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Spruebrothers Website Revamp


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To be flat out honest, by pre-announcing it and putting a date or time on it just puts an unnecessary artificial deadline on yourself. The goal was to get it right the first time and not keep postponing it if you find issues. We already found a few bugs doing the transition (about 50 SKUs out of about 30,000 SKUs got missed and will be reinstated later this evening). Hope you all like it. I have put in countless hours into this project and we are finally just about done.

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Looks good, but may I ask why you decided against showing the exact number of the items in the inventory? As a customer, it was useful to see how many of an item you had in stock. As a manufacturer, it made it convenient to see how well my products were selling. It was one of my most helpful indicators of how well a decal sheet was doing (I had an automated script that pulled your inventory data of my products every morning, and generated a weekly graph automatically), and now it's gone..

Edited by KursadA
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You will need to create a new account. There was no way to move accounts/passwords securely, so chose to play it safe and have everyone set up new accounts.

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From initial inspection it looks OK, but there are 2 things I really do not like.

First, as some of you mentioned above, there is just "in stock" "not in stock" indicator, no real time inventory number anymore.

This is really bad for customers, and I think she shop lost it`s adventage over competitors by deleting this functionality.

Just an examle, when I see the shop has 50 models in stock (some hot, super specials) I am not in a hurry, I can buy it in the evening, browse the shop, buy some extras (read spend more money). I have time, I am not rushed by shiop to take actions, I am comfortable.

But If I see you have something just "in stock" I am beginig to get nervious - should I buy it right now, or can I buy it later, but is there enough for everybody... I feel I am over some pressure and I don`t like to be, I prefer to make my shopping decisions in comfortable conditions.

No stock number is probably good for the shop and can lead to more "quick buying decisions" but it is bad for customers - without whitch the shop is just nothing.

The second thing is that it seems there is no "signout" button anywhere. To exit a session you need to clear cookies from your computer and browser. Is it really the way you intended the shop should operate ? Is it safe ? Think about shared computers, no cookie cleared, no logout and your customers could have problems. Security problem.

So summing it up, I am really not happy about lack of live stock status and possible security issiue, the rest (great prices, great selection, speed) is and I hope will be perfect.

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Nice update on the site!

fast I like it and the feature to search by using 1/48 as opposed to 1:48 is back...though not fully working...

It would be nice if you could "sort by" scale in the Super Specials category and other categories live civilian aircraft.

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Just an examle, when I see the shop has 50 models in stock (some hot, super specials) I am not in a hurry, I can buy it in the evening, browse the shop, buy some extras (read spend more money). I have time, I am not rushed by shiop to take actions, I am comfortable.

But If I see you have something just "in stock" I am beginig to get nervious - should I buy it right now, or can I buy it later, but is there enough for everybody... I feel I am over some pressure and I don`t like to be, I prefer to make my shopping decisions in comfortable conditions.

No stock number is probably good for the shop and can lead to more "quick buying decisions" but it is bad for customers - without whitch the shop is just nothing.

Have you tried decaf? Ha, just had to say it. I really am kidding!

Gordon, I concur that the actual number of items in stock was a handy feature.

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Have you tried decaf? Ha, just had to say it. I really am kidding!

Gordon, I concur that the actual number of items in stock was a handy feature.

More than handy, it was what set SB apart from every other e-tailer. What they have now is the same as most other on-line shops that have the same in stock/out of stock notation. <_<

I see this as a huge move backwards and hope that it is possible for Gordon to re-introduce this feature. If not, the front page needs to be amended as advertising "real time inventory" is no longer an accurate portrayal of thier web site.

The shopping experience I had with SB was a unique one... very much like being there in person with that inventory system. Now "in stock" may quickly become "out of stock" as you leisurely shop and then finally go to the check out... no way to know if you should act quickly or not. I can take part in that kind of frustrating shopping experience at any other of the many on-line shops that have the same inventory system.

I'm sorry to say Gordon, Sprue Brothers unique shopping experience is gone... setting the standard does not seem as paramount anymore :(

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Absolutely nothing has changed about us having real time inventory. If we have 6 in stock, the new system will only allow a total of 6 to be sold. This is exactly how the prior system worked.

Most others who claim to have real time inventory did not have really have real time inventory - they actually just did periodic updates. Our system (before and now) keeps track of what is available and what is sold as it happens instantly.

Edited by gkwan
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Absolutely nothing has changed about us having real time inventory. If we have 6 in stock, the new system will only allow a total of 6 to be sold. This is exactly how the prior system worked.

Most others who claim to have real time inventory did not have really have real time inventory - they actually just did periodic updates. Our system (before and now) keeps track of what is available and what is sold as it happens instantly.

And that is why I shop with you more than any where else.

Thank you for not changing that.

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Absolutely nothing has changed about us having real time inventory. If we have 6 in stock, the new system will only allow a total of 6 to be sold. This is exactly how the prior system worked.

Most others who claim to have real time inventory did not have really have real time inventory - they actually just did periodic updates. Our system (before and now) keeps track of what is available and what is sold as it happens instantly.

Thats great but it was nice to display it :P

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Like what everyone else has said, it's a definite improvement. I do miss the real time inventory counter though, but for me that's not a deal breaker. You guys are still amazingly fast when you ship something, but then again, I live about 40 miles from your location, so that's probably why haha.

Tim

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You will need to create a new account. There was no way to move accounts/passwords securely, so chose to play it safe and have everyone set up new accounts.

We've also lost our transaction history though.

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This thread reminds me of an old adage:

You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

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I miss the counter as well :(

I can't count how many times I have purchased something that was down to one or two units left, instead of waiting until I needed a couple of more things to save on shipping.

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The Related Items doesn't work well at all.

When looking at a 1/48 Bronco RQ-1 Predator for example (browsed through aircraft / 1/48 / Post WW2-US Air Force), it's showing seven 1/35 Bronco Armor products and one Bronco 1/48 aircraft.

So basically, it mostly shows unrelated items made by the same manufacturer. :wacko:

Didn't it used to show accessories that went with the kit you are looking at?

Edited by dmk0210
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