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IanBland · 2nd Mar 2018, 12:17 am

I think I said this already, but shops are handy compared to mail order. I quite often place orders at Farnell. I have to browse around and find everything, which can be inconvenient as I work in a call centre and inconsiderate people keep ringing me up and expecting me to answer their questions while I'm trying to sort out which microcontroller or tactile swith I want to order.

More seriously, I have to place minimum orders to avoid handling charges, and then I have to wait. Next day doesn't happen from Friday to Sunday (3/7 of the week). If I just want one part for a project, a day waiting is a day lost. Since as a working person the realisation I want such a part usually occurs on a day off when I have time for work on a project, it means I'm basically waiting until my next day off to get on with it. So it means from the moment of desire to acquire to completion isn't an hour or a day, it's a week.

Or I can pop down to a Maplin shop and only lose an hour in doing so. I may be a rare fish, but I'd happily buy more stock there if they stocked more than one or two or anything (I have a running gag with the staff of saying, "Damn it, I'll take your entire stock!").

So there's the thing, I sadly often don't bother checking Maplin because I want 3 or more of something so I'm going to have to order it anyway.

Every now and again I muse whether there is a sustainable business model for an electronic components store. Most times I end up with a model where you're basically selling something else to keep afloat, which makes the electronic components part kind of pointless. It did occur to me that there is a similar issue for sewing and knitting supplies; to be worth visiting your shop needs a very wide range of rather low value objects for sale, most of which shift in small volumes.

Maybe a shop that sells wool and operational amplifiers is the answer.

2nd Mar 2018, 12:17 am	#192
IanBland Hexode Join Date: May 2015 Location: Northampton, Northants, UK. Posts: 380	Re: Maplin stores I think I said this already, but shops are handy compared to mail order. I quite often place orders at Farnell. I have to browse around and find everything, which can be inconvenient as I work in a call centre and inconsiderate people keep ringing me up and expecting me to answer their questions while I'm trying to sort out which microcontroller or tactile swith I want to order. More seriously, I have to place minimum orders to avoid handling charges, and then I have to wait. Next day doesn't happen from Friday to Sunday (3/7 of the week). If I just want one part for a project, a day waiting is a day lost. Since as a working person the realisation I want such a part usually occurs on a day off when I have time for work on a project, it means I'm basically waiting until my next day off to get on with it. So it means from the moment of desire to acquire to completion isn't an hour or a day, it's a week. Or I can pop down to a Maplin shop and only lose an hour in doing so. I may be a rare fish, but I'd happily buy more stock there if they stocked more than one or two or anything (I have a running gag with the staff of saying, "Damn it, I'll take your entire stock!"). So there's the thing, I sadly often don't bother checking Maplin because I want 3 or more of something so I'm going to have to order it anyway. Every now and again I muse whether there is a sustainable business model for an electronic components store. Most times I end up with a model where you're basically selling something else to keep afloat, which makes the electronic components part kind of pointless. It did occur to me that there is a similar issue for sewing and knitting supplies; to be worth visiting your shop needs a very wide range of rather low value objects for sale, most of which shift in small volumes. Maybe a shop that sells wool and operational amplifiers is the answer.