Existing game store owners speak constantly about holding events at the store. We speak about it casually, as if everyone participating in the discussion has the familiarity we do. Let’s stop a moment and make sure we all understand the goals and processes to make “running events” a successful store strategy.
What’s an Event?
Products are goodies on the shelf you can sell. Events are activities in which players can engage. The most common event is probably a Magic: the Gathering tournament like Friday Night Magic.
The way I describe the concept of game store events to non-gamers is that the game room turbo-charges the retail space. It improves the efficiency and capacity of the part of the store that sells stuff.
Creating and hosting events offers several advantages to stores. They encourage people to buy things. The immediate sale is the entry fee for the tournament. Long-term sales include sales of singles or miniatures ahead of time as players prepare, or similar products between ongoing events.
Running events provides players with a reason to visit the store more often. Players who might not otherwise think about the store might anticipate a tournament all week. It’s hard to create that sort of top-of-the-mind awareness, but hosting events gives you an edge over other stores that don’t host events.
Hosting events allows you to advertise an activity instead of a thing. People respond better to such ads, even if they have no intention to attend the event. They are less likely to unsubscribe from your e-mail list when they receive a notification like that or to unfollow your Facebook page. It’s like being invited to a birthday party—even if you don’t go, it’s nice to be included.
Lay Down the Groundwork
Before inviting people to your house, make sure the house is ready for visitors. Make sure that when players show up for an event you have everything they need at hand.
Having enough space means having enough chairs, enough tables, the right tables. Ideally, the tables match, and they’re well-suited to the event. Magic players won’t be comfortable standing at chest-high tables normally used for miniatures games. Likewise, tables that are wide might be perfect for roleplaying games but too wide for the card players to read their opponent’s cards on the table.
Have relevant merchandise on hand. For a Magic tournament, that means booster packs and singles (if you sell them), of course, but it also means accessories like sleeves and boxes. Order anything you need in time for restocks to arrive.
Have event-specific supplies available. If you run a Magic draft, have basic lands. Decorate the store for major events.
Schedule enough staff before the event. If it’s small, you might not need any additional people on hand, but if it’s a very large one, you might need multiple people. Your staff might include tournament organizers.
Likewise, task out your staff and be clear on duties and expectations. The tournament organizer might not touch the POS system, for example. If the event is a miniatures tournament, whose responsibility is supplying the terrain?
You might need to downloand, install, and register for event management software.
Plan a Variety
It’s important to spread out events as much as you can. An event’s maximum capacity depends on your maximum space available, and if you run two simultaneous events, each event’s maximum is reduced. If you can fit 48 Pokemon players on Saturday night, adding a Lorcana tournament doesn’t let 96 people fit in the seats.
Use different time slots for different events. I’ve had success with miniatures tournaments in the daytime, while evening is more popular for card games. Make sure that the earlier event has enough time to go over a reasonable amount and has wrap-up time; you might need time to determine winners, and you need time to clean or reorganize for the second event.
Spread out the schedule to different days of the week. Poll the community to identify the best days. If Saturday is already packed to capacity, try to schedule events for Sunday instead. Incidentally, being standing-room-only was my impetus to move to a larger suite in the shopping center, giving me the largest game store in the city.
Some events lend themselves to weekly play. Others might draw interest but not often enough to repeat. I experimented with a flea market in the store, and it was a huge success. It eventually became a quarterly event that the players eagerly anticipated. If something is successful, repeat it. Beware of fatigue. A league, for example, might work for six weeks or three months, but players eventually expect an end. It’s better to end it too soon and let player feedback encourage a longer event next time than to wear people out to the point where they put the game aside for a while.
The Devil Is In the Details
Establish the details of the event. If it’s a card game like Magic, identify the format. For a miniatures game, set a point value for the armies and decide which optional rules apply. If it’s a roleplaying game, identify which books are allowed for character creation or announce that pre-generated characters will be provided.
Announce the fee and how to pay it. Can players pre-register? How? Provide a link. Just as important, make people aware of the prize amount or the method used for calculating it. Transparency with your prizes is paramount for establishing trust with the player base.
Who is running the event? Your choice of judge might encourage (or discourage) some players.
How long is each round, and how many rounds are there?
What’s the maximum number of players allowed? If you have too many sign up, how do you resolve that? My solution is to make every event a “first come, first serve” signup. In any conflict, the time stamp on the call or message determines who got in first.
Establish Rewards
When you set your prizes, make sure the value of the prizes stays below projected fees. If you expect to bring in $120 to $180 in entry fees, don’t regularly give away $300 (you *might* do that for exceptions; talk to me about that first).
For example, my standard GW event prizes are ½ of the prize pool in store credit to the overall winner, 1/3 of the prize pool for 2nd place, 1/6 to third place. If we bring in $180 in event fees, that’s $90, $60, and $30 respectively.
Promote the Event
Promoting events is critical to their success. You want a large, well-attended event so that players have a variety of opponents, the store feels successful, and you generate as much revenue from both entry fees and add-on sales as the space allows.
Social media is a free way to notify existing customers of an event. If you’re lucky, it might be shared by your players to spread the message to potentially new players.
In-store signage also reaches existing customers, including those unfamiliar with your gaming community. It’s cheap (potentially free, depending on the method used), and it reinforces other methods.
Game store owners often disregard e-mail lists, but many consumers read them. Small mailing lists are easy to maintain and generally free, depending on the service you use to manage them.
SMS messaging can reach existing customers and often better received than other direct methods of contact.
Temporary external signage notifies not only existing customers, but it can bring your event to new eyes as they drive by. You can hang a vinyl banner for a day or two at a time. You can get swap out different facings for an A-frame sign, or you can use a chalkboard signs for different daily messages.
Inform customers in the store by talking to them. Make sure the crew notifies customers about an event. Your POS should be able to create reminder pop-ups for anyone buying particular products or products from a particular category. Check your documentation to implement that.
For more suggestions for community promotion, see https://www.lloydwrites.com/2024/06/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood-work-with-your-community-to-increase-everyones-sales/
Solicit Feedback
After an event, regardless of success, poll your customers for feedback. Maybe you tried to run it on a day when many players were unavailable. Maybe the time of day you chose didn’t work. You might have appointed a tournament organizer who’s unpopular with the existing community. Find out what worked and what didn’t so that you can improve next time. Ask not only those who attended but those who didn’t to find out why.
Among the information you solicit, discover how many people who you expected to be interested knew about the event and find out how those players communicate with you. Maybe you overlooked a communication method in your promotion. Maybe you advertised too early and people forgot. This feedback is important for fine-tuning your promotion as well as the execution of the event.
Expect that players will always ask for more prizes and lower fees.
Potential Events
- Regular weekly role-playing games
- D&D PVP events
- DM workshops
- Demo games
- Maker days
- Character creation sessions
- Learn-to-play sessions of any category
- New release box openings
- Miniature assembly
- Painting clinics
- Painting contests
- Flea market
- In-store auction
- Birthday parties
- Tournaments
- Leagues
- Speed gaming
For more suggestions, take a peek at the calendar for Just Games in Rochester, NY or join us in a discussion at Opening a Tabletop Game Store on Facebook
