Just got notice that repeat customers will start to factor into rating. Overall this is a good thing, as a repeat customer is a very strong indication of the level of service provided by the hub.
But the simple fact is - 3DHubs’ 12.5% commission is a non-trivial hit to the profitability of the hub. Add to that, some jobs are so small & simple a quick email and cash deal is often smoother.
I always ensure that the first deal completes with 3DHubs - it’s only fair, after all 3DHubs connected me with the customer.
After that, it often splits. Some come back via the site, others ask to come direct.
Maybe, to help encourage repeat business through the site, why not reduce the commission for repeat customers. Customer’s are part of the solution, they should be rewarded for good behaviour too.
How’s this schedule:
First time customer: 12.5% 3DHub commission
Repeat customer, but to a different hub: 9.25%
Repeat customer to same hub: 6.25%
If you advertise that repeat customers will get a discount, that will help support us in driving business through the hub. Win-win-win.
Or put another way - a bird in hand is worth more than 2 in the bush.
Hmm, I’m a little uncertain about the whole idea of repeat customers affecting ranking. Yes, getting repeated orders from the same customer presumably means that customer is satisfied with your service, so that should be a positive sign. Butnot getting repeat customers isn’t necessarily a negative sign, it may simply mean that all the customers you’ve had only wanted one thing printed, or that you were physically incapable of making their other prints (size, printing type, offline at the time, etc.).
As for the commission issue, I like the idea; it encourages good service and will help to retain orders going through Hubs. Personally, I don’t like dealing directly with customers, so that side isn’t an issue, but I can understand why others might move outside for repeat orders.
reducing our fee for returning customers is something we are considering. We’re still assessing different variations (first time fee vs. returning) to make sure it won’t hurt our business in the long run.
Going forwards having higher retention will mean more orders for your Hub. While taking customers of the platform might save you a bit in the short term, it is going to affect the full potential of your business on 3D Hubs.
this is something we thought about quite a lot when we decided to include retention in the Hub ranking. The solution we implemented ensures that a couple of non-returning customers will not hurt your rating. Our in-house data scientist designed a system where only statistically significant results are considered.
