How to keep customers away?

[deniser]

I've posted about this before but the problem will not go away.

We are an Ecommerce site but people insist on coming to visit us even though we are not a shop and everything is laid out like a warehouse so there is nothing to browse through.

The website states clearly everywhere that visitors can only come by appointment (when they make an appointment we find out what it is they want to see/try and have it ready for them when they arrive) but some people ignore this, turn up and despite the sign on the door saying "Visitors by appointment only" they demand to be let in. We tell them to go away, it's a website, and most do but some are very insistent saying they have come a long way and we feel we have to let them in. It then becomes difficult for us to serve them because it is not a shop, we don't have the appropriate number of staff unless we are expecting them, we have other legitimate visitors to deal with and it interferes with our telephone answering and order processing. Plus it's untidy, they demand to use the loo etc.

Today has been particularly bad and we have turned lots of people away as we are choc a block with appointments (scribbling this in a 5 min lunch break!).

We have to display the address on the site by law and want to anyway as people should be able to see who they are dealing with.

How can we keep people away? They wouldn't turn up to Amazon's warehouse would they? Do people turn up to other websites that people operate from home?

 

[onesixtyfourth]

Use a virtual address for the web site so that only people who have made an appointment will know where you are. Someone like mailbox etc they aren't the only ones but I use them as I set my shop up from home and didn't want that address on the net.

 

[WebSquare]

Hi

i would be interested in looking at your website just to understand what image you are giving to your customers

your website ma need tweaking to get the right message across.

PM me

thanks

 

[MH1]

Simply tell them your insurance only covers employees and people advised in advance to the insurance company, as such it would be illegal to allow them in as you cannot break the law.

 

[deniser]

Simply tell them your insurance only covers employees and people advised in advance to the insurance company, as such it would be illegal to allow them in as you cannot break the law.

Could that be true? It isn't because we have shops insurance but is that possible?

 

[SillyJokes]

We can get this exact problem. People turning up unannounced can be huge drain on resources designed to process, pick and pack as many orders as possible via the internet.

Our warehouse is not in a town. If your's is, that's maybe why you have so many turn up.

If you are getting so many that it is a real problem then you must look at what you say on the website again.

Yellow pages and thomson local are also a big source of these calls. You tend to end up in these directories even if you don't pay. Not sure what you can do, except try to make sure your listing includes a mention that you are not a shop.

edit to say Insurance is a good one. You won't be insured to have kids running round your warehosue climbing the racking

 

[shopintegrator]

What about having some pictures of your warehouse and the interior front of shop part of your facility on the same page as where a person would go to look up your address? This might help them visualise why you are not a place where they can just turn up and wander around to browse your products?

 

[sanjiv]

What is your website? There may be something that you can do to make it a little clearer.

 

[maxh]

Build your business around your customers.

 

[deniser]

Build your business around your customers.

Yes my online customers who make me money hence not wanting the others!

 

[deniser]

What about having some pictures of your warehouse and the interior front of shop part of your facility on the same page as where a person would go to look up your address? This might help them visualise why you are not a place where they can just turn up and wander around to browse your products?

That is a very good idea, thank you, I will do that.

 

[maxh]

Or have a catalogue/itinerary and a reception. Where they can browse your shtuff then place an order. Much like argos

 

[deniser]

Or have a catalogue/itinerary and a reception. Where they can browse your shtuff then place an order. Much like argos

I thought about that but it won't work as it needs more staff to be present and they would want to try it on anyway once they were there.

 

[SillyJokes]

Or have a catalogue/itinerary and a reception. Where they can browse your shtuff then place an order. Much like argos

I don't think you have truly gathered the difference between being a shop retailer and an online retailer.

As an online retailer you are set up to handle the huge volumes of stock you have to move. The way a warehouse is laid out is totally different from a shop and of course the cost of producing a catalogue - that's what the website is...

You cannot be both internet retailer of any volume and a shop open to the public.

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

How about a minimum order value for non-online purchases?

 

[J-Wholesale]

"Visitors by appointment only"

This could be your problem. You're saying on your website that you do accept visitors, which suggests that you are equipped to handle visitors. The "by appointment only" part could be taken as "we like to know who's coming", not that you're simply not equipped to deal with face to face customers at all. Is there a downside to removing this from your website? You'll still get people asking to come see you, at which point you can refuse, or not.

I'd seriously consider replacing that line with "XYZ is an online only company." And prefix your address with something like "Company Head Office." Anything that suggests to the customer that your office and your warehouse are not the same.

 

[kevin555]

We don't have the same level of problem as you although a customer wants to come tomorrow to pick something up - all our receipt systems etc are tied up with making payment over the net.

What always surprises me are the choices people make - often travelling many miles to 'save' the delivery charge. Bonkers or what? :|

However, I think it might be the nature of the goods you are selling that is exacerbating the problem. I take it you are selling clothing so people are wanting to try before they buy.

Do you offer a free returns policy like Littlewoods or Next with a bag for returns? If not then maybe this is something you need to develop - you may have to restructure your pricing, either by simply charging more to cover the costs of the increased level of returns or do as Littlewoods etc do and charge a high price but paid for over a number of weeks.

If customers know they can buy and return as much as they like they will not need to turn up and try things on.

Also I would remove the notice about Visitors by Appointment only. This clearly encourages people as they now know that you accept visitors. On your About Us page / contact page make it clear that you are an online retailer / mail order company.

Good luck

 

[deniser]

This could be your problem. You're saying on your website that you do accept visitors, which suggests that you are equipped to handle visitors. The "by appointment only" part could be taken as "we like to know who's coming", not that you're simply not equipped to deal with face to face customers at all. Is there a downside to removing this from your website? You'll still get people asking to come see you, at which point you can refuse, or not.

I'd seriously consider replacing that line with "XYZ is an online only company." And prefix your address with something like "Company Head Office." Anything that suggests to the customer that your office and your warehouse are not the same.

We don't mind people coming if we are expecting them, have explained to them what we are and they know what to expect when they arrive. They usually come to try on a specific garment which is not a problem to us.

9 out of 10 people do make an appointment; it's the 1 in 10 who don't who are the problem.

Where the address is it does say in large bold letters "This is not a retail shop open to the public. Visitors by appointment only"

But I agree, this is where the confusion lies.

 

[deniser]

What always surprises me are the choices people make - often travelling many miles to 'save' the delivery charge. Bonkers or what?

Absolutely! Another reason why we try to get them on the phone first to point out that our low delivery charge is far less than the amount they would spend on petrol/parking charges/the Dartford Tunnel charge and it is amazing how this hasn't occurred to them.

We do ask them to pay for returns but the products are light & generally cost less than £2 to return by 2nd class post. Everything else about returns is easy - they get the packaging and label and 28 days. All in all still less than the costs of coming in person.

You wouldn't believe it if I told you that people have travelled from as far away as Germany without even ringing to check if we were there first!

 

[bottlemaster]

I'll have some of your customers..!

 

[Billmccallum]

Is this really a problem, or is it a business opportunity to develop a "cash & carry" business to bolt onto your existing business, possibly charging slightly higher prices for C&C....

 

[deniser]

Is this really a problem, or is it a business opportunity to develop a "cash & carry" business to bolt onto your existing business, possibly charging slightly higher prices for C&C....

Unfortunately not. The product is not a help yourself product.

 

[SFD]

Hi Deniser,

I've just taken a look at your website.

I would remove 'directions, opening hours' from your navigation and just have it as 'contact us'

I would then change the main line on the 'contact us' page about not being open to the public to something saying you operate from a warehouse facility and don't have a retail outlet as at the moment it sounds as though you are not open to the general public but open to people who have found you online.

I would also remove the big 'visitors by appointment only' from the homepage and combine it with the phrase on the contact page as it doesn't apply to the majority of people visiting your site, only those who look at the contact page.

 

[deniser]

Hi Deniser,

I've just taken a look at your website.

I would remove 'directions, opening hours' from your navigation and just have it as 'contact us'

I would then change the main line on the 'contact us' page about not being open to the public to something saying you operate from a warehouse facility and don't have a retail outlet as at the moment it sounds as though you are not open to the general public but open to people who have found you online.

I would also remove the big 'visitors by appointment only' from the homepage and combine it with the phrase on the contact page as it doesn't apply to the majority of people visiting your site, only those who look at the contact page.

Thank you I will give it a try.

 

[Shopping365Group]

I know this doesn't really help but no matter what you do unfortunately there will always be that 1 out of 10 people that just do not read things properly. I'm sure we all have stories to tell of customers that just do not get it despite our best efforts to make things as simple as possible.

You could try all the things already suggested on this thread and i would put money on you still getting the odd uninvited customer. It's just one of those things i'm afraid. We have had some quite bizarre emails over the years.

 

[roydmoorian]

How about

"Visitors to the premises will be charged a £25.00 Access Fee (fully re-fundable against the first on-line order)"

 

[Mister B]

As others have said, "by appointment only" infers that you can readily accept members of the public and although not intended as an invitation, could be seen as one by the more misguided members of the public. The removal of that will help.

As for the phone calls, we occasionally have calls from people who work locally who want to pop in and have a browse. Unfortunately, our insurance policy does not cover members of the public and as such, we can not accomodate them. For sure, it costs us a tiny amount of business but we most certainly don't lose any profit as we don;t have to allocate man hours to serve the public.

Mister B

 

[deniser]

Interestingly for the 7 hours or so that I changed the wording on the home page to say that we didn't have a retail outlet, I got no orders (very unusual) so this must have been misconstrued as "this is not a retail site". So I have put the original wording about appointments back up.

I have experimented with and without this wording in the past and if I don't put "Visitors strictly by appointment", I have more turning up than if I do put it.

So I think I will just have to develop a thick skin and keep telling people to go away!

 

[SillyJokes]

Interestingly for the 7 hours or so that I changed the wording on the home page to say that we didn't have a retail outlet, I got no orders (very unusual) so this must have been misconstrued as "this is not a retail site". So I have put the original wording about appointments back up.

I have experimented with and without this wording in the past and if I don't put "Visitors strictly by appointment", I have more turning up than if I do put it.

So I think I will just have to develop a thick skin and keep telling people to go away!

You must have been scared to death! 7 Hours without an order? Whatever did you change?

I think we might be in very similar businesses and we have very few walk ins. We found the same problem as you.

Here's what we say on our contact page:

Can I come round to the warehouse to buy goods?
We are sorry but we only sell goods via the website and you cannot browse the warehouse. If you would like to order online and pick up from the warehouse this may be arranged at quiet times by pre-arrangement only.

I think this shows sufficiently that we operate a warehouse, not a shop and lets them know we are busy, but can let them pick stuff up. I think it has reduced walk-ins.

 

[deniser]

You must have been scared to death! 7 Hours without an order?

The sun was shining too so I wasn't too worried but I was worried as usually an hour doesn't go by without at least order!

It had something like "We are not a retail store open to the public". I think this was misconstrued as "We do not sell to the public". Oops!

 

[SillyJokes]

The sun was shining too so I wasn't too worried but I was worried as usually an hour doesn't go by without at least order!

It had something like "We are not a retail store open to the public". I think this was misconstrued as "We do not sell to the public". Oops!

Yep, that would have done it. d'oh.

Know what you mean about good weather. add on a dose of half-termitis and you've got orders well down on a usual week.