Is something up at GW?

[Etruscan]

Bit of a random one here but I couldn't help but notice that most of the recent model releases on the GW website no longer have the 360 degree image in the product gallery. Any ideas why? They also seem to have cut back on the amount of images per model. Is this some sort of cost cutting exercise?

 

Coupled with 2 week pre-order windows (I was sure they used to be 1 week?) and now 2-9 day delivery windows, is something going on behind the scenes? Or am I reading too much into this?

[Valkia the Bloody]

Well, I could not access the GW website all day, so maybe they have grots in the system?

[Lord Marshal]

Sometimes they've updated models missing 360-views a few weeks later, or at least, that was the case with the Siege of Cthonia stuff - which I believe is when the trend of 360-views not going up the same time as pre-orders started again.

 

Judging from the various videos ex-staffers have put out, I would guess they're on pretty tight deadlines with a big workload and the 360-views are a lower priority that get pushed back in favour of whatever is more important that shift. 

[Cruor Vault]

19 minutes ago, Lord Marshal said:

Sometimes they've updated models missing 360-views a few weeks later, or at least, that was the case with the Siege of Cthonia stuff - which I believe is when the trend of 360-views not going up the same time as pre-orders started again.

 

Judging from the various videos ex-staffers have put out, I would guess they're on pretty tight deadlines with a big workload and the 360-views are a lower priority that get pushed back in favour of whatever is more important that shift. 

 

They've also said that every single department has their own photography schedule, resulting in models being photographed 7+ times for virtually identical shots.  With things being that poorly organized its entirely possible some kits have just been missed.

[SvenIronhand]

Photogrammetry.

[BluejayJunior]

5 hours ago, Etruscan said:

Coupled with 2 week pre-order windows (I was sure they used to be 1 week?) and now 2-9 day delivery windows, is something going on behind the scenes? Or am I reading too much into this?

2 week pre-orders aren't that uncommon for big releases. Usually the big boxes are 2 week pre-orders. Space Marines are pretty popular and released a lot of new models, so it's not surprising. Not sure if it was 1 or 2 weeks for the Tyrannids. Not sure it's anything to worry about. But they've had logistical issues since Covid and not sure if they've ever fully recovered from that with all the new stuff that has come out since then. 

[Etruscan]

Thanks for the replies folks, it definitely sheds some light on things! 

[Sky Potato]

6 minutes ago, BluejayJunior said:

2 week pre-orders aren't that uncommon for big releases. Usually the big boxes are 2 week pre-orders. Space Marines are pretty popular and released a lot of new models, so it's not surprising. Not sure if it was 1 or 2 weeks for the Tyrannids. Not sure it's anything to worry about. But they've had logistical issues since Covid and not sure if they've ever fully recovered from that with all the new stuff that has come out since then. 

The Tyranid pre-order window was one week IIRC.

 

What I did find surprising is that on release day for the latest Tyranid wave, my local GW store received… nothing. Not a single item from the latest drop on launch day in the shop.

 

That, coupled with the fact that orders from the website are STILL a 9 day lead time, says to me that they are STILL experiencing some pretty severe logistical issues behind the scenes. The Leviathan launch was definitely impacted by the 9 day lead time for orders, I’m surprised it’s still an issue 4 months or so later.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

There is a new website launching later this year supposedly (or early next) so could be they aren't adding more than they feel they need to on the current iteration of the site.

[Jukkiz]

we´re missing alot sprue pics lately too

[RWJP]

13 hours ago, Sky Potato said:

That, coupled with the fact that orders from the website are STILL a 9 day lead time, says to me that they are STILL experiencing some pretty severe logistical issues behind the scenes. The Leviathan launch was definitely impacted by the 9 day lead time for orders, I’m surprised it’s still an issue 4 months or so later.

Worth noting that this isn't GW. It's Royal Mail.

Royal Mail's standard delivery guarantee for their Tracked 48 service is now 9 days. They "aim" to deliver within 2-3 days on Tracked 48, but will only guarantee 9. All GW are doing is using RM's own guarantees.

My parents work for a mailing house (the kind of company local businesses contract to send stuff for them) and it's caused absolute havoc for them over the last 6 months or so.

Edited October 16, 2023 by RWJP

[Sky Potato]

No, I’m talking about the time from placing an order to getting the shipping notification, which is on GW, not Royal Mail.

 

So I pre-ordered Leviathan during the two week pre-order on 10 June, it was released 24 June, and shipped 29 June. So GW were pissing around at the warehouse for 5 days after the end of the 2 week pre-order window. This is for the the launch of the newest edition of their their flagship product.

 

It’s been the same with Forgeworld recently as well - I pre-ordered the latest Imperial Fists Praetor when that came up for a week long pre-order on 18 August. Released 25 August, but not shipped until 31 August.

 

I have other examples - my copy of Azrakh took about a week to ship from placing the order as well.

 

This has been a relatively recent thing - I preordered Exodus and the Traitor Esoterist when that was released back in March, that shipped on release day.

 

What I’m saying is, there are still significant delays between placing an online order at GW and the warehouse actually shipping goods out. Whatever ERP changes they are making, they are still going badly.

 

 

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

GW have had problems for quite a while now. Things like missing 360 views are most likely down to GW's poor internal organisation and being understaffed.  Items taking ages to leave the warehouse, or FLGS and even their own shops not receiving stock is because they have a product range and release schedule that have exceeded the capability of their warehouse and manufacturing capabilities. 

[Noserenda]

You know i suspect GW execs have been saying exactly that lol

[Bung]

9 hours ago, EnsignJoker said:

Is GW ever going to solve its “warehousing issues” or are they ok just having that as its go-to excuse for cost cutting and bottom line saving?

 

It’s beyond ridiculous at this point and inexcusable for this multi million dollar company to have the shortages it does. COVID and Brexit and whatever else they were struggling with should have had workarounds by now. 

 

There are other reasons due to GWs Management.

As we know from their business report the plastic production is at its Limit.

Combined without doing any market research and being forced to Release new stuff every month there is a missmatch of what is being produced and what people want to buy.

 

[Xenith]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:00 PM, EnsignJoker said:

It’s beyond ridiculous at this point and inexcusable for this multi million dollar company to have the shortages it does.

 

If you've ever worked in any company, they're mostly clusterfeths ran by the least qualified or knowledgable sociopaths the board could find, and predominantly flying by the seat of their pants, so I think GW is doing way better than most! 

 

As above, Royal mail, a much bigger company, saying it's tracked 48 service (that's 48 as in delivery in 48 hours, guaranteed) is now only guaranteed do be within 9 days, is undoubtedly a much bigger problem. The knock on effect will be that RM are making fewer pick ups from GW depot, meaning they can't ship as much as often. 

 

GW still has their own massive issues relating to te warehouse, picking system and persistent stock issues, but the wrinkles seem to be getting ironed out. The immediate switch to 2 week preorder after the Tyranid-codex-delay-debacle, is evidence that they are willing to rapidly adapt, at least, to manage the expectations of the customers and try to ensure places have enough stock. 

 

I've even been told GW stores received their SM stock well in advance of the actual release this time, as opposed to the nids release where my two local stores didn't get any of the new stuff until the wednesday a week after release! 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Xenith

[Stitch5000]

 

11 hours ago, EnsignJoker said:

Is GW ever going to solve its “warehousing issues” or are they ok just having that as its go-to excuse for cost cutting and bottom line saving?

 

It’s beyond ridiculous at this point and inexcusable for this multi million dollar company to have the shortages it does. COVID and Brexit and whatever else they were struggling with should have had workarounds by now. 

GW isn't and isn't going to be Amazon. 

You need to make your peace with the fact that you are buying essentially a boutique, specialist product and accept the fact there's a wait. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

2 hours ago, Xenith said:

If you've ever worked in any company, they're mostly clusterfeths ran by the least qualified or knowledgable

The HIPPO (highest-paid person's opinion) is often somewhat dangerous  

 

As for is something up at GW? I have no idea. I know they're "at capacity" for casting plastic kits and some people have had really long waits for things to be dispatched, whilst others have their copy of Rogue Trader (which went up for MTO on Saturday) already.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[Progenitor]

2 hours ago, Xenith said:

I've even been told GW stores received their SM stock well in advance of the actual release this time, as opposed to the nids release where my two local stores didn't get any of the new stuff until the wednesday a week after release! 

 

I also know that some of their stock to 3rd parties (which I fully understand why they're not as high priority as their own online customers and B&M retail outlets) didn't get their stock until Friday so struggled to get it out of the door in time (as happened with my Codex so I didn't get it until Tuesday where normally I'd be expecting to get it either Friday before release or on the actual release day). 

[Bung]

57 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

The HIPPO (highest-paid person's opinion) is often somewhat dangerous  

 

As for is something up at GW? I have no idea. I know they're "at capacity" for casting plastic kits and some people have had really long waits for things to be dispatched, whilst others have their copy of Rogue Trader (which went up for MTO on Saturday) already.

 

The Rogue Trader Book was always on Sale at Warhammer World. So i expect them to ship some of that stock.

[Firedrake Cordova]

10 minutes ago, Bung said:

The Rogue Trader Book was always on Sale at Warhammer World. So i expect them to ship some of that stock.

I know - I mentioned it as it demonstrated that they can ship some stuff quickly.  

[Sky Potato]

10 hours ago, Stitch5000 said:

 

GW isn't and isn't going to be Amazon. 

You need to make your peace with the fact that you are buying essentially a boutique, specialist product and accept the fact there's a wait. 

 

I'd respectfully disagree with that point of view for the following reasons:

 

• GW, the multi-million pound company, have a dedicated shipping department. This is an industry leading global company, not two blokes working out of a shed in the back garden. There's nothing boutique about a company with 500+ physical shops worldwide, I expect some semblance of competence from them on a logistical level.
• Pre-covid, they were actually really good at this stuff. More often than not, I had pre-orders delivered into my hand on the actual launch day - the way they achieved that was by shipping the item itself on the Thursday before launch. All that means to me that something at GW on the logistics side has stopped working, and that implies problems behind the scenes at a company the size of GW.

I'm very happy to be proven wrong in the future. I'd be as happy as anybody to have my copy of the MkIII Battleforce in my hands on Saturday, but I don't expect that to be the case.

 

12 hours ago, Xenith said:

As above, Royal mail, a much bigger company, saying it's tracked 48 service (that's 48 as in delivery in 48 hours, guaranteed) is now only guaratneed do be within 9 days, is undoubtedly a much bigger problem. The knock on effect will be that RM are making fewer pick ups from GW depot, meaning they can't ship as much as often. 

 

An excellent point, with a second order effect that I hadn't considered.

 

12 hours ago, Xenith said:

GW still has their own massive issues relating to te warehouse, picking system and persistent stock issues, but the wrinkles seem to be getting ironed out. The immediate switch to 2 week preorder after the Tyranid-codex-delay-debacle, is evidence that they are willing to rapidly adapt, at least, to manage the expectations of the customers and try to ensure places have enough stock. 

 

I've even been told GW stores received their SM stock well in advance of the actual release this time, as opposed to the nids release where my two local stores didn't get any of the new stuff until the wednesday a week after release! 

 

To be fair, the SM launch went a lot smoother than the Tyranid launch. Hopefully, they draw out these lessons. Again, I'm not overly optimistic.

 

[Bung]

7 hours ago, Sky Potato said:

 

I'd respectfully disagree with that point of view for the following reasons:

 

• GW, the multi-million pound company, have a dedicated shipping department. This is an industry leading global company, not two blokes working out of a shed in the back garden. There's nothing boutique about a company with 500+ physical shops worldwide, I expect some semblance of competence from them on a logistical level.
• Pre-covid, they were actually really good at this stuff. More often than not, I had pre-orders delivered into my hand on the actual launch day - the way they achieved that was by shipping the item itself on the Thursday before launch. All that means to me that something at GW on the logistics side has stopped working, and that implies problems behind the scenes at a company the size of GW.

I'm very happy to be proven wrong in the future. I'd be as happy as anybody to have my copy of the MkIII Battleforce in my hands on Saturday, but I don't expect that to be the case.

 

 

An excellent point, with a second order effect that I hadn't considered.

 

 

To be fair, the SM launch went a lot smoother than the Tyranid launch. Hopefully, they draw out these lessons. Again, I'm not overly optimistic.

 

 

May i ask If you live outside UK?

Cause a) international shipping is still screwed up and will be for some time and b) Brexit is still a Problem fir getting stuff to the EU.

 

Both circumstances not in the hand of GW.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Lord_Ikka

[Noserenda]

I think the thing to remember is that GW is an industry leader sure, but its an absolute minnow overall.

[Sky Potato]

7 hours ago, Bung said:

 

May i ask If you live outside UK?

Cause a) international shipping is still screwed up and will be for some time and b) Brexit is still a Problem fir getting stuff to the EU.

 

Both circumstances not in the hand of GW.

Nope, I’m in the UK