Top 5 tips to run market stalls - The Butterwicks Experience
Hey Butterwickers! We are back to share more of our experiences with you. If you want to learn how to sell, one of the best things you can do is run a market stall.
The Hampton Court Palace Food Festival Stall 2021
Butterwick Cakes first stall Nottingham 2019
When we started back in 2019, our very first adventure was setting up a stall at a @Vegan Events UK market in Nottingham. We had no clue!! We rocked up with a makeshift banner, 20 boxes of vegan macarons - mis-shapen, wonky, grainy, and because we used aquafaba, a stack of hummus tubs to sell as a by product of the leftover chick peas.
Luckily for us we sold out by lunch time, although we didn't have many vegan macarons to start with. Lesson 1 learnt, always have enough product.
It's been over three years now since that very first stall and we have come on by leaps and bounds. What have we learnt? Well let me share a few things in case you fancy starting your own new venture.
Looking back in time, running a market stall has been a very exciting and rewarding venture, but it comes with its fair share of challenges. From finding the right location to attracting customers, branding and managing inventory, there are many factors that can impact the success of your market stall. In this blog, we'll share some of the challenges we faced in running our vegan macaron market stalls and offer practical tips on how to overcome them.
Location, location, location
One of the biggest factors for a successful market stall is finding the right location. The success of your stall depends on footfall and the right audience for your product. Whichever city we've landed in, there have always been macaron lovers who gravitate to the stall. However, there are always some locations which have a better response than others due to natural footfall and willingness to spend. For example places like St Albans, Worcester and Bristol, the markets are set up are in city or town-centre locations where there is a thoroughfare leading to a natural flow of potential customers.
Worcester Vegan Market 2021
Locations off-the beaten track can be hit and miss, dependent heavily on the promotion of the market. I'll share one story with you. We were invited to attend a pop up market at Blenheim Palace. A stunning venue with the promise of massive footfall. We were absolutely certain we were going to have a bumper day with vegan macarons of all colours and flavours flying off the shelves. As the weekend approached we realised the weather wasn't going to be great with rain forecast all day. In our eagerness to sell and the lure of the palace, we turned up with our yellow gazebo and hundreds of macarons. Four hours later and after torrential rain, an extemely poorly located market, little to no marketing by the event organiser, and 4 'pity' sales, of which one was by the event organiser, we decided to go home with a total of £45 worth of vegan macarons sold! The perfect storm of all the things that can affect sales coming together simultaneously taught us the most valuable lessons on how to choose carefully and not be lured in by the glamour of a venue.
What are our top tips?
Do your research and scout out different markets.
Get in touch with other stall holders on Instagram and just ask them. They are a really friendly bunch of people all in the same boat.
Consider the size of the town or city, although not always an indicator, it can give you an idea of footfall.
Consider the demographics of the area, are people willing to spend if you’re offering a premium product like the vegan macarons? Towards London can be more affluent and people want to spend, but the costs may be higher.
The best? Just get out there and have a go. We learnt so much by just setting up at as many markets as we could and within two seasons we knew where to go and where to avoid.
Competition, be unique, find who you are
Although all the traders are a friendly bunch, market stalls are competitive, with many vendors selling similar products. It can be difficult to stand out and attract customers, especially if you are selling a common item.
Differentiate yourself from your competition by offering unique products or services. If you have similar products to other vendors think about what makes you different. Remember everyone is artisan, hand made, home based, vegan etc. so you need to be unique. Allergen friendly is great, colour and flavours can be unique selling points.
What are our top tips?
Make your display simple and different. We wanted to have our stalls look like a patisserie front displaying all our colours and flavours. We made sure to go for a yellow gazebo. If you look at the images you will see how effective that has been.
Offer samples and tasters, there is nothing better to draw customers to your stalls than them sampling your product to know how good it really is . Beware though of the "sample sharks" who will try everything twice, have a great conversation about how wonderful we are, the joys of life and then walk off. You are there to sell at the end of the day and time can be money especially if you have people waiting. Be polite, thank them and point to the next customer.
What are our top tips?
Take care of your customer. Speak to customers, ask them how they are. If they have children interact with them, kids love to play. If they have pets, observe and compliment their pets. Animals are beautiful. Give them a freebie. It can be a bit scary, and daunting at first, but its a lot of fun! We are the most introvert of people and markets have been instrumental in bringing us out of our shells.
Put your phone down! Coach your team to put their phones away during markets. The worst thing is for a customer to come to your stall and see you are more interested in WhatsApping or TikTok than engaging with them.
Package your products professionally. It just says "we are serious" and "you can gift these to anyone proudly."
Be aware the weather! Friend or foe?
Weather can be a significant challenge for market stall owners, as it can impact footfall and affect the sale of certain products, especially if you have perishable products like vegan macarons. Our decisions to take up stalls is often influenced by the weather combined with the location.
What are our tips?
If you are going to be doing outdoor markets, get a good quality, sturdy gazebo. We went for a bright yellow one to stand out.
Be prepared for all weather conditions by bringing an umbrella, raincoats, fleeces, wear layers and if its very cold then thermal undergarments.
It's obvious for us now but the ground sucks heat from your feet. Wear warm socks, comfortable shoes (you might be standing for a while if you are busy) and anti-fatigue foam mats on the ground to insulate you. Christmas time is a great time to get to markets as people are in the mood for spending, and that is exactly when you need to be warm.
If the weather is hot, think about how will protect your products from having a major meltdown, especially if they are chocolate or cream based. We ended buying cooler boxes to keep the macarons stable during busy summer markets.
So how much stock do I need?
One of the biggest challenges we found especially in the early days was to know how much product to bring to each market. It is a matter of experience which can only come by turning up with a first guess based on an aspirational volume that will make you money and then adjusting along the way.
What are our tips?
Keep track of your sales and inventory for each market to determine what products are selling well and what isn't. This has helped us hugely to plan for future markets and ensure that you have enough stock to meet demand. Each market will vary but not by a huge amount.
Use a point-of-sale solution like iZettle, Square etc. as they provide great reports and insights.
Observe trends especially with changes in seasons, locations etc. Keeping an eye out on the weather forecast could be a massive decision maker. If it looks like it's going to rain, think about a 20% less stock. If it is going to be a hot Bank Holiday, then up the stock because you will sell out.
The paperwork, a necessary evil
Market stall owners need to comply with various regulations and permits. There are some basics you have to have in place. It is just good practice, demonstrates you are responsible, serious and ultimately protects you, your staff, the public, other traders and the event organiser.
What are our tips?
Make sure you have a public liability insurance policy in place. Many market organisers will want a copy. It isn't expensive but it is necessary.
You may need to have a risk assessment in place for an event, especially the large ones we have attended like the Camping & Caravan show at the NEC, the Food Festival at Hampton Court Palace
Have your food and hygeine certificate available.
Make sure you have your allergens clearly displayed.
What can we say in conclusion? We have found that running market stalls are massively rewarding and challenging ventures. They aren’t for the faint-hearted. We have made so many friends, learnt a ton, made a bit of money and built up a very nice mailing list. If you are looking to learn how to market, sell and just try out whether you have a winning product then take the plunge!
Drop me a line and I would be more than happy to share more of my experiences.
Love, Jyoti