Honest review needed for site

[leehack]

It's just opinions Maurice from different angles, that's all. You are proud of what you have done and achieved so far, whereas most people think you have left a lot behind and need to change things, even more so in a littered marketplace. All the time you have spent has probably been mostly wasted as you didn't learn the key things you needed to, hence you being here and now employing a designer to change that.

As a designer that is the single most frustrating part of this industry, watching people like yourself spend weeks and months to do things, but getting them wrong after all that effort. That time is so much better spent on products and marketing, which is the one area where you can excel.

[pinbrook]

yep this is getting to be an interesting thread, lots of people all with valid points..... lots to be learnt here

[parklifeclothes]

You don't have to be the biggest or best to get sales you just need to convince what visitors you get that they should shop with you, so having something different will get interest and sales.

We now compete with virtually all our suppliers such as Diesel, Kickers as they have nicely set up their own websites and I would say we do better now as people look on these, get ideas and then start really shopping for that bit extra of service which bit by bit we are improving, thankfully the big boys aren't near enough the ground to see that their website is actually putting people off from buying from them.

Internet trading is a difficult business but if you have the right product and right attitude to making it work there's no reason why you can't do well.

[bamboo]

One of the key reasons why many people end up in your position Maurice is that they don't grasp a fundamental of retailing. I didn't and for years I struggled with making a living from selling products to other people for profit.

People only ever buy one thing, a solution to a problem be it a real or perceived. You are on here asking a question because you need a solution. You are actually getting an education from all of the replies and it is up to you to listen, learn & then go and find out for yourself what solutions you are going to be offering your customers.

It doesn't matter what you are actually selling the person who gives you their hard earned is actually buying a solution. Service or product it is all the same and always will be, at least in my lifetime.

Granted many people buy things they don't REALLY need but even then their perception is that they have a problem that can be solved by buying a service or solution.

How many ladies buy clothes in the belief they will make them look better and they then hang in the wardrobe for years before going to the charity shop with the buying tags still on them?

The purpose of the clothes is not really to make the buyer look better but the act of purchasing makes her feel better which is a good enough solution for that particular buyer.

No Yoda insight into women's behaviour here just got it straight from the horses mouth from my best friends wife who does this regularly to make her feel better about herself. My wife never buys clothes to hang in the wardrobe she wears hers & buys her clothes to be comfortable and enhance her appearance. Different problem same solution, buy clothes!

The science behind buying behaviour is fascinating & if you are not careful it can be very distracting.

In the present economic climate more and more people will be doing things for themselves instead of employing tradesman so why not make short 'How to' videos for things that are seemingly simple to do like drill a hole in plasterboard & use the right plugs to hang a mirror or a picture or something similar.
If you did this you have a multiple upsell/cross sell opportunity.
The power tool to make the hole, the correct drill bit to use, the dust catching attachment, the correct plug for plasterboard, the right type of screw & the 'd' link or picture hanger.

All you are doing is showing the novice how to do something but you are over delivering on the value to the viewer because you are highlighting the reasons why they need these things. You are not selling them anything overtly but you are product placing your products.
As a final add in at the end of the video you can use an embedded link to take them to a page on your site where they can buy all they need at a special price there & then.
Your video is actually pre-conditioning that customer that they really need these items and you are giving them the solution by taking them to a page where they can buy them all in one click.

You could use these as an occasional video newsletter to target the novice. This would be a much better way to try and maximise the lifetime value of your individual customer.

I reckon you could shoot five or six videos in a day which could give you five or six weeks, or five or six months of customer contact which would have a massive impact on your bottom line.

Of course at the end of the day you really do need to stop fixating on large companies and focus on what solutions you can provide for your 'people with problems' more commonly known as customers.

[roundman]

I'm using V8 would i be wise to upgrade while i have the chance to??
I don't know what this would entail.
We have always offered good customer service and will help anybody with any problems or questions they have, we have always had very positive feedback in this area, with most people going away satisfied (you cant please everybody) so this is not a problem for us.
Our prices are good, with a reshuffle of the site and an overhaul of the way it works, things will improve, it is a lot of work but no more than i have been trying to do and getting nowhere.

[dscontroller]

One of the key reasons why many people end up in your position Maurice is that they don't grasp a fundamental of retailing. I didn't and for years I struggled with making a living from selling products to other people for profit.

People only ever buy one thing, a solution to a problem be it a real or perceived. You are on here asking a question because you need a solution. You are actually getting an education from all of the replies and it is up to you to listen, learn & then go and find out for yourself what solutions you are going to be offering your customers.

I haven't included all of this quote as it is a rather long one, but it certainly hits the nail on the head for retailing over the net.

The 'How to video' idea over the net is an extremely good one. It also serves to interest the potential purchaser right from the start.

A most interesting thread from start to finish!

[dscontroller]

I'm using V8 would i be wise to upgrade while i have the chance to??
I don't know what this would entail.
We have always offered good customer service and will help anybody with any problems or questions they have, we have always had very positive feedback in this area, with most people going away satisfied (you cant please everybody) so this is not a problem for us.
Our prices are good, with a reshuffle of the site and an overhaul of the way it works, things will improve, it is a lot of work but no more than i have been trying to do and getting nowhere.

I think at this moment in time I would tend to stick to v8 until v9 appears more stable. There are still quite a number of problems rumbling along with v9. When it is properly stable it should be pretty easy to upgrade to v9.

[leehack]

I'd say V9, by the time you have done what you need to do, V9 will be as solid as V8.

[Firecom]

The video is a good idea. We are doing that at the moment. Will offer hi-def content.

We are ok as we are on a dedicated server, but what about bandwidth issues for people on standard hosting packages?

I think alot of people who are not technical would not ubnderstand fully this side of their hosting packages. Perhaps someone on here with much greater technical knowledge than me could explain?

[parklifeclothes]

If bandwidth became an issue there's always youtube, we have found no end of quality product videos on there, stinkyink is one.

[Firecom]

we thought of youtube too, but if we make the video ourselves we don't want someone else using it on their site. might be a pain to keep looking and sending out legal letters.

but youtube is perfect for say a manufactures video.

[parklifeclothes]

but if we make the video ourselves we don't want someone else using it on their site. might be a pain to keep looking and sending out legal letters.

Can't you have some kind of leaving a caption on in a corner? or otherwise having your website address always in the background, or mentioning your web address at several points so if it does get nicked their going to be advertising your brand. Have a look at stinkyinks, I'm sure he mentions stinkyink several times http://www.youtube.com/user/stinkyink

[RuralWeb]

Your missing the point of YouTube as the whole idea is to let people UsE your video. It's easy to get your URL added so it's viral marketing

[Darren B]

Your missing the point of YouTube as the whole idea is to let people UsE your video. It's easy to get your URL added so it's viral marketing

I did wonder Mal, i have watched so many youtube vids that have advertising and personally thought it was a great free way of promoting, coupled with links from you own site saving bandwidth to me its a no brainer.

I use links to a couple of manufacturers youtube videos, i did not convincing to add a link to them.

[roundman]

a friend of mine was experimenting with music and video editing and made kind of advert, he wanted to upload it to Youtube but we were concerend about copyright as it was a well known video with a recently released tune on it, is it legal to upload this type of thing with your name all over it???