Dear Customers, Suppliers and Fechtner Modeling Fans,
the year is slowly but surely coming to an end and the festive activities for Christmas are in full swing. Time for us to reflect on the year again, to introduce you to further developments and to simply say THANK YOU.
Review
About two and a half years ago, we decided to fundamentally redesign our website. Since then, we have been basing ourselves on our core values, but have left no stone on the other, every facet behind our Buisness daily re-questioned to offer you the best possible shopping experience at a fair price.
These steps were necessary to succeed in a competitive environment in the market.
Although 2017's steps were less obvious to you, as we have worked a lot on internal processes, the bare numbers make us very confident for the year ahead. We have sent 2017 about 78% more packages than in the year 2016. A value that has surpassed our most ambitious plans by far and has also given us one or the other challenge.
Throughout the year, we have received a tremendous response and much praise for our online shop and the internal processing. The fact that we actively demand your feedback on valuation fees after a purchase process is intended to show that your experience and your feedback are extremely important to us. Like last year, we took your criticism, your wishes but also your praise to heart and included in the planning for the year 2018.
A big thank you to 30% about taking the opportunity to evaluate their shopping experience and publish. A value that is extremely high in online trading. If you add the result of your review, we think that 4,88 from 5 stars will help us to get it right.
If something did not go as desired, we place increased value on a good service and try to work out the best possible solution together with you.
Also our offline appearance has changed a bit. Anyone who has visited the fair in Friedrichshafen can tell you about it. 
After two years of productive operation of our new online shop, we would like to introduce you once again to you, which changed everything for you last year.
- Improved usability
- New shipping cost system (with significantly reduced shipping costs)
- Revision of our product portfolio
- Improvement of our search function (here we continue to work - because we are not satisfied yet)
- Integration of four new payment options
And these are just a few innovations. And do not worry, 2018 are again making some big changes.
I would like to say a big thank you to our employees. And thank you for your commitment. Especially in the Christmas business, connected with the Nachmessegeschäft you have done a great job and made the almost impossible.
Also a big thank you to our suppliers. Thank you for the great cooperation, the sometimes hard but successful negotiations and the common ideas we could implement. Together we look forward to an exciting year 2018 with new challenges.
Outlook
As we said, we take the customer reviews extremely seriously. As in the previous year, we will be adjusting the shipping costs. Especially our friends from Austria are happy, we will be able to significantly reduce shipping costs from 01.01.2018.
In addition, we will soon offer optional DHL Express, so you can get your goods even faster.
Here it is also time to thank DHL for the great cooperation. Whether parcel, express or freight, we have found a reliable service provider with you, even if something did not work has found a quick solution with us together.
The inclusion of additional services, such as the evening delivery or desired locations, has been somewhat reserved, but not forgotten. These will be submitted promptly. Unfortunately, there were a few difficulties that prevented a quick implementation.
Furthermore, we still have many ideas in the drawer waiting to be implemented. In terms of software solutions, offline presence, product range and suppliers, we will once again surprise 2018 with one or the other.
At this point we can not give any details, but it will definitely be worthwhile to check back regularly.
Best wishes
Finally, we would like to thank you again for your loyalty and your trust. The entire Fechtner-Modellbau team wishes you and your families a Merry Christmas, a relaxing end to the year and a good start to the year 2018.
We hope all ordered gifts arrived in time.
Your Fechtner Model Team