Gone very quiet
Discussion
Our market still dead.
April looks like being down -25% unless the weather picks up soon.
Was hoping to see a +10% increase this year but now we're forecasting -15%.
With UK interest rate cuts now looking like being delayed it feels like things are tightening up even further out there?
In our game a spell of good weather is all we really need.
April looks like being down -25% unless the weather picks up soon.
Was hoping to see a +10% increase this year but now we're forecasting -15%.
With UK interest rate cuts now looking like being delayed it feels like things are tightening up even further out there?
In our game a spell of good weather is all we really need.
HoHoHo said:
Odd how some businesses are flying, some are struggling.
All would say folks is you never know what’s around the corner (having been at the very sharp end of Covid business lockdown) and I’m now saving much more than I spend.
That doesn’t mean I don’t spend, it means I’m more careful and spend my money wisely!
Genuinely glad to hear you are doing well. If I remember, your business was exhibition stand building, which bore the brunt of covid restrictions. Glad you have turned things around. That was a horrible period for so many people.All would say folks is you never know what’s around the corner (having been at the very sharp end of Covid business lockdown) and I’m now saving much more than I spend.
That doesn’t mean I don’t spend, it means I’m more careful and spend my money wisely!
GardeningEcomm said:
Our market still dead.
April looks like being down -25% unless the weather picks up soon.
Was hoping to see a +10% increase this year but now we're forecasting -15%.
With UK interest rate cuts now looking like being delayed it feels like things are tightening up even further out there?
In our game a spell of good weather is all we really need.
Are you pushing your email database? If so check the open rate / dwell time it’s a great indicator of customer sentiment. April looks like being down -25% unless the weather picks up soon.
Was hoping to see a +10% increase this year but now we're forecasting -15%.
With UK interest rate cuts now looking like being delayed it feels like things are tightening up even further out there?
In our game a spell of good weather is all we really need.
Is anyone else having a torrid time with couriers lately? It seems it’s a 1 in 2 chance of the parcel getting delivered or seemingly chucked in a bush 2 streets away the past 2 weeks. Granted 90% of our shipping is with the UK’s 2nd least favourite courier (Yodel), but it’s not limited to just them
Si1295 said:
Is anyone else having a torrid time with couriers lately? It seems it’s a 1 in 2 chance of the parcel getting delivered or seemingly chucked in a bush 2 streets away the past 2 weeks. Granted 90% of our shipping is with the UK’s 2nd least favourite courier (Yodel), but it’s not limited to just them
It's an imperfect system for sure.I waited with one of the guys from our warehouse last night, so that no one else had to (we always run 2 person team) because one collection, from a small parcel carrier was running late. When the guy arrived, he was most apologetic and showed us, by way of explanation, the five 50kg boxes the last drop made him load by hand, solo. So there's s
t customers too.Mixed bag for us, feels slow but looking at the yoy figures most sites are actually doing ok. Some doing very well c.80% yoy growth.
One is 18% down but they've decided since Christmas is a good time to chase profit at the expense of turnover.
Paid advertising seems to be a struggle to hit our usual returns though. Cost per clicks just seem to be going up and up.
One is 18% down but they've decided since Christmas is a good time to chase profit at the expense of turnover.
Paid advertising seems to be a struggle to hit our usual returns though. Cost per clicks just seem to be going up and up.
Si1295 said:
Is anyone else having a torrid time with couriers lately? It seems it’s a 1 in 2 chance of the parcel getting delivered or seemingly chucked in a bush 2 streets away the past 2 weeks. Granted 90% of our shipping is with the UK’s 2nd least favourite courier (Yodel), but it’s not limited to just them
I've just switched from DPD back to DHL... With DPD we had cases where the collecting driver turned up with a nearly full van so couldn't take all our parcels, so they sat there until the next day. An increasing number of consignments were being damaged, and the claims system is pathetic.
DHL aren't perfect, but they do seem to have a better success rate. I only moved away from them due to better rates from DPD, but I'd rather pay the extra 10p per consignment.
Edit to add - on Monday this week we had a busy day with 120+ parcels going out. I phoned our local DHL depot (on an actual landline number that gets answered by a human) to warn them we had a lot to go, and the driver arrived to collect on time with a completely empty van. Proper service.
Edited by Dr Interceptor on Thursday 18th April 09:07
GardeningEcomm said:
Our market still dead.
April looks like being down -25% unless the weather picks up soon.
Was hoping to see a +10% increase this year but now we're forecasting -15%.
With UK interest rate cuts now looking like being delayed it feels like things are tightening up even further out there?
In our game a spell of good weather is all we really need.
Do you do outdoor garden furniture? Feel free to DM me your website if you do.April looks like being down -25% unless the weather picks up soon.
Was hoping to see a +10% increase this year but now we're forecasting -15%.
With UK interest rate cuts now looking like being delayed it feels like things are tightening up even further out there?
In our game a spell of good weather is all we really need.
EddieSteadyGo said:
HoHoHo said:
Odd how some businesses are flying, some are struggling.
All would say folks is you never know what’s around the corner (having been at the very sharp end of Covid business lockdown) and I’m now saving much more than I spend.
That doesn’t mean I don’t spend, it means I’m more careful and spend my money wisely!
Genuinely glad to hear you are doing well. If I remember, your business was exhibition stand building, which bore the brunt of covid restrictions. Glad you have turned things around. That was a horrible period for so many people.All would say folks is you never know what’s around the corner (having been at the very sharp end of Covid business lockdown) and I’m now saving much more than I spend.
That doesn’t mean I don’t spend, it means I’m more careful and spend my money wisely!
After Covid, regardless of this being my 28th year of trading I’m still terrified of what might happen next. I can’t budget like
I used to, I just get on with the job.
Interestingly we had our second best T/O year last year (not profit!) and this year is looking better than last still but I just can’t stop that bloody thought in my brain…..what if……..
Not going to go on a Covid rant. The so called cure (lockdown) really affected me mentally, I got through it but those days were dreadful for myself and so many more in many different industries.
As an industry we normally see budgets being cut when the going gets tough (which I’ve never understood, sales are down so let’s cut our marketing budget…..mad!) but currently there’s still an appetite to exhibit. As it happens I’ve just landed in São Paulo this morning for a show we build for here. We are also in Warsaw, Dublin and Basel at the same time, lots of folk want to show off their products!
I’m not sure an election is going to make a huge difference to Joe Public and their spending habits, the cost of living as we are aware has shot through the roof and now we’ve got the potential for more increases in fuel etc if Israel and Iran start throwing things at each other.
The world is a mess at the moment and it’s having an effect in so many different ways.
Edited by HoHoHo on Thursday 18th April 13:27
I can echo some of that. A mainstay of my business & one I'm trying to get away from, is FSDU's Free standing display units. These are prefilled cardboard units you see in retial outlets, mostly supermarkets,
An example is the free Tesco magazines at every big store entrance. As it happens, I delivered those for a while but anyhow, they are big business & part of the marketing & promotional mix & the arse has fallen out of that market in the past six months. I would have expected marketing directors to push harder in tough times but no, the opposite is true, they've all poulled the budgets.
An example is the free Tesco magazines at every big store entrance. As it happens, I delivered those for a while but anyhow, they are big business & part of the marketing & promotional mix & the arse has fallen out of that market in the past six months. I would have expected marketing directors to push harder in tough times but no, the opposite is true, they've all poulled the budgets.
President Merkin said:
I can echo some of that. A mainstay of my business & one I'm trying to get away from, is FSDU's Free standing display units. These are prefilled cardboard units you see in retial outlets, mostly supermarkets,
An example is the free Tesco magazines at every big store entrance. As it happens, I delivered those for a while but anyhow, they are big business & part of the marketing & promotional mix & the arse has fallen out of that market in the past six months. I would have expected marketing directors to push harder in tough times but no, the opposite is true, they've all poulled the budgets.
I suspect in a cash-constrained environment, they'll (a) look at the perceived ROI of each channel (so go digital first), and (b) try to target their spend on the demographics who still have spending power (magazine dumpers aren't targeted). So I wouldn't necessarily correlate a slow-down in FSDUs with a slow-down in advertising / promotional spend. There's now an environmental dimension to pushing out paper freebies, too, of course.An example is the free Tesco magazines at every big store entrance. As it happens, I delivered those for a while but anyhow, they are big business & part of the marketing & promotional mix & the arse has fallen out of that market in the past six months. I would have expected marketing directors to push harder in tough times but no, the opposite is true, they've all poulled the budgets.
President Merkin said:
I can echo some of that. A mainstay of my business & one I'm trying to get away from, is FSDU's Free standing display units. These are prefilled cardboard units you see in retial outlets, mostly supermarkets,
An example is the free Tesco magazines at every big store entrance. As it happens, I delivered those for a while but anyhow, they are big business & part of the marketing & promotional mix & the arse has fallen out of that market in the past six months. I would have expected marketing directors to push harder in tough times but no, the opposite is true, they've all poulled the budgets.
I used to make these for Rimmel London - MDF and most broke on delivery. Nightmare contract. An example is the free Tesco magazines at every big store entrance. As it happens, I delivered those for a while but anyhow, they are big business & part of the marketing & promotional mix & the arse has fallen out of that market in the past six months. I would have expected marketing directors to push harder in tough times but no, the opposite is true, they've all poulled the budgets.
skwdenyer said:
I suspect in a cash-constrained environment, they'll (a) look at the perceived ROI of each channel (so go digital first), and (b) try to target their spend on the demographics who still have spending power (magazine dumpers aren't targeted). So I wouldn't necessarily correlate a slow-down in FSDUs with a slow-down in advertising / promotional spend. There's now an environmental dimension to pushing out paper freebies, too, of course.
I'm surprised supermarkets like aldi and lidl still have them. What with all the low carbon, reduce packaging they still give them out. Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff