Retail store?

[netpox]

We make hand crafted women's apparel accessories and currently sell online and do local craft shows. They are popular with women and i think if maybe we were at mall in a kiosk we might do good. Are mall kiosks a good place to be?

[ikjosh]

Depends on the location and the type of people who walk through them - Kiosks can be expensive, especially during the holidays. You might be better off investing that money into your website. I think you can reach a bigger audience online than at a local location, and the overhead is much higher.

[myfayt]

Mall kiosks are a bad idea. You have no way to protect your items from being stolen. Generally one person works at a time, when they go to the bathroom, things get stolen. When you close up, you cover a curtain over your kiosk, and things get stolen again because the mall closes at 9pm, but the last person is out around 11pm. So while you are driving home, there is still people walking around in there. Generally mall security will not kick people out until 2 to 3 hours after closing and locking doors. Also if you don't open on time, you will receive a fine from the mall. At my mall it's a $1,000 fine for not opening on time 7 days a week.

[ernest1918]

wow i was thinking about doing a kiosk as well but that is very true if your rent is $2500 a month you could spend that on some advertising and SEO and get just as much profit.

However when you are selling online there is tons of competition. I mean I sell on Ebay and I can't profit as much because if I price to high my competitors will seem favorable.

I know kiosk owners and they sell things marked up 100-200% in order to make rent but people that walk through the mall will buy it. Like someone said above it all depends on the location and also what you are trying to sell.

[abhaykhurana]

Market research.

Going to shows is much different that having a booth in the mall.

When you're going to an craft show (or something of that nature), you're entering a marketplace where people are already looking for what you sell.

How many people do you think are looking for your specific product when they go to the mall?

If you don't know it might be a good idea to find out. Are there many other stores in your mall that are selling similar items?

In the stores that are selling them, keep track of their inventory and of new styles that are being released.

If in 6 months time, the same product in your category has not seen an update, there probably isn't much demand for it.

Like others have said, the internet gives you the opportunity to only speak/present to people who have some interest in your product.

With the rent money for a kiosk, you might consider doing some online market research with the intention of making an entrance to your online marketplace.