Foot traffic vs. Car traffic??

I was a retail manager for years. I am sure if you can share more with us including what the store will be selling and even maps that we can give you a better idea.

But with what little info you gave here I doubt anyone can give you a valid and thought out answer.

If people, are not walking around your business and other businesses, then you better make sure that you get noticed. Businesses that are located in a heavily (foot walking) traffic have a great advantage. The people are walking around and if your business fits their needs, then they walk in. Location, location, location.

If you do not have foot traffic, then you will need to invest into advertising and signs that makes people notice you. Back in the days, I use to drive by a car mechanic shop and I never noticed their shop, but I noticed a huge 20 foot gorilla balloon that was floating above the shop. This business did not have the best location but that gorilla made them very visible.

If you are thinking of, getting another location, figure out how much foot traffic that location gets and a possible demographics of the people who walk by. If not, you need to resort to spending money on marketing and advertising.

There are many ways to market, it depends on what your business is all about.

Give more information and you get better inputs

I am thinking that if I choose the location with less traffic and gain a customer following on a 6 month lease, then I could possibly move to a location with more foot traffic at that time. The rent is very low at the mentioned location and would not break me if it didn't do well. Low risk.

If you believe that the level of referral traffic would be high that would make you a destination store. As long as you are a destination store and it is not out of people's way to get there you should be fine.

But be aware that a better location with more traffic such as a mall could justify the extra expense of that location.

My advice is that as long as the following are true that this is a fine location for now.

• The location is not "out of the way" for your customers.
• The location has good ingress and egress (means it is easy to get into and out of for car traffic)
• The majority of your business is and will in the foreseeable be referral and repeat business.
• You product is a destination product (aka people will drive to you in order to buy it from you)
• There is not a better more expensive location that you believe would draw enough extra traffic to justify the cost.

And I specific "now". In the future you may need to move. So if you have the cash flow now to start in a better location you may want to consider it.


Based on what you said so far I think this is a good low risk test location.

I posted here and spoke in PMs about the specific location.

Any advice is hard since I have not been in that specific industry but based on what i said here and what I PMed the more I think about it the more I would say I would only recommend this location as a test location. But that test may fail when a test in a better location might succeed.

I think you are giving up too much potential business from foot traffic in a mall. This location could work but you are limiting yourself and may fail due to the location.

So only do this location if you are 100% sure you can generate enough traffic from repeat and referral business. Otherwise risk a bit more and get the location you would move to in 6 months to a year.

Yes it is more risk but it is likely the smarter risk.

How do people buy fragrances?

Do you know if they take notes of signs the see while driving? Pull off the road and leap out of their cars because they want to buy that fragrance now?
Or is it more an impulse item that if they happened to be walking by... then you need high foot traffic...

How do people buy fragrances?
I don't think it's from either seeing signs or seeing a store.

That doesn't make sense. What you're really saying is that the rent seems affordable to you. Because "reasonable" is according to your return on investment, which you don't know yet. If it cost you $10,000 a month but you made $50,000, maybe that's "reasonable." If it cost you $500 a month but you make $600, or lose money, that's not "reasonable."

It's about location, not about how low the rent is.
The rent is low because it's not a good location.

Don't waste your money on a store. In addition to the lease there's commercial electric bills you'll have to pay, commercial sanitation, you'll have to clean the windows, clean the interior, buy store fixtures, insurance... waste of money at your stage.

In a perfect world, quality would be enough for your products to sell. But then, in a perfect world, everyone would only buy Chanel and Tresomme.

It's the marketing and sales which sells the stuff.

May?

People who like certain fragrances MAY also just decide it's not worth the drive, time and gas money and order something else good enough online or from their local area. I have an empty bottle of Bernini Men I haven't bothered getting another for several years even though it's on my wish list.

This is the right track. especially the home parties. Host events. Work it out with nightclubs to give samples. Do "women's night out" shows. Go into boutique shops and see if they'll put some of your product on their counter on consignment. Hire attractive people to spritz women at events and give out coupons.

Build sales, not rent receipts.

Have you ever in your life made a poor decision which you thought was right at the time you made that decision?

You know there's more to their success than merely a feeling. What they call a "gut feeling" is actually "refined intuition."

Even then, unless when it's a totally random fluke, but even in those cases, other factors lined up which made it a success.

Good luck.

Yes, I saw your new thread asking how to bring in customers now that you have a store. Something tells me this should've been part of the plan before getting a store, so I'll wish you good luck again.