I loved Cabela’s old online Gun Library.
It loaded fast, it had lots of pics, and it was easy to shop. I just clicked a category like American Shotguns and voila –I could scroll through the entire inventory in about a minute. As I zipped through, I watched for listings marked NEW. If I saw a gun I liked, I clicked and up came more info and a bunch of pics. Perfect. Click, click, done.
Well, it looks like Cabela’s is about to screw this up. They just relaunched their main website. As part of the relaunch, they’re revising the Gun Library. So far, it looks like it sucks. Instead of one long, scrollable list, the new site is going to spread out the inventory over a number of page. You’ll have to click through a number them just to view all the guns in a single category like American Shotguns. More clicking means more hassle. Brilliant. The last time I checked, more hassle does not equal more sales.
It also looks like there are going to be fewer pics – like just one per gun. This really sucks. There’s an old adage in direct marketing that says the more you tell, the more you sell. If a picture tell a thousands words, I want a lot more friggin’ pictures.
In the age of digital cameras, I don’t understand why this is a hassle. Without lots of pics, guys will call or email about a gun and ask to have more pics sent to them. If they call at all.
While I think the redesign is well intentioned, I say leave the Gun Library alone. I hope we’re seeing a Beta version right now and my fears will not come true. If they do, I know I’ll be visiting the sight a lot less. I doubt I’ll be the only one, too.
These are the folks who run Cabela’s. If you want them to leave the Gun Library alone, please drop them an email and let them know. I’m guessing these are their email addresses.
President & CEO: Thomas.Millner@Cabelas.com
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: Ralph.Castner@Cabelas.com
Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer: Michael.Copeland@Cabelas.com
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer: Patrick.Snyder@Cabelas.com
Chairman and Director: Richard.Cabela@Cabelas.com
Vice Chairman and Director: James.Cabela@Cabelas.com
Investor Relations: Christopher.Gay@Cabelas.com
