Shopping blind. What would you do?

[t-b-g]

Going back to the OP, I wonder what sort of photo would clinch the sale of, say, a kit for a wagon. Would you want a photo of the components (which doesn't tell you how it goes together), or a photo of a finished model (which may have taken an expert modeller months to fettle to get it to go together).

 

I have seen built up kits on websites that were so badly put together and painted that they put me off buying a kit!

 

There is at least one loco kit that I was tempted by but the example on the website was full of gaps and bits leaning here and there that I chickened out because I don't know if it was due to the kit, the builder or both!

 

So a photo on a website is not the answer in all cases. Sometimes it is enough for me to see the name of the manufacturer. I can usually categorise a product from "should be OK", through, "that will need a bit of work" to "don't touch with a bargepole".

 

If anybody has any doubts about a possible purchase, I am sure that they would only need to ask on RMWeb and our myriad of tame (and not so tame) experts will give freely of their opinions on whether something is to be purchased or avoided.

 

Tony

[ZiderHead]

My personal bugbear is tiny thumbnail images with the "click to enlarge". I have no problem with the thumbnail, its the enlarged images which pop out at only 2" square. Or even more annoying ... the same size as the thumbnail.

 

Its going to cover the page anyway to some degree so make the large version of the photo ... LARGE! Full screen preferably.

 

Almost all the big model retailers are guilty of this, and a few of the kit/parts guys too.

[Ozexpatriate]

My personal bugbear is tiny thumbnail images with the "click to enlarge".

Website design using tiny thumbnails and "Click to enlarge" is a legacy of designing websites for dial-up connections. We don't do that any more.

 

They still make sense where a list of items is provided in response to a search, or as part of a "you may also like" / "people who chose this also bought" list.

 

In the broadband world, all images should be large enough to be identifiable with access to a mechanism for showing more detail - either a magnifier or a 'click to expand'.

[Ozexpatriate]

But why oh why do they insist on having a web presence with an online shop and then not put on a decent description or product picture.

Curiously some larger manufacturers can't get this right.

 

Doing this takes an enormous amount of work to keep updated and a lot of expertise to build a good website in the first place.

 

Of course there are a lot more "instant website" software options for small businesses available now.

 

I do agree that for anyone operating a mail-order business today, the ability to present the following for each item in stock is mandatory:

1. an identifiable picture

2. a description of the item

3. the retail asking price

 

Nice options include

4. image magnifiers for details - click to expand is fine

5. an in-stock / lead time indicator

 

Irrespective of building the website, just maintaining all this information is probably a full-time job and for smaller providers, and managing a web-presence is probably the last thing people either have time for or enjoy, even if they are not intimidated by the process.

 

In addition websites need to have

1. effective search capability

2. good organizational structure - even the big 'box shifters' fall down here

3. the ability to process domestic and international credit card orders clearly, sorting out the postage/VAT issues*

 

* Other than registering the order, few do this well at all, but manual intervention to execute the order only when the product ships works out just fine.

[Pete 75C]

Not sure what you mean about "younger generations", I'm 40 and can hand-code basic HTML using Notepad without any fancy wizards and stuff. 

 

I'm 45 and I tend to think of the "younger generation" as anyone who sends me a text along the lines of "c u @ t pub l8r m8". I still cling to the hope that there's someone, somewhere that sees me as the younger generation!

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Who wants this internetty 24/7 connectivity thing anyway? All this hardware and software required to make it work which goes out of date three months before you purchased it, so that by the time you have learned what it can do, the majority have moved on to the next thing. Direct Thought Transference (DTT) is the way ahead. From my mind to your mind. Concentrate, search, locate, focus, engage, ...

 

Seriously, we are in the middle of an evolution as great as the arrival of the printed word. It is only twenty years since a connected device at home became possible for the average person; and now it is becoming near essential. A good question would be whether building codes have caught up. Building a dwelling without potable water supply, sewage provision, power, installation for heat and light was perfectly normal 150 years ago, yet is now mandatory along with much else: but 'connection' access whether hardware or wireless hasn't made it yet, but is now an essential.

 

Some folks are never going to get on board, they already had a satisfactory established mode of life before ubiquitous computing emerged. That previous mode of life will cease as a majority option, and some stuff (products, services, behaviours) will most likely die with it as those who don't adapt die out. That's the consequence of evolution that is rarely explicitly described: change occurs because the many other alternatives largely died out. No amount of encouragement to 'do things the new way' will have any significant effect on those who don't want to. The niches thus vacated will be occupied by those in the new mode of life. It will be messy...

[colin penfold]

This is a very interesting discussion. My wife runs a small cupcake and cookie business on top of a full time job ( 5 days a week 37 hours), and she does it because she likes baking, not computing. A local businessman she met at a small business course designed her website for about £750 and she updates it herself. I think this is proof that a small business person can achieve quite a lot in a short time and at reasonable cost.

 

http://www.delovelies.co.uk/

 

 

Having said that, if the small suppliers in question get themselves enough business without bothering, you can't really blame them (there I go, back onto the fence...)

[MJI]

Here are some of my thoughts

 

Plenty of tools from Paypal, I use it a lot, pictures a few decent ones on a simple web site would help a lot.

 

If you are a manufacturer, ask around, someone might do a simple site as a favour.

 

Lets say you do etched brass.

 

Scan the etch and show that, get your test builder to take a photo.

 

Take paypal or card and you will get seen

[MJI]

OK I am 50 I am pretty good at modern technologies but dislike texting and social websites.

 

I use the internet a LOT and rely on recommendations of sites like this

 

A web presence of any type is almost essential now.

[foop]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've been out of the hobby since I was a lad and only returned a year or so ago.

 

What were things like before the internet?  Did kit makers have any information at all?  Could you send off for eight pages of shoddily photocopied A4 listing the kits, or was it all done from adverts in the back of magazines?

[Jol Wilkinson]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've been out of the hobby since I was a lad and only returned a year or so ago.

 

What were things like before the internet?  Did kit makers have any information at all?  Could you send off for eight pages of shoddily photocopied A4 listing the kits, or was it all done from adverts in the back of magazines?

You could get decent catalogues and the larger kit makers advertised regularly.

 

The retail side of the hobby and the kit trade has changed considerably. Many that build from kits probably get to meet the manufacturers face to face at shows, where they can view and discuss the products at first hand.