ICT City Centre Shop

[The Mantis]

Following on from Scotty's post above, I wonder why the club doesn't go in to some kind of deal with Tesco to have ICT merchandise sold in their stores in Inverness. Tesco deal with local suppliers - if customers request certain products. Inverness is Tescotown after all.

Are they really willing to do this at a local level?

I had some dealings with Tesco many moons ago. My experience was, they screw you down to the last penny (usually by a national agreement, i.e. Tesco's head office agreed the prices with our head office, so Tesco were getting the goods much cheaper than anybody else) so as somebody above mentioned, you make next to no profit on the goods, you just get volume.

This is OK normally, but we would hardly want to get into their branches nationwide. How many more tops would we sell in the Inverness branches of Tesco?

[CaleyD]

Not to mention that Tesco isn't town centre, nor are they all that much more accessible than club shop at the stadium.

[PullMyFinger]

City centre shops are so 20th century, get with the program guys. The future is here with online shopping........oh yeah, we don't have that either. How much income are we losing by not having an online shop? I'd guess more than a city centre shop would turn over. There are ICT fans all around the country, even the world for that matter who'd like to feel part of what's happening here and they can't get merchandise.

[Scotty]

The online shop is coming. Trust me, ICT are acutely aware that it is sorely needed and want to get it (back) online ASAP as that is one thing we pass back to them regularly as a comment.

The 'problem' (not so much a problem as a delay) with the online shop is that ICT are going 'in-house' with it after something like 8 years of relying on 3rd party providers. Unlike days gone by you cannot simply throw up a site, grab an SSL certificate (the thing that enables the 's' in https:// sites) and start trading ..... well you can, but you then face the prospect of large fines for failing a PCI compliance audit that covers every aspect of your online trading setup.

The club want to ensure that all the boxes have been ticked in regards to PCI compliance, and as you would expect - when dealing with people's credit card details - there are a lot of boxes to be ticked !!! This is one thing that cannot be rushed or done in a haphazard fashion if you want your customers to experience a truly secure and safe online shopping experience .....

Bear with them a little longer .... I dont think I would be speaking out of turn if I said they are making progress on this.

[PullMyFinger]

Good news. Now is the time to go live with it though, another few weeks will cost a fortune. I hope they're going to do a mailshot, email, text, etc. to all the fans/fans contacts they have to maximise Christmas sales. Also that the volume and range of merchandise available will make the effort worthwhile.

[IcyT]

I'm not all that familiar with where viable sites are in Inverness now, but would it not be possible for the club to take a concession stall in the Eastgate, for example? These type of things always pop up selling handbags, sweets and calendars. How about one weekend in the run-up to Christmas at least? Or how about persuading a couple of enterprising souvenir shops to stock some merchandise? A football top can be a classic souvenir, and Inverness gets its fair share of tourists?!

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

I'm not all that familiar with where viable sites are in Inverness now, but would it not be possible for the club to take a concession stall in the Eastgate, for example? These type of things always pop up selling handbags, sweets and calendars. How about one weekend in the run-up to Christmas at least? Or how about persuading a couple of enterprising souvenir shops to stock some merchandise? A football top can be a classic souvenir, and Inverness gets its fair share of tourists?!

It's been tried before with zoo , we dont have the amount of fans or quality of merchandise to warrant such a move .

[Council Juice]

There is nowhere near enough sustainable income from ICT merchandise to keep a shop running all year round. There isn't anywhere near the volume of sales available for such a venture. I think only the OF, the Edinburgh teams and Aberdeen realistically have the fan base for such.

It's good that the club are trying to get the online shop sorted. Thats long overdue. I also think it's not beyond the realm of possibility to get a range into a city centre shop but thats not entirely necessary either. Fans looking for strips etc will generally make a little more effort than just buying on a whim.

Perhaps an idea would be to get in with a large online company who sell strips all over from clubs world wide.

And yeah ok, the stadium portacabin could do with a lick o' paint and a new glade plug in.

[tm4tj]

Online shopping, that's the way to go.

[TopSix]

I'm surprised they're not selling the old training tops etc off on fleabay like Sheffield united/Wednesday were doing.

[MissICT]

Not to mention that Tesco isn't town centre, nor are they all that much more accessible than club shop at the stadium.

Yeah it is! Buses are very regular to the Retail park!

[Georgeios]

So its not in the center then? Morrisons is kinda.

[Joe DiMaggio]

I'm not all that familiar with where viable sites are in Inverness now, but would it not be possible for the club to take a concession stall in the Eastgate, for example? These type of things always pop up selling handbags, sweets and calendars. How about one weekend in the run-up to Christmas at least? Or how about persuading a couple of enterprising souvenir shops to stock some merchandise? A football top can be a classic souvenir, and Inverness gets its fair share of tourists?!

It's been tried before with zoo , we dont have the amount of fans or quality of merchandise to warrant such a move .

That place was awful, no effort put into it at all. I remember going in near Christmas one time to see what they had and all that was there was a scarf a pencil and a ruler. That was it.

[ICTPaisley]

What I do find crazy though is that local sports shops - even if they are part of a national chain - cannot or will not stock the strips at the very least. They should do this for local teams in all cities.

Theres a local shop here in Paisley that sell all of St Mirrens top class merchandise. If they can get it, why can't we.

[PullMyFinger]

Back on topic, do you know if there any chance of the online shop being ready in time for Christmas Scotty? I can make it to the TCS but an online shop is much more convenient to fit into a busy life and the expats would need to be ordering soon to guarantee Christmas delivery.

[PullMyFinger]

Theres a local shop here in Paisley that sell all of St Mirrens top class merchandise. If they can get it, why can't we.

Now that's an oxymoron if ever there was one.

[Scotty]

Back on topic, do you know if there any chance of the online shop being ready in time for Christmas Scotty? I can make it to the TCS but an online shop is much more convenient to fit into a busy life and the expats would need to be ordering soon to guarantee Christmas delivery.

As far as I know, it should be ready to go live within the next week or two but dont quote me on that

Not sure about how the international orders will be handled though as the previous shop had exorbitant rates for sending orders overseas. I went to order a calendar one year and it was something like ?5 for the calendar and then ?15 for postage !!! I ended up getting someone to send it to me instead .. postage was about ?2

[PullMyFinger]

Back on topic, do you know if there any chance of the online shop being ready in time for Christmas Scotty? I can make it to the TCS but an online shop is much more convenient to fit into a busy life and the expats would need to be ordering soon to guarantee Christmas delivery.

As far as I know, it should be ready to go live within the next week or two but dont quote me on that

Not sure about how the international orders will be handled though as the previous shop had exorbitant rates for sending orders overseas. I went to order a calendar one year and it was something like ?5 for the calendar and then ?15 for postage !!! I ended up getting someone to send it to me instead .. postage was about ?2

If it's inhouse then surely the club will offer the best available price for P&P? Great news if it does get up and running but still a bit close to Christmas to guarantee delivery.

[CaleyD]

Off Topic posts moved here

[scotland]

I am looking for decent stuff to give at Xmastime.

What is the best option for decent scarfs, badges, hats etc?

The club shop, or try and find stuff on ebay?

[ICTShop]

I am looking for decent stuff to give at Xmastime.

What is the best option for decent scarfs, badges, hats etc?

The club shop, or try and find stuff on ebay?

We have scarves, badges, hats, gloves and lots more. New leisure wear also now in stock. Hopefully the online shop won't be too much longer, but meantime if you can't make it down to the shop, you can order by phone on 01463 227451.

Scotty postage will definitely be the best possible rate, we would have nothing to gain charging ridiculous P & P for international orders. It was the 3rd party site that was responsible for these costs in the past.

[Scotty]

thought as much :)

[TopSix]

How about a wee online catalogue using digital photos of the merchandise?

[SMEE]

That place was awful, no effort put into it at all. I remember going in near Christmas one time to see what they had and all that was there was a scarf a pencil and a ruler. That was it.

Haha....thats true....there doesnt seem to be the quantity of different merchandise to warrant a shop, from what i have seen in previous attempts

[CaleyD]

Whilst the shop unit isn't ideal, the variety and availability of merchandise has much improved IMO.