Restock Estimates on Product Pages
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G Giles pinned this topic
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In the last few days we have had people asking about restock information questioning if the information is up to date. I want to stress that the IHUK staff do their best to keep the information on the product pages as up to date as possible. If any issues regarding the restocks change, the IHUK team will update the page with any information that they have.
The IHUK team have put together a great tool for all of us to use, and we need to learn to use and trust the information provided.
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@goosehd The tool is great. They cannot win! The way I look at it is when the thread was answered before it was directional - IHUK might say due September but we all know that might mean September or it might slip a little. The widget is the same - it's not a contract - its current aspiration and wouldn't expect it to be updated with blow by blow details.
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You can imagine that every single release is a logistical nightmare with too many variables to predict and account for. From the machines in the factories making the fabric breaking and needing repair, the staff needed to put the items together and all of the potential issues there, to weather and other environmental issues, the quality checks needed at each step of the process, etc. All of that is just to get the product made.
Then you need to consider shipping issues. Imagine how many boxes are needed for one release and what happens when two or three of those boxes can’t fit on the truck separating them from the rest of the release. Misdirected boxes going off to who knows where and trying to retrieve them.
Then it finally gets to IHUK and they work their magic. Quality checking everything in preparation for a release to discover something isn’t right and then trying to figure out how to fix it be it from manufacturing or shipping.
It’s easy to say that product A will be released on a certain date, but there are just too many variables to do so.
IHUK is trying to figure out the best possible way of keeping all of us informed and up to date with this tool being the latest attempt. It’s really good with the staff doing their best to keep it up to date with all of the variables mentioned above. We just need to trust in that tool and to understand that some things are just not black and white.
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You can plan for the things you can plan for, but you cant plan for stuff you cant imagine happening. A whole batch of jeans gets ruined in the OD process, the wrong patch gets sewn onto a production run of jeans (lost in translation moment), the stitching on a quilted jacket needs to be completely redone, we try and set up a shirt production factory to get more control, and the first 2 shirts we make are so bad we have to do a recall and give up getting into production, a whole production run of jeans shrinks way more that we predicted, so they look nothing like the model they should have.....It's the gotchas that get you.......
Perhaps the thing that winds me up the most running this business (when I did, but it still winds me up now), is that we do our utmost to keep our customer base informed, we are extremely transparent and honest, and when we fuck up, we don't hide, we publicly admit it. But it still is not enough for some people.
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles I’m not sure there is another brand that has given its customers a chance to look behind the curtain as much as you and Alex have done. If there is, I am not aware of it. Creating this forum has built a community so passionate about the clothes and very idea of the “Iron Heart Army” that has grown beyond just a community, but into a family in many regards for many of those who hang out here.
As we all know about family, there is always those members, like that weird uncle who only comes over on holidays and makes everyone feel awkward with his leering…or that shady cousin who can’t quite keep himself away from the draw of fine silver ware. Or the aunt who complains about everything ,all the time.
It’s like that scene in the movie Christmas Vacation, after Clark spends days trying to get the lights up on the house and they finally turn on. With tears in his eyes, Clark turns to his father in law and says, thanks for being here, only to have his father in law say “the little lights aren’t twinkling!” “I know Art, and thanks for noticing.”
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@RocknRoll To pull back the curtains a bit on how this system works, its effectively looking up the restock information per variant of a product (size, colour ect) rather than the product as a whole. Because it works per variant in this way it will always require a variant to be selected before showing. It also allows us finer control in case we did want to have custom restocking information per variant in the future eg. If we know we're only restocking specific sizes of an item on the next restock.
As to the specific formatting, at the time of implementation we were pretty happy it was clear and legible on desktop and mobile, however if the consensus is that it is illegible or too 'buried' among the rest of the information on the product page i'm sure this is something we could look at rectifying in the future.
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Cheers for the explanation, Ross.
It’s one of those situations of “once you know where to look” it’s fairly clear, but for newer viewers perhaps it isn’t obvious. In a way you (IHUK) are a victim of your own diligence, by providing so much product info on each page.
I feel for you guys in this forum patiently fielding restock questions day after day.
