cromptonnut Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I think it depends what you're looking for - if you want a Hornby diesel loco then a couple of clicks should bring you to the list. But if you're looking for ground cover materials a search is probably better. Regarding page loading times, a lot of that is dependent on your own internet connection. I'm on BT Infinity 2 with a 75mb download connection ... and still some sites lag. I don't think there's a huge amount you can do to make a significant difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Model Railway Store Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 Yes i find judging our webspeed difficult, our web developer claims a fast loading time but i cannot do an accurate test due to our internet connection! Its rather frustrating! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Ok well I've just had a quick look at your site and, at the moment, I would consider it to be fairly slow to load pages. Another thought is I've just tried it on my smartphone and it's not terribly "mobile friendly" - at least to me - and I think the fancy drop down menus don't help a huge amount. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Model Railway Store Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 Yes a mobile site is something we need to work on , the layout is not quite right at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 All in favoured of tiered postage rates, nothing is more annoying than trying to got hold of something that costs say a quid or two and get lumbered with four quid postage. Have noticed some sites give the weight of an item and maybe that a better way of working postage out, I can think of many ultra light parcels I have recieved with £££ worth of stuff inside. Completely change the approach taken to postage so that where are you is asked as soon as you put the first item in the "basket" with a listing of postage rates shown next to the "basket" and the applicable postage rate immediately applied to the "basket" and updated as appropriate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I often don't know exactly what I'm looking for, so finding things easily is important to me. I'll give 2 examples.... If I'm looking for a building for my layout, I often don't know it's proper name. I need a building that goes with some kind of communications mast next to a main line. To find this building I'd like the ability to use a drop-down menu and select : 00 gauge - buildings - railway - all manufacturers, and to then see a list of buildings from all manufacturers with good quality pictures and DIMENSIONS of the building. Narrowing the search down so I don't have to look at 32 pages showing everything described as 'scenic' will stop me getting bored and giving up my search. When searching for locomotives and rolling stock I like the ability to search as follows: 00 gauge - locomotives - BR blue era - all manufacturers. Or 00 gauge - wagons - current era - Bachmann. These should bring up a list, with good quality pictures, and a detailed description of the item. Getting customers who don't know railways to spend money on what they want without making them feel stupid for not knowing exactly what it is or having to do hours of research may well entice more people to use your shop above others. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lee Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I think your main points are spot -on. As an additional luxury, I prefer web shops that can display by category, for instance, era or company. For instance, it is very pleasant to be able to select couches from the 'Big Four' period rather than having to plough through all the BR Mark 1s, 2s, 3s etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penrhos1920 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I think every online model railway shop website could learn a lot from http://www.rapidonline.com Their search is beautiful. Type in anything to do with model railway electronics: wire, switch, LED, wire-strippers; there are as you type suggestions, if they're not what you want just hit return to get the full search results. Filters down the left hand side with Rapids categories, brand or price. Honest stock levels. On each items page there is a link to similar items. Add an item to the basket and it shows you P&P straight away. They have a photo of most items and a zoom facility. Specifications and a downloadable version. Order until 6pm or maybe even later and receive it next day most of the time. If I were a model shop owner I'd lift / steal the whole site and put my own stock on it. The only problem with their website; they don't stock Blacksmith kits, DCC decoders or steel rail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Also two quick questions, How many pages/category choices would you trawl through on one site to reach the item you wanted? and are you more likely to do this then use the search box? How long are you prepared to wait for a page in a website to load before you get bored and just look else where? I like that your website offers a choice of how many search results to show on one page. I always pick the higher number. But if I then search for something else, your website ignores my previous request and defaults back to showing just 10 results per page (the order I have ranked things in is also ignored, and reverts to the default). It's this kind of thing which is irritating - if the site asks me for an option, I want the site to remember it. And I would agree with some other posters; there is a definite time lag in pages loading which makes it seem slow. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 It seems very fashionable these days to have only a few items per page, and many pages, for a particular product category, but I hate it. Interrupting a vertical scroll to click for further pages within a category always seems to me to be far less ergonomic and efficient than continuing the vertical scroll. I'm also a bit confused as to your page numbering nomenclature - as a random test, I chose Springside, where the end of the first page says "Showing 1 to 10 of 29 (3 Pages)", which I find difficult to understand. It appears that there are only 3 pages for Springside, the last of which shows the equally confusing "Showing 21 to 29 of 29 (3 Pages)". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I think: If I know what I want, I'll search If I don't know what I want, I'll need to browsebut in sections that I think I need. It's not easy and really does depend on the efficiency of the database behind the search. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jivebunny Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Some good points in this thread, well worth taking on board. The following question caught my attention: Do you think the demand overseas is high for UK retailers? I live in France. After a year and a half of renting here I'm about to buy my first house, complete with a vast, empty loft in which I intend to build a very large British-outline 2mm layout. The person I'm buying from models British outline in 4mm... Don't underestimate the number of Brits who have moved abroad and want to play trains to remind them of home! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Someone who is permitted to ship Hornby items to the United States. (I'm sorry. I don't mean to be facetious.) One of the big questions for an online shop is how stock is organized. Searching by manufacturers part number is a fundamental requirement, but in addition to that, some kind of navigation is important - mostly to add a different 'feel' to other online shops. I like the idea of being able to select by scale and interest (company, era, etc). This is more compelling to me than sorting by manufacturer. The Amazon "people who chose this also bought" concept is interesting too. If someone selected a GWR freight locomotive, GWR wagons could be suggested. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Model Railway Store Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Hi All, It seems very fashionable these days to have only a few items per page, and many pages, for a particular product category, but I hate it. Interrupting a vertical scroll to click for further pages within a category always seems to me to be far less ergonomic and efficient than continuing the vertical scroll. I'm also a bit confused as to your page numbering nomenclature - as a random test, I chose Springside, where the end of the first page says "Showing 1 to 10 of 29 (3 Pages)", which I find difficult to understand. It appears that there are only 3 pages for Springside, the last of which shows the equally confusing "Showing 21 to 29 of 29 (3 Pages)". I think continuous scrolling is great idea, maybe with an option to search by page at the beginning of the list, for those who are returning to view the same product. Also i agree the "showing 21 to 29 of 29" is rather confusing, a simplified version of this would suffice. such as showing 21 of 29, if it was a continual scroll. We are able to ship to the states but only by special request unfortunately, i have a system setup for europe, automated states postage is a work in progress at the moment. You may want to take another look at our site, as yester we added cores to our servers and speeds have increased noticably! however this is a general thread about "The Ideal Website" So no pressure What are your views on model railway websites and social media? Would you keep up to date via this or would you prefer a weekly E-Newsletter via email, Request only? Thanks, Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Model Railway Store Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 I like that your website offers a choice of how many search results to show on one page. I always pick the higher number. But if I then search for something else, your website ignores my previous request and defaults back to showing just 10 results per page (the order I have ranked things in is also ignored, and reverts to the default). It's this kind of thing which is irritating - if the site asks me for an option, I want the site to remember it. And I would agree with some other posters; there is a definite time lag in pages loading which makes it seem slow. Paul Now these are the perfect responses! I can look into that immediately, i do try to make us as consistent as possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
orcadian Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 What are your views on model railway websites and social media? Would you keep up to date via this or would you prefer a weekly E-Newsletter via email, Request only? Thanks, Richard I don't do 'social media', but I do subscribe to a few shops regular e-mail automatic newsletters. These do serve to keep their names in my mind when I'm wondering what's about. Although sometimes perhaps I feel that I would prefer to get newsletters 'on request', it certainly isn't a problem that they keep coming in regularly! It's probably a good and cost-effective way for any particular retailer to refresh their presence in the potential customer's mind, so I can understand why you do it that way! Another Richard! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Hi All, What are your views on model railway websites and social media? Would you keep up to date via this or would you prefer a weekly E-Newsletter via email, Request only? Thanks, Richard I use social media as a social scene to chat with friends, not to be sold products. I use Facebook and Twitter, but keep these separate and social. They are both used on my mobile fone, and twitter especially doesn't work as a way to release a newsletter due to the 160 character limit and many peoples reluctance to click links to read a larger tweet. Weekly newsletters work far better for me, I look forward to receiving one particular. The Hattons weekly newsletter - I can choose which information to receive when I sign up (I get the 00 newsletter) and the way they present it has lead to me often ordering things I wouldn't have even looked at otherwise. The pictures linked with 'back in stock' or 'price reduction' grab my attention, and il often order something that has visually attracted me even if the 'price reduction' is only £2. I have no connection with Hattons and I use other model shops regularly, but for an online retailer I like the Hattons work probably more than most, I feel comfortable when I use their site. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted January 14, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 14, 2014 What are your views on model railway websites and social media? Would you keep up to date via this or would you prefer a weekly E-Newsletter via email, Request only? Thanks, Richard I really don't like websites 'butting in' on my social interactions as I prefer to browse and shop as and when I'm in the mood or need something, so a regularly emailed newsletter is my preference, so long as it's UPDATED and they don't have the same items appearing every week with different straplines - if I didn't want it then, I won't want it now!! The opt-in should be a clearly-labelled option on the main page of the website, and NOT a tiny-print checkbox by the side of the checkout details which I usually can't see in the flush of having just paid £££'s for something I probably won't need but really liked the look of!! Other than that, I like a search box that searches on the whole phrase rather than individual words. For example, I recently searched somewhere for 'Class 40' and got hundreds of returns including every kind of loco class and 40 foot containers etc etc...not helpful... I second the variable postage rates suggestion; N gauge accessories rarely accomodate more than a standard sized envelope, but that's not always reflected in the p&p...buying in bulk is one answer, but you don't always know in advance what else you're going to need...however, if a discount applied to bulk purchases, that might engender a bit of forward planning! Hope that helps... David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adams442T Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I think a useful addition would be a break down in categories under each manufacturer and a clearer search option. Trying to search for a Hornby Sentinel for instance would be much easier if there were sub-divisions, e.g. Hornby - Locomotives - Steam / Diesel / Electric, etc., and then the same for coaches / wagons, etc. At present your search facility is not IMHO intuitive as it often just throws up a selection of manufacturers, which you then have to start trawling through all over again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 In other words have sensible tagging in the database. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Model Railway Store Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Hi, We have just released our Newly refreshed March 2014 Newsletter, please take a look here http://eepurl.com/N9y9f. If you have any question about any aspect of our business. Feel free to ask and we will try and reply within 24 hours! Thanks, Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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