29 Jul Customer Interview – Catch the Patch – Daniel Petschkuhn

Individual items of clothing can be created according to your own wishes with the pretty patches, iron ons and applications of Catch the Patch. According to the motto „Be individual!“ the family business from Hessen offers different motifs for young and old in its own online shop. At catch-the-patch.de you can find numerous classic as well as modern designs and even a diverse selection of licensed Disney motifs is available.

The team of Catch the Patch attaches particular importance to short delivery times and customer service, so every wish can be fulfilled as quickly as possible and to your complete satisfaction.

We wanted to learn a little more about Catch the Patch and the team behind it. Mr. Petschkuhn tells us what Thailand and T-shirts have in common with the history of the company, which is his favourite patch and what the team has experienced and learned over the many years.

Dear Mr. Petschkuhn, we are very pleased to have this interview with you. Would you like to begin by telling our readers how you came to specialize in the trade of modern and classic patches, iron-on patches and applications?

I wanted to emigrate a few years ago and therefore looked for a way to earn money online. Actually I was in Bangkok on different markets to look for t-shirts and then sell them online. Fortunately this did not work. Then I happened to pass by a patch shop, which really impressed me. This is how it started. Meanwhile I have several suppliers from different countries and over 2000 different motives in my assortment.

Wow. This is really an interesting story of origins. As already mentioned, you offer a large selection of patches and iron-on images. What do you attach particular importance to in your selection?

The most important criterion is quality! We also pay attention to a good mix for different target groups. Everybody will find the right patch with us, no matter if young or old, male, female or diverse, classic or modern, girly or biker, Mickey Mouse or Paw Patrol.

Your customers can fill the shopping cart as they wish – that’s very nice, we think. We have seen that you also work with bloggers. Can you tell us more about it?

In the social media area there are already some cooperations. These are mainly bloggers who run, for example, a mum-and-child blog, a DIY blog or an upcycling blog. We will send them patches and from these patches they will create or embellish a gym bag, a children’s blanket or similar things.

This is certainly a great source of inspiration for many. We can directly see how much creativity someone can achieve with your products.
With Catch the Patch you are not only represented at Etsy, you also inspire your followers on social media. What other social media do you use for customer communication and what added value do you get from it?

First of all, I would like to point out that our involvement in the social media channels we serve is still in its infancy. This is because we all create our images and postings ourselves and have not employed an agency. So our speed is a bit limited at the moment. We try to give our customers ideas via Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest how versatile patches can be used. In the future we also want to offer our customers the possibility to present their work to other people on our social media channels to create inspiration.

That sounds great. You have been collecting reviews with AUSGEZEICHNET.ORG since 2016 – and very successfully, with a star rating of 4.99. This year you were also awarded TOP Online Shop for the third time in a row. How do you manage that?

I think that our speed of delivery is an eminently important factor in this. Both the speed of delivery and the answering of customer enquiries and e-mails. The customer simply does not wait long. This is how we communicate care to our customers, and we live it!

How important is customer orientation to you and has the feedback of your customers already helped you to improve your customer service or the selection of products?

The opinion of our customers is essential for our work. On the one hand, we sometimes get inquiries whether a certain product, which will soon be on the market, is then also available in our online shop. Last year, for example, the film „Frozen – The Ice Queen“ Part 2 was released and the motifs are in great demand as patches.  At the same time, most of the comments in our shop reviews mention our delivery speed and service quality positively. This shows us that we do some things right.

You use our All-In-One function for catch-the-patch.de and have included your reviews from Ebay, Amazon and Etsy. What advantages do you see in this?

Well, catch-the-patch is far from being as well known as Etsy, Amazon or Ebay. Due to the All-In-One function the customer can get an overview of our quality on these portals and thus gains trust for our online shop. Trustworthiness and credibility is elementary for customers who shop at catch-the-patch.de for the first time.

We agree with you. Patches are very popular. Are there any designs that are particularly popular right now? Do you also have personal favourites?

I have a favorite patch, yes. We’ve had that in our line since we started. It’s more of a dead stock, though. I love this patch because it’s very elaborate and detailed embroidery.

Basically, branded applications like Mickey Mouse, The Ice Queen, Batman, Harry Potter or Paw Patrol are very popular. Of the royalty-free applications, it is rather children’s motifs, such as animals or fire engines. The absolute top seller is a Peace Patch.

You can look back on a long history of experience in the industry. Were there certain highlights you want to tell us?

There were already some highlights. These include the positive reviews every day. We’re really happy about each one and find that people take the time to describe their shopping experience in great detail in our shop. One experience that will surely remain in our memories for a long time was a lady over 80 who wrote us a postcard with her order. She found us on the Internet and could not place an order. So she wrote us the postcard with her order. We sent her the order then, whereupon she called us and told me that her great-grandchildren were very happy. These are emotions that you don’t experience every day. It was funny that the lady also told me during the phone call that she had sent me a letter with the cash. This really arrived a few days later, although there were also coins in the thin envelope. 🙂

What a highlight!

Many thanks for this nice insight into the world of patches and the interesting interview, dear Mr. Petschkuhn. We wish you and your team all the best for the future.