The Oscar for best outdoor video goes to…….

Gareth    eCommerce, Gareth, General Outdoor     Gareth, gear, video, webtogs, woods

This week has been a mental one as we have been out and about shooting video for the website and for a video noobie such as myself, it has been a really interesting experience. I’ve long been a big fan of videos on websites when selling stuff as people get a much better idea how things work and what it looks like in the flesh. Shooting the video has also been a great deal of fun with James and Matt acting as the crew and myself somehow ending up in front of the camera. I’m fairly sure this is down to the beard, but I’ll leave you to make up your own minds if this was a good idea when you see them on the site! James did us all proud with his shooting soup (Beef consomee, Tabasco & vodka) which was totally lush along with some old fashioned scooby snacks.

The product videos were relatively easy but the real toughy so far has been the gear guides we are starting to shoot on helping peole to choose Jackets / Boots etc, they took more than a few takes so every time I see those blooper reels, I have a certain amount of sympathy. Whats going to be interesting is to see what everyone thinks of them, do they help people come to a decision or is there anything we could do better? Stay tuned to Webtogs TV

Late for the New Year as always…..

Gareth    Gareth, General Outdoor     frost, Gareth, ISPO, new year, webtogs, xmas

Well that was a bonzer Christmas and a half, so blooming busy I didn’t even have a chance to blog Xmas has been pretty good for Webtogs but as a result I haven’t had a chance to sit and write anything. It’s might be way too late to write this but heres hoping everyone reading this had a happy and peaceful Xmas and NY. It always feels strange but proper saying that to people you haven’t seen for a while after the event itself!

Along with the usual overload of Food and frolicks, lots of gear was exchanged this year as presents. Top of my list are my brand spanking new ZG40′s. It has been a while since I got a new pair of boots but my old zamberlans had finally cracked after a couple of years of abuse. They are ultra stable and have given me a lot more ankle support as well as feeling as light as a newborn. I can’t wait frankly to get them out and dirty. Both Cath and myself also grabbed some Kuhl fleece which I am a definite convert to. They have to be our niche find of this year, it was great catching up with them at ISPO this year.

Speaking of ISPO, it was my first year this year and it was just amazing. Gear, Gear, Gear and more Gear ahoy – there were some special items I’ll blog about later.

Walking wise it’s been a fairly quiet but we did get a lovely stroll on NY eve with ones of the best hoar frosts I have seen for some time, it was so cold it looked like it had snowed. We had some friends from the Netherlands over and it really was a beautiful walk.

So here we are, 2009, slightly nervous times with all the economic shenanigans but heres hoping it’s a prosperous and peaceful year for all.

Twitter Icebreaker Giveaway

Gareth    eCommerce     competition, draw, icebreaker, men, merino, prize, retweet, rock, rockzip, twitter, webtogs, women, zip

UPDATE: Competition entry closed at end of Jan and we have a winner! Congratulations to Ian Moore who is on twitter as @idmoore. We’ll launch a new competition in the last week of Feb.

Right, so it’s time to start our first Twitter contest and we’d like to start with one of the coolest brands right now “Icebreaker”. The aim is to do a competition every single month from now on and we’ll also be offering some exclusive ones just for existing followers.

We’re giving away one of the following this month (draw ends Friday 30th Jan 2009):

An Icebreaker Rock Zip Fleece Top – Women
OR
An Icebreaker Rock Zip Fleece Top – Men

Want to win one? All you have to do is the following:

• Follow @webtogs on twitter
• Simply tweet “Just entered to win a cool Icebreaker Rock Zip Fleece Top for Fri 30th Jan. Just follow @webtogs and retweet. http://bit.ly/togsjan09 “

Here is the current (updated every minute) of all entries, showing your odds to win.

The contest is open to anywhere in the UK and Europe and is completely free to enter.

Good luck!

Here are some pictures of the Icebreaker tops:

Icebreaker Rock Women

Icebreaker Rock Zip Mens

P.S. Thanks to @simonianson for helping out with some inspiration for this.

Marmot Base-layers appear on Channel 5′s Gadget Show

Gareth    Clothing, General Outdoor     gadget show, marmot base layers, technical underwear, webtogs

Got a head-us up today to note that the gadget show did a technical challenge around base-layer technical garments recently, and uploaded their video to the gadget show site here. Forward it to around 6:50m to see the actual segment

What was definitely of interest is that they covered the Marmot base layers and gave it generous marks at keeping the presenters warm inside a freezer!

Webtogs is one of only two UK online retailers selling this range of base layer products – so have a gander..

eConsultancy reviews Webtogs

Gareth    eCommerce     econsultancy, graham, interview, philip, webtogs, wilkinson

We had a good interview and review of the site posted today by those nice chaps at eConsultancy, and you can read the full interview here.

It was actually interesting to talk about how the last 6 months have gone with Webtogs and how much we’ve done and learnt in that time period. In particular they focussed on the product page changes we’ve recently made, the checkout process, and how we are currently marketing the site. While this is some important stuff – I realised it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

What we haven’t yet talked about on the blog but must do soon:

• How the new warehouse and office move went
• How we’ve gone about building a really good customer service team
• Who the team members now actually are and their backgrounds
• What stats we measure about the site and why
• What our dev roadmap looks like for the next few months
• When are we finally putting customer reviews, editor reviews, and videos live
• How we’ve found working with the big outdoor brands
• My experience with dealing with the price comparison engines (this could be a biggy)

I think one thing is for sure – everyone has been stretched to the limit right now but we’ve been pushing on with the adrenalin rush of creating something big and meaningful. Now – where’s that Redbull!

Webtog Blog – don’t worry, we’re still here!

Gareth    eCommerce, Planning     back, blog, Brands, comments, stock, webtogs

We realised yesterday over our morning coffee meeting that we haven’t actually been updating our blog in a long time. Shame on us! Apologies for that – it’s been a hectic time are at Baa HQ with signing up many new brands to come on board and receive shipments of the next line of stock for Winter.

Needless to say there is a lot to talk about and we want to get this blog rolling again with insightful views and experience sharing from our side and yours too.

Right – time to hit the whiteboard!