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Gunshops online?
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04-08-2013 8:02pm#1
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Lads,
This is a very interesting thread and maybe you can help me to help you.
My pal is a registered firearms dealer and has a shooting related shop and we have been chatting about establishing an online presence for the business.
Firstly, neither him or I are what you would call IT genius's, secondly; neither could we be classified as retail gurus........
What we would like to know is what you guys as shooters and possible prospective clients would like to see an online shop offering.
We are currently at the planning & designing phase of the online shop and thought that it would be prudent to seek advice on what the shooters actually need and want from a service such as this so hopefully we can cater to your needs all the more....
All suggestions will be gratefully recieved and any constructive criticism or guidance will be much appreciated.
This is the time to let the punters have their say......... we are listening.
P.S. there is a €25 voucher to spend in the online shop once operational for whomever gives us the most useful feedback.
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ormondprop wrote: »Heres a list i started on another forum
Maybe it could be a good idea for a sticky
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www.connscameras.ie
...
ermm....
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Chopperdog 2 wrote: »Lads,
This is a very interesting thread and maybe you can help me to help you.
My pal is a registered firearms dealer and has a shooting related shop and we have been chatting about establishing an online presence for the business.
Firstly, neither him or I are what you would call IT genius's, secondly; neither could we be classified as retail gurus........
What we would like to know is what you guys as shooters and possible prospective clients would like to see an online shop offering.
We are currently at the planning & designing phase of the online shop and thought that it would be prudent to seek advice on what the shooters actually need and want from a service such as this so hopefully we can cater to your needs all the more....
All suggestions will be gratefully recieved and any constructive criticism or guidance will be much appreciated.
This is the time to let the punters have their say......... we are listening.
P.S. there is a €25 voucher to spend in the online shop once operational for whomever gives us the most useful feedback.
An as up to date as possible list of firearms in stock. Good selection of ammunition , both shotgun and rifle. For some reason the only 2 gun shops near me are right in the middle of a feckin town and its a nightmare to get to them, so delivery of ammunition like a lot of shops are doing would be fantastic. Online shopping is the way to go. As I said n my earlier post, people dont have the money to be driving around from place to place. You can browse for as long as you want online and not feel awkward like some shop owners make you feel. Basically biggest range of stock with up to date prices, what more can I say
We need an online superstore ! Im telling yas , if I had the money Id start one ! It would be an instant success ! Also if there was good phone/email contact. I dont know how many places Ive tried to buy from and they cant even be arsed to reply to a simple email, this makes me take my business elsewhere.
Its a recession lads, we are trying our best to keep at the sport we love. A good army surplus section would be great. I cant understand how so many "army surplus" stores online can charge an absolute bomb (excuse the pun) for 2nd and 3rd hand clothes
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I'm 21 and I buy a lot of stuff online for many of my other hobbies but for shooting, it's one thing that drives me mad! Unfortunately, I'm on a student budget and as much as I want to support local stores, online is cheaper so I've got plenty of experience and have spent .99c on iTunes to several thousand on a bicycle onine. A well sorted online Irish shop for shooting would be fantastic.
For me, one of the most important thing is reasonablly priced (Or ideally, free) delivery. I'm a cyclist and I buy a lot of things from chainreactioncycles.com who are a company based up the North. They offer free worldwide shipping, whether you order a tube or a full bike... That is huge. I hate when I go online to spend say €60 on something and the checkout price becomes around €80 with delivery.... a joke in my eyes and it drives me mad! I understand that smaller shops may not be on a margin to offer free delivery when starting, but keeping the costs fair and as low as possible will be a huge plus. I live far enough away from my RFD, and with a college week and a partime job, I find it hard to get time to get down there, which is annoying if I only want a can of gun oil or something like that! As well as cost, I think speed is very important. We all know that if we put a letter in the post box before 5pm, chances are it will be anywhere in the Republic by the next day... we're not fools, so there is no excuse for taking over a week... cough cough**** wont mention any names but many of those listed above are guilty of this in the past!
On that note, I would also agree that an automated 'order placed' email, along with a dispatched email should be mandatory and offered as part of whatever web package you chose. ( I assume you will use a web designer etc given the info you have mentioned)
I think that when you are setting up your store, you should spend major time investment in actually inputting the information about each product you are listing... whether it be a crow call or a €1000+ scope. If I'm only logging on to spend a tenner, I still want to enjoy the experience and for all you know, I could be just trying you out to come back next week and buy and that scope!
So the listings should be simple, ALWAYS have a picture (stock pictures ok for accessories) and have a short blurb written about them with some technical information. I want to read about the item I'm about to spend my money on.. Or maybe I don't know what it is and I want to read about it.... or convince myself that I now need it! But seriously, well listed items are key. I agree with others that for firearms listing, this should always be the actual gun. I can read a magazine or an online review if I want to see the stock picture. Chances are, I've already done that and I want to figure out if it's worth my while travelling to view it. Buying a firearm in Ireland still involves quite a large amount of human interaction in a store, and perhaps this is why many stores are so slow when it comes to changing with the times. In a sense, they have a strange monopoly...
You should also add "wishlists" with the option to email them... I use this very often at christmas time, or often as a place to save items that I wish to look at again. Also, you should have sections like "Top 10 gifts for shooting" or something along those lines. I'm lucky that my dad shoots, but if nobody you know shoots, it would be nice to direct family and friends to the site in the hope they find those lists!
Next, product lines. This will tie in with how you list the items and catagorising them and all that, but it must be easy to search for items by what they are (think guns, cartridges, cleaning sets, cleaning products etc etc....) and also by brand. I'm not sure what brands you already have in store, but sourcing some of the more popular brands would be great. It would keep the prices more competitive in Ireland!
Most importantly, I think you should aim to have everything that's in your shop, represented online.. if you sell knives, I want to know about it as I'll consider you next time I'm buying one! If you sell Barbour, I'll remember that.... Do you do deals on slabs of cartridges? Great.. I'll take a slab... You get the idea.
I don't know if this will be any help, but I hope that along with everything else mentioned here it will. Remember, that everyone that posts on boards are most likely very 'online friendly' and more likely to buy online... keep it simple and easy for those who are not so well up on our world of the interwebs... Best of luck with it!0 -
Johnk123 has a lot of good points there ! Nothing worse than looking at an online shop and theres only 2 or 3 things in the "knives" section and theyre either leathermans that cost €80 - €150 or some fancy knife that costs €90 or 100 and looks like it should be displayed on the mantlepiece ! Why not have a few knives for under €10 ? Ive seen offers online that you can buy bulk packs from China or Hong Kong where a pack of 50 or 100 folding knives work out at about 90c or €1 each and that leaves you with making €3 or €4 profit. If you have lads buying one of those knives with their order then surely thats better than waiting for someone to buy a knife for €90 ! Am I making sense ? People love a bargain and there is money to be made from the right set up. Im not saying have everything on the site for cost price, but a bargain section for those little accessories (knives , torches, coffee mugs etc) would be great !
Look at the UK. They are spoiled for choice with online shops over there and there are some that have absolutely everything you could ever want, but this is Ireland and I would prefer to buy from here and also save money on shipping.
I dont know how many brands/types of ammo are available in peoples local gun shops, but my own local one has what I would class as a poor to fair selection. That means 3 or 4 types of .22lr , 1 type of .17hmr , 2 or 3 types of .223 and basically 1 type of everything else. A wide selection of ammo would be absolutely fantastic, and lets face it, ammo at the right price isnt going to sit on the shelf so theres no need to be shafting lads and be charging a fortune. You will make more money if you charge a reasonable price than if your like some places that charge way too much.0 -
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