Evobikes Launch New Website

I find it compellingly strange that in the era of e-commerce and algorithms to determine such things as minimum stock and replenishment cycles that a store would run out of stock for any reason other than the manufacturer has problems with delivery. With the use of API's and web services, orders can and do get placed online daily, and payment is facilitated via the relevant payment gateways. To then still have issues with correct stock means merely that the store is using inferior e-commerce software, and its time to upgrade or face losing crucial business as customers lose confidence.

12 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I find it compellingly strange that in the era of e-commerce and algorithms to determine such things as minimum stock and replenishment cycles that a store would run out of stock for any reason other than the manufacturer has problems with delivery. With the use of API's and web services, orders can and do get placed online daily, and payment is facilitated via the relevant payment gateways. To then still have issues with correct stock means merely that the store is using inferior e-commerce software, and its time to upgrade or face losing crucial business as customers lose confidence.

With a steady supply chain it should be easy.

The last 18 months must have been seriously "trying" to be in sales.

And yes, it must hurt the image of these stores when the supply chain keeps dropping them.

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

With a steady supply chain it should be easy.

 

The last 18 months must have been seriously "trying" to be in sales.

 

 

And yes, it must hurt the image of these stores when the supply chain keeps dropping them.

You've always got an answer.

How is the world going to end? And when?

14 hours ago, ChrisF said:

With a steady supply chain it should be easy.

 

The last 18 months must have been seriously "trying" to be in sales.

 

 

And yes, it must hurt the image of these stores when the supply chain keeps dropping them.

I agree that a steady supply chain is key - that is why it is vital for the store to have clarity on stock that is available abundantly versus low inventory (which may be due to a spike in sales, or manufacturing issues) from a supplier. Of course, this assumes that the suppliers and manufacturers are playing ball and not selling their agents "pies in the sky" w.r.t. stock availability just to keep the order books full. In the end it's about suppliers having adequate stock visibility (for customers to know if their orders can be fulfilled, and if not immediately, then when and by how much). That should enable e-commerce platforms to have more accurate stock availability indicators to avoid scenes that lead to this thread. Or course, all this assumes that the relevant data is available and being used.

17 hours ago, Rolf Hansen said:

Has anyone ordered something from them recently and have your lead times been accurate at all?

I generally try not to but I am about to lose my **** with them.

 

Ordered on Monday. Out for delivery in JHB this morning.

1 minute ago, Dusty said:

Ordered on Monday. Out for delivery in JHB this morning.

2 day lead time is excellent service. Nothing to complain about there.

I always email Janos before ordering to ask if each item, their stock level never are updated, the other day the 28cm tyre showed 1 in stock and the 25mm out of stock, ended up being the opposite way around.

Unfortunately now if you are in a rush you have to ask them before placing an order to avoid surprises

14 hours ago, King_Crispy said:

You've always got an answer.

How is the world going to end? And when?

Don't you watch the news???

13 November in a ****** big ball of fire .... because Kim Yong-Un did not get his tea served at his preferred temperature and thought that's it!!!!!

16 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I find it compellingly strange that in the era of e-commerce and algorithms to determine such things as minimum stock and replenishment cycles that a store would run out of stock for any reason other than the manufacturer has problems with delivery. With the use of API's and web services, orders can and do get placed online daily, and payment is facilitated via the relevant payment gateways. To then still have issues with correct stock means merely that the store is using inferior e-commerce software, and its time to upgrade or face losing crucial business as customers lose confidence.

Either they are blissfully unaware of this, or it's not as simple as you think.

I suspect the issue is there's two types of "in stock"

a)it's physically on a shelf in our warehouse

b)according to our supplier it is available and we can get it in 24hours

The end user doesn't know which one it is, until it takes forever and you suspect the latter but it could be either just not having their stock reflecting correctly..

1 hour ago, Jbr said:

I always email Janos before ordering to ask if each item, their stock level never are updated, the other day the 28cm tyre showed 1 in stock and the 25mm out of stock, ended up being the opposite way around.

Unfortunately now if you are in a rush you have to ask them before placing an order to avoid surprises

1 minute ago, Shebeen said:

Either they are blissfully unaware of this, or it's not as simple as you think.

I suspect the issue is there's two types of "in stock"

a)it's physically on a shelf in our warehouse

b)according to our supplier it is available and we can get it in 24hours

The end user doesn't know which one it is, until it takes forever and you suspect the latter but it could be either just not having their stock reflecting correctly..

With them having an online sales portal, and the fact that they have been in this game long enough to know the pitfalls of their system, they should surely sort this out.

It is the digital version of bad in store service.

One should not have to call to confirm stock from a LBS selling goods online, that is so "Y2K".

10 minutes ago, Hairy said:

 

With them having an online sales portal, and the fact that they have been in this game long enough to know the pitfalls of their system, they should surely sort this out.

It is the digital version of bad in store service.

One should not have to call to confirm stock from a LBS selling goods online, that is so "Y2K".

This is what I have been trying to say all along. 

My point I'm trying to make is that the complexity of getting a e-commerce site up and running includes the fact of stock availability being a crucial key to buyers confidence from your paying customer base. If you merely show stock available as a means to garner clicks, and decide to deal with fulfilment issues as they pop up, you are on a slippery slope - and that's not even including when the Bikehub mob get hold of you.

I agree with the stock figures having to be accurate.

My biggest gripe though is the fact that they don't contact you. I waited an entire week - 5 working days before I phone them and at that point they had not responded to my email or phoned to let me know what was going on. I would have been happy with a simple phone call or email giving me an update.

If you have trouble getting something that you said you had in stock then bloody hell just let the person know.

I phoned 3 times today and every time someone else would contact me and give me feedback on something simple like tracking where their parcel is - keep in mind after 12 days they item is still not with them. I would give them an hour or more and then phone again.

The 4th time I spoke to them was when Michelle phoned me back. Janos does not phone and neither does Naas. To date the only person that has phoned me is Michelle who I believe is on the admin side of the business. Apparently it was not delivered to them today because of an error on the side of the courier company. Who waits 8 working days for a supplier to deliver something before following up, especially if it was something that you had already sold, received the money for and was supposed to have in stock?

Apologies for this rant but I will not ever order anything from them again and neither will I recommend them to anyone. On the contrary I will recommend people not use them.

In this day and age there is simply no excuse for poor communication, most especially in a business environment.

34 minutes ago, Trashy said:

In this day and age there is simply no excuse for poor communication, most especially in a business environment.

I'm not saying poor service is acceptable, but keeping the customer (the one that gives me the monies) in the loop is crucial... letting them know all along the way how their order is progressing is vital. If I drop the ball, I admit it, and we try to get over it. Many MANY cracks can be papered over (in a good way) with prompt and accurate communication.

21 minutes ago, lechatnoir said:

I'm not saying poor service is acceptable, but keeping the customer (the one that gives me the monies) in the loop is crucial... letting them know all along the way how their order is progressing is vital. If I drop the ball, I admit it, and we try to get over it. Many MANY cracks can be papered over (in a good way) with prompt and accurate communication.

Exactly.

4 hours ago, Trashy said:

In this day and age there is simply no excuse for poor communication, most especially in a business environment.

Dropshipping is the way things are going unfortunately, but if Janos and Naas are k4k at their communication skills, their business will ultimately fail. It doesn't matter how much marketing and spam mailing they do, people will vote with their wallet.

And it seems that there are quite a few unhappy voters here.

Naas, Janos: are you paying attention?  No comments from you backing up your side of the story?

I have ordered from them twice and things did not go well.

The first parcel was lost by the courier (contents fell out of bag). Probably the couriers fault, but I had to phone the courier guy supervisors a few times before they found my stuff. Almost no support from Evobikes to locate the parcel, and when I eventually received the parcel 3 weeks later it was me updating them that they could now stop looking. Didn't even get a thank you.

Second time around I had the out of stock issue on an in stock item - Janos offered to ship as soon as stock arrived but given my previous experience I decided to rather take the refund. Some relationships are just not meant to be.

Well that is not good reading about the bad service. With CWC not being a place I visit anymore, online or shop, Evo was my go-to but if things are that bad, where to next..?

6 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

Well that is not good reading about the bad service. With CWC not being a place I visit anymore, online or shop, Evo was my go-to but if things are that bad, where to next..?

I will report back later today. Perhaps they will redeem themselves.

I've only had good experiences with evo-bikes. I've ordered from them 4 times over the last three years and my order has always be processed and arrived in a reasonable time. I called about the most recent one to check and got a nice friendly reply and update. 

I do understand the pandemic has been a nightmare. My LBS really struggles to get stuff. I can't fine GP5000 28mm Tubeless tyres anywhere.

8 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

Well that is not good reading about the bad service. With CWC not being a place I visit anymore, online or shop, Evo was my go-to but if things are that bad, where to next..?

CWC are brilliant. They have upped their game incredibly. If I order this morning, it'll be be delivered by tomorrow.

Kiwi (Rapide) is also expanding his inventory and his service is excellent too.

I used to order a lot on CWC, but now they don't have much on their website compared to what they have in store. I like Evobikes because they have a lot more available on their site, unfortunately you know most of the stuff they won't have in store so you must enquire first to have an idea of when they will have all the items ready to ship and plan accordingly, kind of sucks but still better than not finding half of what you need.

5 minutes ago, Jbr said:

I used to order a lot on CWC, but now they don't have much on their website compared to what they have in store. I like Evobikes because they have a lot more available on their site, unfortunately you know most of the stuff they won't have in store so you must enquire first to have an idea of when they will have all the items ready to ship and plan accordingly, kind of sucks but still better than not finding half of what you need.

I'd rather deal with an online shop with limited options listed that are in stock/available, than one that lists every possible version, but nothing is in stock. Don't even want to mention bike-addict, but Evobikes ain't far off anymore.

3 minutes ago, stefmeister said:

I'd rather deal with an online shop with limited options listed that are in stock/available, than one that lists every possible version, but nothing is in stock. Don't even want to mention bike-addict, but Evobikes ain't far off anymore.

except evobikes actually answer their emails AND give you real information as to when they will have the items ready for shipment. Not saying it's great, but it's what we have

2 hours ago, Jbr said:

except evobikes actually answer their emails AND give you real information as to when they will have the items ready for shipment. Not saying it's great, but it's what we have

Still waiting for replies from 2020.

Last order was delivered within two days though. Old models of stuff so it was more likely to be in stock.