Seeing Your Comic Shop with Fresh Eyes
Why customer tour videos are changing the game
Comic book fans are passionate.
I guess that may be an understatement. But whether you call them fanatics, nerds, geeks, the occasional Otaku (that’s ok now, right?) or fanboys, they care deeply about their favorite medium and the stories that live inside the pages. If the internet is the great equalizer, that’s nowhere more prevalent than in the shop tours and haul videos posted by comic collectors on Youtube.
While doing a deep dive on Youtube today trying to find a student film that was created in the store a few years ago (I could not find it - hit me up if you know what I’m talking about), I ran across a host of video tours of the shop that I had never seen before. Immediately I felt a pit in my stomach. What if they didn’t like it? What if an employee was having an off day? What if a light bulb was out? Yes, light bulbs cause me stress.
I was thrilled that the videos I watched were positive. Folks were impressed by the wall books, the organization and the staff (good days forever!). They compared us favorably to other local stores and experiences. And yes, they did offer feedback on how to improve.
The most meaningful parts of the videos for me, as a comic shop owner, were the actual walk-throughs of the store. Seeing how they turned when they entered the door. Which sections drew their eye? Which signs did they use? Did they miss something I thought was obvious? Did the employee engage? Were there boxes by the back door? Yes, boxes also stress me out.
When a new customer drops in on a random Tuesday with a camera in their hand, it can be an invaluable tool to monitor your shop through someone else’s lens. In my dive this morning I learned so much - and actually got a little misty seeing how the store has changed in the last few years. Many of those changes were based directly on customer feedback.
So, if you’re not already monitoring Youtube for customer tour videos, I highly recommend you search your store name and spend some time looking through what these vloggers have to say about your store. And while you’re there, check out a few other store tours, too. We’ve started compiling our tour videos (including ones we shot ourselves) into a playlist. View the Neighborhood Comics Tours playlist on Youtube. And watch the review of our shop by Kurt’s Comic Reviews - it’s a lot of fun.