posted on June 11, 2003 03:59:57 PM
Hi
I would like to get some feedback from other users on the sales in their stores...
I have only had 8-12 sales in my store since I established it... about a year ago.
No, none, zero, zip sale has gone well. Everyone has been bogus one way or the other. My recent sale was a pair of size 6D cowboy boots. They were paid for immediately. Then the guy emails me and asks if these are a size 11!!!!!!!! I checked the item and sure enough the title says 6D as does the description. He wants a refund?
The one before had a bogus name, address & email...
posted on June 18, 2003 01:00:47 PM
Hi,
I used to have a store until Vendio started charging for it. My sales were also slow but it was nice to attract existing customers. If Vendio returned to the old way of doing it I would start it up again.
posted on June 19, 2003 04:12:31 PM
Very slow. My last storefront sale has not sent payment so will be applying for a refund tomorrow. I even offer free shipping in my WBN's if an ebay item is combined with a storefront (and I have close to 6000 items in my storefront) but there seems to be little interest.
posted on June 19, 2003 05:01:51 PM
Thank you both for your response.
baylor45 do you know what your traffic is to your store?
Mine is about 100 a month. How do you find time to apply for a refund? It is so convoluted that I don't bother... wish they would make it easier.
Paula
posted on June 20, 2003 05:11:20 AM
My Vendio store sales are pretty good -- close to $250+/mo. Most of my store only purchases are for multiple items. Despite my id I sell very little bridal. It is mostly jewelry & hair accessories.
I use the cross sell feature so some of the sales are additions to auctions.
Also, for my auction template I use my storefront. The logo at the top of my auction listing is a link to my store right . I also have a link in my listing that brings people to my store.
Its seems there has to be a way to constantly link your store items to your regular auction items, since I don't believe that normally customers shop the store, but are just drawn in there after another buying or searching process.
I do wonder if there are any sellers (on the small end of the scale)who just operate out of a store??
--------------------------------------------
Invest in the Future, by saving some of the Past!
For refunds you are doing exactly what Vendio is hoping for; that you "don't bother".
Also, I'm all for customer service but I can only try to sell my items, I can't teach the customer how to read so the boot size issue is one I would have to really consider ONLY offering an exchange if you have it in that size or offer a credit for another item. People that refuse to read what they are committing to are just asking to learn the hard way... why spoil it for them? <grin>
Now.. traffic... hmmm... well, if it weren't for me and my friends I would guess my storefront counter would be looking like it is frozen in time. Traffic to my store is zero to none (and all points in between). Someone finding your store "by chance" or from an auction you have going is absolutely not considered traffic... that's merely a by-product of another function.
nanntique:
Well, for the last 30 days I have been solely operating only my store - just to get a snapshot of how effective my store is (and to research some other things). Here's the scoop:
I have over 1,600 items in my store. I have "mega" Meta Tag and Keyword info in EACH item's HTML description. I have submitted to all of the major (and not so major) search engines long ago (except Froogle which is handled here; and we are told is part of Google <one in the same> but it's not). Now, with launching no auctions for the past 30 days (my last auction ended May 21) I have operated my store "solely" on its own merit. And the results are astounding. Really astounding:
I've had probably less than 25 to 30 visits to my store. A total of 5 buying customers (two of which are dead beats), so only three "paying" customers.
Well I won't go into details of why this is happening - because I have already stated the reasons in other threads.
But basically for me, the only one making money with the store at this point is Vendio!
But, since the potential is there for the store to be an AWESOME sales location and a powerful revenue creating store... I remain for the time being... just to see what happens next.
Besides... Chris wouldn't know what to do without my help <grin>.
Greg Williams
Retro Bargains
www.retrobargains.com
posted on June 23, 2003 02:26:02 PM
Sorry, I have been busy and have not gotten over here to answer. When I do Google words, I average about 20 guests a day. I dont count anymore so I can't really tell you. As for refunds, I have the form saved as a "favorite", open a second browswer to get the id number they want and then file it. As it turned out the guy sent his check and is not a deadbeat. I did have three sales over the weekend so maybe things are picking up. Greg and I are doing (mainly Greg and me copying him)some stuff outside of VD to try and bring customers to the storefront.
posted on June 23, 2003 05:49:30 PM
Well Beth... you can't give me the credit! You're doing a bang-up job too!
Well I just read my last posting in this thread and I want to say that I don't mean to sound negative in any way. I'm just laying out the facts that my Vendio shop isn't doing what it is capable of doing.
I may be totally off-base on my thinking, but if you aren't seen then you can't sell. Doesn't matter if you are an online store or a roadside store (brick and mortar). If the people don't know you exist then there is no way they can come and give money to you! <g>
So I found what I feel is a problem - visibility. I found a temporary solution... build my own "lobby" to attract customers and then hope they open the door (click the button) to access my direct link to my Vendio store.
It's a little bit of an investment but think of it as putting up that bright sign that says to the online world "Here I Am!". Want to see what I mean? just check out my domain www.retrobargains.com and look at the page and see that it takes you to my store for shopping. Take a look at Beth's and Stephen's too... they're the links on the left... to their Vendio stores! Link exchange is another important visibility factor on the internet... one not to be overlooked.
I plan on adding a link for visitors to sign up for my Vendio newsletters and a link to bookmark my site. Yes, those are on my Store, but with 100 categories on the left it is way down at the bottom... not visible! Yeah, I'm going to add the auction link to my "front door" website also... it won't take them to eBay... it'll take them to my store front and display my current auctions AT eBay... hey, they got there, maybe they'll look at my non-auction stuff too.
I think with this interface I have a better chance of getting more traffic to my store rather than just waiting for it to happen.
Best Regards!
Greg
Greg Williams
Retro Bargains
www.retrobargains.com
I have read your responses with interest!
A year ago I created my own website at some expense. It incorporates the store and my on line auctions as well as a few other items. It was submitted to all the search engines. www.nybaglady.com.
I also take advantage of the promote module of SMP.
I know my count because I am also a PayPal store.
Actually I had my first PAYING store customer that got there via checkout!
If visibility is the key, I guess I need to re-submit to the search engines... is there a fast way to do this?
The problem for applying for a credit is not only is the link hard to fine, it is equally as hard to fine the numbers I need to file....
Any ideas are helpful and thank you for replying! I have picked up a few new things already!
I'll work this a bit backwards from your post; yes, I understand the frustration of the refunds but I no longer get frustrated with it... the difficulty of filing a refund and even locating the Ref ID number, and having to open two windows at once to copy and paste over and over... that is actually satisfying to me. Each and every time I do it. Why? Because the difficulty in offering a way to request a refund didn't come about by accident... that was obviously by design... intentional so that less refunds will be requested and therefore processed. Since I'm not in the habit of giving money away, I gladly open two windows from my Favorites link and process my list.
There's another clue that this is intentional also. When you do request a refund you get the screen message that it could take up to three weeks to process. Now that is ludicrous... we're all in the business of instant fulfillment, including Vendio, I can understand it maybe taking a few days and even that is a long time when we are all working at the speed of light. Yes, I understand there are over 100,000 Vendio customers and there is a potential for a large amount of refund requests, but as a personal opinion from one who processed fulfillment requests that included returns, refunds and replacements for Intel, it can quick-turn MUCH faster than three weeks! At Intel we had PRODUCTS back in the customer's hands within 3 business days! Refunds were dispatched immediately on receipt of the returned goods the same day. So, I therefore feel the 3 week processing statement by Vendio is more of a closing "sting" to get you in the mindset of "why bother". All of my Vendio refunds are normally processed and received the 1st or 2nd business day after I request them (that is a self-contradiction on their part). I appreciate Vendio refunded my requests and I can imagine they also receive many invalid requests (due to wrong numbers submitted or just requests received from those hateful crooked people!). Sorry for going on about it but for every refund NOT requested that's money out of your pocket!
As for search engine submissions, take a look at GoDaddy.com and a product called Traffic Blazer. I plan to purchase this the first of the month and it's supposed to be a simple solution for getting traffic to your website... since you have a website and it comes to your Vendio store you may find this helpful. Want to go direct to it? Just type in Traffic Blazer at Google and you'll see it in the #1 and #2 spot.... that tells me something there! As I haven't used it myself, I can only go by what their ads say... there are many other traffic solutions out there also.
Take care!
Greg
Greg Williams
Retro Bargains
www.retrobargains.com
