How Do We Pick The Product of The Month?

One of the questions we are asked is “How do you decide what gourds to make for Product of the Month?” At that point we normally respond “the idea bank or the idea board located in our retail store.” It is at these two places, our customers provide invaluable insight as to what they are looking for. The idea board is a white dry erase board located in the corner of the retail store where customers can write or draw ideas they would like a gourd made into. Some of them spark lots of ideas with some thought and some not so much. But the ideas are always flowing and it is truly amazing what our customers can come up with. The Idea Bank began last year and it is where we share all of our new crafted gourd ideas with our customers and ask for their feedback. This allows us to get a good feel for what our customers are really looking for. We ask that they vote for one of the products in our idea bank by filling out a form telling us what they like about the idea and where they feel improvements could be made. We use these comments to help us improve our line and to also help us pick a new Product of the Month.

The Product of the Month is just that, it is a new product that comes out each month throughout the year. Each month, we have a meeting of the “eye” team to look over all the gourd designs that have been submitted for the month. These can be new submissions or ones that come from the idea bank. The job of the “eye” team is to look at each product and decide if the design is marketable. In other words, is there a market for that particular look? We also decide if the product is acceptable as is or if it needs to be “tweaked” to make it even better. The eye team suggests a Product of the Month to the “quality” team which is made up of members of our production and shipping teams. The “quality” team decides if there are any major hurdles that would need to be overcome to hand-craft or ship this gourd. Once a gourd has been signed off by the “eye” team and the “quality” team, it becomes a Product of the Month. Any gourds not picked for the month are put back into the idea bank or handed back to the designer for changes to be reconsidered for the next month. One of the best incentives to get customers, local artists and employees thinking about new ideas is the commission. If a designer’s gourd is chosen for Product of the Month, they receive up to 5% of the wholesale cost for every gourd sold as long as we carry it. This month, we want you to be part of this process. The “eye” team and “quality” team have met and signed off on three gourds below that we are considering for the August Product of the Month. Here are the three we are considering and we want you to vote for the one you want to see next in our line. All you have to do is click below to go to our online poll and the one with the most votes will win. The winner will go on sale July 8th with 10% off preorder sale for the rest of July, so keep an eye out to see if the one you voted for is the August Product of the Month.