Screwfix catalogues disappear.

[scrimper]

I do prefer to have a catalogue even though use the website via my PC (I hate using mobiles) however I often can't find what I am looking for online and normally I can find it in the printed catalogue. Personally I think it's a backward step after all the paper used can be recycled over an over rather than being wasted. The real reason whatever they say is they think it will save them money, they may do but might also lose some custom.

 

[Scruples]

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

And the energy wasted to produce something that not many of their customers look at. Personally, I've always found what I'm looking for on both Toolstation and Screwfix, which appear to have the best selections.

 

[robgul]

And the energy wasted to produce something that not many of their customers look at. Personally, I've always found what I'm looking for on both Toolstation and Screwfix, which appear to have the best selections.

Indeed - if you tour a papermill you'll find that a big part of the activity relates to electricity with big mills generating their own - running all the machinery uses vast amouts of electricity and water (paper starts out at >95% water as a milky solution that's processed through the enormaous machines)

 

[Seascaper]

Hello
Cromwell is the biggest catalogue I have and a massive new one arrived recently by courier. It has a good selection of bolts and fittings and more technical items like shaft keys etc. Sometimes one has to buy a box load however but can still work out cheaper than x 10 elsewhere

Regards

 

[skeetstar]

Dunno if everyone else agrees, but I've found the Screwfix website quite slow, it's not snail like, but it seems very slow compared to other on line retailers.
If they are going to depend on a Web catalogue, they need to up the horsepower in the computer room. I've got so frustrated with it and the time it takes to do multiple searches that I've gone and bought things elsewhere.

 

[Alex H]

I do prefer to have a catalogue even though use the website via my PC (I hate using mobiles) however I often can't find what I am looking for online and normally I can find it in the printed catalogue. Personally I think it's a backward step after all the paper used can be recycled over an over rather than being wasted. The real reason whatever they say is they think it will save them money, they may do but might also lose some custom.

The real reason is that can change prices far more easily / quickly than reprinting the catalogue each time

 

[flying haggis]

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)

as an aside to the big mail order catalogues debate, some were printed in Norwich and years ago a had a weeks work driving truckloads of newly printed catalogues from the printers across the city to a warehouse for onward distribution. Despite the size of those old style catalogues they cost actually less than a pound each to print. Gawd knows what they cost to post though!

 

[flying haggis]

Last time I bought at Screwfix I queried the catalogue versus online price, online was cheaper! The guy behind the counter told me they were now only printing a paper catalogue once a year and the website is the price they use now. I agree though that it is sometimes easier to look at a paper catalogue and see they pic of the part you want rather tha try to guess what the web designer? Might have called it!
There used to be a huge ironmongers style warehouse in gt Yarmouth called Coopers who had racks of bins with all manner of odd plumbing, electrical etc bits in them. I used them even to the extent of laying out my proposed plumbing idea/route across the floor of the aisle. The staff just ignored you! I think they were used to it.
Ironically the old Coopers warehouse is now home to Toolstaion and Howdens!!

 

[accipiter]

Last time I bought something from Screwfix it was because I'd googled for the goods - possibly LED lamps/bulbs. The Google search had screwfix as cheapest.
When I went to collect I pretty much moaned to a staff member along the same lines as you guys have said here. The lad said they were only getting the catalogue now for "staff/store" use. Told him that doesn't help the customer who wants/needs to browse through as they ain't sure exactly what they want. He took pity on me and gave me a copy. I now keep it safe and go through it when I need something. Same thing with the Toolstation one - but Toolstation always seems to have plenty.

So... answer I guess is don't throw away the catalogue you have as most of the items are still with the same code number so you can find it in the old book then find on line if in stock at "your" store. Then you can moan to the staff and maybe get given one. Also moan like "explative" when leaving a review

 

[Mallymal123]

Worst of all, it means there’s no pencils to pinch in screwfix (but on the up side, you could Nick the tablet)

 

[johna.clements]

Worst of all, it means there’s no pencils to pinch in screwfix (but on the up side, you could Nick the tablet)

You would have to buy a saw to cut it out first.

 

[flying haggis]

You would have to buy a saw to cut it out first.

If you can find it in the online catalogue...........

 

[flying haggis]

Worst of all, it means there’s no pencils to pinch in screwfix (but on the up side, you could Nick the tablet)

toolsation have had some nice red pens lately.....

 

[johna.clements]

I posted before "Screwfix will end up being used more by the people who know what they want but did not order it in advance."

Just speculation but this could be their aim.

The cost of the catalogue is low when you compare it with heating etc and staff costs. They pay their staff minimum wage (or not much above) so the only way they can reduce their staff costs is by automation and reducing the work that the staff need to do (which is slightly different).

I do not know much about warehouses but would assume that screwfix have already computerised their stock control with barcodes etc so that the staff do not have to know what a sky hook is etc.

Therefore the only way to reduce the cost of staff is by reducing the need for staff in other ways than automation. I would assume that the lower spending customers tend to use the catalogue more often than do click and collect. With no catalogues there is less work to do at the till therefore the staff can spend more time picking the product off the shelves. With less interaction on the till there is possibility of reducing the staff levels or providing a faster service to the people who know what they want but did not order in advance.

 

[Heluvaname]

Toolstation still have the paper catalogues and are often cheaper than Screwfix.
When I visited Screwfix a few weeks ago the touchscreens were useless and the chap behind the counter found what i needed immediately by inputting the some search term as I had tried on the touchpad.
He said the screens had been a disaster and loads of people had given up and gone across the rad to toolstation

 

[robgul]

as an aside to the big mail order catalogues debate, some were printed in Norwich and years ago a had a weeks work driving truckloads of newly printed catalogues from the printers across the city to a warehouse for onward distribution. Despite the size of those old style catalogues they cost actually less than a pound each to print. Gawd knows what they cost to post though!

I'm guessing that the printer would have been Jarrolds ?

I worked in the printing industry in 60s and 70s - and can recall going on a factory tour there in about 1969/70

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I remember the Screwfix catalogue when it was about four pages.

 

[flying haggis]

I'm guessing that the printer would have been Jarrolds ?

I worked in the printing industry in 60s and 70s - and can recall going on a factory tour there in about 1969/70

Correct

 

[Terry - Somerset]

There is no defending the poor quality of the SF and TS online experience - they need to be much better. Amazon (lots of irrelevant dross) is very much worse in my experience, eBay generally better.

Paper catalogues are a legacy system - expensive to produce and distribute and irresponsive to changes in price (worse with high inflation), specification and product range. At its peak SF were producing 6m catalogues in a print run with up to 1000 pages. definitely not trivial.

Personally I use click and collect where I know what it is that I want. SF have a good branch network so normally collection available locally within 30mins or sometimes next day. Much better than other online suppliers where delivery may be a few days to a week.

If I don't know precisely what I want I do a more general search. Sometimes I have simply used the wrong descriptor. I can compare prices across several different suppliers. Often larger B&Q carry the same stock so I can do the important touch/feel/see test.

 

[COWS]

I'm 20+ miles from my nearest Screwfix so need to know I can get what I'm going for. But you know how it is, you think of something else you need when you get there. I'm all for going digital but they seriously need to organise their indexing. Currently it's a mess.