- Joined
- Apr 10, 2013
- Messages
- 33
It is interesting times, I agree Screwfix have their place and have done an amazing job of getting to where and what they are today, I don’t think we can argue against that by any means.
I am of course going to be slightly biased and wary of them taking on Festool for obvious reasons, my opinion is also going to be from our company’s point of view rather than so much an end-user, although I do believe they overlap massively.
There are some very large dealers out there, including us that have taken the Festool brand to the next level of availability in the UK, I personally have hand chosen every SKU that we stock on the shelf here (around 1350 currently) so that customers can have their strange backing pad or Titan sandpaper delivered next day to keep them working as Festool do not hold UK stock. This takes a massive amount of product knowledge and awareness about what’s needed and what works with what, not just which product has the most profit in it. Also a very hefty financial investment is involved which is why we are one of, if not `THE` top UK dealer.
The current price points of a lot of the products has also made a massive difference to where Festool is today within the UK, and their growth curve. Let’s face it would you pay £526 for a TS55? And who has swallowed this price drop over the years? Us dealers, not Festool UK.
I really don’t feel Screwfix are going to be able to put that kind of time and effort into a very specific and at times complicated range of accessories to be able to class Festool as a `System` which is what it deserves to be called. This along with the product knowledge we have in house here is far beyond anything you are likely to find in the UK when it comes to buying a Festool product. We now have live chat on our website which is manned either personally by myself or my brother for direct customer help about Festool, how can Screwfix offer that kind of customer experience? The experience Festool aim for and promote?
They can’t, so what can they offer? Well customer awareness, and that’s what Festool are aiming at by bringing them on board, one single reason. As Screwfix like we all know are box shifters (very good ones at that) and Festool are losing their small dealers.
This in-itself I do believe is a good thing, as the brand does need more promoting and customer awareness of how good it is.
Within the big boy powertool market it is a small fish, but at what cost? It’s very apparent after only a few days of them having the brand that they have favourable rates and can offer certain products cheaper to end users. Again this is wonderful to the person who wants to save a few quid, and don’t we all? It’s no secret our company has grown on selling at low margins and maximising buying potential that is available to all dealers, as much as any of the big players, but that’s where similarities end, we offer the full package when it comes to Festool, and do not get any special terms.
I have been informed Screwfix are not supporting the Festool vouchers that are being sent out to end users directly by Festool UK at the moment, to me that is not helping the loyal customer or being a true dealer.
The issue I see is what happens if the top 30 SKU`s are reduced online to a rate that no other dealer can compete with due to these special rates? These top SKU`s are needed to be sold to hit the huge yearly target Festool demand from their dealers, with this being an impossibility the current large dealers may decide to focus on other brands and slowly the strange backing pad or Titan sandpaper that was once next day is very hard to source as the Screwfix outfit does not involve itself with specials or even worse - parts of the Festool systems that make it such an amazing brand.
You have to ask yourself why have Festool allowed them currently to be able to market a TS55 without a rail? How does that give the end user the experience of what the brand is really about?!?
Festool is a premium brand - like Peroni beer and you don’t see that in Weatherspoon’s [eek]
Food for thought, and as always only time will tell……
I am of course going to be slightly biased and wary of them taking on Festool for obvious reasons, my opinion is also going to be from our company’s point of view rather than so much an end-user, although I do believe they overlap massively.
There are some very large dealers out there, including us that have taken the Festool brand to the next level of availability in the UK, I personally have hand chosen every SKU that we stock on the shelf here (around 1350 currently) so that customers can have their strange backing pad or Titan sandpaper delivered next day to keep them working as Festool do not hold UK stock. This takes a massive amount of product knowledge and awareness about what’s needed and what works with what, not just which product has the most profit in it. Also a very hefty financial investment is involved which is why we are one of, if not `THE` top UK dealer.
The current price points of a lot of the products has also made a massive difference to where Festool is today within the UK, and their growth curve. Let’s face it would you pay £526 for a TS55? And who has swallowed this price drop over the years? Us dealers, not Festool UK.
I really don’t feel Screwfix are going to be able to put that kind of time and effort into a very specific and at times complicated range of accessories to be able to class Festool as a `System` which is what it deserves to be called. This along with the product knowledge we have in house here is far beyond anything you are likely to find in the UK when it comes to buying a Festool product. We now have live chat on our website which is manned either personally by myself or my brother for direct customer help about Festool, how can Screwfix offer that kind of customer experience? The experience Festool aim for and promote?
They can’t, so what can they offer? Well customer awareness, and that’s what Festool are aiming at by bringing them on board, one single reason. As Screwfix like we all know are box shifters (very good ones at that) and Festool are losing their small dealers.
This in-itself I do believe is a good thing, as the brand does need more promoting and customer awareness of how good it is.
Within the big boy powertool market it is a small fish, but at what cost? It’s very apparent after only a few days of them having the brand that they have favourable rates and can offer certain products cheaper to end users. Again this is wonderful to the person who wants to save a few quid, and don’t we all? It’s no secret our company has grown on selling at low margins and maximising buying potential that is available to all dealers, as much as any of the big players, but that’s where similarities end, we offer the full package when it comes to Festool, and do not get any special terms.
I have been informed Screwfix are not supporting the Festool vouchers that are being sent out to end users directly by Festool UK at the moment, to me that is not helping the loyal customer or being a true dealer.
The issue I see is what happens if the top 30 SKU`s are reduced online to a rate that no other dealer can compete with due to these special rates? These top SKU`s are needed to be sold to hit the huge yearly target Festool demand from their dealers, with this being an impossibility the current large dealers may decide to focus on other brands and slowly the strange backing pad or Titan sandpaper that was once next day is very hard to source as the Screwfix outfit does not involve itself with specials or even worse - parts of the Festool systems that make it such an amazing brand.
You have to ask yourself why have Festool allowed them currently to be able to market a TS55 without a rail? How does that give the end user the experience of what the brand is really about?!?
Festool is a premium brand - like Peroni beer and you don’t see that in Weatherspoon’s [eek]
Food for thought, and as always only time will tell……
