Honest review needed for site

[bamboo]

Bamboo, i sell all our range online, powertools are what get people interested and looking, they will only buy powertools every couple of years or so, its what they buy inbetween and getting them to come back to my online shop that i want.

These two statements show me that you really don't understand the way people use online shops.

Firstly you have literally seconds to grab a potential customers attention. Browsers (people looking or more commonly called tyre kickers) will find you anyway & these people hardly ever buy as they are looking not buying.
It doesn't matter how that potential customer arrives at your site either by a well worded PPC ad or a well worded page description in the organic search.

If you don't hit them with precisely what they are expecting to see as soon as they land on the product page they are gone.
Your market is overcrowded & may well be diminishing so this is a key aspect you have to nail before you splash the cash on a designer.
Words/pictures/price do the selling. Design convinces the customer they are in the right place!

Secondly in the market you are in unless you have a massive brand like B&Q or Screwfix you ain't going to get any repeat customers after a couple of weeks let alone two years.
Unlike a bricks & mortar store which can go years without changing & still be profitable an online store has to be in a constant state of testing & improving or it's stuffed. Believe me I know what happens when you take your eye off this particular ball.

B&Q advertise online and in the paper, radio & TV media constantly to keepr their brand in the forefront of their customers minds.
Screwfix bombard their customers with mailshots to ensure their customers keep coming back.
Both of these companies also have big online stores and a lot of employees making sure that their online adverts are everywhere. However even they don't understand the difference in customers shopping behaviour online & offline so there is an opportunity to make money from their failings.

There are a myriad of other competitors for the products you sell which suggests that even though it may be diminishing & the margins are low you should still be able to make money if you concentrate on selling the one thing that the person landing on the product pages buys that product on the page.

Repeat custom is often seen as the holy grail of online retailing but in many markets this is simply chasing rainbows. The power tool market seems to be one market where the money is not in repeat sales but is in higher conversion rates of existing site visitors.

It's not going to be easy & you have to find out facts whilst ignoring what you think you believe but you should easily raise the conversion rate if you track & record the impact of every change you make.
Try adding product video. Neither B&Q or Screwfix have figured this one out yet so make a video of a tool in action & get it on your site & see if this improves the conversion rate on that particular product.

[pinbrook]

on the rare occaision i buy tools and bits i do it locally

a because i have to ask
b i need it right now

[RuralWeb]

Hmmm I must admit I am the same - i've never bought a tool online either. Very odd as I buy most other things online. Strange.

[Firecom]

i just 'borrow' one of the engineers we employ and get them to do it for me

[parklifeclothes]

Try adding product video. Neither B&Q or Screwfix have figured this one out yet so make a video of a tool in action & get it on your site & see if this improves the conversion rate on that particular product.

B&Q or Screwfix (now one company) are sufering massively at the moment so using this time to be different could be what makes the difference and grab the sales.
The product video is a good idea and there are thousands of sites that in my mind would be fantastic if you could see what you are intested in buying shown in action.

Also think what else on top of cost goes thru' a shoppers mind before he/she inputs their orders.

What if it breaks down?
Whats their returns policy? Is it easy?
I need the drill to put some shelves up on Monday, will it be there?
Can I call someone if it doesn't turn up?

Look closely at your competition and do something different, and when they catch up, move again.

[roundman]

Bamboo that maybe so, but without the traffic and the right site im not going to be able to convert anything.
I wouldn't say that the market is diminishing (just yet), it may do in the future, but that is a risk for everyone.
If i wasn't going to test and change my site i wouldn't be here, repeat customers do exist, i have some.
My mind is open to all new information, for better ways to improve or change my site to keep it upto date.

B+q and Screwfix are owned by the same company, perhaps this is why neither of them have cottoned onto the video idea.

[roundman]

Some good points there
about returns policy and breakdowns.
i have a favorites list of competitors as long as my arm all being scrutinised.

[Duncan Rounding]

I see that Trade Depot, also part of Kingfisher plc, is closing down:
trade-depot.com

Sadly it's funny in a way:
Tag Line: It's Time to Trade
Splash Image: Massive Clearance - Closing Down Sale Now On

[roundman]

not the most informative site, although it shows what you can do with the orange and black colour scheme.
It's time to trade (but hurry we might be gone by the morning)

[roundman]

Hmmm I must admit I am the same - i've never bought a tool online either. Very odd as I buy most other things online. Strange.

It's a growing market, people know what they want but don't always have time to go to the shop and get it.

[RuralWeb]

Tradesmen might know what they want but a tool is a personal thing - I played with lots before I bought my new vibrating design icon!

Tradesmen will want discount as well

[roundman]

Tradesmans discount is something dreamed up by builders merchants and now used by most people, all discount for trade does is takes the extortionate list price, they give xx% off which brings it to around the original RRP that it is for everyone anyway.
Seems to have worked for a long time, but i think its changing.

[bamboo]

The fact B&Q and Screwfix are now owned by the same parent company is irrelevant. They do not cross promote & are competing in different markets.
B&Q is consumer focussed, Screwfix is trade focussed. Yes they do step outside these boundaries but nevertheless they have different targets.
Big companies are seen as either being rip off merchants on price or as an insurance policy if things go wrong by most people.

I cannot argue whether your market is growing or diminishing in the current frankly farcical economic Armageddon but whether it is or it isn't is irrelevant.

I usually buy a tool when an old one breaks or in the case of power tools simply dies & I invariably buy on my perception of quality vs price. Online or offline it doesn't matter the company that has the tool & deal I want at that moment in time gets the cash.
It's the same for the majority of people who are in buying mode IMO.

I have no loyalty to any particular company. I have tradesmen friends who go through tools far faster than I do & for them the biggest deal is price.
Even in my small circle of contacts there are at least two markets.
You really do need to take some time out & build yourself a pen & picture profile of your ideal customer and then make your site sell to them.

Without this you are firing blind.

[Darren B]

Tradesmans discount is something dreamed up by builders merchants and now used by most people, all discount for trade does is takes the extortionate list price, they give xx% off which brings it to around the original RRP that it is for everyone anyway.
Seems to have worked for a long time, but i think its changing.

sorry i disagree, in my primary business there are companies that over inflate prices then massive discount for traders. But these companies also sell to the public at those prices not the discounted price. More fool them, but the internet is driving prices down for one good reason. People can find they are being ripped of alot easier these days.

and example
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...&isSearch=true

http://www.casupply.co.uk/acatalog/s...nt_mastic.html

why do B&Q have a high price on the internet, because thats the price instore, the internet is actually not important to them, now with screwfix the internet is http://www.screwfix.com/prods/27071/...ne-White-295ml
but still over priced, so screwfix are opening argos type outlets all over the place. Personally i think its a mistake, or kingfisher is preparing to sell one off B&Q is losing money why, personally i think its because people are able to research and do research more these days.

So you need to find the "buy now" influence price is one part, im no expert in marketing but i understand alot about my business, and how and why we compete with these companies and still maintain good sales, margins and stability.

[roundman]

Thats right, the internet has given people the ability to search for the products they want at reasonable prices, from their own home, and then it gets delivered.
Which is why im here, to find whats wrong with my site and how to fix it,
i work hard to add the content to my site, it takes valuable time, if that time is wasted due to no traffic then it needs addressing, im not a website genius but im willing to learn what i can, and adapt.
Kinda get the feeling that people are now trying to tell me not to bother, i have learn't everything about my website pretty much myself, how it works and what it can do.
I dont know a 10th of the power of it probably but it will get there, and when the credit crunchie bar has finished i will be here stronger with a slick new site and sales coming in.
Ready to move and improve before the rest.