What I have a hard time understanding is, in this day and age, as a music store owner, if you (and/or your employees) are tired of people coming in and looking around without buying, why not have a decent website that you keep up-to-date with what you have in stock?
I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, hell, it could be a WordPress blog for all I care, as long as person can go on there and see a reasonably comprehensive list of what you are carrying. Because that would weed out a lot of people from ever setting foot in your store.
Just as annoying, maybe even more so, is when a brick n' mortar does have a website, but it's glaringly obvious that they put zero effort into it...like as far as what they are carrying goes, they have maybe one or two "group shots" of guitars/basses, taken from thirty feet away...sometimes they don't even list the makes they carry, never mind specific models. And/or the last time anyone from the store added any kind of content on the site was two years ago. Thanks for all the info!
I've been playing for almost thirty years, but am not/haven't been in a band for years. So I'm not gonna be shopping for a new amp every few years, PAs, etc., but I do like to treat myself to a new (or at least new to me) bass now and then, the odd gadget here and there...and I certainly wouldn't be 100% opposed to buying a brand new bass again someday (last time I bought new was 2012-ish) - but if you're not dealing in makes/models that appeal to me, guess what, I'm probably gonna go online and see what's out there from other dealers (including your local brick n' mortar competitors, either in person or, if they are a bit more tech-savvy/ambitious than you, online.)
Or, maybe you are carrying makes/models that I like, but (A) your sucky web presence combined with (B) you giving me the ol' stink-eye because I have been in a few times before but have yet to drop $500, $800, $1500, whatever, on a new bass from you, has me feeling less than welcome as a potential customer.
For the record - I'm not the guy who is in my local brick n' mortars every weekend, grabbing five basses off the walls, and noodling around on 'em with an amp at 11 for three hours. I make the rounds maybe once every four months or so, and if I do see a bass that looks interesting and take it off the wall, I might play it unplugged for five minutes.
All that being said, though, I am going to try my best down the road to support my local brick n' mortars (of which there are three in this town), for the simple fact that I think it's a good idea to support local businesses...plus, after the crapshoot/cold-sweat experience of buying used/online for several years (I've made some good buys, but some not-so-good too), I'm leaning more towards wanting to have a bass in my hands before buying it (the last bass I bought was purchased literally yesterday, and it was used, but at least it was local.)
A town about 1 hour 40 minutes west of here learned that lesson the hard way: they ended up going about two years without a grocery store because most people were driving to the nearest town to the east (about 40 minutes away) and/or the nearest town to the west (about an hour) to do their grocery shopping...supposedly it was cheaper for them to not buy their groceries locally...I guess their gas was free, and/or they could afford to spend three hours on the round-trip (if you include the time actually spent in the store) for grub, versus maybe half an hour if they'd just shopped locally?
That town now has not one, but two grocery stores, both of which I'd guess are doing brisk business...
I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, hell, it could be a WordPress blog for all I care, as long as person can go on there and see a reasonably comprehensive list of what you are carrying. Because that would weed out a lot of people from ever setting foot in your store.
Just as annoying, maybe even more so, is when a brick n' mortar does have a website, but it's glaringly obvious that they put zero effort into it...like as far as what they are carrying goes, they have maybe one or two "group shots" of guitars/basses, taken from thirty feet away...sometimes they don't even list the makes they carry, never mind specific models. And/or the last time anyone from the store added any kind of content on the site was two years ago. Thanks for all the info!
I've been playing for almost thirty years, but am not/haven't been in a band for years. So I'm not gonna be shopping for a new amp every few years, PAs, etc., but I do like to treat myself to a new (or at least new to me) bass now and then, the odd gadget here and there...and I certainly wouldn't be 100% opposed to buying a brand new bass again someday (last time I bought new was 2012-ish) - but if you're not dealing in makes/models that appeal to me, guess what, I'm probably gonna go online and see what's out there from other dealers (including your local brick n' mortar competitors, either in person or, if they are a bit more tech-savvy/ambitious than you, online.)
Or, maybe you are carrying makes/models that I like, but (A) your sucky web presence combined with (B) you giving me the ol' stink-eye because I have been in a few times before but have yet to drop $500, $800, $1500, whatever, on a new bass from you, has me feeling less than welcome as a potential customer.
For the record - I'm not the guy who is in my local brick n' mortars every weekend, grabbing five basses off the walls, and noodling around on 'em with an amp at 11 for three hours. I make the rounds maybe once every four months or so, and if I do see a bass that looks interesting and take it off the wall, I might play it unplugged for five minutes.
All that being said, though, I am going to try my best down the road to support my local brick n' mortars (of which there are three in this town), for the simple fact that I think it's a good idea to support local businesses...plus, after the crapshoot/cold-sweat experience of buying used/online for several years (I've made some good buys, but some not-so-good too), I'm leaning more towards wanting to have a bass in my hands before buying it (the last bass I bought was purchased literally yesterday, and it was used, but at least it was local.)
A town about 1 hour 40 minutes west of here learned that lesson the hard way: they ended up going about two years without a grocery store because most people were driving to the nearest town to the east (about 40 minutes away) and/or the nearest town to the west (about an hour) to do their grocery shopping...supposedly it was cheaper for them to not buy their groceries locally...I guess their gas was free, and/or they could afford to spend three hours on the round-trip (if you include the time actually spent in the store) for grub, versus maybe half an hour if they'd just shopped locally?
That town now has not one, but two grocery stores, both of which I'd guess are doing brisk business...
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