Where to Open A Shop

Well, here is my dilemma. I opened my first shop in a mall. There seems to be very little traffic. Barely anyone even clicks on the free shirt box. In about one month I think I sold 2 things. I don't have the huge amount of lindens to advertise, so between the low traffic and low advertising budget, my store just won't get seen.

I was thinking of opening up a second shop in hopes that the more visibility, the more I might sell. But I don't know where to look.

I don't think many people in SL "walk the malls". I think most use the search feature for something they want, they tp to the shop, look around, and return to the search feature to go to the next place.

If I try and find a mall with a lot of traffic, it usually correlates to bigger lag and camping. To me, traffic does not mean traffic to my shop. It can mean a very definitive spot where people camp.

Being next to a popular store might help, but they are not easy to find, and in some cases, the rent vs. prims allowed doesn't make this feasible.

I have also considered renting land and putting my own shop up, but there I am solely reliant on my own advertising, again, a problem.

I did put some things in SLExchange, but I wanted some advice from others who have opened shops. Is there any good formula for where to open a shop that can offer the best return at reasonable rates?

Thank you.

Dmitriy

that's pretty much what i do. i rarely walk around a mall just to window shop.

you might try spending money on adversiting.

also, if you'd describe just what you do sell, ppl here might have suggestions of places to rent.

Great idea. Furniture for home and garden, and memorabilia such as movie posters and photos.

I manage Themed sims, consider opening a shop there as a main store. Its only $1L per prim for about 6 more weeks, so its a really good deal for you.

The reason people don't mall-walk is because they are shopping for a specific type of item. Mall walking is simply too random.

What you might want to do is look for shops selling things that complement your product lines, and either try to open up a shop next door, or better yet try to rent some space right in their store.

For instance, people that are shopping for house prefabs are probably also shopping for furniture so find a house builder that doesn't have a furniture selection. (although I think most prefab builders also have a furniture store right there).

What you want is someone who's products complement you, but who doesn't produce a directly competing product.

Also, try to network in person with people who might help you sell your product. If you can find someone who does regular interior design work, maybe you can get them to use some of your work in their designs. (perhaps a discount to interior designers?)

Just a few thoughts.

I disagree, people do mall walk however there's a LOT of malls and most malls people walk will be themed. For example the Sensations Mall, BDSM/Gor products for the most part. Simone's store has other vendors related to clothing, same with Nomine etc.

However the random malls don't tend to get so much traffic probably because they're just that. Random, no theme, no real reason to go there.

On a low budget then probably the best thing to do is get a premium account ( or rent 512 sqm off another landholder ) and get hold of a 512 plot of land. Maybe put a small store on it but the main thing you'll put there is your SLX and SLB servers.

Until your a bigger store that's all you really need to do.

Hi Dmitriy.

First, putting your stuff on SLX is a very good thing to do. The fees page says they only charge commission for basic listings, so it costs you nothing to post detailed descriptions and several pictures for each item you sell.

It's also a much easier way for buyers to find your stuff, because the SLX search works WAY better than the SL in-world search (which is all but pointless for most things).

And people can browse your stuff even when they can't get into SL (not that any of us SLX shop during work hours, nooooo, that would be wrong ).

And you can put a link to your in-world shop in the description for each item. Instant cross-marketing.

I also suggest starting your own personal product blog, aimed solely at announcing and selling your products. The extra bonus about this is that your fans (if you get some) can subscribe to the RSS feeds so they are notified anytime you release something new.


Excellent suggestion in my opinion. If you pay a year in advance, premium membership is only $6 per month, and you about $4.50 of that back in the weekly L$300 stipend. So for net $1.50 a month, you can have your very own location. Having a stable location is important for return business.

As for location: Do you best to find something pretty, but accept that things can and do change.

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One final suggestion: Post in the new product announcement forums here. Look down the forum list, under classifieds.

Good luck.

I also walk in malls. Well, I'll search for something, go to that store, and then wander around the nearby area, and if happens to be in a mall, I end up wandering a mall.

Oh, and I never shop through SLX or SLB (SLB?), though I was tempted by Brenda's panties. Just 1000 lindens.

Hi Dimitriy,

Well, I'm one of those people who dislike large malls, in RL and SL. I will visit one if it is themed to a particular product as someone mentioned. When I visit a mall, it's usually one of the smaller ones that are part of a community of some kind, like Mills Pond for instance.

As for my own business...it's a resale shop, so of course I don't list on SLX - but I do think that's a great idea. I personally do about 50% of all of my SL shopping on SLX and On Rez. I usually will then visit a store in-world based on what I see on a listing by following the pics on the creators profile.

My suggestion about location is to perhaps look into the private sims that offer commercial rental plots. I searched for about 4 weeks until I found the perfect spot in an area that is very pretty near other businesses that compliment my own (as someone else mentioned). The foot traffic has steadily increased over the months I have been there and several customers have told me they wandered over from one of the other shops. It took me awhile, but my patience paid off in the end.

Oh, and do advertise. 50L goes along way for a classified ad. Also, an occasional mention in the forums helps too.

Best of luck, hope this helps.

Sol

Most of the time, if I shop at a large mall, I am looking for something specific that I found via Search. I'm in and out via TP. I never even see most of the stores.

But today, I wanted to check out what a mall that I had never before been to had to offer. The mall ad indicated I would find a particular type of merchandise that I was shopping for, but didn't say where in the mall that might be. SO I spent an hour or more Mall Walking. Looking for pose balls and certain other items.

Problem was... 75% of the merchants whose stalls I passed, I never saw what they offered. Their vendor art never rezzed while I was around to see it. Too many textures, in too small a space, and my puny video card can't keep up.

So... I could stand in front of each shop for several minutes, and wait to see what shows up... Or I could do what I did. Walk fast, put my cursor over a random item in each booth, and read the mouseover text, if any. "Oh - this one is selling skirts. Not what I am here for"... "Shoes. Nope." ... "That one looks promising... (waits) No, I already have that."

Themed malls can get more traffic for themed merchandise.

But one thing that can help, a LOT, is to at least optimize the graphics on your store sign. If your sign rezzes fast, and describes well what you sell, people who are looking for that sort of merchandise are more likely to wait for your higher-rez vendor art to become visible.

Personally,I love walking through malls. I seem to find a lot of designers that way.