lack of photo in club shop

[Pete Lewis]

There is a serious lack of pictorial clues on a lot of club shop products that must loose trade for the club offering

its not rocket science to make presentation work 

I find it hard  as the old lost website that Garth and Myself struggled to keep rolling i spent a good few hours copying

and adding photos to show shop products but the site we have these days has never  been customer friendly in its presentation 

I dont have any need or access to the website and dont want to revisit those  days but i ponder at the direction we take if the shop is to survive 

it needs a right good shake up and get in the real world and stand any chance of competing  with on line offerings elsewhere  

If i could help i would ...had that Tee shirt once 

Pete

 

 

[Badwolf]

23 hours ago, Badwolf said:

I can appreciate the amount of work involved taking or sourcing photos of shop items for sale, but if we are to have a club shop for members to support, every item needs a decent photo and description. The other main suppliers do it, fleabay and Shamazon do it for most product, but having gone through the agro of second guessing what to search on, actually finding something that may or may not be the correct item, I want to look at it and read the spec before committing to buy. The club shop is a good resource but in this day of e-commerce needs a total rethink in presentation to survive. Even Padd*cks use the Rimm*rs or C*nley sites for visual reference. Bet they don't try the shop site. Lack of presentation is losing the shop trade. I know this because it's lost mine on numerous occasions due to.....can't find, can't see, description poor (search on bearing puller, description, "works in conjunction with hub puller" ---really), postage too much. Yes, I know you can phone and negotiate postage but then why have an on-line shop. It just doesn't work for me.

I have made my views on the presentation of the products in the club shop known on numerous threads, the latest being the one above. It would take a lot of time to sort, but to survive, needs doing. COM please take note as this is important to the future of sales.

[Pete Lewis]

I have dropped Tom Hartley an e mail as he is a key in all this 

Pete

[Badwolf]

Pete - Thank you. As you say, it's not rocket science and there will be an ideal way to include the data needed in the correct order <heading, sub heading, meta data-the extension details that the search routines use>, photograph with enlargement feature, other info) and once this is adopted for new products that are listed, then a rolling programme of updating the info for existing products could be followed. Shame really as this would have been a great lockdown/work from home job for someone.

 

[dougbgt6]

I’m a great supporter of the club shop, but it has a growing number of problems.

The oil gun, £45. Overpriced and not fit for purpose, it’s SO big you can’t get it on the trunnions without the flexible hose, £10. 

The gearbox tunnel seal kit £35 or £30 if bought with a tunnel. Overpriced and it doesn’t fit. 

LED dashboard bulbs, £10 EACH! 😱These are on EBay for a couple of quid.

metal brake light switch I bought mine not so long ago at under £10, now £20. 

I don’t mind paying for quality and there are some quality items, but the pricing and quality needs sorting out.

Doug
 

 

[Pete Lewis]

from the main site you of course dowload a PDF of the parts and regalia  catelogue

for some pictures   https://www.tssc.org.uk/tssc/uploaded_files/2021 Shop Catalogue.pdf

[Badwolf]

Don't talk to me about finding pdf files on the main website. Took me ages trying to find the agreed valuation form and only found it after an appeal here. Whoever though it was a good idea to put it under 'the club' sub directory instead of 'downloads' was really taking the p*ss. Not that it is easy to click on the directory tree on a mobile tablet, never mind a phone.

[Badwolf]

Another bee in my bonnet and as a slight drift, while mentioning club things digital. Is it possible, in view of the lifting of covid restrictions to get all area organisers to ensure that the club website is up to date with meeting dates, venues, times and any covid based requirements (face masks, or even warm jumper because we're in the car park) so that there is no misunderstandings anywhere for any reason. Also, if there is no AO for an area that head office makes sure that the particular web entry is also up to date and maybe even put an appeal in for someone to take on the post. Even in this day, not everyone uses social media and might even believe that the main club web pages are up to date.

[dougbgt6]

BW,

That would be great, except some aren’t as IT as we aficionados. I agreed to updating another AO’s on line stuff,  but he can’t tell me his password.  

But aren’t our Area Coordinators supposed to sort some of this detail? 

 

Doug

[Colin Lindsay]

20 hours ago, dougbgt6 said:

I’m a great supporter of the club shop, but it has a growing number of problems.

I have to agree, although I don't use the shop much due to postage costs. I've just been on, searching for differential rear casing bushes, but with a lack of photos I've no idea if the one I'm looking at is the correct one. Time is short and I can't take the chance.

I hate feeling disloyal but I can buy them cheaper on eBay and with free postage.

[Paul H]

15 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

I have to agree, although I don't use the shop much due to postage costs. I've just been on, searching for differential rear casing bushes, but with a lack of photos I've no idea if the one I'm looking at is the correct one. Time is short and I can't take the chance.

I hate feeling disloyal but I can buy them cheaper on eBay and with free postage.

Agree high postage costs and lack of information and no photos put me off 

Paul

[Badwolf]

14 hours ago, dougbgt6 said:

BW,

That would be great, except some aren’t as IT as we aficionados. I agreed to updating another AO’s on line stuff,  but he can’t tell me his password.  

But aren’t our Area Coordinators supposed to sort some of this detail? 

Doug

Yes they are, but many don't. I have mentioned the cases of two north west areas in the past but these are still showing old meeting venue information two years later. Indeed the Manchester AO post has been vacant, according to the Courier, since October 2020 and still shows the old contact details. If the club is going to use technology that's great but if it's badly used it makes the club look second rate. Someone at head office must be able to access pages to update them, especially in the case of a disgruntled AO leaving or even in the tragic case of a death when access codes aren't available. If an AO is not able to keep their area pages up to date due to computer problems, then they should ask someone at head office to update the pages from good old fashioned hand written notes sent by snail mail. 

[Pete Lewis]

i thought the meeting were post code located entered by the AO 

but it may be there needs a system update to change them 

back a few years and the old lost website  and  I did and could correct all the area meets as i could do it from home 

didnt take long , a few hours and a coffee sorted .

nothing it that easy now it seems 

where there's a will !!!!!!!!! theres a way 

agree this is all part of professionalism we seem to lack 

Pete

[Peter Truman]

Colin I agree the lack of suitable photos has always stuffed my search's up. 

Club Postage costs couldn't be any worse than eBay international rates compared to the best suppliers who are substantially cheaper

[Colin Lindsay]

9 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

Club Postage costs couldn't be any worse than eBay international rates compared to the best suppliers who are substantially cheaper

At present I'm waiting on a supplier to get back to me with carriage costs for a pair of rear shocks "We'll get back to you on that"... that was last Friday. Another supplier wants to add 10% handling charge but yet another one, from whom I recently bought a full set of front shocks and springs, told me he'd waive the postage. There seems to be no standard about carriage these days, it's each to his own.

eBay seller of the moment is vidaxl-uk who post free to UK mainland and Northern Ireland, but charge extra to Scotland and Islands. They sent me a sheet-metal folder on free delivery whilst other suppliers think £7.25 isn't enough to post a £40 engine sealing block and want more.

[Top Banana]

On 16/05/2021 at 11:09, Colin Lindsay said:

I have to agree, although I don't use the shop much due to postage costs. I've just been on, searching for differential rear casing bushes, but with a lack of photos I've no idea if the one I'm looking at is the correct one. Time is short and I can't take the chance.

I hate feeling disloyal but I can buy them cheaper on eBay and with free postage.

Postage cost puts me offat the club site and as well as the desciption of items being brief or non existent. Lack of images and the site feels very dated and limited in range of essential consumables required to keep out fleet of club cars healthy - The club has a register of all owner cars - Rimmer Bros and Others would die to know who we are and what we have...

I have enough trouble teaching Paddocks to accurately label their products like fuel pumps descriptions saying  a single "Fuel pump for GT6 Mk1 + Mk2 & Mk3"  - it is not Mk1 uses a Vitesse pump. I loose the cost of postage for their mistake in returning their product and they dont ship the correct item until they restock the return pump. No trust not impressed - meanwhile I have a car that cant be used and in bits.

Apologise rant over !

[Badwolf]

The perceived problems with the club shop are well documented on numerous threads here (search on shop or club shop). The lack of info etc and listed postal rates will be costing the club thousands a year.  Various attempts have been made to sort this and I believe that this is ongoing with the new shop manager but in the meanwhile it's fleabay or the usual suspects who have a decent e-commerce system in place. Personally I feel that the club should join with one or more of the main suppliers to offer the suppliers prices at a discount and just have a direct drop from them, as indeed some fleabay merchants do using Amaz*n. No matter, we just have to shop around for the best price and hope that the quality is ok and that the parts are actually correct.

[NonMember]

9 hours ago, Top Banana said:

Mk1 uses a Vitesse pump. 

Aside - more to the point is that early and late Mk1 pumps are not interchangeable.

[dougbgt6]

9 hours ago, Top Banana said:

The club has a register of all owner cars

Do they? They used to, but I thought that was now illegal.  

The Club Shop postage is high because they use couriers, however on small items Angie can be persuaded to put it in an envelope and use snail mail.

Doug  

[Pete Lewis]

the club do hold a membership data base its not published and is used to gain postal addresses for shop and courier postage etc 

AO can? (could)  request members local by post code its all under control and limited data 

Pete

 

 

[Colin Lindsay]

11 hours ago, Top Banana said:

Postage cost puts me off the club site and as well as the description of items being brief or non existent. 

I have enough trouble teaching Paddocks to accurately label their products like fuel pumps descriptions saying  a single "Fuel pump for GT6 Mk1 + Mk2 & Mk3"  - it is not Mk1 uses a Vitesse pump. 

Very early GT6 may use a unique pump but later MK1 uses a GT6 MK1 pump; if it so happens the Vitesse uses the same, fine but it's usually listed as GT6 / Vitesse. I have to stand up for GT6 MK1 owners!

Paddocks I like, I find their prices far cheaper than many other suppliers sadly including the Club shop and have only ever had one 'problem' with them - I was away from home over night and failed to respond to an email for more postage on a bulky item. I think I had about 30 seconds to respond, after which the order was cancelled, but I reordered and it arrived quickly enough. It's sad though that the Club Shop catalogue has better illustration than the website, but you have to actually have a copy to know that.

[Pete Lewis]

there is a copy of 2021 on the main downloads   why we dont get one for 2022 is maybe down to all chnage at the shop

i asked Tom  about could the shop catalogue be turned into a online click and collect booklet , the  idea was goingto be looked at 

after all the catelogue has all the photos  but only memeber priceing  seemed a simple plan to me 

2021 Shop Catalogue.pdf (tssc.org.uk)

[Badwolf]

As many of you know, I have been critical of the online presentation of the shop for some time. A presentation that must be losing the shop a shed load of sales.  Having a trawl through some earlier thread regarding this, it sadly looks like little has changed following comments going back over 4 years. These are some of the threads that I found. Perhaps someone from the Council of Management might like to address them at the next AGM.

The links may drop you in the middle of a thread that has references earlier on.

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/4923-hood/#comment-58312

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/3287-product-descriptions/#comment-33301

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/2332-all-change-in-the-shop/

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

there is a copy of 2021 on the main downloads   why we dont get one for 2022 is maybe down to all chnage at the shop

i asked Tom  about could the shop catalogue be turned into a online click and collect booklet , the  idea was goingto be looked at 

You mean like Screwfix?

[Badwolf]

After my last post I did a bit of rummaging around in my old paper Couriers. Much easier than keep opening the on-line versions. Something was nagging me at the back of my mind about the upgrading of the club shop.  I was sure that I had seen something about as 'upgrade' 

I was right, and found this piece written by Garth Jupp in the 2017 price list..

Now the paraphrase the opening paragraph...the more observant of you may have noticed that on pages 48 & 49 of the 2021 price list you will find this...

looks vaguely familiar. I hope that Garth was decently paid for reusing his copy, but somehow, I doubt it. As for the 2021 "slight transformation, or you could say we have had the decorators in", sorry I missed it.

EDIT - And the same piece was used in the 2020 catalogue but I can't find any others to check on them.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Badwolf
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