All of us are stallholders too and have learnt and developed our business over the years. Collectively we have some tips and tricks for you to increase sales not only at our market but future markets you have the opportunity to showcase your products at.

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Practice makes perfect
Do a practice run. Physically measure out your allocated space somewhere at home and display your products as you would on market day. See exactly how much stock you can fit in and the best way to display each item. Don’t just place as much stock in as you can, think about the space and the best way to show off your wares. 
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If possible, stand 20m back from your stall, this is where your stall will be first seen by a shopper. What’s your first impression? Does your setup look dark, empty, boring or inviting? Can you see exactly what’s for sale? Don’t be shy, ask a friend for their input, what’s their first impression? 
Don’t forget to take photos of your final so you can easily set up on the day. 

Don’t stay low, go high! (very important)
Display your items clearly. Use different levels to maximise your space. Balance your products out on the table, using a combination of height displays so that you can see everything when you are standing away and not just looking straight down on the table. If you have a gazebo, treat it like a small shop. You want to lure customers in. 

Place your most striking pieces at eye level and try to arrange your other products so that you have a combination of display heights. We strongly recommend that you avoid setting up your products so people can only look straight down at your table, it only allows the people at the front of your stall to see your pieces, which isn’t what you want during peak times.

Show it off!
If your product is clothing, jewellery or accessories always wear it or get your staff/friends to. You will be surprised at what a difference this makes as you will show the products off in the best possible way and show that you are confident about their functionality. Make it easy for customers to see and visualise what your product would look like on.

Make everything clear and obvious
Are you someone who hates asking for prices? Because I (Jen) definitely am! Even more so if it’s busy and the stallholder is busy making a sale. You don’t want to lose a potential sale over something so easily fixed. So make sure you display your prices clearly. 
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Do people know who you are? Make sure you have clear signage with your business name. If you do custom orders, have a photo album or digital frame showing different designs, colour selections and sizes to make it easy for shoppers to choose and place an order.  
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Encourage other senses other than sight
Do you walk into a shop and find yourself picking up an item to have a good look at it? Why stop your shoppers from doing that? Place a little sign of encouragement, “the softest wool you’ll ever feel!” or “glazed ceramic, cool to the touch”, or even verbally invite shoppers to touch (or smell!). This is specially important with jewellery items to give shoppers a better idea of how the item would look on them. 
 
Marketing material
Have business cards or brochures within easy reach (and plenty of them!). Not all shoppers are good at making on the spot decisions and like to think carefully about purchases:  “do I really want this?” “Would Susie like this?” Make sure you give customers a way to follow you up, such as an email address, website, etc. We often get messages after our markets from shoppers asking the name for a particular stall they loved but didn’t have a business card for. If you do not have any of these, pop over to VistaPrints.com - they have very affordable printing services, you can upload your own designs or use one of their thousands of templates. 
 
If you have an email newsletter, have a signup sheet handy on your table and consider offering a giveaway to those who give you their details.
 
Stand
Although the thought of standing all day doesn’t seem that appealing, with the rush of all the people, you won’t even realise the time! Standing is a better position for engaging with shoppers. Sitting down has the potential to give off a “I’m taking a break, don’t disturb me” vibe and that’s not what you want. We totally understand that sitting is a necessity at times, we recommend bringing a tall chair, like a bar stool so you’re more at eye level with your shopper. 

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Other payment options

We will have a mobile ATM machine onsite, however, to maximise your sales, it’s always a good idea to make buying from you as easy as possible. For more information, check out our payment options page.