What attracts you to a shop in Second Life?

This is my first thread, so hopefully I am not stepping on anyone's toes. I figured this was an economy question. I am working with some friends on some stuff and was wondering, what is it that attracts you to any specific store in SL? Is it product? Atmostphere?

I appreciate any feedback that anyone may be willing to offer. Also, to any moderators, if this is in the wrong forum, could you please help me locate it properly?

Thank you.

Shar Murakami

Ease of locating the things I am looking for. An attractive environment, that doesn't look like it was made by a kindergartener.

Lighting is nice, too. I was at a shop a few days ago that was so dark that even when I had forced Noon, I couldn't read the displays.

Bribery helps, too.

P2

I myself am not much of a shopper. But, I would assume that if they product is desirable that it doesn't matter what place looks like it's going to get traffic.

Now, on a personal note... I love to window shop. Not only to look at products but to look at stores. A lot of the time I won't even look at the products available, but will hang out at the store to just look and enjoy myself in some one else's amazing creativity and talent.

Your best tools to get people to shop at your store are going to be the parcel description and a well written classified (with unique and precise key words).

Beyond that, customer recommendations are huge. I'm sure that many of my sales come from one customer recommending it to another one. So I guess the quality of the product is a big part of that, but also customer service is a big part of that.

However, a well built store with a kewl atmosphere can only help. I do sometimes come across shops/malls that are very poorly built (overlapping textures for instance) and I wonder about the quality of the products when the quality of the store itself is lacking.

I remember Barerose's first shop. It was a box on a 512 sqm plot. The store itself couldn't be more plain. Just some walls in the shape of a rectangle. But the CLOTHES! Wow! June's initial designs were so intricate and awesome and cheap too! Word of mouth about great products were the clincher here.

My gf spends about $50 worth of L$ per month shopping and what Keiki says plays a huge role in her returning to the same stores over and over again. Personally the customer service is a big draw for me and most shop owners wll come down to their shop when you IM them to help you out. A rude shop owner, and I have met very few, loses my business immediately and permanently.

Someone who operates an RL company inside SL, and a successul one at that, once told me they did a survey, and they found the more RL the environment, the more was sold. I thought that was kinda interesting.

Other than that, as Phoenix said, a nice professional looking environment (if your building skills aren't quite up to it, and you can afford it, paying an experienced builder is probably a good investement in presentation). I usually shop at stand-alone stores too, rather than malls. Good products. Good presentation of products. If I'm umming and ahhing over a product, if the pictures don't look so hot, I tend to decide against it. If it's wearable, and at all pricey or fit-dependant, demos are great. I won't touch something like hair or a skin without a demo. Even things like vehicles are good to demo if you have the space, it definitely helped sell me a Dominus Shadow when I sat in one and played around with all the options. If it's made of prims, display items are good, and holo-vendors are great for achieving this without chewing up all your prims.

In terms of getting people there in the first place, I (and a lot of people I know) tend to disregard traffic, it's not necessarily a good indicator. Using lots of keywords for your product and style in the 'About Land' tab, and in classifieds is a good idea, then they will show up in a Find search. There's so many places I would have found sooner, but they don't show up in Find because of the lack of keywords. Classifieds work well, but there's no need to spend a fortune on them as some do. I've found spending the minimum L$50 still reaps a pretty good return.

Don't overlook the picks on your profile! I've found many a good place from other people's profiles, people look at them all the time, and I've been hired for work by people I didn't know because they happened to check out my profile. The banners in people's forum sigs work for me also, if something looks interesting, I'll check it out.

Keeping them: good, friendly service. Groups can be good if you build a bit of a clientele, to let them know about new products, and do things like promotional competitions. My partner's in a few groups for her favourite stores, she's won a couple of neat things lately this way, and it definitely inspires customer loyalty. Don't overwork it though, to the point where you're spamming. Which reminds me, Ylusive is religious in her use of the forum classifieds, that definitely gets good exposure.

That's about all I can think of right now.

Oh and I think this forum is fine for your thread, although General would get a better cross-section, and more actual consumers. I don't know if the res-mods would see fit to move it back to here though, but they wouldn't get angry about it even if they did. Maybe try a poll when you have enough ideas from these replies to come up with some good poll options. More people will answer a poll than reply to a thread.

Hope that helps a bit.

I have no idea how typical a consumer I am, but...

What gets me to a store in the first place is, in order of preference: a recommendation from someone I know ISL; a well-titled post (item and store name) in the new products section of this forum with photos, permissions, prices, and a location; a search on keywords under places or classfieds; and something interesting in someone's picks.

Being able to find what I want is THE most important thing I look for in a visit to a new store. If the store is huge and isn't clearly broken into departments, I am never going to hang around waiting for it all to rez in the hopes I can find things. (And department signs named "Object" don't help while I am waiting for stuff to rez - naming them "Dresses" or whatever is a much better idea.) I don't even go to malls for this reason. Having a consistent "New Product" section is very useful for places I regularly shop.

A huge thing for me is information - How many prims in this? What are the permissions? Does this texture tile seamlessly? You have no idea how many times I see stuff in a vendor and cannot tell basic stuff like that. I'm not buying something to find out that cute seat is 50 prims or that I can't transfer an item to the person to whom I'd hoped to give it.

The rest of the things other people have pretty well covered - lighted displays, so I can easily see the merchandise; demos, so I can try stuff; etc. And I agree about not spending a bunch on classifieds. I often start at the $50 end of the list and work UP. I figure most of the places dropping an obscene amount on an ad, I have already heard about.

Forums New Products WITH PHOTOS is the first thing that attracts me to a shop--so, product is the first thing. Making your photo clear, attractive, and non-cluttered is important. Also, being sure to attach a landmark to the ad or to have a link in your in-world profile Picks tab is very important.

Second thing that draws me to a shop is seeing the product on someone else and asking them where they bought it. Sometimes they can't remember or refuse to say, but more often than not they will and will provide a landmark for you.

Third, a recommendation from someone who has used your service is very important. I cruise different blogs and third-party sites for reviews of products, product announcements and photos of the products. Some designers neglect to use the SL Forums New Products announcements, so these third party sites have become increasingly important for advertising.

For furniture, I won't buy it unless there is a display piece at the shop so I can see the textures clearly and test the poses before purchase.

As for build, I tend to return more often if the shop space is uncluttered and attractive, the build is really nice/immersive, or if the designer is one who updates often. I "make my rounds" of some designers two or three times a week, depending on what I know about their frequency of getting out new releases.

To a new shop - new products ads with either photos or something interesting to say occasionally.

To actually buy - being able to find the stuff quickly and easily. There's no single method that's the best for that, but clear signs certainly helps.

To keep going back... price and a range of things I like to buy. Customer service I hope never to have to use, but rude folks tend not to get repeat custom if I do need it.

These have all be great responses. Thank you all. Any and all feedback is great.

i would also like to say thank you to everyone that posted replies. great knowledge within this post.!! thank you all for spending some time writing some good resposnces.

Somebody weighed in against malls. In the general case of big, uncollected masses of stores, I think this is right; there just isn't much about a place like that to draw me in. Another problem with malls is that they are often too much crowded into too little space; the overwhelming number of textures crowded into a small space means rez problems.

THEMED malls, on the other hand, especially ones located in strongly themed sims, are another story. Amsterdam and Renfest Island are two examples that come to mind, and the just-opened Provincetown looks promising as well. If you are selling merchandise that is a good fit with the theme of one of these places, it can be a good location for a store -- either the main store for a small merchant, or a satellite store for a big one.

(Disclosure: I am a Renfest Island merchant.)

I have to echo what a few others said above, what gets me to hit the teleport button is a well written description and pictures. I want to see the kinds of things the shop is selling and the style, not some damn designers logo. Make it easy and convenient for me to spend money....


As a content creator, I always put the number of prims and permissions in the item description. In my early days in SL I almost bought a nice gazebo but there wasn't one set up (mistake #1), there was no prim count on the info sheet or the vendor description (mistake #2) and I never got a return IM from the seller as to how many prims it was (mistake #3). So, a sale was lost and I've never forgotten that experience when I learned to build. If you have a small shop with less than 20 items I strongly suggest putting together a catalog notecard that shoppers can take away with them. I don't put prices on mine but I do put in pictures, sizes, prim counts, etc... I would especially do this if you are making items that are specialized or there is a lot of competition. Someone shopping for a sofa will probably look in 10 or more furniture shops; giving them your notecard keeps your product fresh in their mind and they can refer back to it. (I'm another one that won't buy furniture or houses without seeing one set up.)

The initial attraction is a picture and description under "places" that lets me know what the merchandise looks like, I stay if the merchandise appears in a reasonable time (low lag and quick loading textures) I'll buy if the prices are reasonable.

One section wasn't really covered so far. For scripted gadgets stores aren't that important... as slex and slboutique provide a very wide range of products of nearly all creators.
If I think creators I found at slex or slboutique provide interesting stuff I often check their stores to find more of them or to judge the overall quality a creator provides.

I prefer descriptions that sound like owner notecards. If something is described too florid or the pictures don't really show the thingy in action I get doubts rather quickly. For a gadget that catched my interest it is also good to have it somewhere for display or even in an existing demo if this is possible. If this is the case I almost ever go there to have a closer look.

For cars/motorbikes and other vehicles I would like to see more that the creators provide their vehicles also at Busy Ben's vehicle lot and promote the previews where everyone gets 5k L$ (in 1.11preview this is not the case but in 1.12preview) to testdrive their creations (1.12 preview is full of orphan Dominus cars as you can't delete/take them back in a preview). If only a few more sims with road areas would be running there...

I don't really shop, but I do own one. I think that with the info I gathered over the course of time I think these are important factors:

-Openness of design; no low ceilings, don't put products close to eachother, make sure that there is some "logic" so that people can easily browse and walk a route that takes them by all products.
-Accurate product display; A picture is nice, but a real model is so much better. People enjoy looking around things more than a picture. If you have anything that is 3d (so anything but clothes and textures basically) put it in your store. Though that doesn't mean pictures aren't important!
-Visual attractiveness; well, this one's kinda obvious and doesn't need much explaining. Just make sure your store looks classy

I hope that helped a bit

Lots of times, I get the idea to buy something from seeing it in-world. I'll Edit it to find out who made it, then look at their Picks so I can go and browse their store.

Openess... I hate navigating camera angles around multiple walls.
My biggest consideration is going to a shop that doesnt have a million vending machines. Lag can be a killer to shopping enough without a million jevn stands, etc.

Though real life calls and there is much to do in SL, I find it especialy refreshing to go into a shop and find the owner there. Makes it nice even if just for the ambiance.

My 2 cents..

Sounds like ads work then.

I don't shop much but,

Don't make it hard to find the doors. Better yet make your windows non physical. It sucks to fly somewhere and be unable to figure out how to get in.

I read all of these and my store is beginning to be rather full and I feel bad. I list the permissions neatly, but the prim count I do not (maybe I should). I organized everything neatly in catagories, so that helps.

I am looking at getting a bigger, better store, but where in the world do I get one from with high ceilings and an open layout? The ones I looked at all where one story high with no room at all. I need one to be fairly big and do not have a clue other than making one on my own, but that takes time when I could be making more clothing. Plus the fact that the buildings I make are not as nice as some I've seen at other places.

If I have to look for the store after I teleport I don't bother.

Again, I'm glad this topic is getting a lot of feedback. Thank you all.

It seems there's some listed in commercial structures part of slExchange ... i see at least one modular mall/shop thing with 2 floors by default, along with all kinds of tower buildings and such ^^;;

I prefer stores that are very open, easy to fly into, and even easy to see into from outside. I like stores wth large openings in the roofs or no roofs at all. Why waste prims on a roof, when it just hides your products from outside.

I hate closed in claustrophobic spaces that make it hard to see around. In fact I will rarely go into box store if I can't see something to attract me from the outside.

If I am flying by a store and can see something interesting from the outside I might go in and shop, even when I had not intended to shop.

I hate vendor machines that make you wait for textures to rezz between products. The multi image vendors are better, but If I am buying from boxes I prefer the one item per box vendor prims as I can get a better idea of what is available.

Of course we love seeing a 3d product displayed, but I realize that is not always possible due to prim limitations. Nevertheless, you should at least have one or two examples of your best work out to see, so we can get a better idea of the quality of your fabrication. Photos just are too limited.

I build/sell mostly houses and try to display them all, which gets more difficult and expensive with each new one that I make. So believe me I understand prim limits. I also set up the vendor boxes in a central location that is elevated, open and easy to see, with teleports to the model home which surround it.

-------Shamless capitalistic self promotion follows---------

I sell an Architectural Elements Landscaping kit with white marble and glass, and several different types of vendor display walls.
http://images.slboutique.com/images/items/90979_1.jpg

http://www.slboutique.com/index.php?p=buy&phrase=architectural%20elements&n=1&itemid=90979

Architectural Landscaping Elements and Privacy Walls: $400 mod/copy/no resell

This coordinated collection of architectural and landscaping elements can be arranged any number of ways to create privacy walls, patios, open air shopping malls or simply to enhance your built environment. The various elements that are include all use coordinated textures and finishes, so they can be combined and recombined in an endless number of ways, yet still coordinate and create a harmonious sense of place. See the following photos for examples.

?This set includes all of the following items:

Privacy walls & Columns w/ Plant Bowls in 7.5 and 10 meter hieghts
Vendor Walls in Crackle Glass
Vendor Walls Glass and Marble with Fire Bowls
White Marble Display Booth with 3 thorns crown
White Marble and Crackle Glass gazebo
White Marble slabs, square and round
White Marble Arch with fire bowl and additional columns