Market Must-Haves + Must-Dos

Markets are such a fun way to get your products (and you, the face behind the brand, for that matter) in front of more people. As an eCommerce business, your customers are better able to understand your products, interact with them, and get to know you.

The success of the market may depend on how prepared you are. If you go unprepared, your market may be stressful and not run super smoothly. Below are a list of things that I have found to help my market run as smoothly as possible and are, in my opinion, must-haves and must-dos!

Now, if you do not have all of the below, do I think your market will not be successful? Absolutely not. Everyone and every business is different, so know your business and do what works best for you. But if you are new to this or are simply in need new ideas, check out my list of must-haves below!

01 - Display Your Work

The way you display your products is so important. This is how your customers will not only be drawn to your booth and view your products, but this is also how they will remember your business. I built my own display using plywood and dowels as a pegboard. This display is flexible in its use and can evolve with me as I update/change my products out.

02 - Price Your Products

Product pricing is very important, however it can be tricky. I find it difficult (and maybe even slightly annoying) to individually price every item. So I use wood letter boards for pricing my products. Now, this has its pros and cons. Pros are that all prices are listed in one place and I don't have to individually price every product. And if prices ever change, I can just update them on the boards and not have to update each product. Cons are that some people won't see the boards right away, so you will probably get some customers asking how much things are as they pick up products and don't see a price.

It's completely personal preference, but overall I have found this to work really well. I also add taxes + fees into my prices ahead of time, making the total an even dollar number so I don't have to deal with adding tax or counting coins on the spot. That just sounds stressful!

03 - Collect Payment

The Square card reader is a very simple way to collect payment from your customers and also keep track of transactions made throughout the event. A Square card reader connects to your phone and allows you to swipe credit/debit cards. Using the Square app, you can add products, discounts and more in order to create and complete each order. You can even get your square reader for FREE on their website! The best part is square will distribute the payout to you from sales made as soon as the next day.

Also, don't forget to get some cash ahead of time so that you have change for your customers that prefer to pay cash. It's best to have a variety of bills. I get 20s, 10s, 5s, and 1s. Keep this in a cute pouch at your checkout station.

04 - Organize It

Organize your products in a logical and clean way so that people can grab them , interact with them, look at them, and understand what they are. I like to use baskets, trays, and even round placemats for displaying my products in addition to the pegboard display.

05 - Make It Personal

Finally, one of the best things about markets is that it is a way for you to get your brand in front of more people. Which means people want to actually see your brand. What better way to do that than to add personal touches throughout your booth that represent how you see your brand and maybe even represent you.

Some elements I like to add are framed brand photos that show me making/interacting with my products (a little behind the scenes), a book I'm reading that has one of my macramé bookmarks in it, and faux plants. There are so many ways you can add personality to your booth.

...And so much more!

Again, each business is different and operates differently. AND these are only a few of the things that I use at my market setup. If you have had a booth set up at a market and have found other things to be super helpful, I'd love to hear what they are. Please leave a comment below!