As a regular vendor at local Art Fairs, I feel like I've learned a thing or two, and also had the time to discuss tips with other fellow artists. It turns out we're all guilty of the same bad habit when it comes to organizing our display at Craft Shows - having way too much stuff at our tables!!
And it is quite hard not to! How do you choose what to display and what to discard? Why is it bad to have a wide variety of products? Let's go into detail on that exact topic.
Why the biggest mistake vendors make is displaying everything they make?
Your display should be a story-telling tool, not a stockroom.
As an artist, you want to make sure that your booth at a craft show looks attractive and inviting. However, one of craft show vendors' biggest mistakes is displaying too much in their booth. Having an overcrowded display can push people away and make them feel overwhelmed. It’s important to remember that less is more when it comes to crafting a successful display for your art fair or craft show booth.
By carefully selecting only the best pieces and arranging them in an organized way, you can create a visually appealing display that will draw in customers and help you make the most of your time at the event.
Main things to avoid:
not leaving any visual break between products, and letting everything blend together
not having any groupings, which is essential for a story-telling display
having an overcrowded display overwhelms visitors and makes it hard to shop. Customers might be worried they would knock something over
you lower the perceived value
How exactly do you lower the value of your products if they are too many of them on display? Let's show it off with a more visual analogy.
Imagine a clothing rack.
It is stacked with all kinds of clothing and is hard to browse. Reminds you of a second-hand store, it could be complicated to tell a main theme or deduct any sort of story or concept.
Then, think about a different type of clothing rack. The clothes are spaced out, and colour coded. You can tell the theme, and everything instantly looks more expensive and luxurious.
The clothes on the organized rack look more expensive because of the way they are displayed. They could be the same items from the first picture, but their value drops because of the chaotic look of the rack.
For best results, I recommend choosing your best products to display and keeping some of your additional stock behind the table, where you could easily pull it out to show a customer.
Our next topic is:
Telling a story
The main points you should try to communicate
What your unique selling point is?
What type of products do you sell?
Who your products are for?
Where/when/how are your products to be used?
Having a clear message makes it easier for potential shoppers to find you and identify with your ideal target customer. If shoppers can’t imagine where, when, or how they’ll use your product, they won’t buy it.
You can use colour to communicate your brand message.
For example, having mainly greens of earthy colour would evoke the idea of ecological and plant-based products, soft blues would speak of a more feminine or beachy kind of vibe, etc. Colour is a powerful tool to use in your display and helps strengthen your brand identity.
To help tell a story, you can create groupings at your display. Additionally, negative space makes it easy for the eye to browse.
You could group your items by colour, theme, style, subject... whatever logic suits your type of product. Make sure your groupings work together both logically and aesthetically/colour-wise.
For example, if you are selling jewellery, I wouldn't group my items by type - having a grouping of just rings, then just bracelets. I would rather group them by theme and create sets. This would probably increase your sales too because if a customer likes a ring, for example, they would immediately see a necklace or earrings that match and might get that too!
More on groupings and other tips you can read in my other article on 3 Tips To Make Your Table Stand Out At Art Fairs
To help you display's story-telling, you could also use some props, depending on the theme of your booth. But be careful, this is a tricky one- make sure props don't overshadow your actual products or steal attention from them.
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