New products advertised but not available

[robin_shearn]

Why are hornby advertising new products each year in their catalogue but it then takes over 2 years for the to actually be available, please can you just show items that are available in the new catalogues and not those that are not.

[RDS]

There would be no point whatsoever in producing a catalogue of items that are already available. The idea of the catalogue is to show what is coming and probably more importantly, to try to attract some interest and pre-orders.

[What About The Bee]

Hello Robin

Welcome aboard!

You can easily select which models are in-stock. It is easy to see models you can get, right now.

Of course, you need to use the internet and not a print catalog, because what is in-stock today could easily be sold-out, tomorrow.

Just "FILTER" your search to "show in-stock only". Voila!

Bee

[AndyMac1707817969]

Ok so Hornby should produce a 2024 catalogue and only have items in it that are available on the shelves when it goes to print in 2023. What would the point of the catalogue be? Why don’t you just not buy a catalogue and just look at what is ‘in stock’ in any of the online retailers. You can then remain oblivious to the planned relaeses and let other buy the catalogue who are interested in what Hornby have planned.

Hornby don't manufacture anything themselves so they are at the mercy of third part suppliers and as in any business things don't always go to plan. Sometimes circumstances change, dates change or something has to be cancelled, that is life. Hornby have to adapt to this, it's a necessary part of business. Not everything can be set in stone

Afraid we have been here about 50 times before with people thinking Hornby should pander to ever one of their whims.

[LTSR_NSE]

Unfortunately Robin that idea only worked when the models were

a) produced in this country - so Hornby could guarantee production dates.

b) produced and sold in tens/hundreds of thousands, so no attracting interest/pre-orders was necessary.

Also the catalogue itself now has to compete with the Internet. If it didn’t contain future releases & information that is embargoed to the Internet until its publication, even fewer people would purchase it.

According to certain sources it is already produced at a loss, to retain/encourage/recognise customer loyalty - if true then anything which made the catalogue less popular would certainly result in its demise!

[ColinB]

Actually Robin I have been complaining about this for a while, so I agree. The catalogue seems to be a vehicle for obtaining pre orders that might be available in a few years time. As to the arguments about remote production well most other businesses have a design cycle which includes slots for production that is what project management is all about. Most businesses don't announce the product before it is at least when what we called the job 1 date had been decided.

Unfortunately model railways is different, sometimes they even cancel it between catalogue and production. Trouble is for Hornby, it is a nightmare. They take advance orders on their site which fixes the price, so if they have to increase it because of higher production costs, they have issues because most of their sales will be pre orders at the lower price.

[What About The Bee]

1) The entire "catalog" is online. It may be sorted to show only what is in-stock.

2) Printed catalogs? How quaint.

~~~~~

The internet is changing how business is done. All up and down this hobby. The local model shop, the box shifters, the magazines, the manufacturers are all under pressure to change with the times.

Good old Fezziwig wouldn't change with the times. Preserving his way of life, he went out of business. Don't be Fezziwig, stuck in tradition.

The internet is here to stay. The printed catalog, as popular as it is with some people, is a dinosaur. It will be gone within a decade. Frankly, it is surprising it is still here now. It serves little purpose other than tradition. It was how Hornby used to announce product, before the internet. It will soon be extinct as the dodo. Moaning about it serves no purpose.

Now as to Colin's point, may I state that Hornby are directly aware of his issue. Martyn, Hornby Head of Brand, stated that there will be more frequent release announcements, with a product closer to release, when they announce. An exact response to the complaint.

A perfect example of this response is Locomotion No.1. They showed a working engineering model, running on track. Due at warehouse in Autumn 2024. Announced 9 January.

Not too shabby, unless you want them to stock the shelves with models, then sell it. Some businesses work this way. Like grocery stores. They will put out apples and wait for people to buy those apples. That expects Hornby to know how many "apples" to put on the shelf, based on the historical record of "apple" sales.

Okay, what is the historical record of R30346 sales? Do tell me. They have never offered it before.

Bee

[CORKY.]

I like to know what is coming. I would hate to kit bash a cherished model, only tp find, 2 years down the line, that my sought after model was available.

[Tony57]

Hi

Yes it would be nice to buy everything advertised in a catalogue like Argos, but if you look at the other competitors in this great hobby they now produce a simple catalogue every three months on what has been produced and is ready to go on sale rather than what they are hoping to produce for the year. Now Hattons have gone it will be harder to keep up on what is being produced unless I/you sign up to receiving emails from the other manufacturers if you are interested in their products.

[Yelrow]

I like a catalogue. Have not bought anything new apart from HM6000, for 3 years, but that does not stop me from window shopping. Us older members, know that much of the stuff shown will be on long back order, and if you really want something, it gives you extended time to save up. I would miss it, if it was stopped, and agree with Tony, it does keep you in the loop.

[Gricer]

By coincidence Simon Kohler – ex-Hornby senior manager – has written about catalogues in Railway Modeller this month (dated Feb 2024). Hornby used to sell over 50.000 catalogues each year and priced it at “break even” to cover production costs. It paid for itself and provided advertising and marketing of their products. Nowadays it sells far less, as people look on-line at what is available and at real time stock levels. Is there a point where it simply becomes too expensive to produce? One solution may be to issue annual or quarterly updates and have them published as a free extra supplement with railway magazines. 

[Simon-372339]

A shopkeeper doesn't fill his shop with a years supply.

A steady release of models means a steady cashflow and more are likely to be sold.

I am surprised the catalogue isn't released to coincide with Christmas to be browsed after the traditional feast.

[Fazy]

You have two options the way Hornby does it. You know what’s coming and everyone has something to A look forward to and B budget for. Yes somethings may take several months even years to get to the selves but we know it’s coming.

Or the way Bachmann now do it, it’s been produced and is on its way. You have anything from a couple of weeks to 3 months before it gets here.

in today’s world the catalog is a thing of the past, no longer needed has the internet can do the same job cheaper faster and better. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hornby drops the catalog in the future. Especially if Hornby carries on getting heat over production delays which are beyond Hornby’s control. Why would you bother? Just stop with the big announcements in January and follow Bachmanns idea. Bachmann did it because of the same reason mounting delays and constant criticism. Criticism is bad for business especially if it’s a small company and Hornby is just a small business. It might be a big name but not business.