Setting Up Your Craft Show Booth
Have you ever walked into a store and immediately been so frustrated that you couldn’t even begin to think about spending your money there? Things are haphazardly strewn about, there is little organization, and then to top it all off, when you walk up to an item that you might consider – it has no price tag on it. Don’t let this happen to your craft show booth. You need to keep in mind the same principles of good marketing and merchandising when you set up for a craft show.
The first thing you need to do is have a plan. That means putting together an idea of what your craft show booth is going to look like in advance. I’ve seen so many people just lug their craft show items around in the back of a big van with a few extra stands and tables to place them on. These are the same people who ask, “Why didn’t I sell anything this weekend?”.
Planning your craft show booth involves a couple of things: first, you want to talk to the craft show organizer to see how much space you have, and if there are any restrictions to what you can have in or around your booth. Also, ask if you have a reliable power supply to run your booth. This is important. The next thing you want to do is to get a floor plan (use graph paper) of where your booth is located so you can figure out the best setup to keep people moving in and through your craft show display.
When you go to set up your craft show booth for the show, there are a couple of things you MUST keep in mind:
No clutter! Keep your crafts well organized into specific areas. If you are a knitter and you have sweaters for kids and adults, you don’t want them together because people will be frustrated with having to sort through the kids’ sweaters to find the one adult item in the pile.
Spend time perfecting your merchandising skills. If you have a special stained-glass window hanging, it would be time well spent to purchase or build a window that you can display in your booth with one of your window hangings in it. When people see the item in action, they can picture it in their own homes, or they can picture using it. If they can do this, then they are more likely to part with the money to buy it.
Keep items no lower than waist level – No one wants to bend over after they have been on their feet all day at a craft show. Keep items within a person’s reach and they will be more likely to pick them up and examine them closely – which leads to more purchases. Leave the floor area for extra stock (in boxes) that you can fill your racks with.
Price everything you have – Make it easy for people to buy your crafts. If you don’t have a price, they may think twice about taking the time to ask – they may just go elsewhere to purchase something at this craft show.
Eliminate log jams. There is nothing worse than having people frustrated by the lack of good flow in a craft show booth. Try and create a natural flow for people to look at your craft show items, be nudged along by others coming through, and right through to the end. If you create too many spaces where people are bottle-necked or they have trouble maneuvering to see different crafts, you are limiting your sales.
Keep your aisles wide and keep everything streamlined. The customer does not spend their money in a craft show booth which frustrates them. Remember, you are running a business. Think of that store that you despise going into versus the one where everything flows nicely, the displays are appealing and all of the price tags are on the items for sale. Make your craft show booth resemble the store you like – and you’ll find that people will spend more money on your crafts!
