This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
...altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......
For long enough I am sure they have come across to most people as a
bit intimidating a place to go in to .

Stuart

Stuart wrote:
This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
..altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......
For long enough I am sure they have come across to most people as a
bit intimidating a place to go in to .


The main problem is that most of what they sell has a very high
size/weightrice ratio. This makes shipping it across the country
totally out of the question.

For example, 10 sheets of plasterboard cost about £60. How much do you
think it would cost to ship those cross country?

Almost any smaller item sold in a builders' merchant can be bought
online from screwfix/toolstation/axminster.


--
Grunff

On Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:37:51 +0000, Grunff wrote:

Stuart wrote:
This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
..altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......
For long enough I am sure they have come across to most people as a
bit intimidating a place to go in to .


The main problem is that most of what they sell has a very high
size/weightrice ratio. This makes shipping it across the country
totally out of the question.

For example, 10 sheets of plasterboard cost about £60. How much do you
think it would cost to ship those cross country?

Almost any smaller item sold in a builders' merchant can be bought
online from screwfix/toolstation/axminster.


I get what you are saying but I wasn't so much thinking of cross
country shipping .I was meaning having a web presence where they could
display all that they sell so that local people could see their stock
on-line and order it for local delivery ....It was timber,sheet
,aterial and the like I was thinking of . I suppose if you know what
you want tho' it's easier just to order by phone and pay by card or
pay the driver .

Stuart

Stuart wrote:

I get what you are saying but I wasn't so much thinking of cross
country shipping .I was meaning having a web presence where they could
display all that they sell so that local people could see their stock
on-line and order it for local delivery ....It was timber,sheet
,aterial and the like I was thinking of . I suppose if you know what
you want tho' it's easier just to order by phone and pay by card or
pay the driver .

While this approach might be workable for the larger chains, it would be
totally unworkable for smaller merchants. The cost of having a
suitable website developed, and the subsequent cost of maintaining it
would be too great given the relatively small area which it would be
serving. It just wouldn't make financial sense to do it.


--
Grunff

Stuart wrote:
This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

That's about the most dire site I've used.


Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
..altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......
For long enough I am sure they have come across to most people as a
bit intimidating a place to go in to .

That's because the vast bulk of their trade is with regular
customers who generally know exactly what they want and don't
waste 1/2 an hour of the staff's time for a tiny sale.

If you buy at a BM it really helps to be informed before you
go, and to know the system a little.

On Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:57:45 +0000, Chris Bacon
wrote:

Stuart wrote:
This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

That's about the most dire site I've used.


Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
..altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......
For long enough I am sure they have come across to most people as a
bit intimidating a place to go in to .

That's because the vast bulk of their trade is with regular
customers who generally know exactly what they want and don't
waste 1/2 an hour of the staff's time for a tiny sale.

If you buy at a BM it really helps to be informed before you
go, and to know the system a little.

I'd agree with that Know what you want and how to get it ...

Travis Perkins site is more informative tho' and it seems that you can
order from it .

Stuart

Stuart wrote:
This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

Agreed, but Wickes is worse!

Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
..altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......

I'd find it very useful just to find out if they stocked an item and how
much it was 24/7. An online stock/price list would be a major benefit - not
hard to do or expensive.

And what about skip hire companies? They always ask what size you want and
the general public have no idea - mini, 4 yd, 6 yd? How about a picture of
each size next to say a Ford Escort or some other familiar object? Then you
could gauge the size and whether it was big enough or not. Simple enough.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The message
from Chris Bacon contains these words:

If you buy at a BM it really helps to be informed before you
go, and to know the system a little.

Having said that, if you find a small local independant and don't ask
awkward questions when there's a queueue behind you then they can be
very helpful.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

"Stuart" wrote in message
...
This trade seems reluctant to embrace merchandising from websites . I
have not yet seen one that gives anythting other than very general
info .Even the B+Q site at www.diy.com is pathetic.

Why is this .Do they still regard themselves as a TRADE outlet
..altho' I accept thats where most of their business comes from ......
For long enough I am sure they have come across to most people as a
bit intimidating a place to go in to .

I use http://www.tottontimber.co.uk/ a lot. Use their site to size up and
rough cost things, then phone order through. I normally collect, but on a
large order of loft board + timber battons, delivered no problem. Also if
after "nice" timber worth visiting as you can see what they are cutting for
you and reject/accept depending on the amount of warp/knots etc. Nice
selection on non B&Q door sizes as well.

On Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:53:33 +0000, Grunff wrote:

Stuart wrote:

I get what you are saying but I wasn't so much thinking of cross
country shipping .I was meaning having a web presence where they could
display all that they sell so that local people could see their stock
on-line and order it for local delivery ....It was timber,sheet
,aterial and the like I was thinking of . I suppose if you know what
you want tho' it's easier just to order by phone and pay by card or
pay the driver .

While this approach might be workable for the larger chains, it would be
totally unworkable for smaller merchants. The cost of having a
suitable website developed, and the subsequent cost of maintaining it
would be too great given the relatively small area which it would be
serving. It just wouldn't make financial sense to do it.

Not so. Even small firms would be using a small stock control/financial
system. Plugging this through into a simple stock check search website
would be a 2-3 day job, and would often be available anyway as part of the
package they use.

(I used to look after the same systems for some small firms, including some
timber merchants)

Steve

The message
from Steve Peake contains these words:

Not so. Even small firms would be using a small stock control/financial
system.


Not my local firm. Still has everything hand written - still run by a
doddery old bloke who drives an E-reg Montego. I think his son helps out
now though.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Steve Peake wrote:

Not so. Even small firms would be using a small stock control/financial
system. Plugging this through into a simple stock check search website
would be a 2-3 day job, and would often be available anyway as part of the
package they use.

(I used to look after the same systems for some small firms, including some
timber merchants)

Erm, ok, I'm not going to argue about it, but this is what I do for a
living, and for most small merchants delivering to a small region it
would never pay for itself.


--
Grunff

On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 22:08:08 +0000, Grunff wrote:

|Steve Peake wrote:
|
| Not so. Even small firms would be using a small stock control/financial
| system. Plugging this through into a simple stock check search website
| would be a 2-3 day job, and would often be available anyway as part of the
| package they use.
|
| (I used to look after the same systems for some small firms, including some
| timber merchants)
|
|Erm, ok, I'm not going to argue about it, but this is what I do for a
|living, and for most small merchants delivering to a small region it
|would never pay for itself.

It is also interesting to note that large timber merchants also appear to
be regional. When Dahn Sarf I am amazed by the number of Jewsons outlets,
which we do not have.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.