a Rollercoaster Ride this Summer – Here’s What Happened’

I am excited to announce that Philip Rooke, our VP and Managing Director of Shop Partner and Direct to Customer businesses, will be promoted to the Management Board to support Spreadshirt’s continued growth. Over the past year, Phil has applied his extensive ecommerce experience from Skinstore and Tesco to improve growth across both businesses. One result for our shop partners has been a 45% increase in number of products sold per partner. Ensuring our partners success is one of our top priorities. We are grateful Phil has joined the team and congratulate him on his accomplishments and promotion.

The next part of this message is difficult for me to write, as it was a difficult decision that was made over months of discussions and deliberations: I will be leaving Spreadshirt. I will remain as CEO for a transition period, and our Supervisory Board will immediately begin an international search for a new CEO. I anticipate a smooth and logical transition, as Spreadshirt has a strong management team (one example shown above) that works closely together.

It has been an amazing and rewarding experience to serve on Spreadshirt’s Management Board for the past 4 years, and as CEO for over 3 years, as the company nearly doubled in size. I am and will remain one of the biggest supporters of the Spreadshirt business and the team. The vision we set out over the past few years remains an exciting and large opportunity. Spreadshirt will stay focused on continuous improvement and innovation in the areas of print-on-demand and personalized apparel. To use a quote from one of my favorite books… “Oh, the places you will go…”, and I can’t wait to see them.

Thanks to Spreadshirt employees, management team members, Supervisory Board, customers and partners for four wonderful years!

- Jana

It’s alive!

The closed beta is over, the open beta is in full swing and the major bugs have been resolved. So, it’s about time to bring you all up to date on the current status of our new T-Shirt Designer. You can now test drive the new designer on our co.uk site – go on then, take it for a ride!

Up to now we’ve had very positive feedback and thank all of those who informed us of bugs and usability issues. Of course, we also received some criticism and recommendations which led to some interesting debates in the team. But, I don’t want to keep you too long from playing with the new T-Shirt Designer, so here are a few details:

When will the new T-Shirt Designer go live

The new T-Shirt Designer is currently being tested live with an A/B test against the old T-Shirt Designer. This lets us see where some problems may be hiding and, above all, see how the loading time improves. Then, and you will see this within the next month, we will start switching on the new T-Shirt Designer for all countries across the Spreadiverse.

Where and how can we give feedback and get more info?

We have set up a separate area in the EU Forum where you will find the Roadmap, the submitted and fixed bugs, as well as a collection of all upcoming and requested features. We decided to keep this feedback centered in one location so we can all better track ideas, discussion and bugs. So, head over to the Forum and take part in the discussion!

Have fun testing, playing around with and pushing our new T-Shirt Designer to the max!

Facebook announced a couple of weeks ago that they will be changing the width of their application tabs next week (starting on August 23rd). The width will be reduced to 520 pixels “to optimize for the new profile and Facebook Pages format.”

This means that you will have to edit your Facebook application tabs to accommodate for this change in width. In the screen shot above, you can see an example of how the old format will appear cut-off once this change has been made. Currently you can preview how your application tabs will appear to your fans once this change takes place (visitors will still see the full width until Monday).

We’ve updated our templates on our how to earn money with Facebook page in our Spreaducation section. You will find a new HTML template in the zip file with updated CSS to allow your products to appear properly. You can also download the updated .zip file from here. Take some time this weekend to update your FBML application tabs and be ready for the change!

Let us know if you have any questions!

News flash! Summer is still here and your arms are still open for some sun and fresh air. That’s just the reason why we are offering our sleeveless shirts at 25% off! Simply put as many muscle shirts, tanks and spaghetti tops in your shopping basket as you sleeveless heart desires and enter the coupon code NOSLEEVES when going through checkout. And, Canada even has a summer too, eh – CADNOSLEEVES will get them the same 25% off!

Not sure how to best show off your guns? Have a look through our Marketplace or check out what our partner shops have to offer. Or, get creative and make your own sleeveless shirt! The coupons are valid across the entire Spreadiverse and are only valid until August 27th, 2010. Hurry, while the sun’s still shining!

Have something to say or want to show your support for? A subtle way of getting your message across and making perhaps a fashion statement out of it is through a t-shirt. Whether you are a firm supporter of recycling, a fan of The Beatles or even just a fan of yourself, you can easily get your point across through something as a basic as a t-shirt, ( no protest signs, blow horns or fireworks needed).

The flourish of personal expression on t-shirts began in the early 1980’s with designers and corporations alike prominently displaying their logos and tag lines boldly on tees. During this time English designer, Katherine Hamnett, popularized personal expression on tees with her large block letter slogans such as the recognizable, “CHOOSE LIFE” slogan tee worn by the band Wham!.

Nowadays, expressing your self through your t-shirt choice is common place. Whether you are supporting your new favorite band, sports team, a political candidate or a cause dear to your heart. Here’s the time to now make your statement known by creating your own statement tee!

Our research team was at it again, digging deep through our piles of data. This time they focused on which product sizes were bought most in the U.S. And to make things a little more interesting, they were even able to break it down into regions.

America is big in more than one way. It comes as no surprise that the average American Joe buys his products in large (30.5%), while the average American Jane goes for medium (34%). The western half of the country seems to also fit more into the average sizes: with the exception of Idaho, all other western states were low on the list of percentages of S and XXL. Alaska took the cake with second place for highest percentages of XXL for men and women. Perhaps a higher percentage of brawny lumberjacks? We can only speculate. continue reading ‘Trend Report: Where do the biggest and smallest Americans live?’

Helen sent this great picture of her husband in the shirt he got for his birthday. This was too priceless to keep hidden from you! Here’s what Helen wrote:

Dear Folks,
My husband was delighted with the T-Shirt that you made for his birthday. He is generally a good natured soul but once in a while when he complains about something, the grandkids call him “Grumpaw.” He thinks the name is a hoot and now whenever he gets crotchety about something he’ll say, “Grumpaw strikes again.”

Thanks so much for making his 86th birthday complete.

Helen will be the proud recipient of a $15 coupon for her next purchase for submitting her story! Do you have a great story behind your shirt and want a coupon of your own? Find out what you should send us and e-mail us your photo and story.

Ever have a question when designing your hoodie, setting up your Spreadshirt shop, or after you have placed your order? Then your answer is a contact away! Our friendly and helpful Service team is happy to answer your questions and provide support.

Our Service team is in the office Monday through Friday, 8am to 8pm ET and there are several ways to contact us:

• Reply to any of our automails
• Send us an email through our Contact Form:  For email inquiries, it is very helpful to reference your order number, shop id, or specific apparel, like the Women’s Cardigan, if they pertain to your question
• Give us a call 1-800-381-0815:  We offer several options to get you to the most knowledgeable representative concerning your question, i.e. calling about your setting up your Spreadshirt shop, then press 3 (just listen to the greeting when calling).
• Send us a message on Twitter

Once your contact is received, we work quickly to answer your question! All email contacts are answered within 24 business hours.

One of our goals is that you get a product you love! So once you receive your product, if you are not happy then please contact us! Our Service team will work with you to find a solution. Product too big or small, then we offer many sizes and will help get you the size you need. Our Service Team works closely with our Production Team, keeping our Production Team aware of any issues you report, so we can further improve our processes and continue to provide awesome Spreadshirt Quality!

We want to hear from you, even if you don’t have a question! Perhaps you have suggestions which will help us improve, then send them along to suggestions@spreadshirt.com. Maybe you have a story to share about your Spreadshirt purchase? No matter what, we want to know what is on your mind!