Lumex has informed us that they are discontinuing the RJ4301 junior rollator. According to the memo, it is being “superseded” by the RJ4302 . As I pointed out in a recent blog post, the RJ4302 is a little wider than the RJ4301. Apparently, sales were slow on the RJ4301 junior rollator, and it no longer makes sense to have both junior rollator models.

Drive Medical has introduced the Silver Sport 1 and Silver Sport 2 wheelchairs as their new economy models. The Silver Sport 1 replaces the Winnie and Saturn models, while the Silver Sport 2 replaces the Winnie II.

The Silver Sport 1 is a single axle chair. It is available only in 18” seat width. It has an attractive silver vein finish with nylon upholstery which gives it a sleek modern look. 

The Silver Sport 2 is a dual axle chair. It is available in 16”, 18” and 20” seat widths. It too has a silver vein finish, but has embossed vinyl upholstery (as opposed to the nylon in the Silver Sport 1).

Both models are available with a choice of swingaway footrests or elevating legrests. All configurations have a choice of Fixed Full Length Arms, or Detachable Desk Length Arms, except for the 20” Silver Sport 2 which is only available with Detachable Desk Length Arms. 

We have broken the new Silver Sport models into three product pages: Silver Sport 1, Silver Sport 2 and 20” Silver Sport 2.

For 2008, Drive Medical has switched several models to ship standard with underseat pouches, and now offer the basket as an option. In the past, the pouch was usually an option, and the basket came standard. This can be a little confusing as the model numbers didn't change. In fact, there was a short changeover period where we couldn't be sure if the rollator customer would get the old version rollator with the basket or the new version with a pouch. Thankfully, the transition seems to be complete. The models we offer that are affected by this include the R6, R8 LBPS and 10208PS. For those that want the basket, it has to be ordered as an option. The pouch is now part of the rollator product and is included in the box, so that will be received regardless. As mentioned in previous blog entries, the advantage of a pouch is that it collapses with the rollator when empty.

Now you see it, now you don’t. As some of you may have noticed, the Invacare Junior rollator (model 65350GR) that I blogged about back in August is no longer offered on our website. The main reason for this is unpredictable availability. The second reason is that it is only offered in green.

But fret not. In its place we have added Three Junior Walker Rollator models. I would like to take this opportunity to point out the highlights of each.

As I mentioned in the earlier post, the Lumex RJ4301 Walkabout Junior Rollator was not for everyone, as it was quite narrow. The Lumex RJ4300 Walkabout Standard Rollator was the correct width for these individuals, but was too tall. So for the Goldilocks’ out there, we now offer the Lumex RJ4302 Walkabout Hemi Rollator – which is “just right”. Its width is identical to the RJ4300, but is designed for shorter individuals.

Actually, all of the three newly added models are for average width adults. Aside from the slight differences in the various dimensions (which can be viewed in the product specifications tab), the main difference between them is the basket. The Lumex Hemi rollator (RJ4302) has an under-seat basket. The Petite Walker Rollator Deluxe (HL400) has a front mounted basket. The Drive Medical 301PS has an under-seat pouch instead of a basket, which doesn’t have to be removed when folding (assuming the pouch is basically empty).

As you may recall, Drive’s initial offering, the 301, had a plastic seat. Many customers requested a padded seat option, and so they added the 301PS model. The 301 is still available for those who prefer a plastic seat (at least for the time being), and is the only Junior Rollator we offer that has that. Please note the 301 has a front mounted basket, unlike the pouch on the 301PS.

Each product on our website has a unique model number such as R6, RJ4300, etc.. However, a lot of products are available in various configurations. For example, the two products just mentioned are Rollators that are available in various colors. Do all the colors really share the same model number? No. In general, each variation of a product has a unique identifier, its SKU number.

Sometimes, manufacturers give the product a “product name”, for lack of a better term. Take the SilverSport2 wheelchair from Drive Medical as an example. None of the actual SKUs even have the word SilverSport in it. Rather the model #s look like SSP216FA-SF. In this case, the SKU gives a hint as to what the product configuration is. SSP2 stands for SilverSport2. The number 16 indicates that the seat width of the wheelchair is 16”. FA means it has fixed arms. The SF at the end tells us that it has swing-away footrests.

In other cases, the “product name” is actually a portion of the SKU. The blue R6 is R6BL, the red R6 is R6RD, and so on. All this can be a little confusing if someone knows the exact SKU that they are looking for. But it gets worse.

In yet other cases, the SKUs of a product have nothing to do with its known name. Let’s use the Drive Medical Cuiser III as as example. Drive has no less than 18 unique SKUs for the CruiserIII. The SKUs look like K316DDA-SF, K318ADDA-ELR, etc. In this particular case, we decided to use K318 as the model number on our site, despite the fact that not all model numbers even contain the characters K318. Admittedly, as I write this blog post, it occurs to me that a better idea would have been to call it CruiserIII, as we did for the SilverSport2. Perhaps we will change it, perhaps not. J.

There is no perfect solution. We believe the system we implemented is the most straight-forward. The average customer doesn’t want to be busy with the technicalities of the various SKU numbers when ordering their product. They just want to select the options they want on the product page, and add the product to their cart. The fact that this obscures the actual SKU number of the product as configured is not an issue to them.