Old fashioned tickets, modern ecommerce & a £40 Global bargain

Exhibition time of year

We had the Indx show three weeks ago and this week it was the turn of the Ecommerce Expo at Docklands Excel.

The Excel building is, to put it mildly, quite large. At around a third of a mile from end to end, it takes several minutes of energetic walking to get to Hall N5, where the Ecommerce Expo was being held. Having finally arrived, we were greeted by a queue which looked to be about a quarter of a mile long. Their computers had apparently fallen over, which was amusingly ironic at an ecommerce exhibition.

Fortunately, we had printed our tickets in advance, so managed to queue-jump. Always satisfying to discover that being old fashioned occasionally has its advantages!

Ecommerce, as the name rather gives away, is about selling things online, and there were stands offering an extraordinary variety of services. Stock control, pay-per-click advertising, delivery, packaging, website optimisation and, inevitably, AI. Lots and lots of AI.

More interestingly for me, there were talks on a huge variety of retail-related subjects. Paul, whom I met there, had recommended several of the more general ecommerce talks for me, on the grounds that I am a non-techie and might therefore appreciate something that didn’t require me to know this year's trendiest 47 acronyms and might give me a steer on strategy…. well, he can hope!

He headed off to some of the more specialised sessions.

The noise level in the main concourse was fairly impressive, but once inside the hall it went up another notch. I was talking with a friend about this the day after and he said, oh rather like trying to have a conversation whilst attempting to negotiate Brexit in the middle of a rock concert. Yup, I said, recalling a conversation on one stand where I followed less than 10% of what was said.

The talks varied hugely in quality. Some were excellent, professional and genuinely interesting. Others rather less so. But as I wandered between one talk and another, three things struck me.
Firstly, I didn’t understand what most of the companies were selling.
Secondly, there wasn’t a suit in sight.
And thirdly, I was probably the oldest person there, by some margin.

I’m not entirely sure what those three observations say about me, ecommerce or the world in general. But notwithstanding all of that, I came away better informed about the way online retail is changing than when I arrived.

And that, I reckon, is a result!

And that brings me to product this week.

The other day John Day the agent for the importers (I Grunwerg) of Global Knives, came to see me with his new(ish) sales and marketing manager Victoria Curran. We went down to Caffe Nero for lunch and went over a number of new lines that Grunwerg had just introduced. These included some Global promotional items, one of which is the subject of today's offer (the Global 13cm Cooks Knife), a couple of Cafe Ole Aluminium Espresso Coffee Makers that will work on induction, some well-priced Wood Fibre Chopping Boards and some rather nice new Bistro Riveted Handle Cutlery in 4 colours. These last three lines will be arriving in the next few weeks, so watch this space.

However, for today the item that’s already arrived is the Global GS-89 Try Me Cook’s Knife 13cm. 

To my surprise, I’m a little more than slightly enthused at this modestly sized cooks knife. A little more than slightly enthused because despite it being Global (whose metal handles don't tend to sit so well in my hand) when I picked it up and cut my lunch time salad with it, my knuckles didn’t hit the chopping board and the blade was long enough to do the job. Being Global it is fiercely sharp so slicing tomatoes thin enough to see through, wouldn’t be problematic either and yes, the blade's big enough for many things that I’d throw at it, baring say cabbage. Swede, obviously, would be right out.

Do remember that knives, even Global, need sharpening. You could use the Robert Welch one I talked about last week, at a pinch, or better, invest in the MinoSharp which is almost perfection itself. Why almost? Because the ideal is to use a whet stone, which I can sell you. But are you really going to get that out once the novelty has worn off…? However, if you are feeling flush I will without hesitation recommend the Horl 3, no more stylish a way to sharpen your knives, but comes at a price.

The RRP of the Global GS-89 Try Me Cook’s Knife 13cm is £80, but Grunwerg have priced it at a rather more sensible £50. And, out of the goodness of my heart, this weekend you can take another 20% off with code GLOBAL20.

So, ONLY £40!

Ok, that’s as salesey as it's going to get.

​Le Creuset Toughened Non Stick (TNS) Deep Frying Pan 30cm RRP £199

Yup, yet another overstocked line from this fine brand. I’m not sure I had my marbles engaged when I allowed the last order of TNS to go out, as for the last three weeks I’ve been flogging you TNS overstocks at eye wateringly low prices. Looking on the bright side, in buying them (and thank you if you have) you are making more room in our stock rooms for the plethora of new products that Le Creuset are constantly developing.

So, this is either a deep and very large frying pan or it could pass muster as a sauté pan, just about. We'd use this at home not only for frying meat or sauteing potatoes but even making a risotto. It’s a substantial bit of cookware, especially at the price we are offering it at, £199 down to £139.

“That really is the last hard sell.”

Lastly some unsold Le Creuset Cappuccino Mugs from last Xmas 2025.

We've a few dozen of these cappuccino mugs left in three colours White, Artichoke & Cerise. What can I say about a mug?

I’ve got about a dozen of the undecorated plain versions at home. Are they my everyday go to? No, the bigger 350ml is. Are they nice for a good strong coffee every now and then? Yes. I wouldn’t want to be without them. Unlike typical Le Creuset mugs, these are individually boxed, so might make good early Xmas presents as well, assuming you can resist keeping them for yourself. I’ll leave you to decide. Normally they are £18, currently reduced to £12.

So there you are, I've ended on a soft sell.

Well, that’s it for this week.

I hope you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend,

Warm regards,

Andrew