Dramatic Drop in Shop Visitors Report on Sundays

Has anyone else noticed a very big dip in shop visitors on Sundays for the last couple of weeks?

I am seeing this in both the RL & RP shops

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by COBAYLEY on April 27, 2012 at 11:49pm

Hmm...because the majority of my sales are jewelry, it's hard for me to pinpoint specific fields of interest. I have the looks, I have the traffic, but no follow through sales. I've not started raising prices.. I'm not stupid. I don't do auctions at all anymore, so my only pulse for traffic or interest is Ruby Lane....I'll try to keep a closer eye on trends...interesting observation...thank you for sharing San Marcos
San Marcos Art Glass said:

Carolyn, are some of the things you sell impacted more than others? I've noticed that auction hammer prices for good art glass on live online auctions are higher right now than they have been in a while. I don't know about ceramics and jewelry, though, since I don't follow them. My traffic in art glass was down last week, but up again this week -- no new sales, though.

Permalink Reply by San Marcos Art Glass on April 27, 2012 at 11:57pm

I have a good feeling about this year. Maybe we'll have a long lackluster summer followed by a very good fall. That is how it feels to me.

Permalink Reply by 2Hearts Uptown @Ruby Lane on April 28, 2012 at 11:43am

I was taken by surprise by how slow April has been. More sales from RP than RL and that has never happened before. I thought maybe it was spring vacation and tax bills, but the last half has been quiet, too. Like you, traffic, clicks, wish listing all normal, but not translating into buyers. If this is foreshadowing of the summer, then all I can say is "dang." I've sold more clip earrings than anything else; never a good sign!

COBAYLEY said:

Hmm...because the majority of my sales are jewelry, it's hard for me to pinpoint specific fields of interest. I have the looks, I have the traffic, but no follow through sales. I've not started raising prices.. I'm not stupid. I don't do auctions at all anymore, so my only pulse for traffic or interest is Ruby Lane....I'll try to keep a closer eye on trends...interesting observation...thank you for sharing San Marcos
San Marcos Art Glass said:

Carolyn, are some of the things you sell impacted more than others? I've noticed that auction hammer prices for good art glass on live online auctions are higher right now than they have been in a while. I don't know about ceramics and jewelry, though, since I don't follow them. My traffic in art glass was down last week, but up again this week -- no new sales, though.

Permalink Reply by Ornaments on April 30, 2012 at 7:21am

Well at least I know it's not just me. I had pretty good sales up through the early part of April and then it dropped off to nearly nothing. I am also getting plenty of traffic, and a lot of wish list activity - just no sales.

I have also noticed the Ruby Lane numbers being off more than once. I don't understand how they can be so different from what Google Analytics shows. I have had RL show a big decrease in visitors on the same day that GA is showing an increase.

Permalink Reply by Pearl's Parlor on April 30, 2012 at 8:26am

I know I get confused sometimes on the Ruby Lane Shop Visitor report as to what all the numbers mean. The search engine numbers show up there too. There are a number of breakouts of the visitor numbers. What does everyone look at under Shop Visitors on RL? I know I read that Ruby Lane doesn't include the shop owner's visits if you're logged in. Google Analytics includes the shopowner's visits unless you can figure out how to exclude them. I read about it but it was so complicated I decided to forget about trying to exclude myself.

Permalink Reply by Graceful Antiques on April 30, 2012 at 10:00am

On a side note to this thread.

Though traffic may not be showing correctly I seem to get sales on Sunday night especially if I move items from my Ruby Plaza to my Ruby Lane then.

Maybe people treat themselves on Sunday night before they have to face Monday..teehee..

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on April 30, 2012 at 10:44am

Looks like the stats for yesterday are back to "normal"

I did report this to CS last week

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on April 30, 2012 at 12:07pm

Hi folks,

Ahhh, it is April and summer is looming ahead. Past experience tells us that retail purchases start to slow down in April and continue to decline until it levels out and it stays that way until September and then it starts to increase again. We can refer back to the forums from last summer etc. to get an idea of how sales were and our comments (frustration).

However I read an in-depth article on commerce in my state, Georgia, this past weekend. It was about current trends in all industries in my state and it does show an increase in buying in some areas including internet shopping which they interpret as an indication the economy is beginning to recover in 'some' areas. It also notes that folks with a 'click and brick' operation will trend better than those who only operate a brick and mortar shop. And goes on to say some folks are still concerned about online shopping because of fraud and are hesitant to pay for items online. This hammers online sales, which is frustrating for online retailers who have yet to figure out a fool proof solution.

Just sharing.

Carol

Permalink Reply by COBAYLEY on April 30, 2012 at 12:15pm

All signs of a hopefully quick economic turnaround. Thank you for sharing ....And...I too am still encountered by people that absolutely refuse to get involved with online payments. Yet they want to shop my store. And do it all over the telephone. Give me their credit card number. For heavens sake, they don't know me from Adam, yet they are willing to give me their personal information including credit card, address, phone etc. I have to explain that no, I'm a small business and don't take cards personally. Only PP... Well...that cinches it...they don't trust PP...one of the largest money exchanging institutions on the planet...go figure...

Permalink Reply by Ornaments on April 30, 2012 at 12:33pm

My last two sales were to people who can't or won't use PayPal. They're paying by money order. I wish that we did have some other way of accepting credit card payments. A lot of people seem to be biased against PayPal even though PP has a rep for almost always siding with the buyer and immediately issuing a refund in any dispute.

I knew that sales would drop off as the weather got better, I guess I just wasn't expecting it to drop off of a cliff at the beginning of April. I hope it does pick up a little bit at least. I don't know if I can keep things going if I have to go 6 months at a time with almost no sales.

Permalink Reply by 2Hearts Uptown @Ruby Lane on April 30, 2012 at 12:54pm

Continue to recommend "Square" program for processing credit cards. It's free; just need a smart phone. Although folks who use it DO have to give you all their private CC info. PayPal is actually so much more secure, in terms of the buyer not having any idea who we are, and what we might do with their info!

Ornaments said:

My last two sales were to people who can't or won't use PayPal. They're paying by money order. I wish that we did have some other way of accepting credit card payments. A lot of people seem to be biased against PayPal even though PP has a rep for almost always siding with the buyer and immediately issuing a refund in any dispute.

I knew that sales would drop off as the weather got better, I guess I just wasn't expecting it to drop off of a cliff at the beginning of April. I hope it does pick up a little bit at least. I don't know if I can keep things going if I have to go 6 months at a time with almost no sales.

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on April 30, 2012 at 1:19pm

I just checked square (squareup.com) and it seems they aren't free? as they charge 2.7 % per transaction...so am assuming you mean no annual/membership fee.

2Hearts Uptown @Ruby Lane said:

Continue to recommend "Square" program for processing credit cards. It's free; just need a smart phone. Although folks who use it DO have to give you all their private CC info. PayPal is actually so much more secure, in terms of the buyer not having any idea who we are, and what we might do with their info!

Ornaments said:

My last two sales were to people who can't or won't use PayPal. They're paying by money order. I wish that we did have some other way of accepting credit card payments. A lot of people seem to be biased against PayPal even though PP has a rep for almost always siding with the buyer and immediately issuing a refund in any dispute.

I knew that sales would drop off as the weather got better, I guess I just wasn't expecting it to drop off of a cliff at the beginning of April. I hope it does pick up a little bit at least. I don't know if I can keep things going if I have to go 6 months at a time with almost no sales.