Brownell's web site changes

armorer951 · Feb 21, 2023

Thirty plus year Brownell's customer here:

Brownell's has made some major changes in their web site. What used to be the worst web site and search engine on the planet Earth is now worse......if that's humanly possible.

No more schematics from the manufacturers containing parts numbers and descriptions that I can find either.

WOW, pardon the pun, but talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Brownells - Firearms, Reloading Supplies, Gunsmithing Tools, Gun Parts and Accessories

GaryS · Feb 21, 2023

Not an easy website to navigate before, I dread trying to figure out the new one.

LVSteve · Feb 21, 2023

It's amazing how many website builders and people who build man-machine interfaces for cars have an almost limitless ability to fix stuff worse.

mckenney99 · Feb 21, 2023

I logged on there just the other night and thought I had gotten misdirected to their European website. It is HORRIBLE and I never was able to find the schematics either. Somehow they just continue to shoot themselves in the foot. Poor shipping, in the recent past I have dealt with some just plain ignorant/rude/lazy/lying customer service representatives, stupid pop ups while trying to surf their website and now this abomination.

Chubbs103 · Feb 22, 2023

I just signed in. It looks like my "wish lists" are gone.

tajada · Feb 22, 2023

It looks a tad friendly and faster.

Racer X · Feb 22, 2023

the bottom line is if you go to a website of an online seller, and directly type in a 3 word search querry, like "Ruger P95 magazine" and you know for a fact they have them, but the search engine gives you garbage, and the #1 option is not a link to Ruger P95 magazine, someone needs to be beaten. It now shows you Ruger P95 mags. Before it showed random ****, not what you asked for. Amazon is the un-disputed king of this.

LVSteve · Feb 22, 2023

Racer X said:
the bottom line is if you go to a website of an online seller, and directly type in a 3 word search querry, like "Ruger P95 magazine" and you know for a fact they have them, but the search engine gives you garbage, and the #1 option is not a link to Ruger P95 magazine, someone needs to be beaten. It now shows you Ruger P95 mags. Before it showed random ****, not what you asked for. Amazon is the un-disputed king of this.

Well, I just tried that search on the new Brownells site. To be fair, it worked perfectly. I tried and few more and it all looked pretty sensible. Color me shocked.

WR Moore · Feb 22, 2023

One of the major problems with websites and computers is the IT department. They may well be absolute wizards within their skill set, but that doesn't mean they have ANY grasp of either the product(s) or the way the rest of the world can interact with their (or the software suppliers) creation. While I was still working, just about the time we'd get comfortable with our software package, IT would run in with "new improved" versions that weren't, at least so far as our needs went.

I've heard "That's intuitive" entirely too many times.

mmb617 · Feb 22, 2023

Not directed at Brownell's as I haven't done much business with them but poor websites are kind of a pet peeve of mine.

When I'm buying from an online retailer that I know is a small operation mom/pop type deal I'm more inclined to put up with a clunky user interface knowing they don't have the budget for fancy web design.

But if it's one of the big guys and the website is hard to navigate or just generally crappy, I avoid them if I have any other options. In this day and age I can't imagine why a big company wouldn't make sure they had a user friendly website.

Protocall_Design · Feb 22, 2023

About the best one out there is McMaster-Carr. They have tens of thousands of items, and you can easily find exactly what you want.

SS336 · Feb 22, 2023

I noticed that their website, for me anyway, is impossible. Looking for a specific part is all most funny.
Type in the part, S&W ejector rod K frame over 2” barrel, comes up with Ruger single action ejector rod and 2 1911 pistols.

Bullet Bob · Feb 22, 2023

"They well be absolute wizards within their skill set..."

I've known my share of IT folks, may have even played one at one point - I can tell you that most of them think they're wizards, and the less able they are, the more likely they are to have that opinion of themselves.

In defense of Brownell's new site and web developers everywhere, the opposite is also true. Many users automatically assume that whatever problem they're experiencing just can't be themselves. Mirrors must be in short supply these days.

Golddollar · Feb 22, 2023

WR Moore said:
They well be absolute wizards within their skill set, but that doesn't mean they have ANY grasp of either the product(s) or the way the rest of the world can interact with their (or the software suppiers) creation.

Back in the 1980s I was taking computer courses at night. One of the courses was called Systems Analysis, and it should be required reading for anyone in the computer business. The most important thing I learned in that course was whenever a new system of any type (not just computers) is to be developed, early on in the project there must be serious consultation by the creators of the new systems with the people who are going to use it.

I sometimes have said that I should hire out to the IT industry as a product tester. If they can create a web site or program that a fumble-fingered Luddite like me could use, then they would know that anybody could use it.

Krogen · Feb 22, 2023

I'm not impressed with Brownells' new site. In my opinion they fell to the current trend of making websites "mobile friendly." That makes them tough to use on larger laptop or desktop computers. They skimp on details, use lots of white space and require multiple clicks in various pull-down menus. It's understandable for mobile devices because the screen is small. On a computer it's frustrating because it takes too many clicks and scrolls to find things. Having little information scattered around a large white space in horribly inefficient. Websites can be designed to recognize the device being used. I think they need to embrace a mobile-optimized site in parallel with a computer-optimized site. The accessing device could be seamlessly detected and trigger the appropriate site.

It's not just Brownells, but many others going the mobile route. Financial companies, for example, "should" have the resources to design effective sites. Two examples, Morningstar and Vanguard have gone to mobile-friendly websites. They are horrible and it seems the companies know it. Both have a "legacy website" selection buried in the menus so you can go back to the old style site. Acknowledgement, yes. But will they do anything significant to fix the problem? Probably not.

Brownells' old site was definitely clunky. But it had a lot of power and if you figured out the tricks you could find what you needed. It was the enemy you know. The new site could use lots of improvement.

Just my 20 m$ . . . .

LVSteve · Feb 22, 2023

Bullet Bob said:
In defense of Brownell's new site and web developers everywhere, the opposite is also true. Many users automatically assume that whatever problem they're experiencing just can't be themselves. Mirrors must be in short supply these days.

Or as some IT professionals say, POBSAC. Problem occurs between screen and chair.

Just another 22 shooter · Feb 22, 2023

This is a huge reason Midway USA has done so well...very customer friendly web site design. Brownells has struggled with internet sales from the git go.

mmb617 · Feb 23, 2023

Bullet Bob said:
In defense of Brownell's new site and web developers everywhere, the opposite is also true. Many users automatically assume that whatever problem they're experiencing just can't be themselves. Mirrors must be in short supply these days.

It seems to me that if you design a website and the customers are too dumb to figure out how use it, yet those same dumb customers are able to use someone else's designs, then perhaps the designer is the one who needs a mirror to locate the problem.

Rule3 · Feb 23, 2023

They are working on it.
Coming soon

Gun Schematics | Brownells

The worst gun website ever was the OLD Natchez!

Toyman · Feb 23, 2023

The biggest problem I've had with Brownell's web site is not funding the product but the lack of items in stock, especially S&W parts.

Brownell's web site changes

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