Archive for month: September, 2024

Original Source: https://smashingmagazine.com/2024/09/why-anticipatory-design-not-working-businesses/

Consider the early days of the internet, when websites like NBC News and Amazon cluttered their pages with flashing banners and labyrinthine menus. In the early 2000s, Steve Krug’s book Don’t Make Me Think arrived like a lighthouse in a storm, advocating for simplicity and user-centric design.

Today’s digital world is flooded with choices, information, and data, which is both exciting and overwhelming. Unlike Krug’s time,

Today, the problem isn’t interaction complexity but opacity. AI-powered solutions often lack transparency and explainability, raising concerns about user trust and accountability.

The era of click-and-command is fading, giving way to a more seamless and intelligent relationship between humans and machines.

Expanding on Krug’s Call for Clarity: The Pillars of Anticipatory Design

Krug’s emphasis on clarity in design is more relevant than ever. In anticipatory design, clarity is not just about simplicity or ease of use — it’s about transparency and accountability. These two pillars are crucial but often missing as businesses navigate this new paradigm. Users today find themselves in a digital landscape that is not only confusing but increasingly intrusive. AI predicts their desires based on past behavior but rarely explains how these predictions are made, leading to growing mistrust.

Transparency is the foundation of clarity. It involves openly communicating how AI-driven decisions are made, what data is being collected, and how it is being used to anticipate needs. By demystifying these processes, designers can alleviate user concerns about privacy and control, thereby building trust.

Accountability complements transparency by ensuring that anticipatory systems are designed with ethical considerations in mind. This means creating mechanisms for users to understand, question, and override automated decisions if needed. When users feel that the system is accountable to them, their trust in the technology — and the brand — deepens.

What Makes a Service Anticipatory?

Image AI like a waiter at a restaurant. Without AI, they wait for you to interact with them and place your order. But with anticipatory design powered by AI and ML, the waiter can analyze your past orders (historical data) and current behavior (contextual data) — perhaps, by noticing you always start with a glass of sparkling water.

This proactive approach has evolved since the late 1990s, with early examples like Amazon’s recommendation engine and TiVo’s predictive recording. These pioneering services demonstrated the potential of predictive analytics and ML to create personalized, seamless user experiences.

Amazon’s Recommendation Engine (Late 1990s)

Amazon was a pioneer in using data to predict and suggest products to customers, setting the standard for personalized experiences in e-commerce.

TiVo (1999)

TiVo’s ability to learn users’ viewing habits and automatically record shows marked an early step toward predictive, personalized entertainment.

Netflix’s Recommendation System (2006)

Netflix began offering personalized movie recommendations based on user ratings and viewing history in 2006. It helped popularize the idea of anticipatory design in the digital entertainment space.

How Businesses Can Achieve Anticipatory Design

Designing for anticipation is designing for a future that is not here yet but has already started moving toward us.

Designing for anticipation involves more than reacting to current trends; it requires businesses to plan strategically for future user needs. Two critical concepts in this process are forecasting and backcasting.

Forecasting analyzes past trends and data to predict future outcomes, helping businesses anticipate user needs.
Backcasting starts with a desired future outcome and works backward to identify the steps needed to achieve that goal.

Think of it like planning a dream vacation. Forecasting would involve looking at your past trips to guess where you might go next. But backcasting lets you pick your ideal destination first, then plan the perfect itinerary to get you there.

Forecasting: A Core Concept for Future-Oriented Design

This method helps in planning and decision-making based on probable future scenarios. Consider Netflix, which uses forecasting to analyze viewers’ past viewing habits and predict what they might want to watch next. By leveraging data from millions of users, Netflix can anticipate individual preferences and serve personalized recommendations that keep users engaged and satisfied.

Backcasting: Planning From the Desired Future

Backcasting takes a different approach. Instead of using data to predict the future, it starts with defining a desired future outcome — a clear user intent. The process then works backward to identify the steps needed to achieve that goal. This goal-oriented approach crafts an experience that actively guides users toward their desired future state.

For instance, a financial planning app might start with a user’s long-term financial goal, such as saving for retirement, and then design an experience that guides the user through each step necessary to reach that goal, from budgeting tips to investment recommendations.

Integrating Forecasting and Backcasting In Anticipatory Design

The true power of anticipatory design emerges when businesses efficiently integrate both forecasting and backcasting into their design processes.

For example, Tesla’s approach to electric vehicles exemplifies this integration. By forecasting market trends and user preferences, Tesla can introduce features that appeal to users today. Simultaneously, by backcasting from a vision of a sustainable future, Tesla designs its vehicles and infrastructure to guide society toward a world where electric cars are the norm and carbon emissions are significantly reduced.

Over-Promising and Under-Delivering: The Pitfalls of Anticipatory Design

As businesses increasingly adopt anticipatory design, the integration of forecasting and backcasting becomes essential. Forecasting allows businesses to predict and respond to immediate user needs, while backcasting ensures these responses align with long-term goals. Despite its potential, anticipatory design often fails in execution, leaving few examples of success.

Over the past decade, I’ve observed and documented the rise and fall of several ambitious anticipatory design ventures. Among them, three — Digit, LifeBEAM Vi Sense Headphones, and Mint — highlight the challenges of this approach.

Digit: Struggling with Contextual Understanding

Digit aimed to simplify personal finance with algorithms that automatically saved money based on user spending. However, the service often missed the mark, lacking the contextual awareness necessary to accurately assess users’ real-time financial situations. This led to unexpected withdrawals, frustrating users, especially those living paycheck to paycheck. The result was a breakdown in trust, with the service feeling more intrusive than supportive.

LifeBEAM Vi Sense Headphones: Complexity and User Experience Challenges

LifeBEAM Vi Sense Headphones was marketed as an AI-driven fitness coach, promising personalized guidance during workouts. In practice, the AI struggled to deliver tailored coaching, offering generic and unresponsive advice. As a result, users found the experience difficult to navigate, ultimately limiting the product’s appeal and effectiveness. This disconnection between the promised personalized experience and the actual user experience left many disappointed.

Mint: Misalignment with User Goals

Mint aimed to empower users to manage their finances by providing automated budgeting tools and financial advice. While the service had the potential to anticipate user needs, users often found that the suggestions were not tailored to their unique financial situations, resulting in generic advice that did not align with their personal goals.

The lack of personalized, actionable steps led to a mismatch between user expectations and service delivery. This misalignment caused some users to disengage, feeling that Mint was not fully attuned to their unique financial journeys.

The Risks of Over-promising and Under-Delivering

The stories of Digit, LifeBEAM Vi Sense, and Mint underscore a common pitfall: over-promising and under-delivering. These services focused too much on predictive power and not enough on user experience. When anticipatory systems fail to consider individual nuances, they breed frustration rather than satisfaction, highlighting the importance of aligning design with human experience.

Digit’s approach to automated savings, for instance, became problematic when users found its decisions opaque and unpredictable. Similarly, LifeBEAM’s Vi Sense headphones struggled to meet diverse user needs, while Mint’s rigid tools failed to offer the personalized insights users expected. These examples illustrate the delicate balance anticipatory design must strike between proactive assistance and user control.

Failure to Evolve with User Needs

Many anticipatory services rely heavily on data-driven forecasting, but predictions can fall short without understanding the broader user context. Mint initially provided value with basic budgeting tools but failed to evolve with users’ growing needs for more sophisticated financial advice. Digit, too, struggled to adapt to different financial habits, leading to dissatisfaction and limited success.

Complexity and Usability Issues
Balancing the complexity of predictive systems with usability and transparency is a key challenge in anticipatory design.

When systems become overly complex, as seen with LifeBEAM Vi Sense headphones, users may find them difficult to navigate or control, compromising trust and engagement. Mint’s generic recommendations, born from a failure to align immediate user needs with long-term goals, further illustrate the risks of complexity without clarity.

Privacy and Trust Issues

Trust is critical in anticipatory design, particularly in services handling sensitive data like finance or health. Digit and Mint both encountered trust issues as users grew skeptical of how decisions were made and whether these services truly had their best interests in mind. Without clear communication and control, even the most sophisticated systems risk alienating users.

Inadequate Handling of Edge Cases and Unpredictable Scenarios

While forecasting and backcasting work well for common scenarios, they can struggle with edge cases or unpredictable user behaviors. If an anticipatory service can’t handle these effectively, it risks providing a poor user experience and, in the worst-case scenario, harming the user. Anticipatory systems must be prepared to handle edge cases and unpredictable scenarios.

LifeBEAM Vi Sense headphones struggled when users deviated from expected fitness routines, offering a one-size-fits-all experience that failed to adapt to individual needs. This highlights the importance of allowing users control, even when a system proactively assists them.

Designing for Anticipatory Experiences
Anticipatory design should empower users to achieve their goals, not just automate tasks.

We can follow a layered approach to plan a service that can evolve according to user actions and explicit ever-evolving intent.

But how do we design for intent without misaligning anticipation and user control or mismatching user expectations and service delivery?

At the core of this approach is intent — the primary purpose or goal that the design must achieve. Surrounding this are workflows, which represent the structured tasks to achieve the intent. Finally, algorithms analyze user data and optimize these workflows.

For instance, Thrive (see the image below), a digital wellness platform, aligns algorithms and workflows with the core intent of improving well-being. By anticipating user needs and offering personalized programs, Thrive helps users achieve sustained behavior change.

It perfectly exemplifies the three-layered concentric representation for achieving behavior change through anticipatory design:

1. Innermost layer: Intent

Improve overall well-being: Thrive’s core intent is to help users achieve a healthier and more fulfilling life. This encompasses aspects like managing stress, improving sleep quality, and boosting energy levels.

2. Middle layer: Workflows

Personalized programs and support: Thrive uses user data (sleep patterns, activity levels, mood) to create programs tailored to their specific needs and goals. These programs involve various workflows, such as:

Guided meditations and breathing exercises to manage stress and anxiety.
Personalized sleep routines aimed at improving sleep quality.
Educational content and coaching tips to promote healthy habits and lifestyle changes.

3. Outermost layer: Algorithms

Data analysis and personalized recommendations: Thrive utilizes algorithms to analyze user data and generate actionable insights. These algorithms perform tasks like the following:

Identify patterns in sleep, activity, and mood to understand user challenges.
Predict user behavior to recommend interventions that address potential issues.
Optimize program recommendations based on user progress and data analysis.

By aligning algorithms and workflows with the core intent of improving well-being, Thrive provides a personalized and proactive approach to behavior change. Here’s how it benefits users:

Sustained behavior change: Personalized programs and ongoing support empower users to develop healthy habits for the long term.
Data-driven insights: User data analysis helps users gain valuable insights into their well-being and identify areas for improvement.
Proactive support: Anticipates potential issues and recommends interventions before problems arise.

The Future of Anticipatory Design: Combining Anticipation with Foresight

Anticipatory design is inherently future-oriented, making it both appealing and challenging. To succeed, businesses must combine anticipation — predicting future needs — with foresight, a systematic approach to analyzing and preparing for future changes.

Foresight involves considering alternative future scenarios and making informed decisions to navigate toward desired outcomes. For example, Digit and Mint struggled because they didn’t adequately handle edge cases or unpredictable scenarios, a failure in their foresight strategy (see an image below).

As mentioned, while forecasting and backcasting work well for common scenarios, they can struggle with edge cases or unpredictable user behaviors. Under anticipatory design, if we demote foresight for a second plan, the business will fail to account for and prepare for emerging trends and disruptive changes. Strategic foresight helps companies to prepare for the future and develop strategies to address possible challenges and opportunities.

The Foresight process generally involves interrelated activities, including data research, trend analysis, planning scenarios, and impact assessment. The ultimate goal is to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the future to make more informed and strategic decisions in the design process and foresee possible frictions and pitfalls in the user experience.

Actionable Insights for Designer

Enhance contextual awareness
Help data scientists or engineers to ensure that the anticipatory systems can understand and respond to the full context of user needs, not just historical data. Plan for pitfalls so you can design safety measures where the user can control the system.
Maintain user control
Provide users with options to customize or override automated decisions, ensuring they feel in control of their experiences.
Align short-term predictions with long-term goals
Use forecasting and backcasting to create a balanced approach that meets immediate needs while guiding users toward their long-term objectives.

Proposing an Anticipatory Design Framework

Predicting the future is no easy task. However, design can borrow foresight techniques to imagine, anticipate, and shape a future where technology seamlessly integrates with users evolving needs. To effectively implement anticipatory design, it’s essential to balance human control with AI automation. Here’s a 3-step approach to integrate future thinking into your workflow:

Anticipate Directions of Change
Identify major trends shaping the future.
Imagine Alternative Scenarios
Explore potential futures to guide impactful design decisions.
Shape Our Choices
Leverage these scenarios to align design with user needs and long-term goals.

This proposed framework (see an image above) aims to integrate forecasting and backcasting while emphasizing user intent, transparency, and continuous improvement, ensuring that businesses create experiences that are both predictive and deeply aligned with user needs.

Step 1: Anticipate Directions of Change

Objective: Identify the major trends and forces shaping the future landscape.

Components:

1. Understand the User’s Intent

User Research: Conduct in-depth user research through interviews, surveys, and observations to uncover user goals, motivations, pain points, and long-term aspirations or Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD). This foundational step helps clearly define the user’s intent.
Persona Development: Develop detailed user personas that represent the target audience, including their long-term goals and desired outcomes. Prioritize understanding how the service can adapt in real-time to changing user needs, offering recommendations, or taking actions aligned with the persona’s current context.

2. Forecasting: Predicting Near-Term User Needs

Data Collection and Analysis: Collaborate closely with data scientists and data engineers to analyze historical data (past interactions), user behavior, and external factors. This collaboration ensures that predictive analytics enhance overall user experience, allowing designers to better understand the implications of data on user behaviors.
Predictive Modeling: Implement continuous learning algorithms that refine predictions over time. Regularly assess how these models evolve, adapting to users’ changing needs and circumstances.
Explore the Delphi Method: This is a structured communication technique that gathers expert opinions to reach a consensus on future developments. It’s particularly useful for exploring complex issues with uncertain outcomes. Use the Delphi Method to gather insights from industry experts, user researchers, and stakeholders about future user needs and the best strategies to meet those needs. The consensus achieved can help in clearly defining the long-term goals and desired outcomes.

Activities:

Conduct interviews and workshops with experts using the Delphi Method to validate key trends.
Analyze data and trends to forecast future directions.

Step 2: Imagine Alternative Scenarios

Objective: Explore a range of potential futures based on these changing directions.

Components:

1. Scenario Planning

Scenario Development: It involves creating detailed, plausible future scenarios based on various external factors, such as technological advancements, social trends, and economic changes. Develop multiple future scenarios that represent different possible user contexts and their impact on their needs.
Scenario Analysis: From these scenarios, you can outline the long-term goals that users might have in each scenario and design services that anticipate and address these needs. Assess how these scenarios impact user needs and experiences.

2. Backcasting: Designing from the Desired Future

Define Desired Outcomes: Clearly outline the long-term goals or future states that users aim to achieve. Use backcasting to reduce cognitive load by designing a service that anticipates future needs, streamlining user interactions, and minimizing decision-making efforts.
Use Visioning Planning: This is a creative process that involves imagining the ideal future state you want to achieve. It helps in setting clear, long-term goals by focusing on the desired outcomes rather than current constraints. Facilitate workshops or brainstorming sessions with stakeholders to co-create a vision of the future. Define what success looks like from the user’s perspective and use this vision to guide the backcasting process.

Identify Steps to Reach Goals: Reverse-engineer the user journey by starting from the desired future state and working backward. Identify the necessary steps and milestones and ensure these are communicated transparently to users, allowing them control over their experience.
Create Roadmaps: Develop detailed roadmaps that outline the sequence of actions needed to transition from the current state to the desired future state. These roadmaps should anticipate obstacles, respect privacy, and avoid manipulative behaviors, empowering users rather than overwhelming them.

Activities:

Develop and analyze alternative scenarios to explore various potential futures.
Use backcasting to create actionable roadmaps from these scenarios, ensuring they align with long-term goals.

Step 3: Shape Our Choices

Objective: Leverage these scenarios to spark new ideas and guide impactful design decisions.

Components:

1. Integrate into the Human-Centered Design Process

Iterative Design with Forecasting and Backcasting: Embed insights from forecasting and backcasting into every stage of the design process. Use these insights to inform user research, prototype development, and usability testing, ensuring that solutions address both predicted future needs and desired outcomes. Continuously refine designs based on user feedback.
Agile Methodologies: Adopt agile development practices to remain flexible and responsive. Ensure that the service continuously learns from user interactions and feedback, refining its predictions and improving its ability to anticipate needs.

2. Implement and Monitor: Ensuring Ongoing Relevance

User Feedback Loops: Establish continuous feedback mechanisms to refine predictive models and workflows. Use this feedback to adjust forecasts and backcasted plans as necessary, keeping the design aligned with evolving user expectations.
Automation Tools: Collaborate with data scientists and engineers to deploy automation tools that execute workflows and monitor progress toward goals. These tools should adapt based on new data, evolving alongside user behavior and emerging trends.
Performance Metrics: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness, accuracy, and quality of the anticipatory experience. Regularly review these metrics to ensure that the system remains aligned with intended outcomes.
Continuous Improvement: Maintain a cycle of continuous improvement where the system learns from each interaction, refining its predictions and recommendations over time to stay relevant and useful.
Use Trend Analysis: This involves identifying and analyzing patterns in data over time to predict future developments. This method helps you understand the direction in which user behaviors, technologies, and market conditions are heading. Use trend analysis to identify emerging trends that could influence user needs in the future. This will inform the desired outcomes by highlighting what users might require or expect from a service as these trends evolve.

Activities:

Implement design solutions based on scenario insights and iterate based on user feedback.
Regularly review and adjust designs using performance metrics and continuous improvement practices.

Conclusion: Navigating the Future of Anticipatory Design

Anticipatory design holds immense potential to revolutionize user experiences by predicting and fulfilling needs before they are even articulated. However, as seen in the examples discussed, the gap between expectation and execution can lead to user dissatisfaction and erode trust.

To navigate the future of anticipatory design successfully, businesses must prioritize transparency, accountability, and user empowerment. By enhancing contextual awareness, maintaining user control, and aligning short-term predictions with long-term goals, companies can create experiences that are not only innovative but also deeply resonant with their users’ needs.

Moreover, combining anticipation with foresight allows businesses to prepare for a range of future scenarios, ensuring that their designs remain relevant and effective even as circumstances change. The proposed 3-step framework — anticipating directions of change, imagining alternative scenarios, and shaping our choices — provides a practical roadmap for integrating these principles into the design process.

As we move forward, the challenge will be to balance the power of AI with the human need for clarity, control, and trust. By doing so, businesses can fulfill the promise of anticipatory design, creating products and services that are not only efficient and personalized but also ethical and user-centric.

In the end,

The success of anticipatory design will depend on its ability to enhance, rather than replace, the human experience.

It is a tool to empower users, not to dictate their choices. When done right, anticipatory design can lead to a future where technology seamlessly integrates with our lives, making everyday experiences simpler, more intuitive, and ultimately more satisfying.

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/sell-directly-from-printify

The simple answer is yes. However, Printify isn’t a print on demand marketplace, so you won’t get the same experience as you would if you were selling on channels like Redbubble, for instance.

Here, I’ll show you how you can sell directly from Printify and I’ll tell you how you can use other sales channels with Printify to expand your reach too.

Can You Really Sell Directly from Printify?

Yes, there is a way to sell from Printify directly, without having to build your own ecommerce website or launch a storefront on a platform like Etsy or Amazon. All you need is a Printify pop-up store. This is a free feature offered by Printify to anyone with an account.

Basically, it allows you to create a simple online store with a Printify subdomain, that you can share with your customers to process sales. I want to point out, you don’t get a fully-featured ecommerce solution here – Printify’s pop-up store is pretty basic. You won’t get a lot of control over things like store design with themes, or advanced navigation tools.

I’d still definitely recommend creating your own website with something Shopify as your business starts to grow. But the pop-up store feature does make it very easy (and cheap) to start selling online.

One thing to keep in mind before you dive in is that Printify’s pop-up store is only available to users in certain countries. So, it’s worth checking this option is available to you before you dive in.

How to Sell Directly from Printify with a Pop-Up Store

The good news is that selling from Printify with a pop-up store is extremely straightforward.

All you need to do is sign up for a free Printify account, using your email address, or your existing Google account. Once you’re signed up, click on the “My New Store” tab in your dashboard, then select “Add new store”.

This will take you to Printify’s dashboard, where you can connect your sales channels in a couple of clicks. Scroll down until you see the “Printify Pop-up” banner, and click on “Launch Pop-Up store”.

This will take you to a page where you’ll be asked to enter some details for your new Pop-up store. You’ll need to give your store a name – I recommend choosing something catchy, and memorable. You’ll also need to select your “Country of Tax Residence”.

Click on the “Next” button, and you’ll be asked to choose a theme for your store. Notably, you can change this theme at any time in your Store’s settings later on.

After you select your theme, click “Launch Pop Up Store”, and you’ll be able to click on the name of your new store in your Printify Menu to start adding products.

Designing your products is the same as it would be if you were creating Printify items to sell on any other channel. You’ll still get access to all of Printify’s design tools – including the handy AI solution that generates images for you.

Remember to add a description to each product you produce, before listing it on your Pop-Up store, and configure your settings for shipping and pricing. To see what your store looks like, simply click on the “Visit Store” button.

How Selling from Printify Works

Once you have your pop-up store with Printify, all you need to do is share the link to your personal storefront with your customers. You can put the link on your social media link in bio for instance, or send it directly to customers through a messaging app.

When someone places an order with your store, Printify will charge them and automatically fulfil the orders on your behalf. After deducting the base cost of the product, taxes, and other extra fees, the remaining profits will be transferred to your account (Printify Wallet), and you can extract your earnings from there. Usually, Printify pays sellers on the 14th of each month.

It’s a pretty straightforward process, and you won’t have any upfront fees to pay at all, so if you’re looking for a cheap way to start selling online, this is a great option. However, you will miss out on some opportunities to build a memorable brand this way.

Other Options for Selling Printify Products

Aside from selling directly through a Printify pop-up store, you can also choose from a range of other ways to sell with Printify. I’d definitely recommend picking at least one of these “extra” options to help scale your business.

Option 1: Connect to a Marketplace

If you already have a storefront on an existing marketplace, like Ebay, or Etsy, then you can connect your Printify account to those platforms and sell directly through those too.

All you need to do is click on the “Add new store” option again in your dashboard, and select your preferred marketplace from the list. For instance, if you want to sell on Etsy, click “Connect to Etsy” if you already have an account, or “Sign up” to create an account from scratch.

Printify will walk you through the process of connecting your accounts. Then, from your products page, you can choose which items you want to list on your Etsy store.

Option 2: Use an Ecommerce Platform

The best way to boost your chances of higher sales with Printify is to connect your account to an ecommerce platform like Wix, Shopify, or Squarespace. Ultimately, this will give you greater market reach, more advanced store features, and advanced marketing tools.

Again, you can get started by clicking on the “Add New Store” button, and selecting from the range of sales channels Printify offers:

Once you click on the button for your chosen store, you’ll be asked to log into your account, or create a new account if you’re starting from scratch.

Again, Printify will give you specific instructions to follow depending on the sales channel you choose. You can then publish Printify products straight to your store.

Depending on your chosen sales channel, you can submit orders for fulfillment from your store to Printify by using your Order Desk (with Amazon Marketplace, Weebly, and Ecwid, etc). Or you can manually submit store orders.

You can also use API connections to send order information straight to Printify from your existing store automatically (which is a great way to save yourself some time).

Option 3: Sell through Social Media

Alternatively, if you want to keep things simple, you can sell through social media channels. Printify supports a direct connection with TikTok Shop, which is excellent for creators and influencers who want to sell their own merch without running an online store.

To do this, you’ll need to:

Sign up for a US TikTok seller account – keep in mind, it can take up to 24 hours to be approved.

Click on the “Add New Store” button on Printify, then select TikTok US. Fill in your store name, and click “Next”.

Check the boxes provided and click “Connect”, then authorize your TikTok account in the pop-up box that appears.

Click “Continue” and set up your shipping methods in your Printify dashboard and the TikTok Shop Seller Center.

Publish products from Printify to your TikTok Shop

Keep in mind, if you use an ecommerce platform like Shopify, you can also use third-party apps for other social media channel integrations, like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Can You Sell Directly from Printify?

So, yes, anyone can sell from Printify directly using a Printify pop-up shop. However, I do recommend using at least one other sales channel too, if you want to boost your chances of reaching as many customers as possible, and increase your sales.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I just sell on Printify?

Yes, there is a way to sell through Printify without having to create a separate ecommerce store or online storefront using Printify Pop-up shop. This gives you a free online storefront with a unique URL using the Printify.me domain. There are no upfront costs, but you will have limited control over your branding and scalability.

Where Can I sell Printify products?

There are various options you can explore to sell Printify products online. The easiest option may be to use Printify’s pop-up shop solution. However, you can also sell through ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Squarespace, marketplaces like Ebay and Etsy, and social media channels like TikTok Shop. They’re all accessible from your Printify dashboard.

Can you actually make money from Printify?

Absolutely, there are plenty of successful sellers who have made a decent income selling customized products form Printify. However, for the best results, you will need to invest in creating high-quality items, building and marketing your brand, and making sure you deliver exceptional customer service to your shoppers.

The post Can you Sell Directly from Printify? The Easy Guide appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

Original Source: https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/zbrush-for-ipad-review-powerful-and-feature-packed-this-feels-like-a-historic-release

The desktop version of ZBrush redesigned for iPad, and it’s brilliant.

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/website-builder-reviews/webnode-review

Webnode is an interesting option to consider when it comes to website builders. I’ve spent some time testing it out and Webnode has multilingual support and SEO features so it’s a good choice for global reach. But it has its limitations, a less intuitive editor and not very flexible which can make it more difficult to learn.

One thing I like about Webnode is the simple interface that makes the website creation process easy for beginners. Whether you want to create a personal blog or a small business site, you can get started quickly. But for more advanced users the lack of app store and limited e-commerce features might be a con.

I’m someone who likes ease of use and customization options. Webnode is an interesting combination of both. Security and email integration are good but I miss more robust customer support and plugins to add more functionality. This review will break it down for you to see if Webnode fits your website needs.

What is Webnode?

To begin with, Webnode has garnered its popularity from the services it offers for free. Who on earth has never tried free stuff? Seems they’ve done homework well; this strategy works in favor of many business platforms.

Its tools help you create a business, personal or an e-commerce website. As a matter of fact, you really don’t need any coding skills.

Creating an account tends to be seamless and its user interface is quite friendly. The ease of creating a stunning website here can be well-attested to. According to the site’s portfolio, they claim to have more than 30 million users. Notwithstanding that, Webnode has been in the game for more than a decade now. If I judge by these figures, it’s clear that this builder stands tall to be among the most preferable tools.

Their 15-day free trial is a deal you don’t want to miss. After all, there’s nothing to lose. It’s the only chance to explore the premium plans and make a comparison against other sites like Wix.com

How effective can Webnode be? Let’s see what they’ve got. Shall we?

Webnode Features

There are several testimonials on the site, most of which are positive feedback.  The drag and drop editor, for instance, makes it easy to add a pricing list, images, text or videos to your pages.

The features listed below are functional and prove to be an asset when used on any website format;

No annoying notification ads or pop-ups

Contemporary templates

Social media integration

Flexible pricing plans

E-commerce support

Ability to link the site with your local domain

Search Engine Optimization marketing support

User-friendly editor

Google Analytics integration

Language support

Language Support

The site builder can be used in 20 different languages. This multi-lingual compatibility is a huge plus.

Let me say this straight.

If I need to create traffic on my site and target other regions, I might be limited due to language constraints. Webnode resolves this in just a click of a button. Of course, this comes with a price.

But wait. What else do I want other than an international website that helps me handle business across borders? What a life hack!

Design Flexibility

Webnode gives users a decent amount of design freedom. The templates are modern and mobile-friendly, which is essential given the increasing use of mobile devices. Despite the stylish templates, customization options are somewhat restricted compared to other platforms like Wix or Squarespace.

You can make changes to colors, fonts, and layouts, but you might find yourself limited if you want to implement more complex designs. The platform integrates with various external tools, but it doesn’t support extensive third-party plugins.

Ecommerce Features

There is a significant rise in e-retail sales worldwide. If I weigh in what Shopify or BigCommerce charge for a basic plan, it’s certain that Webnode asks for way less. I absolutely don’t have to break the bank here.

Both premium and standard plans come with an online store. The store is supported with features such as conversion tracking, product variants, product import, and store analytics.

My Facebook Pixel Id and Google ads account can connect to my store in real-time. From here, I can track feedback from campaigns and paid ads. This makes my marketing work hassle-free. The Profi plan allows me to upload my products to other price comparison sites and track all conversions in my store. Additionally, I get a data backup service. This covers me from any uncertainties.

I think of it as a path to push my sales projections.

What’s more fascinating is the payments integration support. This means I can link my PayPal account information with the site to make transactions with customers. It has cash on delivery option too. I’m at liberty to choose either method depending on my preferences.

Tracking your shipment has been made smooth and logical. I can ship my products to a customer via reputable companies like FedEx International or DHL on the site.

Webnode goes a notch higher by letting me add my own shipping means.

Getting in trouble with the Taxman is the last thing I would ever wish to experience. Tax rates from different states and regions have been listed down for quick reference and better familiarity.

I must say, that was so genius of them.

Based on my experience though, I’d vouch for Shopify since it has more to offer, taking into account its predominant performance and efficient store management tools.

Usability and Ease of Use

I found Webnode’s interface to be quite intuitive. It employs a drag-and-drop builder that simplifies the website creation process. Even if you lack technical skills, setting up a basic website is straightforward. The platform provides templates for various niches, making it easier to start.

Navigating through the dashboard is smooth, with clearly labeled sections. Access to essential functions like site settings, SEO tools, and analytics is convenient. For basic websites, the free version suffices, though advanced features require a subscription.

Creating an account

To access the back-end, I need to first create an account.

The next step is to choose an option. It’s impressive that the registration wizard allows me to pick an online store, business or personal website.

The wizard will easily direct me to a wide range of templates.

I will need to create pages which will appear on my site automatically.

The site editor will finally be accessible. I’m able to use the drag and drop tools to customize my site. The preview button allows me to see the changes.

A Snippet of Featured Templates

This is where I feel so indecisive. There are so many templates to pick and customize in minutes. It appears that almost all business entities are covered here.

I had the chance to go through a couple of templates. The blog section, in particular, includes a number of beautifully designed templates which I can easily edit and add content of my own.

Webnode Pricing

Their prices are unbeatable and the packages vary depending on various features.

PROFI – Full-service plan for professional websites.

$19.95/Month

Free Domain-1 Year

Available Storage-5 GB

Bandwidth Amount-Unlimited

Use Your Own Domain-Yes

Premium Support-Yes

Email Accounts-100

Form Builder-Yes

Website Statistics-Yes

Background Video-Yes

Online Store-Yes

No Webnode Ads

Google Analytics-Yes

Membership Registration-Unlimited

Multiple Languages

Unlimited Backup and Recovery

STANDARD – This plan is made for all types of websites. Most popular!

$11.95/Month

Free Domain-1 Year

Available Storage-2 GB

Bandwidth Amount-10

Use Your Own Domain-Yes

Premium Support-Yes

Email Accounts-20

Form Builder-Yes

Website Statistics-Yes

Background Video-Yes

Online Store-Yes

No Webnode Ads

Google Analytics-Yes

Membership Registration-100

Multiple Languages-2

Unlimited Backup and Recovery-5 backups

Mini – Everything you need for your stunning website

$5.95/Month

Free Domain-1 Year

Available Storage-500 MB

Bandwidth Amount-3

Use Your Own Domain-Yes

Premium Support-Yes

Email Accounts-1

Form Builder-Yes

Website Statistics-Yes

Background Video-Yes

LIMITED – Basic plan allowing you to use your own domain.

$3.95/Month

Free Domain-Not Supported

Available Storage-100 MB

Bandwidth Amount-1 GB

Use Your Own Domain-Yes

Premium Support-Yes

I should be guided if I’m wrong to say that the above prices are among the lowest in the market. Webnode has proved to be more than generous.

How is The Customer Support?

It’s so obvious that customer service begins and ends with a smile. The site builder has listed an email addresses in their ‘Contact Us’ section. However, I wish that they had an alternative means to enhance a quick response.

Technically, this ain’t rocket science; you don’t necessarily need help when building your site here. The chances of desperately needing customer support are so slim. Everything on the site is well elaborated.

The blog page has content to educate its users but the information isn’t quite sufficient. The team needs to work on updating their blogs more often.

On the flipside, I can use the tools to fix a Newsletter dropbox. I’ll ultimately gain access to email addresses from site visitors. What a perfect chance to market my products! I can feed my potential clients with reliable content such as flash sales and juicy offers.

Conclusion

I know you could be asking, is Webnode good enough? I’m confident to say the answer to this question varies. There are lots of dynamics which all rely on various specific needs. I might want to do a plain sailing blog and talk about my digital nomad life. I wouldn’t hesitate to set up one using Webnode.

It’s cheap and takes a few minutes to make my blog. A static website with slider content can be built at ease too. I did all the tests and I didn’t seem to find any flaws.

For merchants selling high volumes, here’s my pointer, to try out platforms with dedicated plans proven to deal with such needs. However, the monthly budget might go a little overboard.

In a broad viewpoint, I have nothing so alarming to raise that will make one shy away from having a try. It’s generally a good site builder and quite simple for beginners. Slight and unnoticeable shortfalls here and there but that doesn’t change its achievements.

We all have wins and losses. Right guys?

The post Webnode Review: Details, Pricing, & Features (2024) appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.