Orders way down for anyone else?

[Tonearm]

Have sales dropped way off over the last week for anyone else? We don't seem to be getting as much email either. I'm not sure what's going on.

[dickbaker]

Traffic has dropped significantly the past few weeks, although it always does this time of year.

Sales are down a bit, but there's still some sales.

[T_Miller]

Opposite for us.
We've already beat APR '08 sales totals (10-YO B&M, Web, ebay)

Ebay is off a good bit, but we've also cut back our efforts...

Our website sales are way up over last year, thanks to our continued efforts on the site. We've had more web sales this week than we did all of last April.

First quarter was dismal across the board, so we're hoping this good April is a sign our niche is coming back to life.

[Wlauzon]

Our sales are about the same as last year overall. Making more sales but less $ per sale. Not selling much of the high dollar stuff lately.

[HugeNerd]

Making more sales but less $ per sale. Not selling much of the high dollar stuff lately.

Ditto. Volume is up, gross and net are both down. Granted, I also cut AdWords spending by 60-75% last Monday, so I am part of my own problem there. Doing so, however, made my bounce rate drop (granted traffic is down 20% overall...) and my conversion and cost per conversion increase significantly.

[MrHard]

Maybe you decided to stop advertising.

[wyweb]

I'm not seeing any changes at all. I think my niche is recession proof.

[dickbaker]

I think my niche is recession proof.

My niche isn't recession-proof, but sales have skyrocketed because of the elections. People are afraid that the politicians in DC will ban certain widgets, and people are buying widgets because of that, and also because they're afraid of more crime with the economy the way it is.

Actually my sales are up substantially over last year. My fear is that the buying frenzy will stop, at least for a year or so, and sales will drop.

[MLHmptn]

Actually my sales are up substantially over last year. My fear is that the buying frenzy will stop, at least for a year or so, and sales will drop.

Well I hope your a proud supporter of the NRA as I am!

[purplecape]

Enjoy that bump while you can--once people realize that the new admin. has no intention of taking away those particular widgets, sales will drop back to below your previous levels.

[bakedjake]

Have sales dropped way off over the last week for anyone else?

No.

[dickbaker]

Enjoy that bump while you can--once people realize that the new admin. has no intention of taking away those particular widgets, sales will drop back to below your previous levels.

Without getting too much into political issues, about 50% or more of the driving force behind the sales is fear of increased crime due to the economy.

There will be a point where people stop buying, though, so it's important to find other products that people will want.

[sobole]

horrible! Where is the traffic. Wait, where are the real buyers?

[Tonearm]

sobole, it sounds like sales have dropped off for you too. Are college students (or at least college-aged people) a sizable portion of your target demographic?

[Miop]

UK - my orders have almost ground to a halt, and we usually get a splurge at the end of the month as it's payday for many people.
Can't tell if it's because people are broke or because of Google's recent algo/pr change (we lost some pagerank)

[rachel123]

well if it helps I don't think it's google. I gained several spots in the SERPs and I am not reaping the benefits I have seen in the past from such a jump.

Still doing OK though - overall up from last year, but not up enough.