Thread by @Leaky_cheese

Friday think: will Games Workshop be able to meet customer demand for Leviathan 10th Ed starter sets 🤔

I recently ran 2 polls asking if people thought if there would be enough stock, and if GW's website could handle the launch.

Let's begin /1

#Warmongers #warhammer40000

The 1st poll asked if people thought if there would be enough sets to go round.

Only 1 in 5 people voted yes, and almost 2/3 said no.

Or to look at it another way, there was a 3:1 ratio of those not thinking there will be stock to those who did.

So not great confidence here /2

I found this result interesting as GW's last 3 summer launch boxes did not experience stock scarcity.

Age of Darkness, AoS Dominion and 40K Indomitus (while it had a wobbly start, availability was ultimately not an issue).

So what's going on here, why such low confidence? /3

I suspect that recent low availability of products is shaping perceptions here as to what to expect with Leviathan.

There are a large number of statements and rumours suggesting to the contrary, but there is something of a "brand image" problem here for Games Workshop /4

Okay, so what about that 2nd poll?

While votes were much lower, opinion was heavily polarised: almost 10:1 people thought GW's website won't be able to handle launch day.

Again, recent performance plays a part, but past summer launches have experienced problems e.g the queue /5

Here there is more than just an issue of a few (or many) bad customer experiences, Games Workshop's CEO has acknowledged development issues with their webstore.

Seems unlikely this will be fixed in time for the expected mid-late June pre-order and end June launch /6

Closing thoughts: Games Workshop has developed a brand perception of stock scarcity and webstore that can't deliver a 2020's tier online shopping experience.

Events of the past 5 months have crystallised this view around the whole brand, not just a few products. This is bad /7

Okay, now my personal opinion on the upcoming launch of Leviathan.

1. Do I think there will be enough sets to go round, keeping the scalpers away? Almost certainly yes.

2. Will buying online from GW be a smooth experience? Unfortunately, no dice. Best case: queuing system /8

Advice?

Short of GW's website being fixed in the next 6 weeks, not much. Online from GW = pain.

If you can, use a local GW store or FLGS to secure a copy, thus avoiding the webstore entirely.

I hope this was interesting, and my thanks again to everyone who joined in the polls.

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