New Escape Trailer Website .....

[azjack]

It's never cold here, except when it did get down to 17f a few years ago and split a copper pipe in my attic. That reminded me of Minot, ND when I had to remove my VW's battery at night and bring it inside.
AZjack

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Micheal K

Agree with you on keeping the build weight down, we did that as well for our 19 but made an exception for.... you guessed it.... the extra insulation and thermal windows. I suspect very few trailers were ordered without the option.

I agree. For me this is the very first option I would use, no matter my home location. When Reace first started offering this it was new thus an option, and they wanted buyers to understand where the cost increases came from. But now with almost every trailer getting that, it would be easier to just make it standard, execpt the base price would go up.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

Looks like you now have to sign up before you can build a trailer on line. Not something you have to do when pricing out a car or truck on line. Kind of puts me off.

I've been an online shopper/looker for years. IF a site wants my personal information and all I'm doing is looking and checking, I put in a VALID address/phone, but phony name. The local police department and close by service station are my favorites to use . Just depends on the site which I use. More than one way to skin a cat

[elongest]

Looks like Escape is trying to copy Scamps evergreen tree logo. Scamp has used evergreen trees for their logo since the 70's. Just changing the color from green to red I would think is not that much of a change. I think they need to stick with a Maple leaf for a logo.

Eddie

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I've been an online shopper/looker for years. IF a site wants my personal information and all I'm doing is looking and checking, I put in a VALID address/phone, but phony name. The local police department and close by service station are my favorites to use . Just depends on the site which I use. More than one way to skin a cat

Donna, I'm with you on not entering my real name and address if I'm browsing. Given that, what's the point of even asking for it on the website? It's not going to give "sales" valid data and just ticks off potential buyers.

The place to ask for personal info is the "Contact Us" screen. I don't mind giving out my name and address if I want them to contact me. That screen is already there so whoever is creating the website should DELETE the entry screen now required to allow potential buyers to view options and prices.

Maybe just add a link to the Contact Us screen from the options/pricing screen with a "To request a trailer viewing or info" hot button.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I've been an online shopper/looker for years. IF a site wants my personal information and all I'm doing is looking and checking, I put in a VALID address/phone, but phony name. The local police department and close by service station are my favorites to use

I just did something similar with the Escape site, but rather than risk harassing innocent people with junk mail and calls, I used Escape's own address, as I have with other manufacturers. I used a random and invalid ten-digit number, assuming that their system is not bright enough to check it, but the office number would work, too... even better, the fax number if they still have one.

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

Donna, I'm with you on not entering my real name and address if I'm browsing. Given that, what's the point of even asking for it on the website? It's not going to give "sales" valid data and just ticks off potential buyers.

I agree. Apparently someone in marketing doesn't understand that they are collecting junk and annoying people. I hope the problem isn't that they don't care.

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

The place to ask for personal info is the "Contact Info" screen. I don't mind giving out my name and address if I want them to contact me.

The request for information about new products (when it becomes available) is also a valid case for collecting contact information, but even then they only need relevant information. If I'm not asking for a phone call or paper mail, they don't need my phone number or mailing address.

[Brian B-P]

There has been a bunch of discussion of the tire cover. While that's not directly a website issue, it is part of the branding changes which accompany the new site. Bringing the two back together, I see that the Escape Difference page features a very nice picture of a 21' set up in camp... with a Texas tire cover. A perfectly good thing for that owner, but featured on the manufacturer's website of a "proudly made in Canada" product? This - like fuzzing out the license plate - is what photo editing software is for.

[EdColorado]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I see that the Escape Difference page features a very nice picture of a 21' set up in camp... with a Texas tire cover. A perfectly good thing for that owner, but featured on the manufacturer's website of a "proudly made in Canada" product? This - like fuzzing out the license plate - is what photo editing software is for.

ETI put the sales to US buyers at about 70%. Rease in one of the early videos he did, put the figure in the 80% range. If you're the seller, what market do you focus on? The 70-80% or the 20-30%?

I suspect ETI has gone back for several years and broken down sales by Province and state. The selection of the Pine Knot rally to attend was not a random choice. I suspect that of all states, their research indicated that most buyers were from Texas. Hence the TX tire cover and TX rally. Simply selling to the largest market which is just what you would expect.

Personally, I don't see an inconsistency between the 'proudly made in BC' decal and the TX tire cover. I see good marketing. A top quality Canadian product being promoted in its largest market.

[mcdonner]

Watch your driveway. LOL.

[daviddesjardins]

Originally Posted by elongest

Looks like Escape is trying to copy Scamps evergreen tree logo. Scamp has used evergreen trees for their logo since the 70's. Just changing the color from green to red I would think is not that much of a change. I think they need to stick with a Maple leaf for a logo.

Eddie

No sir. That piece of clip art has been around for a number of years at Escape, and was used on T-Shirts among other items. There are no plans to elevate it's use as a component of the brand.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

Personally, I don't see an inconsistency between the 'proudly made in BC' decal and the TX tire cover. I see good marketing. A top quality Canadian product being promoted in its largest market.

Sure, I see your logic. When I see a Canadian logo on a U.S. product in an ad from a U.S. supplier, maybe I'll buy the validity. My guess is it was just not thinking about the content of the photo. Manufacturer's advertising is usually careful to show the product in the form that they sell it, or to explicitly acknowledge non-standard equipment or features, and in this case it actually replaces a stock item with a logo.

[daviddesjardins]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Sure, I see your logic. When I see a Canadian logo on a U.S. product in an ad from a U.S. supplier, maybe I'll buy the validity. My guess is it was just not thinking about the content of the photo. Manufacturer's advertising is usually careful to show the product in the form that they sell it, or to explicitly acknowledge non-standard equipment or features, and in this case it actually replaces a stock item with a logo.

You hit the nail on the head

We are in the process of having professional images (and video) shot to manage shot framing, features clearly visible, plates properly obscured, etc. Its part of the marketing refresh, and we hope to have that completed before the end of the year. The updated web site was just the start.

David

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by daviddesjardins

We are in the process of having professional images (and video) shot to manage shot framing, features clearly visible, plates properly obscured, etc. Its part of the marketing refresh, and we hope to have that completed before the end of the year. The updated web site was just the start.

Thanks, David.

A suggestion: include views of all sides of the trailers, not just curbside profile and front 3/4 as provided for the 5.0TA (and presumably others). In particular, the rear photos are helpful for explaining the tail lamp setup, and the street side photos are helpful for explaining the configuration of the service items.

It can be frustrating for customers to lose functionality of a web site because the site was not fully developed (or at least developed to match existing functionality) before it was rolled out. The other views are not all that is missing.

[gbaglo]

I had a shot in mind years ago. A train of Escape models and various tow vehicles climbing winding Chilliwack Mountain Road.

[cpaharley2008]

I filled out the form and Joldie just responded, she was my salesperson on my 2019 unit, she thanked me for "playing", I asked her so leak me some photos of the mock layout. We shall see...

[Marry]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I filled out the form and Joldie just responded, she was my salesperson on my 2019 unit, she thanked me for "playing", I asked her so leak me some photos of the mock layout. We shall see...

[Edwards13]

Originally Posted by Bill and Earline

I have to agree with Steve on this one. Did I just say that?

As an American owner for the last 5 years, I really like that our Escape says: "Made in British Columbia" on the trailer and "Proudly made in Canada" on the tire cover.

Certain countries of origin add perceptions of value: Belgian chocolate, French wine, Swiss watches, Himalayan salt.

Exclusivity and Built to Order also have a certain value. I like that people are amazed that we would drive thousands of miles to get a special trailer at the factory in B.C.

Americans also assume that if an RV is good enough for the cold north, it should be even better in the states.

Hang on to that Canadian Heritage, even if the majority of sales are now in the U.S.

Read your quote and LOVED it!! From a VERY PROUD CANADIAN, thank you for that!!

I read your quote before I read who it was from: Of course it would be from Bill and Earline. Two of my very favourite American Escapees!!

Love you,
Carol Edwards, Chilliwack
That little 13B you love Earline

[daviddesjardins]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I filled out the form and Joldie just responded, she was my salesperson on my 2019 unit, she thanked me for "playing", I asked her so leak me some photos of the mock layout. We shall see...

You need not worry - we'll be sending out images as soon as it's practical.

[Jesse]

The old options page was way superior to the new debacle. It had the camera icon on some options that showed a picture of the option installed. So much better.
Please go back to that format. It made choosing our options so much easier on our 5.0TA order.

[daviddesjardins]

Originally Posted by Jesse

The old options page was way superior to the new debacle. It had the camera icon on some options that showed a picture of the option installed. So much better.
Please go back to that format. It made choosing our options so much easier on our 5.0TA order.

HI Jesse -

Thank you for the feedback!

We're actively looking at ways to improve the experience of ordering a trailer. We had a much more involved process in the original design - realtime swapping out of countertops, fabrics etc - but it didn't work well for all customers. We went back to the drawing board for the next release of the site.

We will likely have some interim updates to improve the experience before we release something more robust (and easier) to use.

Regards,

David