Craftsman Tool Website
- Thread starter Kenwc
- Start date
AZ_Catskinner
Well-known member
It isn't just you - it's been goofy for years.
kc-steve
Well-known member
Kenwc, as a professional web designer, you are absolutely CORRECT!
I'm just guessing but maybe Craftsman picked the lowest bidder for their web design. Among the things you mentioned it isn't even search engine friendly. It is based on older graphical designs that cannot be read by search engines.
Steve
I'm just guessing but maybe Craftsman picked the lowest bidder for their web design. Among the things you mentioned it isn't even search engine friendly. It is based on older graphical designs that cannot be read by search engines.
Steve
I have also found it (and Sears.com) to be buggy. On top of that, I also agree that it is poorly designed. If I'm looking to buy open stock combination wrenches, for example, I don't want to have to go through a list where each size is a separate item with its own page, all of which are jumbled with other lines and not in a particularly sensible order. I want to go to the line of wrenches I want, and see a list of what sizes are available and the corresponding ordering information.
countrytech
Well-known member
Kenwc, as a professional web designer, you are absolutely CORRECT!
I'm just guessing but maybe Craftsman picked the lowest bidder for their web design. Among the things you mentioned it isn't even search engine friendly. It is based on older graphical designs that cannot be read by search engines.
Steve
Say huh?
ibedayank
Well-known member
yeah the layout *****
jjjrmx5
Well-known member
Not only does the layout ****, the results of any search deliver multiple listings of the same product with varying prices and then it does not list items that you are fully aware they do indeed sell leaving you to have to search alternative ways or under different names or terms to find the product you desire.
I'm surprised Sears has not overhauled it already, as I am sure they loose countless sales and revenue daily due to frustration in site navigation or undercutting their own prices (and thus profit)with incorrect or outdated prices for items being sold on the site.
I'm surprised Sears has not overhauled it already, as I am sure they loose countless sales and revenue daily due to frustration in site navigation or undercutting their own prices (and thus profit)with incorrect or outdated prices for items being sold on the site.
They loose my sales EVERY time... I'd get in the mood to go look for something to purchase thinking that maybe it's better now and I end up leaving the site and with my money in my pocket. It happened just this morning...I was using their useless size selection in the socket area and my first selection was "1/2" drive....and it was like OHHH NO...you can't select that...it's a joke...
And that's after you get past the garage builder musical intro with the hover selections you are forced to see.
After a few pages of a thread like this the link needs to be sent to the CEO (or CTO if they have one)....but it was probably his hack nephew that built the code.
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kythri
Well-known member
This particular behavior is due to Sears attempting to replicate Amazon's "Marketplace" - the implementation was sourced to a *****.
If you check those varying price listings, you'll see they're from different sellers (other than Sears) who set the price themselves.
The issue with this on Sears.com is that they should mimic Amazon, with the "available from 14 other sellers" bit, instead of each seller getting their own listing.
Half-assed clone of a pretty functional system (on Amazon's site, at least).
demographic
Well-known member
Try the Estwing hammer site.
Oh dear
Far too much flashy animations and way too slow to actually find the information you want on them.
Oh dear
Far too much flashy animations and way too slow to actually find the information you want on them.
jjjrmx5
Well-known member
Wait? So you're telling me that when I was on the actual sears.com website looking for S-K ratcheting box end wrenches and getting multiple prices on the same product, Sears was listing prices from non-Sears sources and placing them as results and purchasable items on thier own damn sears.com site up against the very same S-K product they sell?
And why, if I am Sears should I even care to list the fact that something is available from 14 other sellers? F%$k the others sellers. You are on my site and I sell the product. Informing of other sellers only prompts the buyer to go else where to find a better deal. wtf?
That makes no damn sense whatsoever.
If you are a middleman drop-ship reseller like Amazon, sure. Have your vendors duke it out and bust each others balls. It's win-win for you. But when you are actually the mfgr and only source (in many cases) of certain products, why compete against yourself ? If you resell, (like Sears and S-K), put a price and go. If it's undercut and sold 0 gain or a loss like other online retailers, then why even sell it?
There's some "vodoo math" going on somewhere with that philosophy.
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You're right, HF has a surprisingly good, intuitive website that always seems to return just the product I'm looking for in a search. At least, it's surprising when you compare it with the ambiance of some of their stores, with the cheap shelving and general carny atmosphere.
They're spending their money in the right way, don't get me wrong. No one I think is buying a $9.99 Pittsburgh ratchet only to walk out because the shelves are flimsy.
gatewaysysop
Well-known member
Every time I see one of these threads (what is this, third in a month?) it just reinforces that I made the right choice by vowing to never buy from Sears/Craftsman's websites ever again, even if they gave me the tools for free. 
I am so completely done with the **** service reps (outsourced of course), the horrible tracking, the ridiculously poor packing jobs, wrong items and damaged items I've received and the list goes on.
Lower your blood pressure and just stop buying from there. No discount I've ever gotten was worth the grief. That's my $.02.
I am so completely done with the **** service reps (outsourced of course), the horrible tracking, the ridiculously poor packing jobs, wrong items and damaged items I've received and the list goes on.
Lower your blood pressure and just stop buying from there. No discount I've ever gotten was worth the grief. That's my $.02.
kythri
Well-known member
Sears makes a cut off of sales facilitated by their website.
Amazon is not a middleman drop-ship reseller. Amazon stocks the majority of what they sell direct, and facilitates 3rd-party sales via their Marketplace, like Sears is trying to clone.
I haven't seen 3rd-party sales of Sears-owned brands on their website. You'll see some GearWrench/KD stuff, and various other brands, including SK, but I have yet to see 3rd-party Craftsman sales. Not saying they don't exist, just haven't seen it.
Not really. If you buy it from Sears, they get a cut. If you buy it from a 3rd-party seller via Sears, they get a cut.
It's actually pretty smart business - people are going to sell it cheaper than you. If you can get them to buy it through your portal, you're keeping them as an audience, and you're making money off of a sale you wouldn't get otherwise.
For smaller sellers, it's a major benefit, because they can list their wares on an enormous website with tons of traffic that they couldn't otherwise.
Really, the only issue here is that Sears' implementation of this pretty much *****. Amazon has huge teams of people and awesome software that cleans up a lot of this (i.e. someone listing something slightly off so it creates it's own listing, rather than nesting under a "parent" listing). Amazon's setup isn't perfect, but it catches most of it. Sears...well, they don't.
Case in point:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?vName=Tools&keyword=80065&viewItems=25
Those KD/GearWrench drivers should be consolidated under a single listing, like here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...p?ie=UTF8&qid=1317494737&sr=8-9&condition=new
rgeudy
Well-known member
Every time I visit their site it actually freezes my computer. I have to pull up task manager just to get it to close. It ***** because in the Hot Deals thread people post up the links and I dont think before I click, and then Bam! frozen internet....
kythri
Well-known member
As much as I dig Sears, they really REALLY need to pull their head out with certain components of their online/in-store sales.
I was trying to purchase the Craftsman Professional P2 20" driver a couple weeks ago - no local stores had it in stock, closest was 60 miles away. I was anxious to get it, because it does seem that some (if not all) of the Craftsman Pro drivers are getting clearanced and discontinued.
I ordered it online, and my order ended up getting cancelled, saying "no longer available". My local stores ended up getting more, so I'm taken care of, but that's just moronic - there were obviously drivers in their distribution chain, but they can't get one for an online sale?
There's drivers in the store which you can't find on the website.
The in-store pickup option is useless unless the store actually stocks the item and has it in stock. There's no option to "ship to store" when a store doesn't carry it, even though the stores advertise that if they don't have it, they can order it for you and ship it for free (which would seem to cost much - just flipping a bit and adding to a store's truck delivery).
There's no store-to-store transfer ability, which is ridiculous.
So many things that other stores do that wouldn't be impossible to implement, and make things SOOOO much better.
I was trying to purchase the Craftsman Professional P2 20" driver a couple weeks ago - no local stores had it in stock, closest was 60 miles away. I was anxious to get it, because it does seem that some (if not all) of the Craftsman Pro drivers are getting clearanced and discontinued.
I ordered it online, and my order ended up getting cancelled, saying "no longer available". My local stores ended up getting more, so I'm taken care of, but that's just moronic - there were obviously drivers in their distribution chain, but they can't get one for an online sale?
There's drivers in the store which you can't find on the website.
The in-store pickup option is useless unless the store actually stocks the item and has it in stock. There's no option to "ship to store" when a store doesn't carry it, even though the stores advertise that if they don't have it, they can order it for you and ship it for free (which would seem to cost much - just flipping a bit and adding to a store's truck delivery).
There's no store-to-store transfer ability, which is ridiculous.
So many things that other stores do that wouldn't be impossible to implement, and make things SOOOO much better.
Coach James
Well-known member
We have one of the franshise stores which carries much less than the mall type stores. As a result, online order for store pickup is not available to me. If I want free shipping with store pickup, I have to go to the store to order, then go back to pick it up. Because of my work schedule, that usually ads at least a week to when I cn get the item.
Sears website reminds me of the look of Netscape Navigator from years ago.
Coach
Sears website reminds me of the look of Netscape Navigator from years ago.
Coach
7echo
Well-known member
Sears site is bad, as evedinced by the comments in this thread. You would think an outfit like that would get on with the future and have a nice, easy to navigate site.
We buy from Mcmaster Carr quite a bit. We buy a little from MSC. The MSC guy stopped by to visit and drum up a little more business. He asked what they could do to get more business. As soon as we brought up the Mcmaster web site he just shook his head and you could see he was just bummed. The Mcmaster site is great, lots of good information as well as easy to order.
We buy from Mcmaster Carr quite a bit. We buy a little from MSC. The MSC guy stopped by to visit and drum up a little more business. He asked what they could do to get more business. As soon as we brought up the Mcmaster web site he just shook his head and you could see he was just bummed. The Mcmaster site is great, lots of good information as well as easy to order.
kythri
Well-known member
For what it's worth, you can always click "Sears Only" to not show their version of the Marketplace sellers.
Every time I'm on their site, I usually say "you ****" and it's not a compliment.