Amazon, E-Commerce & Inventory Strategy — 2025-10-17

Overview

Marketing and operations call with Lucy (Sherry), Mark, and Jason Doudlah. Covered four primary areas: a critical WooCommerce gift-note bug causing wrong messages to ship, a new premium gift box concept built around a stainless steel popcorn bowl, progress on the Walmart Marketplace application, and an interim manual process for a new high-volume B2B crepe client pending the B2B portal launch.

Attendees: Gilbert Barrongo, Avokerie Onorimuo, Karly Oykhman (Asymmetric); Lucy Doudlah, Mark Doudlah, Jason Doudlah (Doudlah Farms)

Recording: Fathom

Key Decisions

• Gift note system requires full redesign. The current WooCommerce implementation is broken at the data layer (defaults to the first-ever message entered) and at the UX layer (option buried late in checkout, Loom integration defunct). A complete overhaul is needed before more orders are affected.
• Stainless steel bowl selected for premium gift box. Row Pottery bowls ($20–$40, fragile) were ruled out. A stainless steel bowl inspired by Wabash Valley Farms / Whirly Pop is the preferred direction. Box contents: one stainless steel bowl, two bags of organic popcorn, one organic seasoning.
• New B2B crepe client will use manual Net 15 process until the B2B portal is ready. Sherry will contact the client directly to explain terms and correct their retail-price order.
• Walmart Marketplace verification completed. Entity confirmed as S-Corp; verification code received via phone call to business number ending in 8095. Application continues off-call.

Topics

1. WooCommerce Gift Note Bug

Problem: A critical bug causes ShipStation to display the very first gift message ever entered in the system, overwriting all subsequent customer inputs. Confirmed example: Order #54105 (Tom Baker) received a handwritten anniversary card when the order called for a birthday card.

Root cause: The system defaults to the initial gift message stored in WooCommerce rather than pulling the per-order input.

UX issues identified:
- "Add a personal gift note" option appears late in checkout (order summary sidebar), after most customers have mentally committed to completing the transaction.
- "Ship to a different address" link is visually weak — not prominent enough to catch attention.
- The Loom card-selection integration shown on the website is no longer active. Customers see a card-picker UI but Sherry is actually handwriting cards from her own stock. This creates a mismatch in expectations.

Proposed fixes discussed:
- Surface gift/shipping options earlier — ideally on the product page before add-to-cart.
- Make "Ship to a different address" visually prominent (matching the green button style used elsewhere on the site).
- Remove the defunct Loom embed entirely.
- Explore embedding an alternative card-selection tool (developer to assess options).
- Add instructional copy near gift products explaining the gift note and ship-to-different-address flow.

Owner: Karly to email developer with full brief; report back with options.

2. Premium Gift Box Development

Goal: Launch a premium holiday gift box before Christmas.

Bowl options evaluated:

Planned box contents:
- 1× stainless steel popcorn bowl (Doudlah Farms logo TBD)
- 2× bags organic popcorn
- 1× organic seasoning

Sizing: Bowl expected to fit in existing large gift box without requiring new packaging.

Next step: Karly to research stainless steel bowl suppliers and share options with Lucy and Mark.

3. B2B Strategy — New Crepe Client

Client profile: A crepe business with two locations placing recurring large-volume orders.
- Volume: 100 lbs every other week, split across two locations (100 lbs each)
- Constraint: One location is closed Tuesdays → shipments must go out Tuesday to arrive Wednesday; Monday shipping is not viable
- Issue: Client placed initial order at retail price on the public site, not at wholesale rate

Interim process (until B2B portal launches):
- Net 15 payment terms to manage credit risk on high-volume orders
- Manual invoicing and shipping coordination
- Sherry to call client, explain B2B pricing, set up Tuesday ship schedule, and include invoice/BOL with each shipment

B2B portal requirements captured:
- Subscription / recurring order functionality
- Card-on-file payment option
- "Favorites" list for easy reordering
- Automated payment reminders

Next steps: Karly to ask developer about subscription + card-on-file feasibility; Sherry to contact crepe client directly.

4. Walmart Marketplace Setup

• Karly completing the application on behalf of Doudlah Farms.
• GMV field: Placeholder range used; Walmart uses this primarily for business legitimacy validation, not precision.
• Entity type: Confirmed S-Corp (LLC taxed as S-Corp per CPA).
• Verification: Completed via automated phone call to business number ending in 8095. Code entered and submitted during the call.
• Remaining business information fields to be completed off-call.

Next step: Karly to finalize application; notify Lucy and Mark if additional information is needed.

5. Halloween Newsletter

• Draft reviewed and approved during the call.
• Content: Halloween-themed recipes, popcorn usage ideas, link to Popcorn Snack Box product.
• One outstanding fix before send: remove "Your photo here" placeholder image.

Next step: Karly to remove placeholder and send.

6. Internal — Karly & Avoke Check-ins

Brief pre-call discussion between Karly and Avoke:
- Weekly Friday morning check-ins agreed upon.
- 1-hour Salesforce training session scheduled for the following Monday (after stand-up).
- Karly to send Salesforce training course links to Avoke.

Action Items

Related

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