Online Club Shop

exiledred
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Online Club Shop Mar 3, 2020 20:54:48 GMT jb likes this

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Post by exiledred on Mar 3, 2020 20:54:48 GMT

Went to the Exeter game this Sat, my first reds game in a few years, absolutely loved it and thought our fans were superb! Live in Bristol and used to follow the reds (my home town) home and away a lot during the southern league, conference and early league days but got involved with a Western League side based in Bristol (Cadbury Heath) so that’s my saturdays now. Our game away at Tavistock was called off on Sat so off to watch CTFC I went and had a great time - easy to forget a lot of happy memories!

Anyway, thought I’d go and take a look at the online club shop to buy a few bits and was really surprised to find hardly anything available. No team shirts (just about forgivable given the stage of the season) but no club polo shirts and some bang average (at best) looking 1896 “leisurewear” that’s all one design. We used to have a lot more choice than that in the non league days! Is that really all there is or is the online shop just woefully out of date? Does the shop at the ground have a better stock of stuff?

Cheers and Up The Reds

Bruce.

Creepy Crawley
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Posts: 1,238

Online Club Shop Mar 3, 2020 21:39:56 GMT

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Post by Creepy Crawley on Mar 3, 2020 21:39:56 GMT

Mar 3, 2020 20:54:48 GMT exiledred said:

Went to the Exeter game this Sat, my first reds game in a few years, absolutely loved it and thought our fans were superb! Live in Bristol and used to follow the reds (my home town) home and away a lot during the southern league, conference and early league days but got involved with a Western League side based in Bristol (Cadbury Heath) so that’s my saturdays now. Our game away at Tavistock was called off on Sat so off to watch CTFC I went and had a great time - easy to forget a lot of happy memories!

Anyway, thought I’d go and take a look at the online club shop to buy a few bits and was really surprised to find hardly anything available. No team shirts (just about forgivable given the stage of the season) but no club polo shirts and some bang average (at best) looking 1896 “leisurewear” that’s all one design. We used to have a lot more choice than that in the non league days! Is that really all there is or is the online shop just woefully out of date? Does the shop at the ground have a better stock of stuff?

Cheers and Up The Reds

Bruce.

johnthegas
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Posts: 1,490

Online Club Shop Mar 4, 2020 8:54:24 GMT via mobile

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Post by johnthegas on Mar 4, 2020 8:54:24 GMT

Mar 3, 2020 20:54:48 GMT exiledred said:

Went to the Exeter game this Sat, my first reds game in a few years, absolutely loved it and thought our fans were superb! Live in Bristol and used to follow the reds (my home town) home and away a lot during the southern league, conference and early league days but got involved with a Western League side based in Bristol (Cadbury Heath) so that’s my saturdays now. Our game away at Tavistock was called off on Sat so off to watch CTFC I went and had a great time - easy to forget a lot of happy memories!

Anyway, thought I’d go and take a look at the online club shop to buy a few bits and was really surprised to find hardly anything available. No team shirts (just about forgivable given the stage of the season) but no club polo shirts and some bang average (at best) looking 1896 “leisurewear” that’s all one design. We used to have a lot more choice than that in the non league days! Is that really all there is or is the online shop just woefully out of date? Does the shop at the ground have a better stock of stuff?

Cheers and Up The Reds

Bruce.

Nope - It’s pretty poor to say the least.

JTG

fnb
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Posts: 634

Online Club Shop Mar 4, 2020 9:38:58 GMT

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Post by fnb on Mar 4, 2020 9:38:58 GMT

IMO the club are missing out on a good revenue stream.
On a recent trip to the AMEX I popped into Brighton's club shop and the place has 1000's of items from shirts to the biggest bar of chocolate that I have ever seen.
Now I'm not saying that Crawley should build a mega store, but they need a varied and well stocked 'retail outlet'. Anyone remember the large porta cabin in the car park that was used as a club shop?

GBred
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Posts: 1,891

Online Club Shop Mar 4, 2020 10:44:34 GMT via mobile

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Post by GBred on Mar 4, 2020 10:44:34 GMT

Generally the online shop is poor but they have started regularly ordering in for the club shop and the little stock they do get in there tends to sell out which is a shame. I did at Christmas get a nice coat from the shop and was worth every penny. Definitely a missed revenue stream. Especially for fans that are not local.

thad
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Online Club Shop Mar 4, 2020 11:33:54 GMT via mobile jb and GBred like this

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Post by thad on Mar 4, 2020 11:33:54 GMT

A few years back I got some tickets for the horse racing at Goodwood online...

...since then i have consistently been sent on average two emails a week with promotions & general updates.

I tend to ignore the merchandising & motor-racing stuff, but have had further trips to the gee-gees plus stays at the hotel & recently celebrated a special occasion at the restaurant (the raspberry souffle with ginger ice cream is irresistible).

I suspect their marketing division would classify me as "bought into the brand values"... which should be the hard part, yet our friend in Bristol (yes, i remember you, bloomin' nutter) has ALREADY reached that stage.

So, i would respectfully suggest that the club need an offer - could even be a loss leader - to harvest local & remote (even beyond the UK) fans contact details to actively promote merchandise & other saleable items.

It is a win:win not just in terms of revenue, but having a level of advanced known demand will enhance confidence when ordering quantities, which anecdotally appear to be currently understated...(?)

Last Edit: Mar 4, 2020 11:45:10 GMT by thad

GBred
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Posts: 1,891

Online Club Shop Mar 4, 2020 12:52:45 GMT via mobile

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Post by GBred on Mar 4, 2020 12:52:45 GMT

Mar 4, 2020 11:33:54 GMT thad said:

A few years back I got some tickets for the horse racing at Goodwood online...

...since then i have consistently been sent on average two emails a week with promotions & general updates.

I tend to ignore the merchandising & motor-racing stuff, but have had further trips to the gee-gees plus stays at the hotel & recently celebrated a special occasion at the restaurant (the raspberry souffle with ginger ice cream is irresistible).

I suspect their marketing division would classify me as "bought into the brand values"... which should be the hard part, yet our friend in Bristol (yes, i remember you, bloomin' nutter) has ALREADY reached that stage.

So, i would respectfully suggest that the club need an offer - could even be a loss leader - to harvest local & remote (even beyond the UK) fans contact details to actively promote merchandise & other saleable items.

It is a win:win not just in terms of revenue, but having a level of advanced known demand will enhance confidence when ordering quantities, which anecdotally appear to be currently understated...(?)

good idea but I think the clubs issue with this is hiring someone to do it..

johnthegas Ultimate Member Posts: 1,490	Online Club Shop Mar 4, 2020 13:28:12 GMT via mobile Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by johnthegas on Mar 4, 2020 13:28:12 GMT You need to speculate to accumulate and sadly, the Club can’t see the deal. JTG

George
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Posts: 4,052

Online Club Shop Mar 5, 2020 9:38:04 GMT via mobile

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Post by George on Mar 5, 2020 9:38:04 GMT

I agree the Amex mega store has everything from blue and white striped tea bags to blue and white striped tooth picks and they no doubt make a mint (unsurprisingly also striped blue and white).....these days you can get hold of all sorts of merchandise so why not vary the brand and speculate a bit to accumulate. Some items dont require huge storage e.g.key rings....a CTFC face mask anyone?

Simon
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Posts: 2,236

Online Club Shop Mar 6, 2020 4:21:38 GMT via mobile armchairfan and jb like this

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Post by Simon on Mar 6, 2020 4:21:38 GMT

Of course the scenarios are completely different.

BHA buy in huge bulk - far better prices. They also have the resources to lose money or write stuff off if it doesn't sell.

Fact is when you are relying on your owners to put in £1m a year then speculating is not part of the business model.

armchairfan
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Posts: 515

Online Club Shop Mar 6, 2020 9:14:40 GMT via mobile

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Post by armchairfan on Mar 6, 2020 9:14:40 GMT

Mar 6, 2020 4:21:38 GMT Simon said:

Of course the scenarios are completely different.

BHA buy in huge bulk - far better prices. They also have the resources to lose money or write stuff off if it doesn't sell.

Fact is when you are relying on your owners to put in £1m a year then speculating is not part of the business model.

Very true.
The fact is we wouldn’t sell thousands of any single item.
In fact, we wouldn’t sell hundreds of any single item.
I would gues about a dozen.

Really not worth the effort is it.

Post by exiledred on Mar 3, 2020 20:54:48 GMT

Post by Creepy Crawley on Mar 3, 2020 21:39:56 GMT

Post by johnthegas on Mar 4, 2020 8:54:24 GMT

Post by fnb on Mar 4, 2020 9:38:58 GMT

Post by GBred on Mar 4, 2020 10:44:34 GMT

Post by thad on Mar 4, 2020 11:33:54 GMT

Post by GBred on Mar 4, 2020 12:52:45 GMT

Post by johnthegas on Mar 4, 2020 13:28:12 GMT

Post by George on Mar 5, 2020 9:38:04 GMT

Post by Simon on Mar 6, 2020 4:21:38 GMT

Post by armchairfan on Mar 6, 2020 9:14:40 GMT