Open for business but...

[Chelsea Malibu]

I just opened my new store on it's own sim and I believe I laid it out pretty good.  This post has two parts. 

1.  If anyone is up to it, I would love for some to run by and let me know if they think the layout is easy to navigate. http://slurl.com/secondlife/MG%20Lounge/147/140/23

2.  I have set up a "Visit My New Main Store" at the entrance of my old store and no one is using it.  My old store still gets great traffic and sales where my new store, that has been up for almost a week, has not seen any sales and only a couple of visits.  Both of my stores show well in search, my old store still benefits from being #1 in search under my keywords and the new store now ranks #2.  (Home Lighting). 

Any thoughts on this or suggestions on how I can motivate my customers to go to my main store? I really don't want to pay for two stores but I see no other options until the traffic builds in my new one.  Has anyone else experienced this with a move?

When I moved last time, I made the mistake of closing down my old store at the same time which tanked my sales for almost two months.

 

[Darrius Gothly]

Hang a sign right next to the "this way to the new store" sign ... and put on that new sign:

Grand Opening Sale - 50% off all Freebies. Touch for Landmark!!

That oughta fix it.

[wrable Amat]

Close the old store...If your new shop is 2# and the old is 1.Then if you close the old shop and remove the key words they will simply TP to the only other location

look at the facts,is the old shop getting TP traffic or is this some kind of line of sight they are seeing in a popular sim or mall?

If you are doing the good sales off your marketing (adds,key word ranks)  the drop the other option and only give the buyer only 1 option.You  will not loose sales over this as they are TPing into the old shop off adds and ranks you can control from removing them.

We own a island for a few years now,we have a lot of shops in our sim we own them all and have been playing with this from 2007 and have great success over the years.

Sexy Mama's Maternity clothing shops/mall/island has always run in the green and we cash out monthly with paid for sim/marketing and profit:D

Trust me when I say this as I have been in your shoes Close the old location and take the bull by the horns..your objects do not control the marketing,you do..Drive your traffic to the new location. If you are to afraid to do this then remove all the sale objects ability to sell and have them say on touch "you can buy me at the new shop location,grab the land mark at the door"

[WADE1 Jya]

"50% off all Freebies"

 

This made me LOL :matte-motes-big-grin-squint:

[Mickey Vandeverre]

Run some Promos and create a Stir!

Promos only at new place.

If they're not supporting your new effort, get some new supporters.

 

[Chelsea Malibu]

I'm gonna do better, I'm thinking of giving away my freebies...you read right, FREE! LOL made me laugh to but I've not reponded yet.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Some new things and many already in practice for many years but always great input.

Thanks!

 

[Nathan Hopkins]

I think if your old store is still full of your stuff, people will just shop there instead of taking the extra TP.  At least that's what I would do.

[Tiffy Vella]

I've never tried this as a shopkeeper, and hope I never have to. But if I were your customer, and tped into the first store of yours that came up in the search, and everything of yours was there, I'd probably do what your customers do now, and say "meh...they're moving...ok lets get what I came for". But if I tped in, and there was instead a big lm giver, a beautiful photograph of your shiny new store, and a whopping huge sign saying "yaay I moved...tp here to my fabulous new mainstore where all my Freebies are freeeee!!", well, then I'd make the effort, and update my lm.

I really can appreciate how scarey it is to do, and I hope you manage without losing any lovely customers.

[Phil Deakins]

I've moved store locations in the past and, to do it, I kept both stores open for a number of weeks - about a month - so that as many visitors to the old store as possible got the opportunity to see that it's closing and to take an LM to the new one. Then I closed the old store but kept a small piece of land around the landing point for a platform (the store was in the sky). On the platform, I placed LM-giving signs, stating that the store has moved. After a few more weeks, I removed the platform and signs and sold the land. The whole move took a couple of months, but there was no noticeable drop in sales.

When I did it, Picks were very important for rankings and the move killed a load of valuable Picks. But you've already got rankings sorted out so that won't matter. You'll lose people who try to visit your store from their existing Picks unless they find you in search again, but that's the way it is with Picks.

 

[Darrius Gothly]

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Chelsea Malibu wrote:

I'm gonna do better, I'm thinking of giving away my freebies...you read right, FREE! LOL made me laugh to but I've not reponded yet.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Some new things and many already in practice for many years but always great input.

Thanks! 

---

Shoot! I was hoping you'd share some of that 50% you make on the half-priced freebies with me .. since it was my idea after all. *pouts*

8^D

[Polenth Yue]

Often when I go to stores I know, I walk based on knowing the layout rather than waiting for things to rez. That means signs at the entrance won't get seen. I'd suggest making sure you have additional signs among the products too. And all the products at the old store should contain the landmark to the new store.

I do think running both together for a bit is a good idea. It gives customers a chance to get the new landmark.

[Chelsea Malibu]

OK, all great ideas and I implemneted some of your ideas. 

As for my giving away my freebies, I made a special Grand Opening Table Clock and added it to the mix. I also added a few low cost items at $L50 and a prefab home I had been waiting to release for $L 111. 

Tore down my old store except a sign that says that this is my store and a landmark giver to the new store. 

I shut off my ad for the old store.

I put up a stripper pole and perform 24/7 nude. (ok, made that part up but it may work come to think of it).

Sassy came by and made some great suggestions on layouts and color which I did (great help Sassy, Thanks!)

and for the results? YES IT WORKED!  My sales dropped a little (but went up in MP however, I don't know if the two are related) and overall, my sales are up.  Traffic and sales to my new location are off to a good start.