Is there something wrong with my store?

SV Brick Shop

Hi All,

Before i start i want to point out that this post is by no means a cry to get more sales or force people to my store.
I've noticed that since a few weeks i received literally 0 orders. Moreover, even the active carts on which i usually average between 5 and 15 is also 0.
During the last week i expanded my inventory with approx 10k pieces, so i would suspect that it would at least draw some attention to curious eyes but no.
I never experienced this before and i'm starting to think that there is something wrong... Allthough the store is open it feels like my inventory isn't visible or it simply doesnt exist?
Would it be possible that someone has a quick look? Maybe i did something wrong or .... i'm literally at my wit's end

Lawrence

Possibly your shipping costs are a bit on the high side for outside of Belgium, other than that things look fine so it could just be pricing or inventory size. I plan to create something to help stores understand the pricing of their store in relation to other stores.

SV Brick Shop

Hi @Lawrence ,
Thank you so much for having a look.
Regarding pricing; im using 6 month average sales with a discount of 25% so i would suspect i would be somewhat in line with other stores. (or perhaps a bit cheaper)
Regarding the shipping cost; that could indeed be a blocker, but i am following the pricing of BPost and sadly they changed some of their shipping methods which lead to a serious price increase over the past 2 years... If i would ship on, lets say a flat rate i would lose so much that the income wouldnt cover cost anymore i think. But then again, i would think that the issues would have started much sooner, as the lack of orders and such started around 3rd week of April.

Anyway, thanks again for your effort. It's really appreciated!

Jay37

@SV Brick Shop It could be a number of factors. I too have noticed that my orders are lower, and my active carts seemed to have hovered around three for a long time (and that's with an inventory in excess of 50,000 items). The active carts do fluctuate but it's been a while since I've had double figures - they hit the heady heights of seven this morning! That said I have had orders (obviously the most important number), but time of year, disposable income, increase in shipping costs, etc, etc, all no doubt play a part.

Also, I think that the cost of shipping abroad (for any country) is really quite high compared to a couple of years ago, so you may find that overseas buyers will try and find a domestic store first to try and fulfill their order. I know my international orders have dropped off.

On this subject I note that there is only one page of Belgian stores on BO, but at least five in the UK, so is market size in play too?

Just some thoughts on the matter...

James

Hoddie

Your terms put me off using your store.

Your tone comes across as you're doing buyers a favour by offering to sell to them. You reserve the right to cancel orders but deny buyers the same opportunity to do so.

You also say your responsibility for an order ends when you pass it to bPost but that's simply not true. Your contract with a buyer requires you to get the order to them, not the shipping carrier. If bPost fail to deliver then you're the one who has to remedy that.

You also don't display shipping costs and the only way I can see if your store is set up with shipping, rather than just relying on 'request a quote' is to fill a cart and go to checkout. Could be wasted effort so I'd likely check other stores first.

SV Brick Shop

@Jay37 Thanks for your insights, really appreciated!
Yes the drop in sales is probably a result of any number of factors as you mention.
Hopefully it will pick up soon!

@Hoddie thanks for being honest.
It was never my intention to come across harsh or entitled. If you are getting put off by the terms then probably others will too. I will do the necessary reviewing and also adding of the shipping costs.