Why is the clubs online shop so dire? Its been like that for at least 2 years I'm aware of. They have NFI at all.

Maybe we can use this thread to actually have a constructive debate about the online shop?

Before it went down for maintenance the choice online was poor and did not reflect what was on sale at the ground. When it did go down I'm sure we all assumed that it was in order to get things organised and sorted for the new ground so that as well as having a proper facility at Barton we also have a fitting online shop around it for those who cannot make it down on a non match day, or for those that live far away.

As it stand the error message stating the shop is down for maintenance until after the weekend has been there for quite a number of weekends now. There is the link to the personalised merchandise supplier, which is all well and good, but I'm sure most people would prefer to be able to go online and buy the replica shirt, polos, badges and so on that are available at the ground itself. To not have this facility, particularly when you see the online shops other clubs have, is business suicide to be honest and not very good practice.

So what's stopping it from being up there? Why can't the club get even a basic shop online for now? Why can't they update the current holding page - even if something appeared saying "we're still having trouble behind the scenes, sorry, please bear with us" then it would be a start.

Mind you, I've heard that someone tried to buy a medium away shirt only to be told none were in stock. When they asked when they were getting more in the response was "we won't be." I don't know whether or not anyone else can shed any light on that situation?

There was an article covering 3 pages in the programme on Friday night.

This was explained as the difficulty experienced with finding manufacturers who work to specific numbers,usually large numbers.However,with the economical climate as it is some companies are now looking for business.( I am attempting to avoid copyright issues here ! )

''THERE WILL BE A DEFINING ONLINE MOMENT NEXT MONTH'' - as this was in the programme dated 30th March then that moment should be this month.

There was also mention of the infrastructures needing to be good and in place before a pretty website and an opinion on why Amazon is successful.

It was promising and hopefully it will deliver.

Fair enough. As I was out of the country last week I haven't yet seen Friday night's programme. I look forward to reading said article.

Haven't read the article but I hardly think Amazon is an apt comparison. I remember when they launched and it was seen as a huge gamble at the time. They needed to go billions into debt to set up its infrastructure and only started seeing profit 5 or 6 years in. Now they have robots picking the orders for them.

Highlighting the need for a more advanced preorder system.