A new venture...

[Shipshaped]

I am in the process of setting up an online chandlery/marine store and would value your thoughts. I am particularly interested in knowing about any problems or criticisms of current sites that forumites have experienced.

I would just like to point out that this is in no way an advertisement, merely a bit of research!

Thank you for your time!

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[Happy1]

If I was you I would look at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://screwfixdirect.co.uk>http://screwfixdirect.co.uk</A> They have a superb way of advertising, marketing, quick despatch of goods and excellent customer service all IMHO.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[Guest]

Re: Screwfix

All well and good, but a bloody useless range of general chandlery.

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[Nautorius]

From experience availabilty is the problem! The order turns up in three seperate packages, the wrong items arrive and they are useless at sorting it out. A good supply chain and good customer service will make you very popular. Very basic but if you get these right....

N.

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[studgies]

one thing that realy bugs me on a lot of on-line stores are the wonderful bargains they advertise that either never existed or the 1 they had sold on the first day the add was put in the web and is still on the web site 6 weeks later. Looses lots of customers, well me anyways.



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[BarryH]

Umm yeah, but they have a multi national company behind them with the funding that goes with it. Also have suppliers screwed well down on price and lets face it for the qwality they ain't that cheap.

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[AJW]

Screwfix have the might of Kingfisher (B&Q etc) behind them. If B&Q were in the swindlery game then things would be very different! Key things for any new online chandlery venture are availability - having it in stock or being honest enough to advise on your website if its not in stock and when it will be, keen pricing and utterly reliable delivery.

 

[Happy1]

I was referring to the set up really, only being an occassional customer, it looks a slick operation to me, as for prices, I don't really know if they are good or bad, some of you on here get access to special trade discounts I don't /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[burgundyben]

I have had really good service on a couple of occasions from Compass24, I do tend to browse the web but often buy in my local swindlery as its similar price often, as an example, one of my next purchases will be a DSC radio, I can get it online for 198 plus carriage or 210 over the counter but with free cockpit speaker....

The only problems I get with having stuff delivered to home is collection, little slip through the door, fone up, no reply blah blah so it goes on, worst experience with white arrow and parcel force, I think many of the probs that Compass got slagged off for were related to their shipping agents.

I would also suggest having a look at why other internet chandlers went bust!!

Why not locate near major boating centre, like solent (or thames) and do delivery direct to boat with a RIB?

<hr width=100% size=1>Sod the Healey - I think I'll buy an E-Type.

 

[BarryH]

They are just as bad as the rest. Used to use them for all our fixings. Its ok buying the "toys" from there, try getting 2000 25mm pan head pozi drive teks from them when you need them like yesterday.

I now support my local firm and don't pay delivery no matter how small the order and get a bill once a month.

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[jfm]

imho

Take care. The chandlery market is simply nothing like the size or shape of the market that Screwfix attacked. A significant feature of the chandlery market is that there is vast range of goods, all branded, and relatively few buyers for each one. Also, most items have a season life. Thus you cannot do a Screwfix.

Screwfix sell unbranded kit (ie you do not know or care who makes the posidrive screws) and have very few stocklines compared with number of potential customers. And none of their kit has a season life - you do not know if the posidrive screw is an 02 model or the new improved 03. Hence, the cost of keeping everything in stock (which is their policy) is tiny.

You cannot do this in chandlery. To stock everything you have to sink £millions. You have to stcok every outboard by Merc, Yam, Suzuki bla bla. Then at the end of the year they're last years model. Ditto hitech clothing. Ditto liferafts, GPS kit, etc etc. No-one can afford this much stockholding without massive margin or zillions of customers, but you wont get those things. So instead you carry some stock, but rest has to be ordered, then you become just like all the others, and can only compete on price.....yuk

Swindleries seem expensive, but make no mistake if they really were profitable we would all be one.

Screwfix did not have the backing of Kingfisher till recently. It was established entirely with a small amount of private capital and the clever part was to realise that the "always in stock" policy was cheap to operate, and there are zillions of customers. Plus they spent money on clever IT. It was sold by the family in a hotly contested auction 2 years ago for about £60m. Very clever, but not at all applicable to chandlery.

Screwfix did something different and attractive, but wasn't expensive to do. You have to figure out what will make your chandlery different from all the others and attractive (and it wont be having everything in stock).......

Sorry this is so gloomy, just saying it as I see it. Best wishes!

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[tcm]

What total pain in the bum. Loads of whingey skinflinty customers complaining about the small range and crap prices (despite actually having the stuff) or the rubbish slow delivery (despite the low prices and all the fault of the fibbing suppliers) and not much chance of making a whole heap of loot. Worst of all, not a lot of fun even if it's a success - customers never know you, and your working life is boxshifting for customers who will swap suppliers for the sake of a quid.

Find something else. One bloke i know sells baby nappies over the web. Repeat business, almost zero tech problems, small range, much easier.




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[PGD]

seeing some of the posts, they all mention stock and clearly showing what's what.

check<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.mssa.org.uk>http://www.mssa.org.uk Marine Service Standards Assistance

 

[h4nym]

Maybe I'd go the other way - more virtual.

If I need something urgently, I go to a local swindlery.
If I'm prepared to wait a couple of days, I'll go online. After all, if it's Tuesday, does it really matter to me whether my new DSC will arrive on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday if I'm gonna fit it over the weekend?

That way, ur stocks are restricted to fast moving consumables and others are bought in to order. If I'm gonna wait a couple of days, the quid pro quo is lower pricing.

One other thought is to be able to provide generic parts, not those branded items that suffer from BAT (Boat Added Tax) as other recent threads have discussed.

hth

H

<hr width=100% size=1>Life balance?