Wise or cluttery for a website? Should our "out of the mainstream" of popular products be listed on our site? (older/discontinued, umfamiliar brands, parts to products, etc...)

[Kevin_McLeish]

For instance, should we list replacement parts for a music stand?  Or parts for a trumpet, like a valve button?  To some, this seems like a cluttery thing to do.  I suppose another way to ask would be, "Should we only list the high quantity selling items that are well branded and that everyone shops for, and leave the rest off the website for instore customers only to buy?"  (FYI: Our website focus is for our local market mainly, and we're not trying to take on the world per-say, but if the world wants in, that's cool too.)

(My thought here is that if a customer walks into our retail store and they request an odd ball part or item... we go hunting for it and find it for them.  Or perhaps another Music Store needs a part? To me, it's ALL for sale,... right?  Our retail depth, should be reflected in our online presence as much as possible,... correct?  I'd personally choose to list the odd balls on our site, just as if a customer was standing in the store.  Another side thought is, if we only list the main stream products... we are basically lessening our content (which could affect our rankings) and would be inviting ourselves into a higher competitive market place because we wouldn't be saying anything different than what most other music store sites out there say.  I believe we need to show off our uniqueness,... and product depth (of course w/good SEO & content too) is really kinda it, aside of course also from good expert people and a large facility.  But perhaps that's a wrong way to look at it?)  Thanks, Kevin

[inlinear]

Hi Kevin,

I think this sounds like a good idea and you should present these items in a special category exactly promoting it with "we go hunting for it for you and find it ... if not fount here...". I think many people are looking for rare replacement parts and even could contribute finding one if someone is looking for it. This will be good for the User Experience and engage users to have a look more often on the page.

May be post a link of your site what it looks like right now and people may even suggest here how to include these specialities ... so you can test the UX right here

[EGOL]

We decided to list replacement parts for some of the products that we sell.  The response has been fantastic.  About 1/3 of our transactions now include at least one replacement part.    Many people who buy replacement parts, also purchase other items.  Replacement parts are willing us new customers - mainly because competitors do not mess with them.

It was labor intensive to photograph these parts and and write descriptions for each of them with measurements and sometimes diagrams.  But looking back was well worth it.  If your competitors are not selling these parts and they are something that a typical owner might purchase once or twice during the lifetime of his item then you might get a fantastic amount of sales.   One of our manufacturers said... "We can't believe how many parts you are selling!"