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A month ago my wife and I passed a business while on vacation to a location we frequent. She remarked "oh it looks like they closed down, that's too bad" Upon

A month ago my wife and I passed a business while on vacation to a location we frequent. She remarked "oh it looks like they closed down, that's too bad" Upon closer inspection there were in fact open, the two employees present had parked in the back, leaving a completely empty front parking lot. The parking location is not all to blame, but at the time I remarked "the employees should really park out front to help it appears as though there are customers". Obviously if your lot is frequently full this isn't an issue. This was in a rural location where most likely that never happens as it was a large lot, and not a business that would see surges of customers.

jimminy 7y ago
Yeah, this article goes a bit overboard. There is a balance with small businesses of helping let people know you're in and available, and giving them prime parking. You park within distance of the building and visible, but not directly outside if possible. I've actually recieved calls about whether I'm open today, because my car is in the shop and thus the parking lot is vacant.
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
  I think the real point it's making isn't about the parking, it's the countless little things that business owners do that add friction to the customer transactions. Something as simple as not parking right in front might not make a huge difference, but that mindset, compounded over months and years, will.
- munk-a 7y ago
  In terms of really literally interpreting this article... please do make sure not to park (or allow to be parked) really shifty cars in your lot. If a car has dust on it so deep that a passing leaf leaves its story on it then the lot gets a sketchy feeling. Also, psychology is weird... if there are a bunch of spots near to your business pick one reasonably close but always leave the best one for customers - if there are cars parked close to the entrance but the best spot is open then customers will walk in with a bit of a buzzing high from managing to nab the primo spot. Aaaand if there is a tree that drops crap during spring/fall, park under it so no customer gets stuck with sap on their car since that can colour their entire interaction. Isn't psychology fun!
brianzelip 7y ago
The back of the lot is usually where the shade is.
- benj111 7y ago
  Except on the other side of the road.
adrianmonk 7y ago
It might even be an effective strategy to add a few extra cars to your parking lot, so it always has at least a moderate number. When I worked at a mall food court, I noticed something interesting: during slower periods, sometimes one restaurant would have a line while other restaurants would have no customers at all. And not always the same restaurant. I attributed it to customers seeing that one place had customers, then inferring that it must be open and it must be one of the better places to eat. Popularity isn't a very reliable indicator of quality, but it's not totally invalid either. If a place is always deserted, it's probably not very good. If it's always busy, it's likely that people are willing to wait for a reason.
- sixstringtheory 7y ago
  Back when I used to tend open bars, I’d do something I called “priming the tip jar.” Throw a five and some ones in and folks seemed to be more willing to tip. Probably mostly because it didn’t just look like an empty glass sitting right-side up–it made it obvious it was a tip jar without having to put a tacky “Tips” sign on it.
  - taneq 7y ago
    Buskers do the same, priming their hat or tin or whatever to show what they feel an appropriate donation would be. They also regularly ‘groom’ their donations so as to not look too successful.
    - perl4ever 7y ago
      What do you suppose someone is doing when they have a box for "donate to save the animals" or similar, and they never empty it even though it is stuffed full of money? Some sort of manipulation that escapes me, or something counterproductive? I noticed today that they put a piggy bank on top.
      - taneq 7y ago
        Some of those boxes are placed and maintained by the charity, not the owner of the location. So if the charity hasn't been back to empty it for a while, it might fill up. I doubt it's deliberate.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
cloudmanic 7y ago
Great point! Sort of like the club line. If you run a dance club you want a line of people out front to show that place is hopping.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Also hire some luxury/super cars to park out front (this actually happens in china).
  - beamatronic 7y ago
    That happens in San Jose also! (Santana Row)
    - rainyMammoth 7y ago
      Santana Row is fascinating. It looks to me like it was manufactured to please the "traditional" rich crowd. The people going there are very distinct than the typical engineers of Silicon Valley. That's why the trick of parking a nice car on a street wouldn't work in SF, Palo Alto or Mountain View.
      - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
        There isn’t a lot of traditional rich in San Jose, they mostly hang in Atherton through Palo Alto, and then in the city and north bay. Santana row attracts (or did 15 years ago) a lot of Chinese and Indians, but they are mostly new rich.
  - wingerlang 7y ago
    In Thailand they have supercar/superbike parkings outside malls.
  - dewey 7y ago
    That's what corner stores in Berlin do, it's mostly related to their not-so-stealthy money laundering activities though.
droithomme 7y ago
Exactly. This guy is wrong and you are right. If there's tons of customers lining up each morning at opening, sure, park elsewhere. Otherwise the owner should definitely take the best space to show someone is there. Empty parking lots are more common than full. Empty means there's nothing there.
- jessaustin 7y ago
  Most lots have multiple rows. Staff should park next to the road to be seen, and let the customers park next to the building to destroy their health.
- ninth_ant 7y ago
  > Empty parking lots are more common than full That’s not been my experience in most major cities I’ve lived and traveled in.
sl1ck731 7y ago
I worked in an auto shop and we would frequently park our own cars in the bays when we were empty for this reason and/or to appear more popular.
sjwright 7y ago
Am I missing something obvious, but can’t the perception of being open be solved by having bright shop lights next to your store window?
ukyrgf 7y ago
Having the lights on and a few cars out front to let customers know this is a safe location is definitely important in a lot of businesses. This article seems to want to make a point about subscription cancellation instead, though.
martin-adams 7y ago
That's like the restaurant trick to always seat the few customers by the window so it looks like a thriving and popular business.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  Also because customers prefer to sit by the window?
interestica 7y ago
In a world of Ubers and Self-driving cars, are cars in a lot a great indicator of popularity? What kind of visual indicators from afar can a business put out? It may be more of a future question.
myself248 7y ago
I gave this advice to my local Subway, which was open at 7am for breakfast but everything else in their little strip-mall opened later. The place looked deserted, and I was often the only customer. "Park in front in the morning, then move to the back before lunch, it'll make the place look busy" From that week forward, there were often other customers when I stopped in for breakfast. Manager said breakfast business had easily doubled. I got a bunch of free subs out of that deal. ;)

jimminy 7y ago

Yeah, this article goes a bit overboard. There is a balance with small businesses of helping let people know you're in and available, and giving them prime parking. You park within distance of the building and visible, but not directly outside if possible. I've actually recieved calls about whether I'm open today, because my car is in the shop and thus the parking lot is vacant.

HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
I think the real point it's making isn't about the parking, it's the countless little things that business owners do that add friction to the customer transactions. Something as simple as not parking right in front might not make a huge difference, but that mindset, compounded over months and years, will.
munk-a 7y ago
In terms of really literally interpreting this article... please do make sure not to park (or allow to be parked) really shifty cars in your lot. If a car has dust on it so deep that a passing leaf leaves its story on it then the lot gets a sketchy feeling. Also, psychology is weird... if there are a bunch of spots near to your business pick one reasonably close but always leave the best one for customers - if there are cars parked close to the entrance but the best spot is open then customers will walk in with a bit of a buzzing high from managing to nab the primo spot. Aaaand if there is a tree that drops crap during spring/fall, park under it so no customer gets stuck with sap on their car since that can colour their entire interaction. Isn't psychology fun!

brianzelip 7y ago

The back of the lot is usually where the shade is.

benj111 7y ago
Except on the other side of the road.

adrianmonk 7y ago

It might even be an effective strategy to add a few extra cars to your parking lot, so it always has at least a moderate number. When I worked at a mall food court, I noticed something interesting: during slower periods, sometimes one restaurant would have a line while other restaurants would have no customers at all. And not always the same restaurant. I attributed it to customers seeing that one place had customers, then inferring that it must be open and it must be one of the better places to eat. Popularity isn't a very reliable indicator of quality, but it's not totally invalid either. If a place is always deserted, it's probably not very good. If it's always busy, it's likely that people are willing to wait for a reason.

sixstringtheory 7y ago
Back when I used to tend open bars, I’d do something I called “priming the tip jar.” Throw a five and some ones in and folks seemed to be more willing to tip. Probably mostly because it didn’t just look like an empty glass sitting right-side up–it made it obvious it was a tip jar without having to put a tacky “Tips” sign on it.
- taneq 7y ago
  Buskers do the same, priming their hat or tin or whatever to show what they feel an appropriate donation would be. They also regularly ‘groom’ their donations so as to not look too successful.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    What do you suppose someone is doing when they have a box for "donate to save the animals" or similar, and they never empty it even though it is stuffed full of money? Some sort of manipulation that escapes me, or something counterproductive? I noticed today that they put a piggy bank on top.
    - taneq 7y ago
      Some of those boxes are placed and maintained by the charity, not the owner of the location. So if the charity hasn't been back to empty it for a while, it might fill up. I doubt it's deliberate.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

cloudmanic 7y ago

Great point! Sort of like the club line. If you run a dance club you want a line of people out front to show that place is hopping.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
Also hire some luxury/super cars to park out front (this actually happens in china).
- beamatronic 7y ago
  That happens in San Jose also! (Santana Row)
  - rainyMammoth 7y ago
    Santana Row is fascinating. It looks to me like it was manufactured to please the "traditional" rich crowd. The people going there are very distinct than the typical engineers of Silicon Valley. That's why the trick of parking a nice car on a street wouldn't work in SF, Palo Alto or Mountain View.
    - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      There isn’t a lot of traditional rich in San Jose, they mostly hang in Atherton through Palo Alto, and then in the city and north bay. Santana row attracts (or did 15 years ago) a lot of Chinese and Indians, but they are mostly new rich.
- wingerlang 7y ago
  In Thailand they have supercar/superbike parkings outside malls.
- dewey 7y ago
  That's what corner stores in Berlin do, it's mostly related to their not-so-stealthy money laundering activities though.

droithomme 7y ago

Exactly. This guy is wrong and you are right. If there's tons of customers lining up each morning at opening, sure, park elsewhere. Otherwise the owner should definitely take the best space to show someone is there. Empty parking lots are more common than full. Empty means there's nothing there.

jessaustin 7y ago
Most lots have multiple rows. Staff should park next to the road to be seen, and let the customers park next to the building to destroy their health.
ninth_ant 7y ago
> Empty parking lots are more common than full That’s not been my experience in most major cities I’ve lived and traveled in.

sl1ck731 7y ago

I worked in an auto shop and we would frequently park our own cars in the bays when we were empty for this reason and/or to appear more popular.

sjwright 7y ago

Am I missing something obvious, but can’t the perception of being open be solved by having bright shop lights next to your store window?

ukyrgf 7y ago

Having the lights on and a few cars out front to let customers know this is a safe location is definitely important in a lot of businesses. This article seems to want to make a point about subscription cancellation instead, though.

martin-adams 7y ago

That's like the restaurant trick to always seat the few customers by the window so it looks like a thriving and popular business.

lonelappde 7y ago
Also because customers prefer to sit by the window?

interestica 7y ago

In a world of Ubers and Self-driving cars, are cars in a lot a great indicator of popularity? What kind of visual indicators from afar can a business put out? It may be more of a future question.

myself248 7y ago

I gave this advice to my local Subway, which was open at 7am for breakfast but everything else in their little strip-mall opened later. The place looked deserted, and I was often the only customer. "Park in front in the morning, then move to the back before lunch, it'll make the place look busy" From that week forward, there were often other customers when I stopped in for breakfast. Manager said breakfast business had easily doubled. I got a bunch of free subs out of that deal. ;)