E-commerce survived the dot-com crash, and is now a part of our lives. Therefore, should we not have the right to demand for improvement and better service?
Unfortunately, most online hobby model stores I’ve come across so far suck big time.
Stores like RedfrogHobbies look like they were built by a six year old. It has prehistoric web design, and it’s not the only one.
You need to take a leap of faith to actually put your credit card information and buy from a store that looks so shabby. Thankfully they are legitimate and my orders arrive with no issues.
Some other stores like Lucky Models have a better layout but their e-commerce solution sucks. With the variety of shopping cart systems and software out there today, it’s difficult to understand why these guys can’t find a reason or need to upgrade.
Most of the time, online stores have virtually no information about the product besides it’s name. No product images besides the typical catalogue image everyone else is using. No user reviews, nothing. You’ll need to buy it first, and hope that it’s was what you needed.
For example, it would be great if while buying my Hasegawa F-14 Tomcat, the system also told me what paints I needed and recommended other related stuff which I may want to buy. Sure, it’s “upselling” but it’s great when you are willing to buy anyway. Amazon “recommends” other books to me before I check out and at least half the time I add these recommendations to my final order.
Instead, I had to wait for the model kit to arrive before I could say for sure what paints I needed to complete the kit.
However, there really are only a handful of good online model stores that have a good selection and deliver your products relatively hassle-free. I guess as long as modellers get what they want in a reasonable time, they don’t complain much about everything else.
Still, I do wish the online hobby stores that I buy from would do themselves a favour and perform a major e-commerce upgrade.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
hehe.. hey i just visited redfrog.com… many of the model kit dont have photos. how people going to buy. i’ll think many times before i buy from redfrog.com. i always use hobby Link Japan for my references and buy online (http://www.hlj.com/)
have you tried the following online hobby shops:
Hobbylinc
http://www.hobbylinc.com/index.htm
Squadron
http://www.squadron.com/HotDeals.htm