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That never make a purchase? I'm consistently astounded by it, year after year. I own a military surplus store with a 1500 sq ft military museum inside. Obviously my offerings fall well into discretionary spending. I know full well that 50% of my browsers won't make a purchase. And I'm fine with that. I get a lot of great conversations and I get to touch history every day. Yet the customers who just can't stop gushing about how awesome the place is and how amazing the museum is and how they're so glad we're here never even buy a $2.95 pin from us. Just don't get it.
I always go out of my way when a customer makes a purchase and thanks me to stop them and say, "No, thank you!" I tell every customer like this that it's because they choose to come to my business and spend their hard earned money here that I'm still here when they come back. That they are the reason I can pay my expenses and keep my business going. It usually stuns them but leaves them smiling and agreeing.
End of rant. Was wondering if anyone else experiences this phenomenon at their shops?
I look at people like that as free advertising. Maybe they couldn’t afford to buy anything, doesn’t mean they don’t have value to you. If they enjoyed the experience that much they’ll usually tell someone else. And that someone else might end up being a sale you wouldn’t normally have gotten down the road.
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While I see your point, I think that mindset can cause you to miss out on a lot of potential. Not everyone knows what they’re looking for until someone drops an idea on them. It may be a more niche store but military surplus still includes a lot of practical items. If you want to go camping you’d probably think about going to an outdoor store to look for supplies first, but you might not even think that a surplus store might have some great options for gear too unless someone mentions it to you. All it takes is one guy telling his buddy he needs supplies for a hiking trip and his buddy saying he saw some nice bedrolls there the other day while he was checking out the museum.
Plus you’d be amazed how many people there are who will ask in a Facebook group before they’ll ever bother to Google something for themself. And people who had a positive experience at a store are going to be more likely to take the time to comment.