In-world store traffic - what can I do?

[EllieAnne Silverfall]

I've graduated from a kiosk to an in-world store to go along with my MP listings. I set up a visitor tracker and a group joiner with group gift, but it's seems to have been pointless so far.

I want to drive more traffic to my in-world store. I know there are various ways to do it, but since I already made a mistake with enhanced listings on MP, i'd like to avoid wasting L on advertising that doesn't have a good return. I'm familiar with hunts, freebie groups, and daily sale groups, but have no clue as to how to get involved and which ones might be a better fit for my store (furniture / decor). 

I welcome all advice. Thanks!

[Cindy Evanier]

You say you are familiar with hunts but not sure how to get involved.  Have a look here

https://huntsl.com/

something might fit

[Chase01]

@EllieAnne Silverfall

The group gifts aren't going to generate traffic on their own. Look at them as an incentive, but their effectiveness is based on your reach. As a newer business you need exposure. Instead of making it your focus to drive traffic to your storefront—focus on getting your name out there and exposing people to your brand. I see you have a Flickr page. Did you just recently join, or have you not invested anytime into it? You did place a link to your in-world store from the product listing, but you're missing it on the main page. How are your sales doing on the MP? 

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

1, Update your store pick in your profile.. I just spent an hour and a half searching a sim for a store that wasn't there... 

2. Apply for a hunt or two, the Twisted Hunt is one of the most popular and starts in September. 

3. Do not expect to get thousands of new customers overnight.. Hell most hunts i have been in have given me very little extra sales. But they do give you exposure. 

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Is your group a group-slot one or through a subscriber? Competition for group slots is fierce and many people won't be keen to give up one for a wee store. You'll stand a better chance with a subscriber but it does take time. And it not being summer. July and August are notoriously flaky times for sales in SL. Things usually pick up again in September though.

As for the sales groups, join a few that seem likely candidates and get a feel for them from the customer's side. Take a look at things like how active the group chat is, how many members there are, how many members have logged in recently (if you can see that info, it's hidden for larger groups), how many notices are sent out and if you find yourself ignoring them because there are just too many. Look into the rules for merchants too. Hopefully you'll find one that feels like it's a good fit for you.

Is your inworld shop near other stores which will draw the right sort of traffic for what you're offering? I've seen places where complimentary stores join together - something like that might suit you, especially while you're starting out. There was a home decor one active in the Advents last December but I don't recall the name.

It takes time. Keep growing your body of work and develping your skills and keep experimenting with marketing till you find the ways that work for you. Good luck.

[EllieAnne Silverfall]

Thank you for your comments, everyone.

@Chase01 I did recently start my Flikr and have been joining and posting to SL advertising groups there. I also created a FB page and have been posting to similar groups on FB. I'm not sure why you didn't see my current link to my in-world store on my main page - I just checked it to be sure, and it's still there. Sales on the MP were good for one particular product for a while, while I had it on a category enhanced listing. Other things, not so much. I don't know if it is about my products in general, competition with other, better known brands, or my prices. I try to look at what's out there currently and comparable and try to set what I thought were competitive pricing, but I've decided that since I'm so new, that perhaps I need to drastically reduce my prices until I get more traffic/sales. Also, I have learned a lot over the past 6 months of modeling and i know what I am producing now is better than what I started at, so I intend to rework some of my first items to bring them up to snuff. 

@Drake1 Nightfire 1. THANK YOU! I had completely forgotten about my pick, because I haven't been spending a ton of time In-world for anything other than uploading my items and fixing up my store. 2. I'm definitely looking into the hunts now. I always love hunts myself. 3. I'm not really expecting thousands, right now I'd be happy with double digits  lol

@Bitsy Buccaneer Group slot - I get your point, for sure. Wasn't sure how the subscriber thing worked. I'll have to look into it. I'm in sales in RL too and yes, summer is a drag for sales. I guess I'll have to wander around some other furniture/home decor stores to get a feel for what groups are pertinent. I'm in a lot of groups right now and, yes, I ignore TONS of messages from certain groups because they are non-stop. Ex. Third Life. Where do they post merchant rules in the group info? No, my store is on a protected road, but not near any really active stores. I am just using my free 512 right now to save L. Maybe I'll have to rethink that for a bit?

 

 

[Klytyna]

As has been mentioned, update the profile pics, many people cannot be bothered to click your profile, check picks, tp to an empty sim, then click your Farcebook link then surf your farcebookpage for the link to sl maps that takes their browser to your store, if they are using the right browser... Total pain in the butt, update your profile picks.

Affilliate with one of the large shopping and bargain groups, which ever is most appropriate to your product range, a brand x mesh body offers group, or a bargains group etc., and offer a GIFT for members of THAT group.

SL Free & Offers for example, you see their group logo all over the grid, if you have an SLFO gift in your store you get listed in their regular notecards to members of their 90k plus shopper list. That's the kind of thing that brings in visitors.

Change gifts regularly, so they have a reason to come back, put out a lucky chair maybe, or perhaps better, a regularly updated midnight mania.

It's about reaching a lot of people in a place where they can easily follow up on the info, no point telling people how cool your store is on Farcebook, when they are not logged into SL, as they will forget before they log in.

Tell them IN WORLD, so they can click that lm there and then and come get the cool promos, and see your store...

Shoppers are fickle and have short memories, we all TRY and remember that Brand  X 'only 5 products' store, that we heard about someplace yesterday that sounded kind of cool  but... Oh look free shoes at Brand Y, theres the slurl taxi *clicky clicky* Hey girls, only 27 more slaps on the mania at Brand Z for really nice mesh outfit, heres your taxi *clicky clicky*...