Important: How Display Models Work
Hello, Store Owners!
I want to clarify how the Display Model system works, as I have noticed that this mechanic is causing some confusion, especially for players who previously played the demo.
In the demo, large products such as washing machines, refrigerators, freezers, sofas, and armchairs were placed directly in the store and sold as physical units. In the Early Access version, this system has changed.
These products now use the Display Model system.
How Display Models Work
Place at least one Display Model of the product inside your store.
Keep the actual product stock in closed boxes inside your Warehouse.
Boxes that are still inside the Delivery Truck or located at a Loading Dock do not count as available stock. They must first be unloaded into the Warehouse.
Customers inspect the Display Model, but they do not take the physical Display Model with them.
When a customer purchases the product, one unit from your Warehouse stock is sold.
The sold product is then moved to the Outbound Area and automatically delivered to the customer at the end of the day.
You can also place multiple Display Models of the same product if you want several customers to be able to inspect that product at the same time.
What Is the Outbound Area?
The Outbound Area contains products that have already been sold to customers. These products no longer belong to your available store stock.
You do not need to interact with them. They are temporarily stored there and will automatically be delivered to customers at the end of the day.
What Is the Box Holding Area?
The Box Holding Area serves a different purpose. You do not need to store your Display Model stock there.
It is mainly used as a temporary safe area. For example, Restockers can leave partially used boxes there so they can use them again later. Products may also be moved there safely when you leave the game while customers or employees are still carrying them.
For Display Model products, simply keeping the closed boxes anywhere inside the Warehouse is enough.
Why Am I Posting This?
The game already explains the Display Model system through a tutorial. However, while watching YouTube videos and livestreams, I noticed that some players immediately press the "Got It" button without reading the tutorial.
As a result, some players do not fully understand how the system works and later believe that their Display Models are not selling because of a bug.
Unfortunately, I have also received negative reviews because of this misunderstanding. Everyone is absolutely free to criticize Home Store Simulator, and I respect all feedback. However, seeing the game described as broken because an important tutorial was skipped is genuinely disappointing, so I wanted to clarify the system publicly.
Tutorial Improvements
I also understand that this means I need to make the system even harder to miss.
In upcoming updates, I will improve the Display Model tutorial further and integrate these explanations more clearly into the game. I am also planning to prevent this specific tutorial from being closed immediately for a short period, so players have enough time to see the important information before continuing.
Thank you to everyone who continues to share feedback, report issues, and help me improve Home Store Simulator.