Online Shopping For Supplies

[Prōdigium]

Its been a long time since I have been here, or anywhere in this industry for that matter some time. Some folks may be happy to see my return, others well maybe not so much. Don't worry, I am not bringing back the Calibrated company. But in a different way, I am preparing to make a return to the industry...suffice it to say the details are still a closely guarded secret but I will say that it is internet based.

As I look at the state of the industry overall from manufactures to suppliers what I see generally disappoints me. some really big companies have sites that look like they were made in a PowerPoint. Information is incredibly outdated or even non-existent. I just find it rather dismaying that in now 2016 so many companies in this industry are so technologically.....well, running on Win95.

As most everyone knows, I was an online distributor for a number of years. It was more of an accident that I became a web based distributor than my original plan, I just followed what works, and back then it was working pretty good. But like all good things, competition catches up and companies with deeper pockets were able to match and even exceed what I had created. I moved to China and have followed other aspirations, I have the most popular pizza shop in my town for one thing, but after several years away from the online sales business I am appalled that so many vendors websites, well they really just not very good. I cant imagine that people even use some of them.

The nature of my questions is of course to get some market insight for my new company, but also to understand things from the customer perspective now that I am not in the distribution business anymore. I would like some feedback, discuss what you the customer wants from an online shop.

• Who do you think has built a "good" e-Commerce supply website that really works good?
• What do you think is missing from most supplier websites that as a buyer you want?
• What percentage of supplies do you buy online for your business?
• Whats more important to you, Low Prices, or Free Shipping Offers

I am not looking for stories about bad experiences with suppliers, but want to start a debate about how better suppliers could serve you, the customer.

[aauusa]

    Who do you think has built a "good" e-Commerce supply website that really works good?   One Stroke Inks and ace screen supplies
    What do you think is missing from most supplier websites that as a buyer you want?    more information, videos of application
    What percentage of supplies do you buy online for your business?    20%     other is sales rep weekly/bi weekly calls
    Whats more important to you, Low Prices, or Free Shipping Offers   prefer free shipping

[numbercruncher]

Lance - if that's you - welcome back !
Michael Jirasek
Anatol
847-582-1694

[Colin]

Welcome back Lance!

Honestly, we don't purchase anything online here.  I will browse some manufacturers sites to see what is offered.  But really, it's just for equipment/big ticket research purchases.

[jvanick]

honestly, other than Nazdar for some supplies here and there (and wilflex bases and pigments), we do all of our other ordering directly (either email or over the phone) with our vendors (as much local/1 day ship as possible).

[Homer]

• Who do you think has built a "good" e-Commerce supply website that really works good?

-  I like River City's website. Atals Screen supply is ok, too.

• What do you think is missing from most supplier websites that as a buyer you want?

EASY CHECK OUT, Like Amazon. Preload all my info, click, click - ordered. some companies do that, others don't.

• What percentage of supplies do you buy online for your business?

at the moment - very little, all local. Used to be 100% online, but I started to dislike being a number, I want personalized service with a salesman I can bounce questions off of.

• Whats more important to you, Low Prices, or Free Shipping Offers

 - no such thing as "free shipping".  competitive, honest pricing with all the items listed on the website IN STOCK, fast picking and shipping.

[Prōdigium]

Lance - if that's you - welcome back !

Yep, its the real me. I am back, but in a limited capacity at the moment. I am a busy boy and really don't have much time for forums, but that will change soon I hope. Thanks everyone for the replies, my goal is to use the information to better help the state of the industry online. Its much more complicated than that, but this is a small part of it that will help my clients.

[Prōdigium]

I guess a follow up question for those who have replied or anyone else is....

• What's the main factor that stops you from buying your supplies, or buying more online?

[Prōdigium]

• What do you think is missing from most supplier websites that as a buyer you want?

EASY CHECK OUT, Like Amazon. Preload all my info, click, click - ordered. some companies do that, others don't.

• What percentage of supplies do you buy online for your business?

at the moment - very little, all local. Used to be 100% online, but I started to dislike being a number, I want personalized service with a salesman I can bounce questions off of.

• Whats more important to you, Low Prices, or Free Shipping Offers

- no such thing as "free shipping".  competitive, honest pricing with all the items listed on the website IN STOCK, fast picking and shipping.

Well, this is exactly the feedback I am looking for. I am in 100% agreement with your idea of "make it easy" Preloaded account details are a must for me too, but there is a big reason why most sites cannot do this and its called PCI compliance. The credit card industry has a high hurdle for vendors to store your details online, and incredibly harsh penalties if you let that data fall into the wrong hands, hence why so many e-tailers don't do it.

Your also correct that there is not such thing as "Free" shipping, lunch or anything else. I lost a customer after a long winded conversation about a handle fee $2.50 a trivial amount, but his argument was that he did not like seeing the fee on his invoice. I explained to him that it was for proper accounting practices and was a pass though expense...he did not care. He actually said it would be better if I raised all my prices .50 cents and got rid of the charge. I was shocked that he could not understand that if I applied that reasoning to his order history that it would of been hundreds of dollars higher....he was persistent that it did not matter. A clear case of where perceptions of "cost" does not match up with reality.

Complete product details...this is where my old site rocked, even to this day I rarely find a site that has as much details about a product as my old site...a major reason I would assume for its initial success.

Fast order processing is another problem for virtually everyone as their website and warehouse are virtually never "connected" this is a problem that is really hard for most online stores to resolve as it requires the application of often times expensive software or EDI data services. I have most certainly resolved this matter and it was one that used to me a problem that I hated as well.

Not sure why buying online has to feel impersonal, but calling in an order and talking to a person is always nice. I guess it matters how much time you have to spend chatting with your sales rep...and more importantly how much time they have to spend with you. I think one nice aspect of buying online is the ability to see all of the product choices, something that no salesman can explain over the phone.

Thanks, great feedback.

[Wildcard]

A local Aussie website is pretty good. Clear navigation, pricing, checkout, etc. but they are moving away from screen printing to focus mostly on digital
www.gjs.co

Would love to see clear and simple comparisons between the multitude of products available. There are so many options for each chemical, ink, etc that it would be good to have some guidance on what to choose for what application. Mostly applies to people looking to try something new I guess.

[Prōdigium]

A local Aussie website is pretty good. Clear navigation, pricing, checkout, etc. but they are moving away from screen printing to focus mostly on digital
www.gjs.co

Would love to see clear and simple comparisons between the multitude of products available. There are so many options for each chemical, ink, etc that it would be good to have some guidance on what to choose for what application. Mostly applies to people looking to try something new I guess.

Agreed, it can be hard to differentiate products like cleaning chemicals or emulsions if you have no experience with them, especially if the site lacks the product specifications or presents them in a way that makes it hard to make a real comparison.

I have seen that site, and it is well designed and fast, they use a CDN server which makes the difference. I don't like how they mix customer testimonies for products all over the site and in categories, a little confusing to me...but a good example of a thought out site. I am expertly aware of the software they are using for the website and I know of a way to solve the problem of guidance for your needs, but it requires lots of time to apply to all the products as they seem to have a very wide selection.

[Prōdigium]

Welcome back Lance!

Honestly, we don't purchase anything online here.  I will browse some manufacturers sites to see what is offered.  But really, it's just for equipment/big ticket research purchases.

Thanks, its good to get back into it...glad some folks still remember me.

I am curious, I often browse sites for information as well often looking over several sites to see if the information being presented matches up as I am a details type of person. But ultimately I buy a lot online, especially here in China where its just easier than trying to talk to people because there are so many dialects here that I cannot understand most people unless they are standing right in front of me....that said.

What stops you from buying online? Too slow a process , or lack of trust in the website? For me buying online is often a time saver, but I guess it depends on what your shopping for. I run a pizza shop here in China now and its easier to place my orders online where I can also track them too.

[Homer]

What stops you from buying online? Too slow a process , or lack of trust in the website? For me buying online is often a time saver, but I guess it depends on what your shopping for. I run a pizza shop here in China now and its easier to place my orders online where I can also track them too.

relationships. this is an area I learned the hard way. When I purchased everything online and I came into a bind, ran out of an ink for example and I need it NOW, I was just a customer standing in line. With my local guys -they will drop what they are doing, bring it to me and sometimes not even bill me for it! My local company brings sales reps from other companies around, CCI for example. Our CCI rep is a great guy and has shared excellent products and advice. That is the stuff you can not buy online. I once called an online retailer with a question, they simply read the PDF product sheet back to me. Well hell, I already read that, it didn't answer my question -that's why I am calling you!

One area I was pressing my local guys for was services, not so much products. Anyone can buy any product from anywhere for a better price. I wanted them to offer services, squeegie sharpening, screen stretching, mapping the dryer, film printer linerization, maybe art, quality separations, exposure calculations, things like that. Make my first call for help to be to you guys. What I was told is a large majority of the shops out there don't care about any of that. they print simplistic designs and stay well within their comfort zones, rarely look to improve their skills or try something new. Using the same squeegie from15 years ago. So why pay 1.00/inch to sharpen it? it still works!

So I bought my own squeegie sharpener and thanks to Alex, I have a screen stretcher (needing a few more parts it will be back to factory new) and now I offer these services to my local supplier!

[Colin]

Pretty much exactly what Homer said.

When I call in my order I get to find out if anything new is on the horizon, if my supplier is bringing in a new manufacturer, if there is any lead time for the product since they just got hit with a huge order 15 minutes ago (his has happened many times ....

I think for most of us who have been in the industry a long time, its more about relationship building.

Now...

For the younger printers and shops out there, its the opposite mostly.  Its dominated by online shopping, communication and requests.  Zanegun on here has summed it up nicely in a couple of posts with how much business he actually gets in which he NEVER actually talks to a person.  Its all electronic communication. 

You can also see this in Ryonet's website and you tube videos.  They know their market and have been serving it for many years doing it pretty well.

[Sbrem]

We don't order printing supplies online at all, shirts of course, but not printing supplies... always a phone call to the vendor, or the salesperson...

Steve