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Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

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Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#31

Post by Forge36 »

jkhdigital wrote: post #10

I normally browse HN incognito on my phone but had to go to my desktop and login to say this: I fucking love MMC and their website. I got into woodworking during the pandemic and eventually built a loft bed for my son. I needed some very specific sizes of furniture bolts in small quantities and Amazon just didn't have what I needed. McMaster-Carr to the rescue! I agree that they aren't the cheapest, but the quality i…

Why is that a typical male experience? There's no reason a female would want anything different here

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#32

Post by nraynaud »

togaen wrote: post #25

Mcmaster is what the web is supposed to be like.

I agree so much. It's what every single mail order company should have done. Freaking parametric search eaverywhere and uniform engraving style pictures so that your eye quickly catches the difference between the screw types.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#33

Post by GavinMcG »

motoboi wrote: post #18
GavinMcG wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, but if we're being honest, you can make that sort of claim about anything and it's equally as unhelpful. Things can have value even if you can't perfectly define a metric, and even if others might use different metrics. The author explained why they think it's great, so rather than waving your hands and denying that greatness could ever be defined, what about a constructive approach? Engage with the elements the…

Hi, thanks for your message. Maybe I didn't express myself very well. If you don't know what a great ecommerce website is, what is has, what it does, does reading a piece where someone says some site is a great e-commerce website influence your opinion? Does it shape your view? If so, how does previous literature about the subject influenced the writer? So, a great e-commerce website should be measured by it's form o…

I don't think you're trolling, but again, you're not actually saying anything here. That's why you need to make the disclaimer that those are sincere questions. I'm suggesting that you instead take positions, even if weakly held ones. In other words, I think that you're doing something covert when you say "[N]o one knows what is a great e-commerce website. Is one that sells a lot? ... [T]hat is very easy to use?" or ask "So, a great e-commerce website should be measured by it's form or by it's results?"

What do you think? The article emphasized form and function. You seem to be proposing that results matter. Say that!

Just cobbling together bits of what you're "asking" it seems like you might instead have written the following: "It seems to me that the article focuses on form: simple design, great search and filtering, and useful information like CAD files. But being 'the best e-commerce site' needs to include succeeding at e-commerce. Being very easy to use might help. But there seem to be non functional and not 'great' websites (by the article's definition) that thrive."

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#34

Post by iancmceachern »

Mechanical Engineer and product designer here. I've been using mcmaster daily for 20 years to do my job. It is definitely the standard by which all others are judged. I'll gladly pay 2, 3, 5, even 10x the price to get it from McMaster. The service, the CAD models, I have what I need the next day. As an example of the level of their service, you can send them a box of loose parts, no part numbers, no markings, and they'll go through it, figure out what's what, and refund you for it. They make it so easy, you just have to do the engineering. Thank you McMaster-Carr.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#36

Post by xadhominemx »

pGuitar wrote: post #14
fake-name wrote: post #5

McMaster is great. This article is also completely glossing over another reason to use them: Their shipping is somehow insanely fast. Almost everything is next-day delivery, even for standard shipping. They've somehow got their logistics COMPLETELY nailed. I believe they have their own agreements with USPS/FedEx/etc... McMaster is generally not the cheapest, but they're almost always the fastest and the easiest. Mach…

> Almost everything is next-day delivery, Could it be that you live next to one of their warehouses? On the other hand, Amazon delays orders on purposes if you aren't a Prime member.

Compared to Amazon, MMC has a very small number of SKUs, inventory that never goes stale, and prices that are only affordable in the context of B2B transactions. It’s not a comparable service.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#39

Post by talkingtab »

Another vote for McMaster-Carr. It is not like they are great, they just are not stupid or frustrating or annoying at all. I don't know of any other websites that meet that relatively simple standard.

Perhaps part of why their website is so good is because they deliver the goods. They follow through. Ever need a 4x8 sheet of copper? It gets delivered to your front door. Sooner than you expect, and at a very fair price.

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