When you’re managing an eCommerce store that specializes in games, you’re going to attract a very diverse audience. Customers of all ages will visit your store, and will be looking for things ranging from rare cards from tabletop games to simple the most common board game. Don’t underestimate the potential buying power, though. Catering to gamers of all ages will take you far, but the first step to effective website design is knowing how to showcase your merchandise, what to stock, and how to market it to a diverse audience.
Who’s Gaming These Days?
To start with, you should understand how popular a hobby that gaming has become. This includes everything from tabletop roleplaying games, such as Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons to fantasy and traditional board games. As it stands as of only a few years ago, 91 percent of teenagers up to age 17, for example, were playing video games, according to HuffingtonPost.com. That’s just one statistic that proves the rising versatility of doing business in the gaming industry. Many gamers frequently also shop online due to the fact that, once they move past a certain point as novices in any particular game, they begin to seek out rarer cards or more specialized layouts for their games. Much like out of print book enthusiasts, gamers frequently end up looking for at least one rare item for their hobby. Your website should cater to that in some respect.
Choosing the Right Template for Gaming Inventory
For example, if you were selling shoes, you’d look for a shoe store website template specifically designed to display that particular product in the best light possible, emphasizing elements like detailed photos, and even videos. Products that are being worn put particularly heavy emphasis on the visual aspect of the customer experience, since the essence of apparel is appearance and aesthetics. However, with gaming, your customers are going to be looking for different details of your merchandise. In a similar vein as dealing in rare books, make sure you have all of the details listed – year, edition, material, publisher. If you’re dealing with rare cards, for example, usually producers of games will release all kinds of special and rare editions of cards, guides, and other game-related materials. Gamers will seek these items out well after the release date, and like a rare book edition, hard to find items become a sort of holy grail. Make sure your eCommerce website offers the type of information they’re going to be looking for, and choose something that’s heavy on the information, and light on the images.
The Draw of Stocking Rare Inventory
Gaming is a rarified hobby, and often becomes serious without the hobbyist intending to become so involved. One reason gaming might be so popular is its immersive quality, so your customers are probably going to know what they’re looking for when shopping on your online store for gaming merchandise. Assume there are very few browsers, and get a sense of what kinds of items are in demand by frequenting updated gaming blogs and other types of hobbyist websites. By staying in touch with your customer base, you can more confidently stock your online store with the merchandise in demand. Once you have rare and prized items in stock, make sure they are showcased prominently in your web design so they can draw in more customers.