Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Forum News and Suggestions => Old Advertisers => Admin Board => Aldred Cricket Bats => Topic started by: Aldred Cricket Bats on January 16, 2014, 04:03:40 PM
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The website may well shut down temporarily later on tonight so it can be updated. Nervous times hope it doesn't go wrong. Im not good with stuff like that. So don't worry we haven't shut down and done a runner we are still here
Paul
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Ok website up and running again. I reckon it's not too bat may be a couple of things we can change as we go along the way but it works and looks quite nice hope you like. Again I'm not an expert on these things a mate of mine put it together for me so if you like it and need anything doing for yourself let me know I'm sure he can help.
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appears to be working well and looks good
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Very nice looking sites and bats! Do you ship to Australia?
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Website looks great Paul, seems to be working very nicely!
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Very nice looking sites and bats! Do you ship to Australia?
We do all over the world now pleased to say
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Website looks very good Paul, well done.
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The site is classy and brilliant just like the brand! :)
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Many thanks for that. Nice to hear that is exactly the angle we were after
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I applaud you for making your site responsive, but I don't think it's working properly (on my iPhone anyway).
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Never thought for a minute that everything would be right john
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Totally understand. Website launches are rarely as smooth as you'd like them to be :) Just wanted to make you aware.
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Works fine on the ipad and ipod is that different to iPhone.
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Works fine on the ipad and ipod is that different to iPhone.
When I resize the web browser to see your site working responsively. It looks like this,
(http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b522/johnrockin/ScreenShot2014-01-17at135158_zps59c89c3b.jpg)
which I would have thought is correct?
However it looks like this on my iPhone 5 (running iOS 7.0.4) and on our test Samsung S3,
(http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b522/johnrockin/photo1_zps401c672a.png)
which I presume isn't how you wanted it to be?
Apologies if I'm wrong
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Nice update to the site Paul. A couple of things you might want to look into:
1) The pictures are pretty small when you get into the specific bat model pages and they can't be enlarged
2) The bat weight for the GOLD starts at 2lb 9oz, but it says it can be made from 2lb 7oz.
Other than that it looks very nice! Would be awesome if you are registered for VAT exemption... ;)
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Interesting comparison of websites from an Android phone.
When viewing the site with Chrome set to "Request Desktop Site" you get this:
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr293/tim2000s/Screenshot_2014-01-17-14-20-02_zps82ccec3f.png)
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr293/tim2000s/Screenshot_2014-01-17-14-20-51_zps1401a6c0.png)
When viewing using the mobile site settings you get this:
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr293/tim2000s/Screenshot_2014-01-17-14-20-14_zpsf143876f.png)
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr293/tim2000s/Screenshot_2014-01-17-14-20-24_zps5d6de087.png)
Looks to me that the mobile site isn't rendering or transcoding properly , depending on how it is set up...
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Well other than its not looking right on iPhone I didn't understand a word of that :) will get that looked at probably next week now.
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Looking at the bats section, there doesn't seem to be a lot different between Gold, Silver, Velocity and Supreme in terms of what style of play each bat is best suited for. This may be something that has been discussed on the forum, but wouldnt it help to have these details on the site so that its easier for a customer to choose what suits him best?
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Looking at the bats section, there doesn't seem to be a lot different between Gold, Silver, Velocity and Supreme in terms of what style of play each bat is best suited for. This may be something that has been discussed on the forum, but wouldnt it help to have these details on the site so that its easier for a customer to choose what suits him best?
Yes fair shout as I say it will be tweeked and nudged around over the coming weeks to get it spot on. Its a tough one for what you are saying for me as although there are different shapes my belief is a good bat is a good bat no matter what profile it is, a good bat to me has a big middle. Because we make everything to order we talk with the customers to get exactly what they want and we automatically tweak the middle of any of our bats to suit. I have seen over the last 10-15 years people buy bats because they like the shape and it looks big you see it all the time in one of our local cricket shops people walk in and pick a bat up think it looks great and buy it. They never even tapped a mallet or a ball on it and £300 is passed over the counter. It's obviously something I have to learn in my marketing skills of which isn't my strong point to spill a load of bull to sell something especially if I know it's not true or its irrelevant but you are probably right I need to put a bit more in there. I shall think up something beautifully poetic to put in maybe and see if we can bring a tear to the eye of the customer :D
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Fair point regarding selecting the bat based on how it feels...but thats not a luxury an online shop has sadly. Bats sell on how they are described on the website..for e.g. a bat will a mid sweetspot and light pickup suited for opening batters; a bat with a lower sweetspot for the front foot drivers etc etc.
I am someone who usually bats at 6/7 and likes to go for my shots when the ball is in my half. Which profile would suit me best?
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Like I say mo I can make any to suit you that's where I sit and discuss it with the customer. I have had three people come to me today who were originally wanting a supreme shape as it looks like its middle is higher up the bat. They all went for a velocity to be made for them because the pick up is so good and the middle is so big and one of them we moved the bulk of the sweet spot a touch higher for him. This really will end up as an aesthetic thing as the middles are so big anyway.if you decide what you like the look of and talk to me we can make anything to suit your style of game
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The only problem I can see with the website is that there is no option for the customer to tell you at the time of ordering if they want a
particular middle position.
some people will want the full Aldred experience of sending and receiving several messages to discuss what they want.others just want
to click a box,write their custom specs and wait for a box in the post.
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Hi, I noticed on the website that the minimum weight of any bat is 2lb 7oz, even for the junior bats. Is that correct? If not, what sort of weight would a size 6 and harrow typically come in at?
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The only problem I can see with the website is that there is no option for the customer to tell you at the time of ordering if they want a
particular middle position.
some people will want the full Aldred experience of sending and receiving several messages to discuss what they want.others just want
to click a box,write their custom specs and wait for a box in the post.
That's what the message box is for for every question or criteria you would like. Your right perhaps I need to spell that out for people.
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Hi, I noticed on the website that the minimum weight of any bat is 2lb 7oz, even for the junior bats. Is that correct? If not, what sort of weight would a size 6 and harrow typically come in at?
I notice that yesterday that's something we will change
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It's lovely trying to do everything yourself isn't it oh the headaches but I tell you what you don't half learn a lot not only about what your doing but about yourself too. Happy days
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One of the most frustrating things about doing stuff on the web is that you have to assume that people don't know how to do things and point them in the right direction. So if they are able to have a custom choice, give them the an easy way to get to it.
Having had a run around the site on my ipad, a few things stand out.
1. There is still a test item in the shop.
2. The way the tables and photos lay out looks untidy in the shop - you have a mix of landscape and portrait photos, and different amounts of text with buttons on different lines. It doesn't affect functionality, but being consistent makes it look slicker.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/18/be8ynehu.jpg)
3. To buy a bat, you click on a photo, it grows, then you go through to the purchase page. If you change your mind and go back, or if you decide to buy softs, the big photo stays there and takes up too much screen estate so it isn't possible to use some of the other links.
4. The softs section of the shop should show what each of the items looks like. People buy with their eyes, and the nice comfortable inner thigh pad is described well, but what does it look like?
I think, with a few tweaks, you could make it a great information centre and shop front for Aldred.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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The website looks bit amateurish. Not saying it is a bad thing. Actually it suits a small setup with few personal touches like info on Paul. As a customer when I look at it it gives me the impression that the service I will get from this company will be individual and good.
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Cheers nothing like kicking a man when he's down :(
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Paul, it's all supposed to be constructive. There have been a couple of other people do exactly the same thing and receive this kind of response. It's always the case with a new website unfortunately. Sometimes it's worth using your audience here to test a new website in a test set up before making it live so you can identify the little things that turn good to great.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Yes know that.
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Paul, you're doing a great job. Making cricket bats and being the website techie at the same time is not fun. Keep chipping away at the website and concentrate on your strengths. I've been trying to fix a formatting issue on mine for 2 months.
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keep going.My son's next bat will definitely be an Aldred.
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Thanks buddy. Those handmade planes are looking good
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Paul, your usp is your communication and enabling the customer to be involved in the design and shape of the bat, bouncing emails or phone calls back and forth. In this day of internet shopping everyone needs a presence but it should be an advertising board for your skills and service. If you have listed all you have and laid out every detail you can if you then receive an uplift in emails or contacts that should be seen as a notable success. Keep up the sterling work.
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I notice that yesterday that's something we will change
What weight options will you add for the junior bats?
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Just playing around with it now it will be down to 2-5
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Ok this is what got done last night. We are on our way. Will get down to other bits as we go along.
1. I have removed table formatting on all of the Bat Range pages, Protection Page and Shop Page. This means more scrolling for the user on the shop page, but it does mean the site is now fully mobile friendly.
2. I have updated all of the products so that when they are added to the cart, the customer has a text box to fill in any special requirements.
3. I have added the 2 lb 5oz and 2lb 6oz weight ranges for Junior Size Only
4. Changed the weight range on the gold page from 2lb 7oz to 2lb 9oz
5. Went through all of the images and enhanced them through Photo Manager (improves brightness/contrast to especially show off the grains of the bats and whiteness of the pads)
6. Reconfigured the slideshows at a bigger size both in the thumbnail and main image
7. Removed Test Product from Shop Page as per Tim2000s comments on forum
8. Removed Enlargement of photos on shop page as per Tim2000s comments as they were impeding access to other pages if the customer wanted to buy more.