A really Good Market is a joy to behold. Here are our Top Tips for Selecting a Good One and maybe contributing to make it a great one! Having traded at markets for over 15 years and at a number of different types of event, from markets to large country fairs to village fetes, we can spot what kind of revenue is likely from the outset. The first obvious thing to look out for is footfall.
FOOTFALL + GREAT MARKET = BIG PROFIT
Venue
The market venue is critical to its success. Is it somewhere that people can get to easily, can park and will want to linger? Is the venue favourable in all types of weather, be it wind and rain to sunny and hot? Venues like railway stations are brilliant but not available everywhere. Bath Green Park Station and Tynemouth, North Shields are excellent examples of great market venues.
Market Squares have been century-old town venues for markets. They also sometimes have a market building or shelter associated with the spot and are often an excellent spot for a market venue where folk are used to coming and congregating.
Market venues must not be upstairs within a building. Even with a lift available, the footfall will be minimal.
Day of the Week
Weekends are obviously the most popular time for markets because more people are available. However, Fridays are also lucrative days if the market is within a town that has office workers or tourists. Other weekday markets will depend on if the place in question has footfall. Perhaps it is a tourist town which attracts visitors all year round, though be aware of seasonal spikes in traffic. Sometimes you can get a pitch on one of these popular markets out of season with the promise that you can stay on in the more lucrative times.
Selection of Goods
When a market has a good coverage of goods available, it will appeal to all sorts of customers and will encourage footfall. When you see the tiny little village market with only 4 stalls, it will not encourage customers and only regulars will seem to attend.
Facilities
Having loos and cafes about is essential! Encouraging customers to linger and create an atmosphere is essential, so creating an air of entertainment and relaxation really helps. If folk can’t find a coffee or a loo, they may just pop in for their wares and leave quickly.
Market Manager
A good market manager is crucial to the success of any market. This cannot be emphasised strongly enough! A market manager must:
- Be assertive – stallholders need to know who the boss is! Particularly during loading and unloading.
- Treat everyone equally – show no favouritism to any stallholder in particular.
- Have a fair system in place in the allocation of stalls i.e. first come first served or have regular pitches.
- Adhere to the market rules set down at the beginning and make sure each stallholder is aware of these.
- Be easily reached by telephone or email – particularly important for new stall applications.
- Have a clear payment system in place whether it be payment on the day or in advance.
- Understand the needs of the stallholders that they serve.
- Understand the importance of Social Media and how to promote their markets because No trade = no stallholders.
- Ensure signage leading to the event is erected for each market day. Just because you know where the market is, new customers will not. The more sign boards directing towards the market the better.
Acquiring New Stallholders
It should be easy for new stallholders to get in touch with a market and to book a pitch. Most markets are crying out for new stalls, particularly unique and interesting businesses. Getting a pitch should be the easiest thing in the world. Forms need filling out, documents need to be scanned and emailed and if there is a spot available you could be booked onto the next available market. Unfortunately, slow processes can take over, council workers who only work 2 days a week get involved in decision making and you could be waiting for a response for ages. Some markets really do have useless decision-making processes and the only way to solve this is to become assertive and to be persistent.
Some markets won’t allow more than a certain number of stalls selling similar items. If this is the case, that is good practice and instead of being disappointed, you could ask to be put on the waiting list if a pitch becomes available. A market that won’t allow more than a certain number of similar stalls is a good market because as soon as someone else comes onto the market selling the same as you, then your profits will drop. It is a kind of protectionism that protects the established stallholder. One day you will be pleased when your market won’t allow a competitor on because it competes with YOU!
Advertising
Advertising a market these days is relatively easy and inexpensive. As a minimum exchange for your stall fee, you should expect your market organisers to promote your market regularly. If this is not promoted through Social Media as a bare MINIMUM, the market will not be operating at its full potential. Many successful markets are good because they have canny organisers who know how to do this successfully. For all markets that you attend, you should also advise your followers that you will be there, thus doing your own form of advertising and helping the market as a whole.
Layout
When the market manager is experienced, the layout of stalls will have been carefully worked out to ease congestion and aid a healthy flow of people around the stalls. There is an art to this and one would expect this is organised by experienced Market Operators. You don’t want to be held up behind a person pushing a pram, holding up the traffic, where nobody can get by.
Turnover of Stalls
As a regular customer at a market, one can get bored of the same old stalls week in week out. That is why a regular turnover of new stalls adds interest and diversity. We traded at the same market for 15 years and did feel that a fresh injection of interesting stalls was often called for.
The bottom line for finding a good market for your product is FOOTFALL!
Happy Trading!