In this post, we share some of our thoughts on and the history of how we've offered pre-orders over the years. If you want to get straight to the nuts and bolts of how pre-orders work now, see our Pre-Orders: Frequently Asked Questions post.
The Past
For the longest time (something like 2001-2015) we accepted backorders for existing designs and pre-orders for new designs on our website. Our choice to accept backorders and pre-orders was important to our growth over those years and there were other benefits as well: notably, we could plan our production schedule around the bags that we already had orders for (as opposed to forecasting what bags we might get orders for).
Around 2015, we stepped back from our daily operations to reflect on our past, present, and future. We tore down some walls, turned our focus towards some key procedural improvements, and evaluated the impact of various small — but important — efficiency improvements we had implemented in our production department over the past couple of years.
One of the major changes we decided to make was to no longer offer pre-orders of new designs or backorders of existing designs. Three of the main reasons behind this decision were: the combination of greater efficiency and the hiring of a few new talented personnel in our production department meant that our production capacity had significantly increased; we were outgrowing our current website and the options that looked the best to us didn’t allow us to accept pre-orders and backorders as we previously had; we were finally outgrowing what had been a pretty darn good system for managing backorders. Eliminating pre-orders and backorders was an easy way we could reduce complexity — without, at that point in time, reducing a significant benefit to our customers.
The Present
Flash forward to 2018. Our production department is still hecka efficient. We’ve continued to occasionally add a new crew member to our factory — but only when we were certain we could devote the full attention and significant amount of time it takes to train a new crew member to Lisa and Fong’s exacting standards. Over the past few years, we designed and programmed our own inventory and production management software and inventory scanning/tracking system, rebuilt nearly our entire website on a new platform, and reviewed, improved and documented all fulfillment related procedures. That’s all in addition to new designs and new fabrics.
We’re in a good place. So good that we think we might’ve just found our happy place. Our company is now comprised of 47 people: not too big and not too small. We don’t have any plans to aggressively pursue or promote growth at the rate we experienced in previous years, but demand for our bags continues (something we never take for granted).
This year, we retired more designs than ever before, as had been the plan for a while: a smart decision, perhaps, but one that often didn’t feel that great (sometimes, as an artiste is prone to do, we disparage our own work and wish it would disappear — but more often, designs that have been a part of our line for years just become part of the family).
We also found ourselves a bit restless and wanting to experiment more with new offerings. Amongst Tom and Nik’s various designs are those that we look at and wonder — “Would anyone find this useful?” Or, we might find ourselves with the opportunity to purchase a smaller quantity of a very cool fabric or color — not enough to offer a significant number of bags in, but perhaps just a production run.
As Nik trained Mike to manage finished goods ordering, we reminisced about the days when we placed some finished goods orders based on what had already been purchased. It was more of a sure thing to order what we knew was already wanted — and the entire crew enjoyed knowing they were making bags for specific people who already couldn’t wait to get them.
Those three considerations and subsequent conversations — the sadness related to retiring designs, the excitement of offering small or limited edition runs, and the efficiency and connection to customers inherent in ordering already-purchased bags — led us back to pre-orders.
In 2018, pre-orders are much different than they used to be. Most payment gateways nowadays don’t allow authorizations that last longer than a few days. That means we must immediately charge the full amount for any pre-ordered item. That this makes us hesitate in the day and age of crowdfunding is probably a little laughable and points to our Pa Ingalls sensibilities when it comes to money and debt. (To be clear: our pre-order system is not about crowdfunding.) But hesitate we did, until we were convinced that it’s normal. Plus, we would, of course, gladly refund someone’s money and cancel their pre-order at any point in the process.
Read our Pre-Orders: Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about the specifics of how our new pre-order system will work — at least for our next debut…
The Future
“Change is the only constant in life.”
“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way.”
(Okay, that last quote has nothing to do with this post — we just thought it was pretty cool.)
While we have planned, documented, and tested down to the most minute, most boring detail the internal logistics of our first pre-order debut, we are leaving open the possibility that there is much we will learn once the rubber hits the road.
Perhaps pre-orders won’t be all they were cracked up to be — for you guys, or for us internally. Or maybe we’ll be really glad we did all of this. We’ll have to see. In any event, your feedback throughout the process of the pre-order debut is essential: feedback@tombihn.com
We even dare to say your feedback is required. What isn’t a requirement, but something we generously receive nonetheless, is your support. Whether that support is demonstrated through constructive criticism, appreciation, or recognition of individual efforts, it’s always seen and absorbed (though not always acted upon).
The next design debut after this one may or may not be a pre-order debut. If it is a pre-order debut, certain aspects may be changed. You’ve been warned by us — and Heraclitus.
