Crystal D Introduces Online Blank Ordering

Over the summer, Crystal D introduced a beta version of online blank ordering for awards retailers. After a few months of testing, Crystal D launched the improved version live on its website on October 1.

Crystal D originally launched the online shopping cart in July and successfully received orders through a temporary solution. After getting feedback from customers and working with its internal IT team, the company launched the updated version of its shopping cart.

“Our goal is to keep up with the buying trends of our customers,” says Bridget Dahlgren, director of sales and marketing. “We’re living in an Amazon world, and we want ordering from Crystal D to be simple, easy, and fast.” Crystal D improved the checkout process for its customers in a few different ways.

“The first changes appear before you actually get to the checkout process,” Dahlgren explains. On items that have included component pieces, customers can choose which piece they want.

“In the beta test, our blanks and samples manager had to reach out to find out which color block our customer wanted,” Dahlgren adds. “We also have notifications when our awards need to be assembled so our customers know (whether) we’re assembling here or that they have to assemble it in their shop.”

According to Dahlgren, the beta test appeared as a new pop-up window, so Crystal D had a few customers who used pop-up blockers that had to allow the window to open, which was an extra unnecessary step for them. Now, the checkout process flows through in the same window. The checkout process also allows customers to make changes to their cart and addresses without losing what’s in their cart.

The biggest change, the company explains, is that customers can now pay with a credit card. Previously, Crystal D’s accounting department had to reach out for payment, but now there is a secure portal that accepts payment. This allows the company to ship orders faster as it doesn’t need to wait for credit cards to process. For customers with credit terms, purchase orders can still be sent to trophysales@crystal-d.com.

“We’re always looking for feedback as well, so any of our customers who use the cart can shoot us an email to let us know what they think! Positive or negative, we want to hear it all,” finishes Dahlgren.

For more information, visit www.crystal-d.com.