posted on June 21, 2004 07:09:50 PM new
I am trying to wean off auctions and exploit, plus add to, my current 30,000+ customer base that I've built on Vendio.
I was going to use the Vendio store, primarily because it is already built, and then contact the customer base with pretty spam using Customer Manager.
The Vendio store is incapable, however, of doing some things I'd like. On the other hand, I wouldn't know how to build a store from scratch although I am fairly well versed in HTML.
So make an argument to switch from the Vendio store to Vendio web hosting. Or an argument not to.
Are there sales website templates available to expand upon to build a store?
posted on June 22, 2004 09:52:57 AM new
Hi Forceten32,
Unfortunately, there is no integration between web hosting and Vendio Stores yet. Based on what you have said, I'd recommend you keep your Vendio Store and go about emailing your customers through Customer Manager.
What are some of the things that you would like to do with your Vendio Store? We might be able to help you with some, and we would definitely love the feedback.
posted on June 22, 2004 11:20:24 AM new
It would be extremely helpful to be able to reward buyers for making a large purchase, or a targeted purchase.
Could be a shipping break:
Many of the sites from which I purchase from allow free shipping over a given amount (usually $25.00 -Amazon, DVD Empire, etc.);
Could be a purchase total reduction after a given amount, preferably other than percentage (I have found that I will get a much better response to a set amount rather than percentage, even if the percentage would result in a larger discount
and, most of all, the discount code.
Every site I know uses this. Actually, I know of no DVD, music or video site that doesn't. If the buyer enters a certain code, they get whatever the discount is. The following will show you many of these sites (and not just in music, video).
http://www.couponcraze.com/categories/Movies/
And I get the following e-mail every day:
http://forcex.home.mindspring.com/discounts.rtf
Every net site now offers the buyers something for doing something.
Almost no one goes to the Amazon site anymore and just makes their purchase without being offered discounts on shipping, multiple purchases, combining with the day's favorite, etc.
If I could send out an e-mail with a discount code to "True Grit" to every customer that ever bought a John Wayne film or a western from me on Vendio, I'd sell a ton before I could turn off the computer.
So you say, why not just send out a mailing? I could, but it would lack two things. 1) Having the buyer interact because they are being rewarded. By physically entering the code, the purchase is psychologically done. The buyer "got something for nothing."
Second, and most importantly, one code today invites another next month. If I just sent spam, saying they are getting the discount because they are old customers, they may act on it. But next month, and the month after, it's just becomes more spam. Because there's no interaction.
I was in sales in the film industry before cancer laid me low. I still went to platinum powerseller very quickly, selling by myself, shipping by myself (ugh) - all at around $20.00 per sale. Unfortunately, this has been a bad year physically.
How? Stay ahead of the curve. Tap dance. Do the soft shoe. Nowadays, the soft shoe in web movie sales is give, give, give. And make the customer interact with you. Have them join newsletters, enter coupon codes, invite them to make a request of you that they can't afford not to make. "I can get any DVD in the world. What's your favorite film, and who is your favorite star?" (If you are interested, in sales, that's called the assumptive alternative close [question can't be answered with a "no"]. Works.)
But it only works if the storefront works. It doesn't have to have a ton of features. But a couple of gimme's would go a long way.
I notice a lot of sellers on Ebay could use a little coaching on smoozing the customer. If the Vendio website had the discount feature, many would be reluctant to use it in the beginning but tried once or twice, Vendio's total sales would increase substantially, I assure you.
Thank you for detailing your suggestions -- I can see how a discount feature would be beneficial to your sales (and many of our customers as well). I have forwarded your feedback on to Product Development for review. You can always set up some of your items as cross promotional items if a customer purchases a specific DVD, and advertise that you have special discounts on specific items -- it's not a perfect solution, but it's one that could work out for you and perhaps generate more sales.
This would be a great feature. I have often wanted to use coupons or discount codes, but didn't know how I could make it work with Vendio. I want to use it as a tool to earn repeat customers.
I would also give signing up for customer manager some serious thought if this feature was offered. Without it, customer manager is not worth the money for my business.
I would also like the ability to use variants. If the customer buy 25 they get a cheaper price, 50 even cheaper. The only way to do that now is list the same item several different times in different quantities. Then you have too much for the customer pick through.
Thanks
Debbie
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
