tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post5866544186125879223..comments2023-10-08T12:40:01.752-04:00Comments on In the Mind of a Mad Man!!!: Has kickstarter created the “Privatiation of retailing for customers”?LMPjr007http://www.blogger.com/profile/08789902828046077032noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-25925569317819311692013-03-17T10:50:17.284-04:002013-03-17T10:50:17.284-04:00The fragmentation of the social community by Kicks...The fragmentation of the social community by Kickstarter is setting the gaming industry back to the 1990's with every new release. For the past decade quality game stores have worked diligently to break the mold and grow communities at tables in their stores rather than the stereotypical hole in the wall card and rpg shop.<br /><br />Kickstarter even with the 'Retailer Tier' directly restricts the growth of the social gaming community be taking the alpha game fan out of the equation at the time when they can have the most positive impact on the entire system; and the product being delivered.<br /><br />They get it through the e-commerce delivery system; with very limited exposure in the local gaming community. They do not have to come to a store order it;talk about it; and do latent promotion of the product by doing so; nor are they encouraged to do so. <br /><br />In fact the entire system creates an environment that actively discourages the biggest fans from ever setting foot in a community setting that would 'grow the game' so to speak.<br /><br />That being said there are a few things that manufacturers can do to alleviate this and actually work with retailers rather than dangling the worm of discount product in front of them (which IMO is a very poor use of retail capital as well)<br /><br />Manufacturers can offer free pick-up with first out the door shipping at a B&M retailer programs that reward retailers for providing a centralized location for pick-up, and a charged delivery to private residence that ship later. This would 'cost' nothing and would go a very long way in showing that a manufacturer wants to work with a retailer.<br /><br />Offer a retailer locator as part of the Kickstarter as well. Where can you pick up your game first. Reach out to high quality retailers, build a list and work on building relationships that last rather than destroying them before they ever get established.<br /><br />Finally - realize that in the end you have two choices. One is to Kickstart a game and hope your marketing and the Kickstarter network is sufficient to meet your entire sales goal for each individual product; or build relationships and develop a gaming community that will support your company and product lines over time; and will work with you to 'grow the game' because the retailers involved have a solid financial incentive to do so.<br /><br />Right now there is not a good financial incentive for a retailer to support the vast majority of these programs - simply because it ties up our capital with products we can not sell for several months. That in the end is just poor business.Pat Fugehttp://www.gnomegames.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-82547621057374063192013-03-13T21:07:16.893-04:002013-03-13T21:07:16.893-04:00What's interesting though is many KSes have ti...What's interesting though is many KSes have tiers only for game stores. The Freeport one for instance, gets you the book for half price of what fans have to pay.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06440605975564288373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-61914531900897338392013-03-13T15:42:22.670-04:002013-03-13T15:42:22.670-04:00Gamestop, retail sale of video games, and the seco...Gamestop, retail sale of video games, and the secondhand used market are all going to disappear with the next generation of consoles since they will feature digital only new releases. There are plenty of sites debating whether fully digital content is good or bad, so I won't belabor the point.<br /><br />Comics will also be fully digital soon, baring a few printed collections and graphic novels. DC and Marvel are really pushing this and 2000AD has cut back many of their reprint plans in favor of digital. I doubt any but one or two Disney World stores would ever work out.<br /><br />Online discount sales probably hurt game stores way more than Kickstarter does. I can see the support for Kickstarters fading away, since most of the games offered now go into a normal release cycle eventually and most consumers prefer to buy something available now, to play with now, rather than something that might come out in 2014.<br /><br />My group doesn't support any of them anymore<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-46589465640711931342013-03-13T14:00:39.981-04:002013-03-13T14:00:39.981-04:00Kickstarter hasn't done this. This has been go...Kickstarter hasn't done this. This has been going on for 20+ years. This is just the latest in the series of changes that made this the case. Publishers sending customers direct market catelogues in the 80's and 90's, this was going on. When game stores stopped carrying everything available after the d20 boom, this was going on. When PDFs became a growing market, this was going on. And now it is Kickstarter. Same thing. New way it is happening. jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13389674167442986139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-73900107907934501292013-03-13T11:51:23.485-04:002013-03-13T11:51:23.485-04:00Several retailers have responded to this in my fac...Several retailers have responded to this in my facebook thread: https://www.facebook.com/louis.j.porter so I am including it to see the complete responses to this topic.LMPjr007https://www.blogger.com/profile/08789902828046077032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-17741794601630887392013-03-13T10:36:33.660-04:002013-03-13T10:36:33.660-04:00Great article.Great article.JPChapleauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05783051524957278979noreply@blogger.com