Tuesday, November 24, 2015

We want to hear from YOU!

Nutshell has long served a demanding market worldwide. 

Our users come from all walks of life and share one thing in common; their nutshell.

These hardwearing and hard working leather holsters have truly made a difference to many, many, people right around the world, and we constantly get letters telling us of exploits where the Nutshell has come into its own as a product that really does do what we claim; protects the products it covers.

 Hardwearing in the Construction Industry.



Five years and four phones.
Hardwearing - still going

"I do work in construction. That's why I have and always will have a NUTSHELL for my phones! 

Most of my time is driving a desk now so the new case doesn't get nearly the abuse the previous one did


The first one just wore out after 3-4 phones. (see attached pic) the second became outdated due to a new size phone. I can't say I'm not rough on them but the first one held up for years like iron."

 If you have a similar story we want to hear it.

Please send us a image and a couple of paragraphs outlining how Nutshell really made a difference to you.

If we post your story here, along with the image you supply, we will give you a new Nutshell belt case --- FOR FREE!! 

So, what are you waiting for?

_________________________


Saturday, October 31, 2015

One Rate for All

I would rather it were 'One Ring for All" but somehow I think Sir Peter (or a Hobbit) may take offense...if  they ever read this.


Over the years we have been trialed just about every delivery service to the rest of the world from New Zealand, with varying levels of satisfaction and success.

All have had inherent difficulties. Some were very expensive. Some took no care at all. Others garnered an international sticker on their way through the system that led some customers to believe we were actually making our products in Asia...and not in New Zealand.

Some took no responsibility for their actions; if they dropped the ball and, God forbid, lost a product, they became very defensive and almost accused US of mismanaging the process. Others were less accusatory...but extremely slow to settle their debt..

Meanwhile we, as the merchant, had to maintain our customers' faith in us, and delivery another product...at our own expense.

Hopefully..those days are now behind us.

DHL promise much..and we have every expectation they will deliver on their promises.

Finally - a service that allows us offer a traceable delivery at a realistic rate.





Monday, October 26, 2015

A Merchant's Work is Never Done

Ho boy....what a weekend...

After sending out an email to our much valued customer base...promoting our newly revamped website...we have been inundated with orders..

OK, maybe a bit of an exaggeration. Suffice to say - a lot of orders. More than most times recently.

However, during the course of this resurgence in Nutshell and hopefully our fortunes, I got a note from a potential customer saying he was unable to locate the Buy Button for a certain product.

I looked. He was right.
The button was nowhere to be seen.

Good grief and ALAS!
What to do?

Unfortunately our web merchant shopping cart supplier, Network Solutions, has recently been acquired by a company called Web.com. They claim to be on top of customer service.

Like heck they are!
They do not work on the weekends! 

Anyhow...it took me several painstaking hours to work out what had gone wrong with the product that had been brought to my attention. Unfortunately, the problem applied to lots and lots of other products as well.

For some unknown and unexplained reason many prices had gotten out of whack. The regular price had become MORE than the MSRP. No wonder the Buy Button had gone AWOL.

Luckily - as with most things in life - there was a relatively quick work-around. Well, one that actually took two days and about 12 hours to fix. Typical for any computer problem in my experience...lots longer than you anticipate. Especially when there are over 800 hundred line items to check.

Hopefully now ALL products will have pricing showing and the Buy Button will be prominent at the bottom of each product page.

There is always a silver lining to any grey cloud; while I was fixing things...I lowered many of the product prices to bring them into line AND lowered the shipping rates...because we charge a rate for handling that gets added on to the actual shipping cost...so I have made some adjustments.

There is more to come in the near future....but in the meantime I hope our customers  (whom I know are very forgiving) will return to us in droves,....telling their friends, neighbors, colleagues and even passing policemen; spreading the word and generating more than enough work to keep people downstream (who have to make, pack and ship the products) good and busy in the lead up to the silly season.

More about that later my friends....

PS: If you spot an error please let me know.
No promises...but...
I may even gift you a Nutshell.

All the best
:-)



Friday, October 16, 2015

Time for a Refresh

Nutshell has been running a commercial website for almost 18 years.

In that time we have had several hosts and several remodels to accommodate the changes. Initially we ran our website on a platform provided by T3West...then the Microsoft bCentral eCommerce platform....but then Microsoft determined it was not in the eCommerce game and pulled the pin in 2001. Subsequently we moved to our current host, Network Solutions.

Although there are those who claim this platform is not as good as some of its more recent rivals, at the time it was the best we could find, bearing in mind our wish to serve the US market. As such we decided the host needed to be local in the States, and not several thousand miles away down under.

As it was we experienced some interesting problems in the early days with failed routers and links that refused to work no matter what we did.

Right now we are in the process of revitalizing our website design with the aid of a talented young woman with sophisticated IT skills.

Over the coming months users will see improvements as she works her digital magic.

Our intention is that this will result in a more pleasing experience for online shoppers and make our products even more desirable than they already are.

We thank you for your patience and invite your comments on our progress.

Thank you for being a Nutshell customer.


Friday, August 14, 2015

Farewell Maureen - the Voice of Nutshell

It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of my dear friend and co-worker Maureen Watson on the evening of September 12.  She died peacefully in her sleep after a lengthy illness

She will be known to many Nutshell customers as the woman who answered the calls to our US Freephone (1866-427-3688)

maureen watson


Maureen was 69 years young and had been a linchpin in the Nutshell company for over 15 years.

Initially responsible for our dispatch processes from our factory in Patrick Street Onehunga, Maureen fell in love and married Graeme Watson, one of New Zealand's last great saddle makers. Graeme had been a member of my business partner Steve Munro's manufacturing team for many years and was the man behind many of the products that you buy from Nutshell today.


A funeral service will be held in Auckland at the Manukau Memorial Gardens on Monday August 17 at 2 pm (NZT)


RIP



Monday, March 30, 2015

FINALLY - The Large Sideways Belt Case has Arrived!

It is said that all good things take time.  If this is true then the arrival of our latest product should be better than good - it should be fantastic!


The #254 is the largest horizontal (or sideways) case we have created, and represents a milestone in the history of Nutshell.


In addition to being the largest sideways case, it is also the first off the knives using a new manufacturing technique, which means we can offer it at a very attractive and affordable price.

Built to meet our customary high standards, the #254 is also a departure from our traditional model; we have dispensed with the D-ring and in place of the bright steel clip with the leather backing, the #254 sports a high quality black anodized spring steel clip. In addition, we are currently only offering this product is one color; a high grade premium BLACK Leather. Other colours will follow, but for now...


The belt fastening is sourced from a highly reputable US clip manufacturer and carries a lifetime warranty.

The #254 is an extremely versatile belt pouch and and is capable of comfortably containing a wide range of smartphones from an array of manufacturers.


In addition to being the perfect carry case for a 'naked' iPhone 6 Plus, the #254 will accept a Samsung Note 3/4 with a slimline accessory cover.


It is also well sized to accept a wide range of  'mid-sized' smartphones like the iPhone 6 and the Samsung S6 smartphones in a variety of different accessory covers, like those from Otterbox.

Nutshell customers should use the coupon code "tuff01" to get a discount.









Tuesday, March 3, 2015

One for All?

And All for One??

 It has long been a major problem for many smartphone accessory manufacturers; Smartphone makers keep changing the sizes on their phones.

That makes it hard for folk like Nutshell to keep up; we have to continue to create new products to meet the latest sized smartphones.

However Samsung seems to be breaking that mold.

The giant of the the Android world has now announced the imminent release of its new Galaxy S6 and curved screen S6 Edge, and for once existing Nutshell Galaxy users should be able to simple swap out their smartphone for the latest model without having to replace their belt case.

Our #296 holster and #224 horizontal belt pouch will both accept the latest Samsung devices.

Nice to see at least one smartphone manufacturer recognizing that finally they have created a hand-held product with a form factor that simply works.


Saturday, February 7, 2015

How to Stop Cyber Pickpockets

The Problem

In this day of increased electronic interactivity at the personal level, it's not hard to see why some people want to steal secrets from your pocket.




The Solution

At Nutshell we recognise that electronic pickpocketing is a very real threat to your personal information, and your rights, in the pursuit of happiness.

That's why our new smartphone wallet with RFID shielded double card pockets with natural antistatic short-shorn possum phone separator is the perfect platform to incorporate the technical protection demanded by  market savvy people.

,


Smarter Smartphone Protection

CLICK HERE






Friday, January 30, 2015

New Amazon Affiliate Site Offers Wireless Charging Products - and MORE

A phone call from an insistent Albuquerque based American sales person has resulted in our trialling an Amazon Affiliate website portal....which offers us a unique opportunity.

For those who follow Nutshell, you know we believe in the continual development of the mobile movement, including the constant release of new and interesting products geared to make it easier to be mobile - without the attendant wires and cables necessary to recharge your power-hungry devices.

Smart Wireless Accessories  is the site and, although it seems like it may become a continual work in progress, it does promise to offer us the ability to showcase leading-edge products for the savvy mobile user we believe will appeal to Nutshell customers worldwide.

In addition, it will generate us an alternate source of revenue. This is not bad, especially when you consider that we have loaded a selection of the Nutshell products currently on offer from Amazon, at prices that will astound you!

Please take a look.

International Currency Exchange Rates means Lower Pricing

Thanks to Global currency fluctuations, Nutshell has lowered its pricing by an average 6%.

Recently higher currency exchange rates meant that to maintain our margins we had to raise our pricing. However, now that the margin between the US and NZ dollar has widened, we are able to once again offer product at rates that our customers should be more comfortable with.

As one of the first Internet B2C traders (we started in 1997) we have experienced some wild fluctuations in the differing values between currencies. Rather than attempt to match every country's individual cash rates, we determined early on that the most equitable currency to price our product in was the USD.

Of course our local customers get charged in local currency because local sales attract local sales taxes.

Should the dollar rate between the USD and the NZD continue to widen (or narow) we may adjust our rates even more in the coming months.

In the meantime, please enjoy the cost-relief (however slight)  that international trading makes possible.