Azure Trance
First Post
May I assume from this quote that I will have an actually nice FLGS (clean, spacious, professional) to attend to in upcoming years? Granted, I'll be gone after this summer for some time but it still sounds stellar.
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Retail Gaming Store Economics [LONG]
- Thread starter Sam
- Start date
May I assume from this quote that I will have an actually nice FLGS (clean, spacious, professional) to attend to in upcoming years? Granted, I'll be gone after this summer for some time but it still sounds stellar.
Once again, customer point of view(and a basic marketing class put to good use)
Originally I said a discount card would be a good idea. However, as Gamersrealms stated and my Marketing teachers said, price wars suck! Everyone loses in a price war(Yes, even the consumer). You need to get customers by distinguishing yourself from your competitors. For online stores being friendly and having instant gratification works. For local stores, send in mystery shoppers!! Seriously, pay your friend (assuming they know you) $20 to go shop there and give a DETAILED report on how friendly they are, how long it took them to talk to you, etc. and their apparent weaknesses become your greatest strengths.
Also, Demoing during slow times is sometimes good. This can be especially true for quickie little card games like Lunch Money, Chez Geek, Munchkin, etc. and might get an impulse buy. Also, lets you get to know the customers. Just don't ignore the people walking in..
Good luck, if you were in Orlando I'd be over there buying some D20. My LGS got new management so they are getting the 'F' back.
Originally I said a discount card would be a good idea. However, as Gamersrealms stated and my Marketing teachers said, price wars suck! Everyone loses in a price war(Yes, even the consumer). You need to get customers by distinguishing yourself from your competitors. For online stores being friendly and having instant gratification works. For local stores, send in mystery shoppers!! Seriously, pay your friend (assuming they know you) $20 to go shop there and give a DETAILED report on how friendly they are, how long it took them to talk to you, etc. and their apparent weaknesses become your greatest strengths.
Also, Demoing during slow times is sometimes good. This can be especially true for quickie little card games like Lunch Money, Chez Geek, Munchkin, etc. and might get an impulse buy. Also, lets you get to know the customers. Just don't ignore the people walking in..
Good luck, if you were in Orlando I'd be over there buying some D20. My LGS got new management so they are getting the 'F' back.
RodneyThompson
First Post
Well, looks like Rob has the inside scoop. From a consumer standpoint, let me emphasize some of the things I've liked/disliked about the two FLGS that I've been to.
- Clean environment: My God this is a must. If you keep the place spic-and-span, keep a nice clean bathroom, and generally make the place as clean as a retail store in a nice mall, you'll automatically put people in a consumer mindset.
- Food and drink: Great to have if you're going to have a gaming area! I don't think I've been to a game in the last 5 years where I didn't buy at least a Coke, and sometimes more. Snacks are fuel for gamers.
- Customer Service: I gamed in one store for 3 years and the owner knew my name, so I kept wanting to go back. I've been gaming in this second store for 2 years and the owner treats me like a stranger every time I come in. Pretend that you're on commission for every sale, learn names, and be knowledgeable.
- Featured item: This is something I've picked up from a buddy of mine that works at an Electronics Boutique here in town. Each month they have a featured vendor, where they push that manufacurer's products on every customer. Don't be afraid to highlight one book each week that you tell every customer about. Just give them a spiel, don't force it on them. It helps if it is part of a series of books, because next month they might be back for the next installment.
- Noise Pollution: This one depends on the way your store is built, but in my current FLGS the gaming floor is basically an old garage...meaning that the loud, annoying Vampire LARPers are constantly drowning out my Star Wars GM. Same goes for Magic/MageKnight players who may play several rounds with different partners in a single sitting. You may have to look into some way to cut down on "static" in the room.
- Rearranging the store: If the store stays in the same layout all year long, I'm less likely to notice new additions or even older books. A shift in layout can keep things fresh for the customer and eliminate "oh, I've seen that shelf a hundred times" syndrome.
- Encourage GMs: One thing that kept my gaming group coming back each week was that the store owner encouraged me to run games there. If you can be a local source for RPGA events, especially some more obscure ones like Living Spycraft, all the better. Likewise, if a new game comes out and only one guy in your store buys it, encourage him to come in and do a demo day for the game. It's what I did for Star Wars d20 when it first came out.
[/list=1] And I'm spent!
pogre
Legend
Gamersrealm said:
I don't know why you expect to be flamed for this. If I received the kind of service you are speaking of I doubt I would think twice about ordering online.
I only disagree with one point. I do think having demos and game space is worthwhile. An old game store here used to demo board games and invariably he would sell two or three as a result. That's why I bought Formula De for instance.
I do think owning a game store is a lot like running a bait shop on the lake: If you love to fish it's the worst thing you could do.
stevelabny
Explorer
i have to disagree.
some customers might prefer friendly.
but its all about the bottom line.
price balanced by convenience.
do you think your friendliness balances the 20% off i can get at most other stores?
ir probably depends how much money im spending.
if i'm spending $30 a month... maybe the drive to your store is more convenient than saving $6 by either ordering online and waiting for a week or driving to the rude guy and being ignored.
BUT if i'm spending $300 a month you can be SURE that i will shop where its $60 cheaper.
And then I'll come back to your store for the friendly conversation.
steve
some customers might prefer friendly.
but its all about the bottom line.
price balanced by convenience.
do you think your friendliness balances the 20% off i can get at most other stores?
ir probably depends how much money im spending.
if i'm spending $30 a month... maybe the drive to your store is more convenient than saving $6 by either ordering online and waiting for a week or driving to the rude guy and being ignored.
BUT if i'm spending $300 a month you can be SURE that i will shop where its $60 cheaper.
And then I'll come back to your store for the friendly conversation.
steve
I'm kinda in the middle on this one. Steve has a point, but he's talking someone who REGULARLY spends $300 a month on gaming stuff...
If you had customers like that of course you could afford to discount. But as a retail store, you gotta think a little for yourself. A blanket 10% seems fair, with sales once in a while, but when you look at the margins you will make on most sales...30% isn't going to leave you with much to pay the electricity, the manager, etc, etc.
If you had customers like that of course you could afford to discount. But as a retail store, you gotta think a little for yourself. A blanket 10% seems fair, with sales once in a while, but when you look at the margins you will make on most sales...30% isn't going to leave you with much to pay the electricity, the manager, etc, etc.
To a consumer, discount sound great! But trust me, ask anyone in business and they will say a price war is a losing war(there are exceptions, Wal-Mart). You NEED to distinguish yourself from Amazon(or other online retaillers). You will not compete with Amazon on price, so don't try or we will see you back here in 6 months saying your business just failed. Some people WILL be lured by price alone, I was. Then the gaming store near us opened up and they were nice, like they knew my name after a couple of trips. I never bought online after that.
If you want a discount card, a "No Tax" card would be interesting. Essentially you would eat Sales Tax, I just thought of it so take it or leave it.
Gariig
If you want a discount card, a "No Tax" card would be interesting. Essentially you would eat Sales Tax, I just thought of it so take it or leave it.
Gariig
Delemental
First Post
Throwing in my bit of advice - I worked in my FLGS for a little over a year. Some of these might be a bit tricky to do when first starting up, but they're worth considering as your business becomes stable (and hopefully grows).
Research - go to the other game stores in your area. Looking at their customer service is important, but consider other elements as well. What do the stores carry? What do they not carry? Is there a possible niche your store could fill? Geography is important - if all the stores in town are on the north side of town, put yours in the south. The suggestion someone had for paying a friend $20 to be a 'secret shopper' is great, but I'd go a step further and have two twenties handy; one for a male friend, and one for a female friend. I'll bet anything you get two very different experiences from them, and I'd pay close attention to what your female shopper has to say.
Environment - Please, for the love of your favorite deity, make your store a place that you'd feel comfortable bringing your grandma. Despite persistent rumors, all gamers are not social misfits in their mid-20s with hygeine issues. About half of our customers were under 15, and coming in with Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad do not want the first thing they see when they walk in to be the Book of Demons, or the latest underdressed, overbosomed comic issue from Mad Cow Comics. Certainly, you can stock these items (and should if there's a demand), but 'strategic product placement' is crucial. In the store I worked in, we maintained a strict "PG" rating - customers who used profanity or held loud discussions about 'uncomfortable' subjects (sex, torture, demon summoning, etc) are given one warning, then asked to leave.
Make your store look inviting. Much of this has been mentioned before - clean, well lit, and open. Don't cover up the windows - porn shops and crack houses have covered windows. Posters and murals are nice, but choose wisely - Spiderman good, Lady Death bad. Elminster good, Orcus bad.
'Regulars' - You want regulars, and you want to keep regulars. How you do that is up to you; we sometimes give small discounts to people who we know buy a lot of stuff. But be careful- keep a list of who's getting what discount, and why, and how much they're buying. Prior to my working at my FLGS, they had a problem with this - the old manager gave out too many 'permanent' discounts to too many people, and we had no idea why. We ended up wiping the slate clean, and cancelling all discounts until we could review the situation on a case-by-case basis. The majority of our customers understood and were fine. Sure, we lost a couple of people over it, but you know what? When we checked, those people who were upset were the ones who hadn't bought anything for months or years.
Another thing about 'regulars' - it doesn't mean 'co-owners'. Some people, when they become a regular, get to thinking that the rules don't apply to them - this isn't because they're malicious, but a natural consequence of being comfortable in an environment. We've had regulars who suddenly decided they could walk behind the counter to grab things, or began swearing a blue streak at their computer game, or insisted on regaling every new person that came in with tales of last night's D&D game when they killed all those demons. Don't be afraid to take these people aside and talk to them - I found most to be perfectly willing to fix the problem themselves - or take more serious steps if needed. I guess the main thing is keep your regulars, but not at the expense of your other customers.
Employees - I hate to say it, but in some ways gamers can make bad game store workers, in the same way that they can make bad owners. If you open a FLGS, you will get all kinds of applications from people who think it would be 'cool to work in a gaming store'. Most of these are basing their opinion on those stores they've seen where the employees ignore the customers while playing games all day. You want to weed out most of these, and find the real gems; people who actually want a job. The ones who know that work involves, well, work. That realize that running a gaming store isn't about playing games, but about endless cleaning, reorganizing, customer service, etc. The owner of our FLGS is one of those 'gamer first' types, but fortunately has the good sense to realize it, and hires competent employees, and a manager who does remember that it's a business first. With these people behind the counter, he can concentrate on shmoozing with the customers, which is where he excels.
Oh, and if you can find these employees - pay them. I've seen too many stores fold who paid their employees minimum wage or less (half money, half store credit). This does not encourage good customer service or a strong work ethic. When I can get $8 an hour at McDonald's, why would I settle for $6 at your place? Obviously, this is tricky when you're first starting up and money's tight, but IMO one good, happy employee is worth 2-3 bad employees.
Events - I'm firmly in the 'in-store events are good' camp. In fact, after we cleared out the discounting problem I mentioned previously, we went with an 'event-based' discounting plan. If we held a Warhammer tournament, everyone who signed up got a card worth a 10% discount on all Warhammer and related products (terrain, paint, etc) that was good from the time they signed up until about a week after the event ended. It increased sales of those products and improved attendance at events, and it set a limit on how long customers could use a discount. The biggest problem can be space management - it is possible to have too many things going on at once. Currently, my FLGS has RPGA once a month, Vampire LARP once a week, Magic Tournaments once a week, Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh leagues once a week, and Mage Knight once a week. They also run a couple of store-sponsored RPGs (including a 3E game specifically for 15 and under, to encourage new players getting into the game), and a few independent RPG groups. These are all run with little to no employee effort (usually just keeping score in a tournament) other than scheduling (like on the Saturday the RPGA comes in, we either cancel the Magic tournament or play one of the less popular formats like Type I or Type II).
If you have in-store gaming, develop an understanding with them. These people are like advertising to you; people come in and see people playing something interesting over in the corner, and they'll ask questions. Encourage the people playing in your store to be willing to answer those questions. But be careful about that 'comfort' factor - at one point we started noticing that all our 'new' Warhammer books had creased covers, and quickly found out why; people were taking them off the shelf and consulting them during play, using them to build their armies, etc. Obviously, we had to correct that problem.
Product - Obviously, you'll need to decide for yourself what you stock. But make sure you know where people can get what you don't stock. I'm not talking about special orders - you should do that - I'm talking about things that may be tangentially related to your business. At our FLGS, we'd get calls from people all the time asking if we sold coin-operated video games, or bingo supplies, or fancy chess sets. We made sure we could give them the name and number of whoever did sell them in town. Maybe you'll never see the person on the phone again, but you leave an impression of being knowledgable and courteous.
Research - go to the other game stores in your area. Looking at their customer service is important, but consider other elements as well. What do the stores carry? What do they not carry? Is there a possible niche your store could fill? Geography is important - if all the stores in town are on the north side of town, put yours in the south. The suggestion someone had for paying a friend $20 to be a 'secret shopper' is great, but I'd go a step further and have two twenties handy; one for a male friend, and one for a female friend. I'll bet anything you get two very different experiences from them, and I'd pay close attention to what your female shopper has to say.
Environment - Please, for the love of your favorite deity, make your store a place that you'd feel comfortable bringing your grandma. Despite persistent rumors, all gamers are not social misfits in their mid-20s with hygeine issues. About half of our customers were under 15, and coming in with Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad do not want the first thing they see when they walk in to be the Book of Demons, or the latest underdressed, overbosomed comic issue from Mad Cow Comics. Certainly, you can stock these items (and should if there's a demand), but 'strategic product placement' is crucial. In the store I worked in, we maintained a strict "PG" rating - customers who used profanity or held loud discussions about 'uncomfortable' subjects (sex, torture, demon summoning, etc) are given one warning, then asked to leave.
Make your store look inviting. Much of this has been mentioned before - clean, well lit, and open. Don't cover up the windows - porn shops and crack houses have covered windows. Posters and murals are nice, but choose wisely - Spiderman good, Lady Death bad. Elminster good, Orcus bad.
'Regulars' - You want regulars, and you want to keep regulars. How you do that is up to you; we sometimes give small discounts to people who we know buy a lot of stuff. But be careful- keep a list of who's getting what discount, and why, and how much they're buying. Prior to my working at my FLGS, they had a problem with this - the old manager gave out too many 'permanent' discounts to too many people, and we had no idea why. We ended up wiping the slate clean, and cancelling all discounts until we could review the situation on a case-by-case basis. The majority of our customers understood and were fine. Sure, we lost a couple of people over it, but you know what? When we checked, those people who were upset were the ones who hadn't bought anything for months or years.
Another thing about 'regulars' - it doesn't mean 'co-owners'. Some people, when they become a regular, get to thinking that the rules don't apply to them - this isn't because they're malicious, but a natural consequence of being comfortable in an environment. We've had regulars who suddenly decided they could walk behind the counter to grab things, or began swearing a blue streak at their computer game, or insisted on regaling every new person that came in with tales of last night's D&D game when they killed all those demons. Don't be afraid to take these people aside and talk to them - I found most to be perfectly willing to fix the problem themselves - or take more serious steps if needed. I guess the main thing is keep your regulars, but not at the expense of your other customers.
Employees - I hate to say it, but in some ways gamers can make bad game store workers, in the same way that they can make bad owners. If you open a FLGS, you will get all kinds of applications from people who think it would be 'cool to work in a gaming store'. Most of these are basing their opinion on those stores they've seen where the employees ignore the customers while playing games all day. You want to weed out most of these, and find the real gems; people who actually want a job. The ones who know that work involves, well, work. That realize that running a gaming store isn't about playing games, but about endless cleaning, reorganizing, customer service, etc. The owner of our FLGS is one of those 'gamer first' types, but fortunately has the good sense to realize it, and hires competent employees, and a manager who does remember that it's a business first. With these people behind the counter, he can concentrate on shmoozing with the customers, which is where he excels.
Oh, and if you can find these employees - pay them. I've seen too many stores fold who paid their employees minimum wage or less (half money, half store credit). This does not encourage good customer service or a strong work ethic. When I can get $8 an hour at McDonald's, why would I settle for $6 at your place? Obviously, this is tricky when you're first starting up and money's tight, but IMO one good, happy employee is worth 2-3 bad employees.
Events - I'm firmly in the 'in-store events are good' camp. In fact, after we cleared out the discounting problem I mentioned previously, we went with an 'event-based' discounting plan. If we held a Warhammer tournament, everyone who signed up got a card worth a 10% discount on all Warhammer and related products (terrain, paint, etc) that was good from the time they signed up until about a week after the event ended. It increased sales of those products and improved attendance at events, and it set a limit on how long customers could use a discount. The biggest problem can be space management - it is possible to have too many things going on at once. Currently, my FLGS has RPGA once a month, Vampire LARP once a week, Magic Tournaments once a week, Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh leagues once a week, and Mage Knight once a week. They also run a couple of store-sponsored RPGs (including a 3E game specifically for 15 and under, to encourage new players getting into the game), and a few independent RPG groups. These are all run with little to no employee effort (usually just keeping score in a tournament) other than scheduling (like on the Saturday the RPGA comes in, we either cancel the Magic tournament or play one of the less popular formats like Type I or Type II).
If you have in-store gaming, develop an understanding with them. These people are like advertising to you; people come in and see people playing something interesting over in the corner, and they'll ask questions. Encourage the people playing in your store to be willing to answer those questions. But be careful about that 'comfort' factor - at one point we started noticing that all our 'new' Warhammer books had creased covers, and quickly found out why; people were taking them off the shelf and consulting them during play, using them to build their armies, etc. Obviously, we had to correct that problem.
Product - Obviously, you'll need to decide for yourself what you stock. But make sure you know where people can get what you don't stock. I'm not talking about special orders - you should do that - I'm talking about things that may be tangentially related to your business. At our FLGS, we'd get calls from people all the time asking if we sold coin-operated video games, or bingo supplies, or fancy chess sets. We made sure we could give them the name and number of whoever did sell them in town. Maybe you'll never see the person on the phone again, but you leave an impression of being knowledgable and courteous.
Lalato
Adventurer
[OT] question for gariig
Gariig...
which store in Orlando? I only know of two, Coliseum and Sci-Fi. Is there another one? Am I missing out on something?
To get this back on topic... I agree with everyone that has said that discounting is a bad idea.
I used to run a comic subscription service and we discounted fairly heavily. Our customers loved it and our business grew quickly. However, our margins were so low that we couldn't sustain it. Despite decent volume we weren't making any money.
Once my business partner decided to move across country, I folded the operation. It lasted two years. Our customers hated to see us go... I learned a lot about running a business from that experience... and if I ever do it again, discounting is out.
--sam
Gariig...
which store in Orlando? I only know of two, Coliseum and Sci-Fi. Is there another one? Am I missing out on something?
To get this back on topic... I agree with everyone that has said that discounting is a bad idea.
I used to run a comic subscription service and we discounted fairly heavily. Our customers loved it and our business grew quickly. However, our margins were so low that we couldn't sustain it. Despite decent volume we weren't making any money.
Once my business partner decided to move across country, I folded the operation. It lasted two years. Our customers hated to see us go... I learned a lot about running a business from that experience... and if I ever do it again, discounting is out.
--sam
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