Retailer

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Please select from the following list of help topics:

1.    Checking Competition
2.    Locating a Store 
3.    Market Research
4.    Choosing What to Sell
5.    Ordering Products
6.    Setting Prices
7.    Hiring Employees
8.    Advertising
9.    Visiting Neighboring Stores From Your Store
10.  Managing Stock
11.  Competitor's Pricing
12.  Talking to Others
13.  Balance Sheet
14.  Quitting the Game
15.  Learn About Neighbors
16.  Expense History
17.  Reading the News
18.  Loss Leaders
19.  Definitions
20.  Getting Started in the Game
21.  Returning Products to Suppliers
22.  Score of the Game
23.  Boxes
24.  Floor Layout
25.  Firing Employees
 

Checking Competition

• Research:  You can use the "Market Reporting" option under the Research button at the bottom of your screen to check up on your competition.  Find out who is selling similar merchandise and at what prices.
• Newspaper: You can also find out who your competition is by clicking on the News button. The newspaper will show you all the ads of stores throughout town. See also Competitors' Prices
• Walk around town: Visit stores around town and make note of stores that sell what you sell.

Locating a Store

In this version of the game, you can not choose the location of your store.

Market Research

• Researching Buyers:
• To research the best customers to which to sell your products, you need to first click on the Research button.
• Then click on the button that says "Find buyer for product."
• Next you should choose the product that you are going to sell.
• A number of bars will appear on the graph. Click on the highest bar to find out which customer population is most likely to buy your product.
• Researching Products:
• To research the best products for a certain buyer, you must first click on the Research button.
• Then click on the button that says "Find product for buyer."
• Next, you should click on the customer population on which you are focusing.
• A series of bars will appear on the graph that is front of you.
• Click on the highest bars to find out what that buyer likes to buy.
• Researching Advertising Mediums:
• To find out how to best reach a buyer, you must first click on the Research button.
• Then click on the button that says "Find other ways to reach a buyer."
• Next, click on the buyer to which you would like to advertise.
• A series of bars will appear on the graph in front of you.
• Click on the highest bars to find out which advertising mediums that buyer uses.
• Researching where a Buyer Lives:
• To find out where a buyer lives, you must first click on the Research button.
• Then click on the button that says, "Find buyer on map."
• Next, click on the buyer about whom you would like information.
• The map in front of you will shade in the areas where that buyer lives.

Choosing What to Sell

• To choose what to sell, you can decide by looking at the stores surrounding you, or you can pick something you like and see what happens.
• Use the "Market Targeting" option under the Research button to help you make your decision what to sell.

see also Checking Competition

Ordering Products To order products:

• Click on the "Order" button to see the list of suppliers available.
• Then click on the supplier from which you would like to purchase.
• After choosing which manufacturer you would like to buy from, click on the "Order Form" button.
• A list of products available from the supplier will appear.
• Click on the items you would like to purchase
• Each item has a description, purchase price, and picture.
• Often there will be more than one purchase price, depending on quantity being purchased
• Select number of items to be purchased by typing that number in the "quantity" box..
• Select the frequency of delivery, ie would you like to recieve a weekly shipment or is this a one time order?
• Click the "Add" button to add that item to your list
• Select the next item and repeat.
• When you have selected what you want from that supplier, click the "Submit Order" button. The items will be shipped to your store for you.

Setting Prices

Sometimes it can be beneficial to sell a product at a price other than the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). Changing the price can affect sales of the product.

• New Products
• To set prices for new products, you need first to order them through the "Order" button.
• After you have ordered your products you will see the recommended manufacturer's suggested retail price for each product.
• Type in the price for which you would like to sell your products in the box next to the manufacturer's suggestion.
• From the "Stock" Button
• Select the product you wish to change the price of.
• Click in the box containing the current selling price.
• Type in the new price
• click the "Set Price" button

Hiring Employees

When hiring employees:

• First click on the "Hiring" button.
• Decide how much you would like to pay per week in wages. Note that quite often, paying your employee more means they will provide a higher level of service in your store.
• Click the "advertise" button. This will place your ad in the help wanted section of the paper.
• If there is anyone available who will work for the wages you have specified, their name will appear in the "applicants" box.
• Click on a name to review the applicant's resume. You may review as many as you like.
• Once you have chosen which of the listed people you would like to hire, highlight their name, then click the "hire" button.
• Your employee should then appear in your store.

see also Firing Employees

Advertising     When you click on the advertising button, you get three options, New Ad, Remove Ad, and Done.

• To place an ad, you must first click on the "New Ad" button.
• You must then choose which type of media you would like to advertise in: Newspaper or Radio.
• For Newspaper, choose which section of the newspaper you would like your ad to appear in and what size the ad should be.
• For Radio, choose which station you would like your ad to be on and how frequently you want you're ad aired.
• You may then select from two elements that control the content of the ad itself - Style and Feature.
• Click on the Accept Ad button when finished.

Visiting Neighboring Stores From your Store

There is more than one way to move around the town.

• From a store:
• Double click on the store's door.
• Double click on any its neighbors' doors.
• From the Map Screen
• click on any of the stores in your neighborhood.

Managing Stock

To check on your current inventory, click on the "Stock" button on the bottom of your screen. This will tell you what you have in stock, how much you have paid for each product, and how much you are charging for each product. From this menu you can change how much you are charging for each product, or you can choose to return individual stock items to their suppliers.

see Setting Prices, Returning Products to Suppliers, Floor Layout, Boxes

Competitors' Prices

• To find out about your competitors' prices, the simplest method is to visit their stores.
• You can do this by clicking on any store on the map screen.
• Once you are in their store, click on any of their products.
• The employee will tell you how much that competitor is charging for that product.

See also Checking Competition

Talking to Others

  There is a text entry box located between the main window and the dashboard. Click in this window, type what you want to say, and hit return. The text will appear in a cartoon-like bubble above your head. Everyone in the store should see it.

Balance Sheet

• Your balance sheet is shown in the lower portion of your screen. There are columns that will show you your cash, net worth, debt, and profit.

Quitting the Game

If you would like to quit the Dollar Bay Game, click on Quit button.

Learn about Neighborhoods To learn about any of the neighborhoods in Dollar Bay, double click on a neighborhood on the map screen. This will allow you to read  about that neighborhood.

Expense History

To review your last 10 weeks profits and expenses click on the Ledger button.

Reading the News

To find out about what is going on in Dollar Bay, click on the News button. This will give all of the latest news in town.

Loss Leaders

Loss Leader

A loss leader is a product that is sold for less than it was paid for to get customers to buy a store's other products. Although this can be a successful strategy in the real world, it provides the player no advantage in this version of the game.

Definitions

Competitor

One that is engaged in selling and buying goods or services in the same market as another.

Wholesale

The sale of a quantity of goods that are to be resold.

Targeting

Focusing on a particular group of people who are most likely to buy your products.

Net Worth

The difference between total assets and total liabilities.

Liquid Assets

Any company owned resources that can be easily converted to cash

Liabilities

Represent a company's obligations or debts to noneowners for cash, goods, or services.

Getting Started in the Game

It is fairly simple to get started. After creating a character in the game, you are assigned shop space and a starting budget.  To place higher on the scoreboard, you need to make a profit. To make a profit, you need to sell products.

• A very good idea at this point would be to choose at least one product to sell in your store, perhaps even more. (see Choosing what to sell)
• You can check the Dollar Bay news. (click the "News" button)
• You can visit surrounding stores to see what they are selling. (see Checking Competition)
• You can view a checklist of moves you can make by clicking on the Checklist button.
• You will need to hire an employee to sell your chosen products. (see Hiring Employees)
• You can order products from suppliers.  (see Ordering products)
• You can set the prices at which to sell your products. (see Managing stock)
• You can review your inventory, ie check quantities, prices, etc. by pressing the stock button. (see Managing stock)

Returning Products to Suppliers

To return any of your products to your supplier:

• Click on the "Stock" button located at the bottom of your screen.
• A list of the products you have purchased will appear.
• Highlight the product(s) that you would like to return, and then press the "Return Stock" button.
• The items will be returned to their suppliers and your cash will increase by the amount of the return price. Notice, though, that you will receive less than you paid for an item if you return it.

Score of the Game

To find out where you stand in the game, click on the Scoreboard button. You can then compare how you are doing to others playing the game.
 

Boxes

  When you run out of a product, the picture of the item turns into a picture of an open box.  When your store re-stocks the item, the box changes back into a picture of the item.
 

Floor Layout

When you order products, they are delivered directly to your store, and a picture representing the item will appear in your store. You may move the picture to any location in your store.

 
How do I move stock around?

To move stock to the backroom simply double click on an item.
To move stock from the backroom to the front room double click on an item.
To move stock within a room:

• Move your mouse pointer over the picture of the item to be moved.
• click on the item, holding the mouse button down.
• move the item to where you want it to be.
• let go of the mouse button.

If you happen to drop it in the wrong place by mistake, don't worry, you can re-arrange your store when ever you like, and move items as frequently as you like.

What can I move around?
• You can move anything that you own.
• You cannot move customers.
• You cannot move stock in other people's stores.

Firing employees

If there is some reason you would like to let your employee go, the only way to do it is to hire another employee.

Also, this is a natural occurence of hiring a new employee. Stores are only allowed one employee at a time, so if you hire a new one, you are automatically firing the old one.

see Hiring Employees