Monday, June 11, 2007

Frankenmuth Show This Weekend - My Experiment

This weekend I'll be up in Frankenmuth, Michigan for another show. The show will be held outdoors at Zehnder Park.

Friday June 15th 2pm to 7pm
Saturday June 16th 10am to 7pm
Sunday June 17th 11am to 5pm

I went and redesigned the look of my booth - again, one week before a show. I wish these ideas would hit me sooner, but for some reason the ideas only come in the week before each show.

I've been closely watching the jewelry booths at the shows and trying to figure out why some booths get more customers than others. I have determined that it's not price based. It's not media based (metal, beads, stones, etc). It's not even display based, and by that I mean the way one displays each necklace, bracelet, etc. It is based on the way the tables are arranged within the booth. People tend not to shop at a jewelry booth that they need to walk into.

I've also realized the reason for this. My products are small items with fine details. When a booth with small detailed items is set up so that you need to walk into it (like all my prior booths) many people just glance and keep walking. If they walk into a booth they are committing themselves to shopping there. If it's not the category of items they are planning to shop for that day, then they have no reason to walk in and look closer. They will never see how my jewelry and bead work is so different from all the others at the shows.

However, when booths with those small detailed items are set up so that the tables are right out front, the people can see the details on those small objects as they walk by. They subconsciously begin to shop without realizing it because they don't have to consciously commit to walking in and shopping.

So, to prove this theory I am changing my booth. When I originally came up with this theory I thought I needed different tables and was planning to purchase them after this show. Then about a week ago it hit me. If I combined parts of my current booth with parts of some of my past booth designs still sitting in my shed out back, then I could do it now. There were a few things that needed to be built/modified and I got most of that done in the last two days. Just a tiny bit left to do then I pack it all up and head out to the show on Friday. Hope to see you there!

1 comment:

Helen said...

Anne, this is invaluable advice. I've long held this exact theory myself. Thanks for a great post!