Screwfix catalogues disappear.

[Seascaper]

Hello,
It would seem that Screwfix catalogues are to become something of the past. Like others you will only be able to browse online. Unfortunately Axminster Tools did this sometime ago. It is all very good if you know what you want but sometimes it is impossible to find what you want by searching particularly if they’re a lot of similar items. And you are not always given enough filters to try and find something. This system is rather like the old days of how builders merchants worked. G.A.Day for example you opened the door to a vast shed but you were then faced with a counter with men in white lab coats, “can I help” and you had to describe what you wanted. Your staff member disappeared into the building and came out holding what you thought you needed. One could not browse as you can now, like thumbing through the catalogue. It you went to RS Components the catalogue came in a cardboard box with volumes the size of old telephone directories. Hang on to your Screwfix catalogue, don’t bin it,
Regards

 

[julianf]

The Toolstation website has a "virtual" paper catalogue that you can "flick" through (as in the pages look just like the paper one).

Screwfix's website has never been as easy to use : (

 

[Spectric]

With screwfix doing away with the catalogues they will make some big savings, but will any get passed onto the customer?

 

[Homeless Squirrel]

Screwed up/fix website is a real butt hole to root around in and Toolstation no better tried to find something other day and wants "your Store" then delights in informing no stock! so have to keep resubmitting your store up at top to try to find which has stock
Plus hands up who has been looking and not finding then go at something else and find items show up.
But these are not the only places that have rubbish coding like JD Williams. Long sleeve T shirts(Pretty Simple?)=coats/jumpers/short sleeve t shirts/even bottoms plus more other non descript items.
Or tick size 10 boots say brings some up and half no stock or don't go to that size even! Yet they bleat about poor sales!
But so many places now seem so lazy to put any effort into there business just expect us to do all there work for them and we had this conversation weekend where now you can't find things you want so have to order on line wait for it then find it either isn't right one/type or it's rubbish.

 

[Bingy man]

It’s amazing how many times I’ve searched for a particular item from Toolstation and screw fix and got the message- your search found 0 results. Or it finds one that’s twice the cost of the brand you want. Yet searching via the product number from the catalog gives you exactly what you’re looking for . Another very annoying issue with tool fix is ordering an item not marked as next day delivery only to be told you have passed the cut off point for next day delivery keeping a copy or 2 of the catalog is fine and a good idea but the prices will be out of date and it won’t include new products which of course forces you back to the website

 

[robgul]

From past experience in the production thereof the Screwfix/Toolstation type catalogues (and other similar multi-product/multi-brand sellers) are largely funded by contributions from the suppliers in effect buying "advertising space" to have their products listed and promoted.

How that will affect prices - who knows?

 

[johna.clements]

The point of physical stores is that you can actually go there and see things. Catalogue shops like Screwfix allowed you to browse the catalogue rather than the shelves which did have some advantages especially if you took the catalogue home.

With no catalogue the advantage they have over the big river or other online sellers is greatly reduced. If you are going to browse online why not search elsewhere to see if it is cheaper.

You can click and collect but then you are making the process as hard as buying from the big river. They say they have something in stock but when you get there and they say you can not trust the website but we can order it for tomorrow why bother paying for the fuel and time. The online retailers will deliver to your door and many to a newsagent etc close by.

Screwfix will loose sales from the people who do not know exactly what they want. Those people will often continue to shop at the places where they did their research online when they do know what they want. Screwfix will end up being used more by the people who know what they want but did not order it in advance.

 

[scholar]

In store the large format laminated catalogues that you could use to select your stuff have now been replaced by a computer terminal - based on recent experience, these are so useless as to be completely unusable, meaning I have had to resort to using my phone to consult the Screwfix website - as commented above by others, this is itself truly bad.

I understand that the catalogues are expensive and wasteful to produce, but really Screwfix have had long enough to develop some decent search functionality on their website. Grr

Cheers

 

[robgul]

IKEA and Argos have both scrapped catalogues in the past couple of years . . . as a customer Argos seems to me to have cracked it with both the website and in-store browsing screens - but IKEA's website leaves much to be desired (there's a lot more in the stores than on the website . . . . but then the plan is get you to the store to load your barrow 'cos everything is cheap, or at least reasonably priced)

. . and who remembers the little catalogues that Wickes distributed door-to-door when they first came to the UK ?

Obviously price changes are a major issue for the likes of Screwfix/Toolstation - BUT a less-frequent un-priced catalogue (say annually) would be a useful reference given that there are not a lot of product variations/new products emerging - it could be the "tradesman's bible" - find the item, check price and buy online. Simples.

 

[HappyHacker]

I tried to find someone supplying a ball cock valve on a Saturday afternoon. All the plumber merchants nearby closed. Tried Screwfix, no stock. Tried Toolstation, only have a kit costing about 3 times as much as a ball cock. Tried to oder online for pickup on my phone as on customer premises, didn't work so I went to the shop. While waiting picked up a catalog and there was what I wanted a Part 1 Float Valve. Who would have known. They had one in stock.

If they want to get rid of catalogs they will have to improve their indexing. Axminster used to send my two catalogs, it took me ages to go through them both.

 

[KraftyKev]

Aparently they've gone Green eliminating the Paper Catalogue for an all Digital Experience, Something about saving Trees to save the Planet

 

[thetyreman]

sadly this is a trend in the last decade, I remember when the guy in richer sounds told me to not bother with the catalogue 'it's all on the internet' I just rolled my eyes and walked out and have never been back since, it's all very well but there's something good about having a real product in your hands.

 

[John Brown]

Personally, I've never used the paper catalogue. I always order on line for collection. I'm guessing that printing new catalogues every other week because if new items or special offers is a waste of money and paper.
I suppose if you are used to just turning up and riffling through a paper catalogue, then it'll take a while to adjust, but I can't imagine doing that.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Aparently they've gone Green eliminating the Paper Catalogue for an all Digital Experience, Something about saving Trees to save the Planet

A joke, really, as paper is made from softwoods, it's one of the purposes for which they're grown.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wish they'd sort their listings. Toolstation e.g. has has 14 items that aren't paint on the first page under "paint" but still has paint listed on page 19. I suspect they all leave lists mixed up to encourage people to buy things they hadn't thought of.

 

[robgul]

As an aside to this thread - do they still print the massive mail order catalogues (Grattans, Littlewoods etc or whatever they are now)? - they were coffee-table staples of the 50s/60s/70s and then in the 80s the likes of the Next catalogue came along. That said for those companies the products were almost an incidental as they were selling credit lending (a bit like car "leasing" today)

 

[KraftyKev]

As an aside to this thread - do they still print the massive mail order catalogues (Grattans, Littlewoods etc or whatever they are now)? - they were coffee-table staples of the 50s/60s/70s and then in the 80s the likes of the Next catalogue came along. That said for those companies the products were almost an incidental as they were selling credit lending (a bit like car "leasing" today)

They have an App for everything now

 

[John Brown]

The RS components catalogue from the 70s/early 80s was a fantastic resource, as was their datasheet library. Back in the olden days, you couldn't just look up a datasheet for a new memory chip or microprocessor on the web, you had to order it from the manufacturer or distributor, which often involved opening an account to boot. The new RS catalogue was an eagerly anticipated event at my place of work!

 

[baldkev]

I do prefer a paper catalogue and as others have commented, searching for items is often hit and miss. One thing that REALLY asnoys me us if i search for something on screwfix via firefox it urges me to use the app, but when you click the link, it opens the app and your searched items dissapear

 

[Bingy man]

As an aside to this thread - do they still print the massive mail order catalogues (Grattans, Littlewoods etc or whatever they are now)? - they were coffee-table staples of the 50s/60s/70s and then in the 80s the likes of the Next catalogue came along. That said for those companies the products were almost an incidental as they were selling credit lending (a bit like car "leasing" today)

Not for years now as surprise surprise it’s all online