Commerce Survey

Forum to discuss business matters, commerce and the economy of the CDS

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Keila Forager
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Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:09 pm

Commerce Survey

Post by Keila Forager »

I have to say I was surprised at the number of surveys returned. I received 14. Not all from business owners. That was actually more than I thought I would receive. What saddened me , was when I spoke personally to residents about returning the surveys, I received a few, but more than that, I was met with apathy, "it's not my concern", and of course except for 2 or 3, I did not receive those surveys.
Yes mostly they were about commerce, but also about CDS and what we can do to promote CDS.
Just a few observations about what I've seen putting together the business directory. We have some awesome talented quality builders and creators living in CDS. But finding them is difficult. Many have no signs on the buildings. We have no set commerce area. That causes a problem with businesses and residences intermingled. And no direction to finding things. I walked down a couple alleys to find businesses I would have frequented if I had known they were there. They are hidden away. In NFS, we have empty buildings, buildings encroaching on neighboring plots so even if a business were to move in, they have one whole wall in their building they can't use. Appearance is a big deal when setting up a shopping area.
I'll post some of the comments of the surveys for your interested reading.

CDS Commerce Survey DEFINITION= (Business / Commerce) the activity embracing all
forms of the purchase and sale of goods and services.

1. Do you have a business in CDS? Of the 14 survey's I had returned, 3 did not have businesses, 2 were attractions and the rest had businesses.

4. Is there a direct tp to your location? Teleports from SL search, profile, xstreetsl, satellite shops ;
Not to CDS store ; Most businesses had direct tp's

6. Is this a main store location or satelite location? All were main stores except for 3 which were satelite stores.

7. Are the items in your store your own creations or are you a reseller store? Only one store was reseller.

8. What type of marketing/advertising do you have for your business?
-Not any.
-$30 PER WEEK "SHOW IN SEARCH",
-Various and variable. SL search, magazine, xstreetsl listed items ;
-Only classifieds ;,just land classifieds ;,Xstreet and Classified at the Main store
-lots
-My stuff is on the SL Marketplace, and I have a continously running classified ad for the main shop.

9. What kind of traffic/sales does your business have in CDS? ( daily, weekly, monthly, less than monthly, none, be specific as you can)
-I have never monitored its traffic, and have never received any income from it.
-Real traffic varies from 30 to 90 unique visitors per week. Sales are very variable. 2010 was worse than 2009, it barely covered land tier cost.
-Traffic is 2 to 6 people per day. Sales are only 400/month
-hm... very low.. like... "1 vase in 3 months" sort of thing
-I had monthly sales in 2009 but none now ( while having good sales at my mainstore)
-no clue probably not much at all ;
-It really depends - business seems to have picked up latelyand I'm doing a few thousand a week. It really varies. I won't be retiring on this income though!

10. How important is having your business in CDS?
-Fairly.
-HAVE IT FOR COMMUNITY USE
-Frankly i dont know, it's just a stable estate management, i feel i wont be kicked off by a crazy landowner, that's all. ,
-well, its important for me "personally", but its not much financial benefit (obviously),
-At least for my type of business, I think a satelite store isn't important ,
-I have it to support the CDS ,
-not very, .. our business doesnt depend on cds at all...... its something we do to help cds with no thanks.. have for years.. infact because of politics and hateful citizens we have been attacked , though in the past our business in cds had been ahuge draw.. it matters very little .. s got the land to keep citizenship, might as well have a shop on the land ;
-I like to support the CDS, but I don't sell much there. ;
-Very important to me, it's my first choice of location for my first shop.{has no business in CDS}
-Um, not very. I was interested in trying.

11. Would you be willing to participate in CDS fairs, markets, festivals, sim gridwide hunts, sales, etc.
-Yes, if they are adequately promoted, otherwise it's a waste of time. ,
-Yes, but Io often have a 'time" problem which prevents me ,
-not really, I don't have much time available lately and very discouraged to invest more time in SL
-I´m participating in fairs already ( make most of my CDS sales during Octoberfest) and would be willing to participate at more events ;
-yes ;
-Yes of course, if I have time.

12. What ideas do you have to increase commerce/business traffic and /or general traffic to CDS?
-A shop directory, like maybe as a sign in central areas. ,
-MORE EVENTS, BETTER ADVERTISING ,
-More favourable land covenants for merchants. Events events events. ,
-Develp professiona advertising (meaning... PAY someone who knows what they are doing) and promote the whole estate ,I still believe the old concept of having an "entertainment area" near stores, can work.. so people go to an event or concert etc, and end up checking the stores out of curiosity by the proximity.
-Another idea could be making a board with signs/tps to the stores in the sim, that board near and visible from the landing point of the sim.
-The options listed in #11 are also good points (fairs, festivals, sales etc) ,
-having a TP board to all merchents shops, a combined classified entry at the main CDS business locations like the forum and the Platz
-many many read the forums ;
-Right now I don't have time to think about it. ;
- Reduction of tier prices to boost buyers of parcels, meaning more population, which will positively effect the visiting population to the CDS, who may or may not be buyers of "CDS-made" goods.
- More hunts located in the CDS, to increase the knowledge of the CDS (as hunts are used by stores to increase their traffic, to increase their standing in SL-Search.
- More unique events, places, etc.: Carnivals, Festivals w/ rides etc., SL theater, unique monuments, sandbox, special places for gatherings of SL communities (sailing [ocean], flying [airports], builders [sandbox], renewed & new museums [MoCA, more art museums or museums in general]), work with education projects in SL, et cetera. ;
-Advertising, being out in the greater SL world, involving CDS in Relay for Life if possible. Stressing our democratic nature and themes. Renting would be a good idea and has been floated, but this would probably require changes in covenants or CDS becoming a landlord to people. This is a good topic for the guild if there is any expansion. If we ever have a sandbox, shops are common feature at most. A sandbox open to the public would add traffic to the sims. Some of those might be interested in a shop around the sandbox. One suggestion was a sandbox in a an alpine clearcut. We could have a woodland lumberjack village nearby to offer a place for shops or music. Also, additional levels perhaps with extra permissions could be granted to citizens or developers. I know of one talented person in CDS who goes elsewhere to develop/build. I am sure many would have great suggestions. ;
- Some places in CN to gather and meet your friends ;
-Events, special animations like contests, treasure hunts, etc., communication through different channels, especially Web

13. Any additional comments?
--I'm fine just being a resident. ,
-Develp professiona advertising (meaning... PAY someone who knows what they are doing) and promote the whole estate ,
-I think I also doesn't have sales from cds because as a prefab business, people like to see the builds, and pictures in a box isn't enough in most cases for someone to spend in a prefab that costs more then 100L anyway... also it could be working as an Ad store (where people see my houses pics and tp to my main sim to sell the builds rezzed, altho I have a landmark giver that message me when someone clicks on it, but there hasn't been many clicks lately, but its ok, I see cds as more residencial sims then some super store center), maybe for someone with their main store in cds would work different,
-if had paid classifieds in About Land directly to that spot.. ,
-cds could easily ask iif merchants want to sponsor events .. have a regular weekly event that is merchant sposored where a free gift or something is given and they can coordinate it ;
-a commerce sim done properly is awesome..and brings in business traffic even if they don't want to explore..but most do explore
-old commerce committes over the past several years have talked about all this stuff to increase commerce ad naseum .. but it has never happened... alsways just wasted peoples time ... search old forums for commerce committee work already done that has never been activated ;
-Thanks for the survey-- great idea. One problem we have in NFS is that fachwerke are allowed to be vacant. Gives the impression that nothing is going on or the property is abandoned. Perhaps covenants could reflect the need to keep up the feeling of activity. A applaud the RA for taking up he matter of covenants.
-The CDS should provide support to people who have a commerce or a special place, especially for the communication and the organization of events. We should also try to attract more designers in our community and help them to start their business by providing good conditions. We should also have plots to rent. I think that merchants prefers rent a place than buy it. We already have some places dedicated to commerce (NFS Platz, Forum, Harbour area in LA. It's better to have shops in the same area.This measure has to be decided by the RA, as it has consequences on our laws. We should also hear the needs of the current merchants and help them to develop their projects.

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