Jun 24, 2022

How String Theory custom orders work

Here’s a link to our custom order flow and this post describes what currently happens behind the scenes when an order gets placed.

It’s a crude and manual process at the moment but I am working on automating it with software.

Step 1

The customer first chooses between 3 options: “Men’s”, “Women’s”, or “Goalie”. Then they have two choices for theorist selection: “Automatic” or “Manual”. Theorists are our team of experts who fulfill the orders.

There are many other customizations that could be added to this process but out of necessity to keep it simple, we decided to only collect those two pieces of information before checkout. 

The downside to this simplicity is that it adds a level of uncertainty to our offering but there are some benefits too. The checkout process is faster and there’s less decision fatigue from selecting between many options. A lot of our customers are also unsure of what’s best for them. Our expert team members can have a discussion with them after checkout to help guide them into making the best decision for their position and level of experience.

If “Automatic” is chosen, go to step 2. Otherwise, skip to step 3.

Step 2

For an “Automatic” order, I reach out to the customer first to have a brief discussion about what they’re looking for. I then hand-pick someone on our team who is best suited for it. I look for someone who is geographically close, free to fulfill the order in a reasonable time, and specializes in the type of stringing the customer is looking for.

Step 3

We forward the customer’s information to the theorist by email and they reach out to them by text message using their provided phone number to work with them and deliver the best head that suits their needs.

Step 4

After discussing the order with the customer, the theorist lets us know what materials are needed on our company Slack or Instagram and we provide them with a custom order box that includes the required materials, a packing slip, marketing materials, and a shipping label from them to the customer. In instances where we don’t have all of the materials in stock, we ship materials separately from a third party.

Step 5

Once the theorist receives the custom order box from us, they string up the order and use the same box and shipping label inside to ship the final product to the customer. They can either drop the package off at a USPS location near them or leave it outside and schedule a package pickup for the next business day.

Step 6

When the order is marked as delivered, we pay our theorists for their services via Stripe. We pay $20 for basic mesh stringing and $30 for anything more complex (i.e. traditional, women’s, goalie, etc.). Tips are enabled in our checkout and any tips left by the customer are passed directly onto the theorist who serves them.

Custom orders from us include any factory color head from all of the major brands and any stringing style. As long as the head and strings can easily be sourced, we will supply whatever the customer wants. Some materials that are limited edition, like the ECD DNA Diamond, cannot be supported. Dyes are not included and we can’t reimburse for dying costs.

- Manchester, UK