General Forum Shops

[Senkusha]

I'm really not sure where to put this, so, right here will do for now.

I've been to a number of forums, and several of them use some form of digital shop. Many of these shops don't provide anything "tangible", that is something useful, from what I noticed. So, why add a Shop onto your forum? Is it merely meant for distraction purposes, for fun, eye-candy? If you do offer things of value, I could see why a shop may be a good thing, especially to encourage membership and content creation, but what types of things would you have in your shop that members could purchase using Shop Credits?

I've got a thought, that I want to implement the system, to at least generate building of credits, but the ultimate goal is going to be using these credits as redeemable for products down the line. What are your thoughts?

 

[Al]

It’s called gamification.

 

[Aaron]

I've got one on FE but it's all just for a bit of fun. Someone did find one shop item really useful though so that works.

 

[Al]

 

[Aaron]

Yes you and your ducks...

 

[Ravenfreak]

Forum shops work better on admin and promotional forums if they offer services. Though it's also fun to have them installed on general discussion forums to allow your members to gain extra perks. You could also use them on roleplaying forums of course, to give your characters certain items and weapons.

 

[joelr]

It’s called gamification.

Is it gamification if, as the OP suggested, there's nothing useful in the shops that users would want to earn?

 

[Cedric]

You start with some basic stuff. Profile enhancements, username styles, whatever you can come up with. And along the way, you adapt to what your audience is interested in. But shops are usually a bit limited and less popular than back in the day.

 

[Al]

Is it gamification if, as the OP suggested, there's nothing useful in the shops that users would want to earn?

Yeah, I guess so. If it’s intended to drive engagement. On @Aaron’s forum I’m collecting ducks. They’re not worth anything, they’re not useful.

 

[Cory]

No one ever uses my forum shop it seems, I've even considered retiring it at a few points in time. I do offer some useful stuff, like coding-related and in-forum advertising, but I don't have a whole lot to offer overall. It's mainly meant to be an incentive to post more, but I don't think it always works in the best of your favor.

 

[Empire]

I have an marketplace and selling games - but no one brought nothing