Post by Don Warione on Oct 23, 2023 21:17:14 GMT
Welcome to the newest retail building, The Sim Mart! A place where sims can get all their basic needs met in one place. Where sims can buy a lot more at a discounted price. Selling higher volumes of products at slimmer margins.
A convenient way so Sims can get all they need in a one stop shop!
We all want to see Simco improve, and advance. This building design might be a key to unlock a more dynamic future for Simco. A player idea that has grown into an entire retail model design by the cooperation of several players. A project that brought players together and can continue to serve to bring players together if made reality.
With this building, I hope we can achieve a more vibrant and dynamic marketplace in key sectors that need augmentation for all players to enjoy more opportunity to play, grow and learn about the fundamentals of supply and demand, the fundamentals of market relations.
My ultimate goal in this building, is to create more for players to enjoy, more strategies and more dynamic markets. More ways to love, learn and play this game, while bringing a balanced solution that can benefit existing dedicated retail models (DRMs). What makes this building fundamentally different, is its ability to stir stagnant markets by soaking up lower quality products. With an inverse bonus applied to the same range of goods as the DRMs product pools, DRMs can have access to higher ranges of beneficiary quality. Meanwhile SimMarts sell most efficiently, the lower the quality of product possible. So, this model spots places in the market where excess product builds and leaves behind higher demands favorable to DRMs. Essentially SimMart is meant to be a mid to late game tiered approach to bring a higher goal to existing markets, that serves to also benefit the existing infrastructure of business models. Without hopefully becoming overpowered or unbalanced.
The idea for this new retail model compliments and synergizes with future ideas such as building auction, increased market dynamics by bringing several industries opportunities for profit up. This also creates a new avenue for retail players to scale a company from grocery to Aero/Restaurant while preparing them for the complex mechanics they would face in those later models. By having access to this building, a player can utilize a brand-new model of retail, similar to restaurants in its make, but easier to understand in its operation for the average player. Giving an opportunity to players seeking opportunities to learn and grow, without skipping perfectly fun industries they enjoy for the complex retail models of Aero and Resto.
SimMarts would be able to retail a selection of goods from grocery/(food?), fashion, construction supplies, and electronics. With multiple 8 hour shifts to plan out, which can be edited until the shift starts, players have 24-hour periods to line up shelves of goods from across industries on three separate shifts. Meanwhile a Simeon can pick up their planks for a DIY project at the same time they buy eggs for home, maybe a few steaks for dinner, even a new watch to keep track of their time. By having the ability to shop across industries for their goods in a single spot, their demand for products can shift more easily across the board in these industries. Giving dedicated grocery shops more opportunity to benefit from a quality bonus when SimMart saturates the egg demand. Just a single example of how diverse the new markets could be from a retail standpoint. This model is a similar feature to restaurants, but without ratings the store relies on demand bonuses based on quality. This model functions based on giving the Simeons a selection of exactly what product they want, but as cheap as you can make it. As the lower the quality the better the savings for SimMart which relies on wide margins of high volume at low profit. All while competing with other SimMarts for the pool of Simeons available to come into their stores instead.
The increased player demand for product in these industries can influence production of these sectors to spike and balance by the laws of supply and demand. With the new model influencing the budget of the Simeons, we could see demand shifts in areas that remain extreme. Giving retail and production more opportunities to sell a variety of quality products as the markets affected by this model see rapid changes in market conditions. Creating ultimately a situation in-which these markets can see diverse swings of price and demand. This building type will compete with others of its own design directly, and indirectly with industry standard retails. An industry standard retail building can find benefits from their new competition, as they can more effectively earn money on quality bonuses created by the shifting demands.
This idea is meant to boost markets, and create avenues for players interested in these sectors, it could benefit players who use the building as well as the players in proximity to this building.
Either the producer selling more product for better quality prices, or the industry standard shop getting a higher quality bonus to meet unexpected demands. Personally, I enjoy these industries in R2. These retail models of electronics and grocery that seek out the optimal product available in their sector at the time to sell. What I hope this model accomplishes is that these retail buildings have more opportunity to see outside impacts on the balance these markets currently have.
The new model becomes a catalyst to stir up stagnant markets by soaking up spots of the market oversaturated with product in extreme demand of the Simeons. When coupled with the planned building auctions update, producers could really stay on their toes in these industries chasing profitable ventures.
This model will bloom with the intended development of market dynamics, as it creates more opportunities to thrive in an active market. With increased market prices overall to ensure this model can benefit highly from the spots accumulating product of lower quality more successfully this could become an engine of stirring market prices, demands and qualities into a complex display of economic principal and the laws of supply and demands. By retailing the excess Q0 product from spots saturated in extreme demand, this model acts a roaming vacuum of the market. Seeking the cheapest products of the lowest quality possible to maximize potential profit from the increased selling time allowing more of the thin margins of profit on the high volume of sale. When further coupled by the intended development of the building auction, producers will have more opportunity to keep their eye on the pulse of the profits when abled to swap industries easily. Whether to capitalize on a drastic need to fill Q0 products that are seeing profits, or to take advantage of a Q3 steak you keep in the research options because RDMs can appreciate a good steak in this new economic climate. Thanks to SimMart, RDMs can see better quality bonuses from fluctuations in the demands and have more opportunities to engage with the dynamics of quality bonuses. The basic industries can have players start out learning the ropes of quality demand because of a later game model that they could look forward to becoming. SO and Resto bonuses are great powerhouse mechanics. This model should be a goal towards that for the up-and-coming player barely understanding quality bonuses until electronics or cars before their jump to a high-end risk model like SO and Resto. Because of this model, the economy will demand will fluctuate at a faster rate allowing new players to experience quality bonuses in action and be better prepared to understand the complexity of the game, and the mechanics of economic principle responsible.
What makes it unique?
This new feature will add to the existing market dynamics and create more engaging playstyles in the process. Without detracting from existing models, this model will improve conditions for itself and others. While achieving balance.
New Feature: Inverse quality bonuses. While a (DRM) enjoys the benefits of a high-quality bonus from the range currently dictated by demand factor, SimMart uses the lower parts of that same range.
New feature - Multiple simultaneous retailing items.
New Feature - Ability to retail in multiple industries.
New feature - 8 hour shifts. Similar to other buildings with cycles. Difference would be being able to set up to 3 cycles ahead and able to make adjustments as needed until the shift starts.
Balance - Higher building cost, generates more AO with the new update announced with a balance of making all products valuable to sell in retail this wouldn't make it OP.
Balance - More product at slimmer margins than a dedicated retail.
8 Hour Shifts and Occupancy
Companies will run their Sim Mart in 8 hour shifts. Each shift will have independent results from other shifts. When you open up your Mini Mart building you will be able to see 3 shifts ahead. You will be able to edit ALL shifts independently of each other at the same time. You will be able to edit all the way up till that shift starts. So you can set the next 24 hours simultaneously without needing to attend every 8 hours. However, as you will see, each shift does affect future shifts.
During an active shift, Simeons from three distinct wealth classes will be visiting SimMarts based on set prices and quality range of products. A middle-class Simeon citizen desires the lowest quality of the range dictated by demand. A wealthy Simeon would desire one quality higher, while a poor Simeon would settle for one less on quality. Giving SimMart a final result at the end of a shift when a new shift starts based on how accurately they matched the desired quality range of a wider virtual audience, and potentially profited or lost from each product. Simeons are most likely to come in if the store has a product in current demand value of extreme, with lowering likelihood with lowering demand values. By drawing more customers to extreme demand items, you can simultaneously sell high quality products not as in demand (at its lowest acceptable quality benefit) as you've drawn in the crowd with the eggs they need.
Pick your products and your prices.
Items to choose from:
grocery/(food?), fashion, electronics, construction
Building upgrades
Every 3rd level you are able to sell an extra item in your store at the same time.
Lvl 3 sells 2 items, lvl 6 3 items and so on. Each building level allows for more product to be sold within the shift, however it also requires a higher employee count versus the standard building 100 employees per level.
As in other retail buildings higher upgrades lead to more sales and more money to be made.
Overstock Products
Sometimes you overstock the shelves and you have left over products! That's okay, but we have to get it going out the door ASAP! CLEARANCE RACK! Leftover merchandise will be moved to the front of the store and sold at a preselected
50-80% discount during the next shift. These items will be sold first in the next shift. If these items are not sold at the next shift due to prices still being too high they will be discarded. Clearance items will affect the rest of your shift so try not to have too much overstock. Clearance rack is a mechanic designed to recoup loss, and as it is sold prior to full priced items of the same product on the shift line-up, the regular shelved apples won’t be sold until the clearance apples are gone.
Sold out?
Simeons have basic needs, they need to eat their eggs and steak, drink their coffee powder and tools for their projects. By having these extreme products leave the shelves at the start of a shift it will reflect in your final sales at the end of your shift. Sims will be upset and leave your store and less products will be sold if there isn't enough stock on the shelves. SimMarts will have to keep up to date on what the people need to buy in order to have them walk in for a need and leave with a treat. Maybe they do need that fancy Q4 Television on clearance.
Quality
So basically, the quality should work inverse as a bonus. More customers line up for product of the lower range of the quality the market is currently demand reflective of for that product, inverse to the regular retail which advantages the design of improved quality bonuses because they still seek the higher end of the quality range per demand. Sim Marts will sway the demand due to being able to seek the most demanded supply from across multiple industries as they seek occupancy. With big box stores competing for the same resources in supply, their sales of X,Y,Z products affects the daily demand calculations based on Simeon budgets (Grand Unified Theory), if too many televisions are sold to the population their demand goes down and forces the quality bonus to increase. This allows SimMart an opportunity to observe the lowest demand for best quality inverse bonus. Giving the DRM and box stores more opportunity to compete against each other, while SimMarts already compete among themselves to bring Simeons in their own stores. This will boost the industry need for higher quality products in times of oversaturation and require retailers to pay attention to the current market trends to maximize their bonus.
Product Pricing
Since this is a value building each item should be sold at a discount compared to other retail stores. However, this is a bulk store so people will be buying a lot more of that product due to pricing. Thinner margins on higher volume, given the higher wage cost of paying increased employee wages mixed with the discounted price Simeons expect from a superstore.
Cost and Executives
Each shift will cost you wages for your employees which you will see when you set up your next shift. Having higher employee count leads to higher wages, unlike the average retail model a SimMart can benefit from robots in the self-checkout because even with robots SimMart is forced to maintain a higher worker count per level to maintain operations. Robots prevent the upgrade to the building level, but not to changing product types.
CMO skill will help lower your wages along with COO and AO. Similar to sales offices.
Shift Summary
At the end of your shift you will see how many of each product sold, wages of workers, left over products going to the next shift for clearance.
Why would players not just open up a mini mart and ditch all other retail?
-Mini Mart costs more to run. Making it more advanced.
-8 hour cycle feature makes it a little riskier. Wouldn't know the exact income until after shift is complete and with supply and demand changes announced this means this will need more dedication and time to master.
No new products needed! Just a new way to sell in retail!
Increased market dynamics - By having a major impact on supply chains and the Simeon budget, SimMart creates a method to impact retail demand. Creating a need for higher quality as markets see lowered demand for products, production across all industries will find high quality needs sustained as retailers go through periods of stronger need. As retailers cycle through products that need will fluctuate among products creating more gaps in the market, and more opportunity for players of production and retail to succeed through strategy.
Presenting a collaboration project between Manicorn LLC Group and Don Warione Eggsmund VII
Edit: Open to name suggestions
Names considered will be included in a poll later on.