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Home Page - Bestselling is boring

minithingsforlifeminithingsforlife
in Closed Suggestions Vote Up4Vote Down
The Bestselling parts block of 8 parts is rather dull. We all know that technic pins sell by the 1000, but I feel this does nothing to encourage new visitors that this is the place to buy a variety of LEGO parts.

I would like to hear other members' views on this.

I personally have two suggestions.

1. Scrap the bestselling items block.
2. Alter the algorithm so it picks randomly from the top 500 best selling items, and chooses the image based on the colour of the item that sells the best, not the default image that I think it uses now.

Comments

  • 18 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • StragusStragus
    edited April 2017 Vote Up0Vote Down
    Put the bestselling by value, not quantity, and over a period of time long enough to avoid spikes caused by occasional large sales.
  • Markyd7Markyd7
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    I'm not sure bestselling parts are of any interest to buyers?
    When I have my buyers cap on I never look at that section.
    I do sometimes look at Featured and Recently Listed.

    I would like to see something about new part types that have just come out or coming out or parts that are new to various colours.

    I've just had a quick look and found these!
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-plate-2-x-2-angled-with-1-center-stud-and-stop-27928
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-rotor-with-4-85-hole-27255
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-stone-gray-tile-2-x-2-with-bow-27925
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-stone-gray-tile-4-x-4-with-bow-27507
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-panel-with-closed-corners-1-x-2-x-1-23969
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-green-tile-1-x-1-1-2-circle-24246
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-green-tile-quarter-circle-1-x-1-25269
    I guess there's lots more.

    I'd also like to see a Customers Gallery so they can show off their projects.
    I do think the Forum is mostly sellers, it would be good to see and hear more from customers.
  • CdodsworthCdodsworth
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    I'm not sure bestselling parts are of any interest to buyers?


    I'd also like to see a Customers Gallery so they can show off their projects.
    I do think the Forum is mostly sellers, it would be good to see and hear more from customers.
    THAT is a great idea. We are buyers so it would be fantastic to be able to showcase to our sellers what we have made with our purchases . I am sure it will make for a pretty cool home page and would be welcomed by both sellers and buyers. I will kick it off if it ever comes to fruition with my latest build :)
  • Andy´s BrickstoreAndy´s Brickstore
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Thumbs up for the customer projects gallery. I think this would be very cool.
    Bricklink has this "trending now" showcase on the main page wich also is nicer then the bestselling parts.
  • carlptaylorcarlptaylor
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    I was going to add a Facebook page to ask buyers to showcase their creations with parts they've purchased, but i think a gallery linked to our home page would be a superb idea.
  • robernatrobernat
    edited April 2017 Vote Up0Vote Down
    @Minifigforlife @Stragus @Lawrence
    I kinda agree the current 'best selling' is totally useless
    I also find the 'recently listed' completely useless, mainly because it's quite volatile (How many parts are listed every day), particulary as there is no 'click' to see 'more' recently listed. As a whole I find that particular part of the home tab not necessary at all, as people will use wishlists anyway.

    I would rather see a more elaborated 'best selling' splitted in sections: parts / stickers / sets / minifigs, and indeed based on 'average' not on quantity (price/quantity sold) > bestselling based on quantity is always going to be pretty much the same stuff all the time.
    +Not strickly limited to 'by value' either, as one would end up with a couple of high valued items all the time as well (UCS/SW/Modular/Etc).
    And in the parts section I would rather have it work by category (bricks/plates/tiles/etc).
    Obviously 'calculations' would be more heavy, not sure what Admin can come up with.

    But clearly to 'think' of something more elaborated, it does need some user input and ideas on it ;-)
  • bricksinbinsbricksinbins
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    I'd think Best Selling should be based on frequency. How often it is bought, probably during a certain period of time. Based on quantity is pretty much the most useless criteria.

    Some kind of showcase thing would be very cool. I often wonder what in the world might be behind the reason for some orders.
  • robernatrobernat
    edited April 2017 Vote Up0Vote Down
    @bricksinbins 'frequency' would still cause the same effect, obviously a 2780 pin at 0.01 will sell more often (several times per day) compared to a 10.00 Fig (a couple per week/mounth) or a 100.00 Set (a few per mounth/per year).
  • bricksinbinsbricksinbins
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Maybe the definition of "Best Seller" needs to be clarified then. Something that sells often is a Best Seller the way I see it compared to something that sells only once or a few times in a year.
  • StellarStellar
    Vote Up0Vote Down

    I also find the 'recently listed' completely useless, mainly because it's quite volatile (How many parts are listed every day), particularly as there is no 'click' to see 'more' recently listed.
    @RobErNat You can click "Recently listed", it is a link in blue instead of just a title in black as the other ones.
  • JayB-SoCalJayB-SoCal
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    "I'm not sure bestselling parts are of any interest to buyers?"

    I agree, people don't buy this way. I would think people shop by what they need, not what by what the most-purchased part is.

    What is most interesting to people would be what is new, what is rare that is freshly available, what parts might belong to recently expired sets, that type of thing - and I'm sure all that can be updated weekly to be of interest to someone who is browsing versus looking for specific parts. For example, right now I feel like I have all the bricks I'll need for a while (with recent purchases & some bulk buys from people in my area I'm now over 125,000 bricks) so right now when I'm looking around it's mostly to come across things that I didn't know were available or interesting parts that might trigger a build idea. Looking at the same 1x2 "popular" part on the home page week after week is beyond useless.
  • robernatrobernat
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    @RobErNat You can click "Recently listed", it is a link in blue instead of just a title in black as the other ones.
    are we talking about the same page?
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog
    I see 'best selling' 'recently listed' 'new pictures' 'recently added to catalog' and 'recently updated inventory'.

    'New pictures' and 'Recently added in catalog' are blue links I can click, the other 3 are black and therefor not clickable for me...
  • robernatrobernat
    Vote Up0Vote Down

    what parts might belong to recently expired sets, that type of thing
    I don't think sets 'expire', I have a bunch that are +40 years old ;-)
    So I assume you mean 'recently retired' ?

    And actually that would be a quite nice feature (I mean 'tagging' recently retired sets) *if* we would be able to get the info from TLG... It could be a contributors tagging offcourse, but obviously lines like SW or DCC would have more taggings as the lines are more popular.

  • JayB-SoCalJayB-SoCal
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Geez, you guys & semantics... yes, I intended to mean "retired". But also, we know that pieces can be retired just as much as sets, so these are designations that I think offer a special meaning which can be highlighted on a home page.
  • StellarStellar
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    @RobErNat You can click "Recently listed", it is a link in blue instead of just a title in black as the other ones.
    are we talking about the same page?
    http://www.brickowl.com/catalog
    I see 'best selling' 'recently listed' 'new pictures' 'recently added to catalog' and 'recently updated inventory'.

    'New pictures' and 'Recently added in catalog' are blue links I can click, the other 3 are black and therefor not clickable for me...
    No, sorry, I thought you mean Store Homepage. You are right for what you really meant.
  • multinana1957multinana1957
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    I think a customers gallery would be a great addition. We currently ask our customers permission to post their creations on our Facebook group page, so having it here would be awesome.
  • JayB-SoCalJayB-SoCal
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Right, have a contest for stores - "best 10 mini-MOCs of the week, 30 pieces or under" and that would be worth browsing. Stores submit pictures, someone at BrickOwl votes on them on the weekend and the winners are rotated the following week. Or, no voting, just randomly rotate.
  • fitbricksfitbricks
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Several mentions here of a MOC gallery here which I too have considered in regards to my store's FB page. I completely support this. I think it's important to share builds for many reasons - sales, community, driving traffic, fun and so forth.
    I also love the idea of having a dedicated page/view of newest parts. I know currently that various filters can be used to bring many of the latest pieces into view but I am also aware that a few new for 2017 pieces still require editing or adding to the overall inventory. Often, I am reluctant to edit/add parts myself as I lack a proper measuring tool. I think a ruler or tape measure is a little too awkward for some pieces. Will have to see about buying one of those caliper type measurement devices. Sorry about the digression but yes. I agree that newest parts should have some kind of dedicated space on the site.

    Have to say, I am a little (pleasingly) overwhelmed with all this like minded thinking.
This discussion has been closed.