GNOME Store

[Paul Cutler <pcutler foresightlinux org>]

Hi, I wanted to continue a conversation regarding a GNOME store that I had sent to the foundation-list (http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/2009-April/msg00060.html) and per Stormy's last email in the thread, continue it in marketing.

We currently have an affiliate store set up at Hackerthreads:  http://www.hackerthreads.com/items.asp?Cc=GNOME&Bc=

I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the information on the current setup, including adding products and the revenue model.  However, in my experience at a former employer running e-commerce sites, having a punch out site with a different URL decreases customer conversion to buy. 

One alternative that came up in #marketing in IRC last week was using Zazzle, who manages the Mozilla store (http://store.mozilla.org/).

Some ideas around a GNOME store, that may help increase sales & revenue:

* GNOME URL (store.gnome.org)
* User generated logos / content that can be added to merchandise
* Limited edition merchandise (Could we create demand by having certain artwork / logos available for a limited time?  Or create a campaign or use merchandise to support a larger campaign for GNOME)
* Greater selection of products

Of course, this would probably cause more work - setting up the store, managing inventory (Mozilla has a clearance store), HTML, requesting and approving logos and artwork from the community, etc.  My idea may be totally crazy considering all the other work around the website that's going on as well.

I'm not sure what value added services Hackerthreads or Zazzle can offer around these ideas, or what other ideas the community may have to add, but these were some things I thought we may want to think about.

I'd like to gauge if there is any interest in the community around this idea?  If so, we may want to create a small team that can help screen artwork, choose what kinds of merchandise to sell in conjunction with a fulfilment partner, and work with the web team to get a store implement.

Thoughts or concerns?

Paul