Why Do Some Large Stores Restrict Teleport Routing to a Landing Point?

[Jennifer Boyle]

I often go to a store looking for a specific item that I have seen or seen an ad for. In a large store, unless the item is prominently displayed near the entrance, the easiest way to find something is to use area search. Once it's found, the easiest way to get to it is to teleport. Often when I try to do that, I land at the landing point instead of near the item, which is frustrating.

Why do so many shopkeepers follow a practice that makes it harder for shoppers to buy their products?

[Lindal Kidd]

Because they are stupid and don't give a darn about customer relations.

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

19 minutes ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

I often go to a store looking for a specific item that I have seen or seen an ad for. In a large store, unless the item is prominently displayed near the entrance, the easiest way to find something is to use area search. Once it's found, the easiest way to get to it is to teleport. Often when I try to do that, I land at the landing point instead of near the item, which is frustrating.

Why do so many shopkeepers follow a practice that makes it harder for shoppers to buy their products?

The same reason music and other venues do it and use those pushers. Idiots.

 

[Chic Aeon]

Sometimes it could be so that you see the people that rented "sponsor spots" first. After all they paid extra for you to see them first.

 

Sometimes it could simply be that the owners don't want you mucking around in their private areas. At one time (maybe five years ago) it was required to have a designated landing spot IF you had a private area above or below your store.   I think that has probably disappeared now as I looked for it a couple of years back. I doubt many folks ever followed the rule anyway. 

 

Sometimes it could be because the shop, event of venue owner has moved a LOT of things and old landmarks no longer work. They don't want you stuck in a wall for instance. 

 

So there are legitimate reasons. I don't like it either but it IS the owner's choice.  

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

29 minutes ago, Tarina Sewell said:

The same reason music and other venues do it and use those pushers. Idiots.

I hate those pushers. Some clubs use those too. I usually fly off of those as soon I land!

[LittleMe Jewell]

51 minutes ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

I often go to a store looking for a specific item that I have seen or seen an ad for. In a large store, unless the item is prominently displayed near the entrance, the easiest way to find something is to use area search. Once it's found, the easiest way to get to it is to teleport. Often when I try to do that, I land at the landing point instead of near the item, which is frustrating.

Why do so many shopkeepers follow a practice that makes it harder for shoppers to buy their products?

Forced landing points are frustrating as hell, to be sure.  I stopped bothering to even TP to the specific item.  I use area search to find the vendor and then use the 'Zoom to' feature to have the are search cam me directly to the item. I do pretty much all of my shopping by camming anyway.

[Rowan Amore]

9 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Forced landing points are frustrating as hell, to be sure.  I stopped bothering to even TP to the specific item.  I use area search to find the vendor and then use the 'Zoom to' feature to have the are search cam me directly to the item. I do pretty much all of my shopping by camming anyway.

This is exactly what I do.  Zoom to, grab what I want and poof.  I do this at a lot of the big shopping events as they're laggy.  I'll see what I might want on seraphim or another blog first.  Jump in, jump out.  So much easier than waiting for everything I'm not interested in to rez before I can shop.

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

Once it's found, the easiest way to get to it is to teleport.

That is the easiest and fastest way to get to the item. But look at all the merchandise you miss seeing by not using the "pointer beams" (I've momentarily forgotten what LL calls it) and walking to the item. There have been many. many times I have "stumbled" across something I had looked for for months and the creator ended up making more off me than they would have if I hadn't walked.

[Chic Aeon]

27 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

This is exactly what I do.  Zoom to, grab what I want and poof.  I do this at a lot of the big shopping events as they're laggy.  I'll see what I might want on seraphim or another blog first.  Jump in, jump out.  So much easier than waiting for everything I'm not interested in to rez before I can shop.

I am a big believer of ease and I cam shop a lot.  I also hate it when Marketplace links go to the store entrance -- especially on full sim stores.  So I (painstakingly and it is SUCH a pain) have Marketplace links directly to the rezzed inworld versions.  I also went to great pains (and lots of fun) designing my new shop sim pretty much as a roleplay sim. Some folks have even asked me if there is roleplay there LOL. 

 

I answered not planned but anyone is welcome.  In the last few years I have joined the throngs of folks doing minimalist builds with products plopped down.  Not much decor. Not much style. It works, but honestly I can remember the days when shopping inworld was FUN.   An adventure -- and seeing the shop and sim builds was part of the pleasure.  I am happy that my visitors seem to be embracing that idea from the past.     I have seen folks come into the landing point of their item and THEN wander.  Hopefully they enjoyed their visit. 

 

OH and I thought of another reason with the set landing point. If you do NOT have the landing point as the ONLY teleport destination, then someone clicking on the map goes to the ground at 128 - 128 (for a full sim; the middle of the parcel anyway).  That same things happens following a link from the Places Pages (even WITH the landing point set).  So I just put a landmarks board in the middle of the sim on the ground.   I need people to be able to get where they want.   

 

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

Marketplace. So much faster and easy to navigate, thanks to the amazing 2D(tm) technology.

[Jennifer Boyle]

2 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

I don't like it either but it IS the owner's choice. 

Yes, and it's my choice to not return to the store.

I am losing patience with stores that are not respectful of their customers' preferences.

[Orwar]

1 hour ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

Yes, and it's my choice to not return to the store.

I am losing patience with stores that are not respectful of their customers' preferences.

   I do find forced teleport points annoying, and I do hate the pushers, but that's a bit of a small thing to ditch a store for if you like their stuff - in my opinion, anyway.

   Besides, as much as I'd love to just blanket an embargo on any creator who ever made a gacha or who ever screwed up the materials on one of their products or set the alpha settings wrong in their mesh; sure I'd save money, but I'd lose out on so much that I'd probably just end up completely out of the game. Most people don't care, and most people are bad consumers anyway who don't know how to judge quality and go by how much skin something shows off, or think that 'the print on this T-shirt speaks to me' and that's all that matters to them. Creators in general aren't going to change because a small minority of people dislike the way they run their business, and depending on what else is on the land, forced TP points may just be necessary, and it may make your own landmarks still work if you rework the store but keep it on the same parcel, as anyone who uses an old LM will still land at the storefront. 

[Chaser Zaks]

Two reasons:

1. Marketing and advertising. (Note: none of these names are sponsored nor am I endorsing them, they are just names that came to mind.)

Why do you think malls are(where?) a thing? Say you are going to Old Navy to buy a pair of jeans, but to do so, you have to walk through the mall past all these other stores. Each store you walk by, there is a chance something will catch your attention, be it say Spenser's or Game Stop, maybe even the big guns like Sears.
Another real world example of this is Ikea. Most Ikea stores have their store layout so that you have to go through the entire store just to get to the exit.

Point being: If you have to walk by more things you can buy, there is a chance you will stop and look at it, and if you stop and look, you have the chance to buy.

2. Frustration prevention.

If a new resident teleports to a store and they get stuck under Terrain or in a building, they might not know how to get out, and they may assume it is "broken".
For older residents, this can be annoying, especially if you are trying to find the entrance in a very cluttered and poorly laid out store.

As for pushers:

Because "REEEE STOP BUMPING ME YOU ARE HARMING MY PIXELS". Same drama as look at targets. Pushers are just designed to make it so people will less likely bump into each other, thus reducing drama and potential loss of customers due to arguing or seeing arguing.

[Rhun DeCuir]

My thoughts:

I generally don't mind the landing points, unless they force you to travel half the region to get to the actual store.  If you want to show off your landscaping skills, fine.  But give us an option as to whether or not we want to wander around in it or not.

There is one store that I went to where you land in an artfully arranged post-apocalyptic landscape. Then, you have to wander around until you see a sign directing you underground.  Then you follow some tunnels that eventually lead you to the store.  I've never been back.

I rather like the pushers, as it prevents the cluster of avatars who refuse to move away from the landing point.  If people would just move a couple meters away before they start their caming (or navel gazing) there wouldn't be a need for pushers.  I, for one, am tired of landing on people's heads.

I love landing points that have a teleport board, so you can quickly go to the store or section of a large store that you're looking for.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Rhun DeCuir

[Paul Hexem]

I've never used a forced landing point in a store, that seems like a bad idea.

However, I do advocate for them in places like roleplay sims or themed sims, anything where you've got rules/info you need people to see first, before they start wandering around.

[Syo Emerald]

I hate the forced landing points. There is one regular participant in the 50L Friday events, who shares their sim with another store. The forced landing point is infront of that other store. So the first time I land there, I was super confused, wondered if the LM was wrong. But no... just walk around that other store buidling.

[Drakonadrgora Darkfold]

16 hours ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

I often go to a store looking for a specific item that I have seen or seen an ad for. In a large store, unless the item is prominently displayed near the entrance, the easiest way to find something is to use area search. Once it's found, the easiest way to get to it is to teleport. Often when I try to do that, I land at the landing point instead of near the item, which is frustrating.

Why do so many shopkeepers follow a practice that makes it harder for shoppers to buy their products?

Simple so you get the 'full' shopping experience.. aka have to pass by all their items so might get tempted to buy more than just what you were originally looking for.  It's simple marketing..

[Drakonadrgora Darkfold]

13 hours ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

Marketplace. So much faster and easy to navigate, thanks to the amazing 2D(tm) technology.

Except that there are some items only in world and not on the marketplace.

[Drakonadrgora Darkfold]

7 hours ago, Rhun DeCuir said:

My thoughts:

I generally don't mind the landing points, unless they force you to travel half the region to get to the actual store.  If you want to show off your landscaping skills, fine.  But give us an option as to whether or not we want to wander around in it or not.

There is one store that I went to where you land in an artfully arranged post-apocalyptic landscape. Then, you have to wander around until you see a sign directing you underground.  Then you follow some tunnels that eventually lead you to the store.  I've never been back.

I rather like the pushers, as it prevents the cluster of avatars who refuse to move away from the landing point.  If people would just move a couple meters away before they start their caming (or navel gazing) there wouldn't be a need for pushers.  I, for one, am tired of landing on people's heads.

I love landing points that have a teleport board, so you can quickly go to the store or section of a large store that you're looking for.

Sounds like Greaves.. a leather store.

[Bree Giffen]

I don't think I've ever tried going directly to just one product in a store. So many stores have landing points that I don't even think about it. The few times that I've tried to teleport directly into a store have resulted in me sitting in the ocean below the store. I also like to browse over every single item at a store and get demos.

[Rhun DeCuir]

6 hours ago, Drakonadrgora Darkfold said:

Sounds like Greaves.. a leather store.

There are two stores like that?!  Why?

[MoiraKathleen]

I don't mind teleports at stores being restricted to landing points.  Actually, I'm not even sure if stores that I shop at do so or not - the LM's I use tend to put me at the main entrance of the stores, and I just associated that with being for where the LM was set initially and I generally don't expect to (or try to) TP directly to an item in the store.   Most of my shopping is done in-worId. I generally am not in a big hurry when I'm shopping, and I like to look around and see what the store is offering.   I also like stores that are in buildings or regions with character and interesting builds or landscaping.

[Marianne Little]

If you decided to use a forced landing point and a teleport board: Sometimes I walk a step aside from the landing point and look for a teleport board. When that rez after the landscaping objects, the furniture and the decor, what size of texture have you used? It can not work correct if I see the tree 100 m away, before the board 5 m right in front of me?

After experiencing this several places, I decided to not bother standing and waiting like an idiot for a teleport board to (maybe) rez.

I can not use a viewer without area search again. I use it always when shopping.

Someone talked about the experience of walking real word malls or Ikea, to tempt you to buy more. I do not think it works the same way in SL, unless you find a very patient person that has the time to let an event rez. In SL, it is like walking in Ikea with grey dust sheets covering all around you, then more and more of the sheets are pulled away the longer you stand there and wait.

I understand it is 2 kind of shoppers in SL, those who want to stroll around, look at everything and pick up demos, and then those who will in, shop and out again before the dust has landed.

But allowing us to shop fast and efficient does not limit those who want to look around and spend a lot of time there.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Marianne Little

[Talligurl]

On 8/5/2020 at 2:29 PM, Silent Mistwalker said:

That is the easiest and fastest way to get to the item. But look at all the merchandise you miss seeing by not using the "pointer beams" (I've momentarily forgotten what LL calls it) and walking to the item. There have been many. many times I have "stumbled" across something I had looked for for months and the creator ended up making more off me than they would have if I hadn't walked.

This is why I think they do it, the same reason real stores put the most popular things in the back, to make you walk through the whole store.

[Kyrah Abattoir]

Personally, my store is pretty compact so you're not going to walk much to get what you want.

That being said, given my store location, I don't think I'm commiting a sin by having a landing point, since falling or getting stuck in the ceiling is probably not a good experience either.