Urban Shopper

Not Another Hunt!

No really, it’s not!

Hunts have been great for the last few years by attracting new shoppers, and people LOVE finding new places to shop, but even the avid hunter is getting tired of these hunts.

Delaynie Barbosa, owner and designer of OuTRage! Clothing Company has organized a very interesting event for us designers. Usually I don’t write about this kinda stuff, but I am intrigued by this great marketing idea.   I know many of us struggle to capture the next greatest bestest plan to entice customers to our stores and the mainstream avenues are just not working like they use to.  Thus, with this ever-changing SL environment, we need to think of new strategies every few weeks to gain our audiences attention and remind them who we are.

Even myself, the organizer of soooo many hunts at Urban Shopper, is growing tired of it.  I do enjoy it but it’s become such an annual thing at Urban, that it feels like forcing turkey dinner down my throat when I am a vegan.  It just feels somewhat wrong and plain ole’boring.  Maybe I need to set a new years resolution for myself – No More Hunts? New strategies are needed for sure.

Anyhoo, I want to share this great event with everyone.  I have signed my store up (SD Wears) and I know many of the Urban Shopper designers and other fantastic shops have joined. So if you’re a merchant and are looking for something new to interest your shoppers, please IM Delaynie Barbosa or send her a note in-world and she will drop a note on you that has some more info about this event.

Basically, it is two events.  The goal of these  promotions is to target people who enjoy having items others don’t,  so rather then selling things at rock bottom price, we are looking to sell things at the highest price possible for a limited amount of time.

Promo 1: One-Item Auction

✰The Auction will take place Jan 7-10.

✰You will create an item, and place it in your auction vendor for these three days only.

✰The item for the auction MUST be something new. It canNOT be an item already in your stock,  and it can NOT be a variation of a product.  It must be new and original.

✰You can price it however you want, but the price should start at full sale value.

✰A maximum of fifty designers will be accepted for this event.  Remaining applications will be wait-listed.

Promo 2: Limited Edition Dash

✰The Limited Edition Dash will take place starting  January 11.  The dash will continue until your item is sold out.  Some people may have a longer sale period then others, depending on how long it takes for the sale item to sell out.

✰You will create a limited edition item and place it in your limited edition vendor.

✰Like the auction item, it must be something new and original. It cannot be a product variation.

✰The item must be sold at full sale value or slightly higher. So for example if your regular sale price on an outfit is L$250, sell it for L$350- L$400.  Don’t gouge your customers.  They will recognize right away that you are selling something for way above your normal price range and will resent you for it, and you may possibly lose business.

✰The recommended limit for this promotion is 50 copies.  Don’t go below 30 copies and don’t go over 100 copies.

✰ Once the limit has been reached, and your limited edition vendor sells out,  you must stop selling the item, period.
✰A maximum of fifty vendors will be accepted for each event.  Remaining applications will be wait-listed.

*If a limited edition item will cause trouble for you,  you may create an item similiar to the limited edition item, but it must be different in at least THREE ways.   So for a dress,  that might mean not only a different texture and skirt,  but it might also mean you don’t include the accessories such as shoes and purse.

The goal of this promotion is create a demand for an item which will only be available for a limited amount of time, thusly targeting those avatars who are willing to pay more to have an item few others will have.

It’s different right?  Not to say that it has never been done in SL.  I’m sure others have done this, however it is a great promo for us designers and for our customers. This promises to be something fun and different from the usual hunt trails.

Oh! and shoppers, if you would love to obtain a limited edition item from your favorite merchants, nudge them to contact me as well.

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