Get In The Game is a weekly column by Dan Yarrington, managing partner of Myriad Games in Manchester & Salem, New Hampshire, Treasurer of the Professional Game Store Association, and Editor-in-Chief of GameSalute.com. This week, Yarrington talks about the benefits of setting up store locators.Welcome back to Get In The Game, a column that explores proactive ways we can improve the games industry. This week we play a fun game that makes you money.
First, There Are Gamers
There are gamers looking for places to play and buy games.
Second, There Are Publishers
There are publishers looking for local stores to sell and host their games.
Third, There's You
Then there's you, the humble game emporium proprietor, trying to sell, host, buy, and play games.
Your Goal
To get as many people as possible to your store to buy games and accessories.
Your Available Resources
- Your Internet connection.
- Your computer.
- Your time.
How You Do It
- Step 1) Make a list of every publisher you carry in your store.
- Step 2) Visit each of their websites and see if they have a store locator.
- Step 3) Make sure your information is correct on aforementioned locator.
- If you are not listed, submit your information.
- If you submit your information, make a note to check in a week to make sure it’s up.
- If you do not see a locator on a publisher's site, request that they add one.
- Step 4) Repeat with each publisher.
- Step 5) Repeat this entire process at least once a year, preferably once every 6 months.
- Step 6) Delegate this task to a trusted staff member so that you don't go crazy from data entry
- Step 7) ?
- Step 8) Profit!
Why You Do It
Store locators get you noticed by customers who are looking for a specific product. Ardent customers go to the source--the publisher's website--for all the latest from that company including news, forum discussions, and to find places to pick up the games from that company. Locators also get the store noticed by the publisher which can result in better support. Spending a few minutes to get listed on a store locator can yield dozens of new sales over the course of the year. It does require that regular maintenance, but as you settle in the process, assuming you're not moving each year, the incremental cost of maintaining your professional presence on publisher's sites is well worth it. Each store locator is a referral system that costs you very little in terms of total investment and can generate new sales leads for you all year round. And don't neglect the small publishers since their titles are likely the ones that customers are having the most difficulty finding. Everyone may know a store near them that carries Games Workshop and Wizards products, but knowing that you carry Gozer Games or Smirk & Dagger is a different story altogether.
Oh, And Then There's This Other Web Presence Stuff
"But wait!" you cry. "You didn't talk about the essential landing presence for your digital home in the cloud, your store website." Stay tuned for more articles about your comprehensive web presence and how it all links together. Yes, you need a place for everyone to come to find out about you online, but the slickest website is worthless if no one's going there, so start simple and focus your efforts on spreading your good name across the publisher multiverse with store locators as many places as you can find them.
Talk Back!
What’s your best experience with a store locator? Who has the worst store locator? Who doesn't have a store locator that should? Talk Back today!
What are you waiting for? Get In The Game!
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.