Small Item Sales Count Towards Your Totals

Running a market stall is great. First, you have to source products which you need, and then package and sell those items. But it’s the Small Item Sales which really can make the difference to your overall success in the Market Stall arena.

Have you considered Small Item Sales?

If you are an artist or potter and you only have big-ticket items on offer, then perhaps you are missing the whole point of customer relations.

Let’s have a look at how those small items can really change things for you.

A Day Out

Imagine you are a customer out for the day. You thought it would be good to wander around the market and take in the sun and atmosphere.

Then you come across a stall with the most amazing art. The colours jump out at you and the images are so real, but you didn’t come here to spend a lot of money, and you didn’t come with your car, and you have plans for later on that day. You came for a day out, and as you look around the stall, everything is 3 figures or more.

You tell yourself that you must remember to come back and visit this market another time and make some purchases especially of the one with the landscape art just as you remember from your home town.

Then you walk on and forget all about it!

All is Lost Without a Sale

So often this scenario plays out time and time again. Within the marketing world, it is said it takes nearly 10 years for an icon to be associated with a brand in the mind of the public.

10 years is a long time, and as a market stall owner, you won’t have the backing of millions of pounds to keep advertising and promoting your business to ensure your brand is always front and centre of your paying customers.

The customer thinks about you and forgets you. If they are regular visitors to your market it doesn’t mean they are regular to your stall and besides, stalls change all the time, the weather and light have a different attraction to different people.

Giving is Important

Samples are part of a sale. It has been proven that should a waiter/waitress offer a mint when producing the bill for a meal, the customer will more likely give a tip in kind. It is a psychological mechanism we all are a slave to.

Imagine if the meal was so tasty, that you cannot wait to return, and the server comes over and throws the bill on the table and walks off. Your impression of the meal is suddenly tainted by the poor experience.

Had the server handed you the bill with the mints, your thoughts and feelings would be heightened and you would certainly return.

There are lessons here about how you deal with your customers.

The Small Sales with an ‘added bonus’

When you next set up your stall with your 3-figure art or your pottery that has a price tag over £50, make sure you also have a few £2-£5 items too. You don’t need them all out at once, have them dotted about the stall for people to find, or to interest someone in as they prepare to walk away.

Show them the item, tell them the cost and offer a way they can use it or display it. It is only a couple of dollars to them and they will be grateful for the advice. You don’t need to be pushy, only make them aware that there are items that are available for everyone’s wallets, time and space.

When they purchase the item, show even more kindness by wrapping it up in a small hessian bag or some special coloured paper that is fragranced. All contribute to the idea that they are getting far more than you are selling.

Finally, and here is where your masterstroke of genius comes into play, give your brand a much-needed boost. Place inside the item your business card or small flyer so that the customer knows where to contact you and what you are offering.

This is your opportunity to lead a customer to your website or social media page and introduce them to another whole world you have on offer past the market stall.

The Caveat

This is not about conning your customers.

You know as well as I do when someone is being disingenuous and it comes across as a complete turn-off.

Many stall owners desperately try to get their amazing work out for the world to see, but no one seems to care. That’s usually down to no one knowing who you are or what you are like as a person.

Show your love for your market stall items, care about how they are displayed and shower your potential customers with love. They will love you back – I promise!

Conclusion

Getting yourself recognised is so important in the market. There may be others who are selling their items, shouting and calling away, there may even be similar market stalls to you, but set yourself apart. Make the Small Item Sales to get people interested in what you are doing and introduce what you are really about when they have time to look at your feeds and website.

Let us know what you do to promote yourself in subtle ways to customers who are just passing by over on Facebook.