ONLINE SALES

[Stephen Rainsbury]

Thanks again for the excellent service, coming home to a bulging white padded envelope full of train bits was the perfect antidote to an otherwise awful day :-)

[Hobby]

Thanks, we've "spoken".

I'll note the SKU number for future - as will everyone else now, I expect!! ;)

[Graeme Dunbar]

We are getting posh now! I've seen them on products but never really knew what an SKU was, so had to Google it:

https://www.practicalecommerce.com/Inventory-Labeling-Basics-SKUs-UPCs-EANs

[Malcolm]

Thank you Graeme for the link. I also never knew or had heard of a SKU so like you I learned something today.
Malcolm

[Peter Boulter]

I've often wondered what an SKU was, so I'm another person who has learnt something today.

[The Sales Team]

It has been suggested that some members might expect to find Minitrains and Eggerbahn items in the 009 section, whereas they really belong in the HOe section, being made to a different scale, of course, so in future they will be cross-listed in both sections to avoid any confusion. (Please don't write in to point out the 'error'!)
'
It's also worth saying that whatever one's own interest it may be a good idea to look in the other sections, too, just in case there's something else desirable there.

The Sales Team.

I've often wondered what an SKU was, so I'm another person who has learnt something today.

(you're not the only one!)

[Hobby]

I didn't know Minitrains were made to any particular scale (no matter what their website says)!! ;)  ;D

[David Still]

I've tried to find the shop to no avail is there a link to it somewhere?

OK I've found it that takes some doing.

Dave

[The Sales Team]

Sorry you've struggled to track down the shop, David, but pleased that you made it eventually.

For anyone else who is finding it difficult, it's within the 'Members Only' area of the Society website, which you need to sign into first.

The step by step guide on p23 (inside the back cover) of the last News (October's issue) should make it all pretty clear. At least, we hoped it would!

The Sales Team.

[JulienW]

Equally the instructions in the first post on this thread seemed to be pretty comprehensive...

[The Sales Team]

Online Sales has now completed its first month of operation, and we thought members might like a summary of how things have gone.

We think it's fair to say it seems to have been gratifyingly successful – customer satisfaction remains the priority of the Sales and Recycling Service and feedback to date has been positive and encouraging.

From a technical point of view the website and the behind-the-scenes mechanisms have performed reliably – inevitably there have been one or two minor tweaks in the light of experience but the website has served us all very well and our thanks are again due especially to our Webmaster Andrew Jeffcock for this. Thanks are also due to Brian Ellsmore, our Membership Secretary, for processing the log-in details for members wanting to access the site.

Sales have been good and steady, and we have tried to work towards a good range of items available for members to buy on the site – we will continue to develop the range further as stock and time permit. The new arrangements have considerably reduced the workload on the dispatch side, especially now that the team do not need to handle payments (chasing declined card payments in particular always used to consume an inordinate amount of time and effort) and the automatically generated address labels save a lot of writing.

Intake of stock has been considerable over the past few months (since around end of lock-down when the team resumed meeting) and the value of incoming items has been about three times that of sales in the first month. A substantial sum has also been spent replenishing stocks of Society polo shirts and sweatshirts. Obviously this all represents a considerable 'investment' on the part of the Society but so far our Hon. Treasurer seems fairly relaxed about the situation. Incoming stock now takes up the majority of the sales team's time – it all needs to be checked, packaged, priced and photographed and uploaded to the website, with locos needing to be checked for performance and sometimes requiring fettling by Alan Hamer.

Setting up Online Sales has been a major undertaking for the Society, but seems to have been well worth the effort. We might remind everyone that no-one is making a 'profit' – everything is solely for the benefit of the Society and the members. It's good that we have been free of the 'distraction' of shows and exhibitions over recent months which has allowed us to focus on the online offering, but of course once shows resume be assured that we will be out on the road again selling direct to members, as before. In the meantime we would encourage more of our members will take advantage of Online Sales, or at least sign up to see what is on offer.

Having got this far with the project, we now have another lock-down to deal with! Watch this space to see how we can best take things forward – more news soon.

The Sales Team.

[Martin Tuohy]

This new member in Chicago, Illinois, USA, greatly appreciates the online sales team's efforts and help.  Needless to say, Irish narrow gauge models and information in OOn3 and 7mm O are a bit scarce in the States.  Thank you for all your efforts invested.

Martin Tuohy

[Tom Haythornthwaite]

There have been several remarks on social media about the cost of membership paying for itself quickly and repeatedly at the sales site.

[Hobby]

That's always been the case but it seems to have taken the launch of online sales to prompt a few ditherers to join up!

[The Sales Team]

In a final gathering yesterday before lockdown the Sales Team – fortified with cake and doughnuts – took the decision to endeavour to maintain an as near-normal service over the coming weeks as possible.

This means that members will continue to be able to order items from the website as before, and we will do our best to dispatch items as soon as possible – but please be patient if there are some delays. Stock levels are good and there are more items waiting to be added to the 'shop' over coming days. It will inevitably be rather more difficult to process incoming stock so valuations and payment may take longer than usual. Please continue to send enquiries to
members-sales@009society.com

Hopefully lockdown will mean more modelling time for everyone.

Take care, stay home, etc.

The Sales Team.