Why you’re Looking at your Craft Show Setup Wrong

Craft shows require a lot of work to prepare for and you may have spent weeks perfecting your setup on your dining room table. But before you settle on your display, consider if you’re looking at it from the wrong perspective.

 

The Wrong Perspective

While working on your craft show setup, you likely stand at the front, placing your items. Once done, you stand back as though you’re going to snap a picture, focusing on the most important subject of the show: your booth.

When viewing your display from this angle, and from the perspective of a vendor, you’re missing a lot of opportunities.

Although you’re there to showcase your work, it’s not all about you. Here are some other perspectives to consider…

 

The Right Perspective

The purpose of setting up a booth at a craft show is to:

1. Attract shoppers
2. Sell to shoppers
3. And to help create a good experience (for shoppers, organizers, and other vendors)

Let’s take a closer look at each perspective you should keep in mind as you assess your display.

 

1) Look at your Craft Show Display as a Shopper

Consider how shoppers will walk the venue. Head towards the entrance, turn around and imagine you’re a shopper approaching your booth from several feet away.

What do you see?

Most shoppers won’t approach your booth or table head-on so be sure there’s something that catches their eye from a few feet away.

In most venues, traffic will flow in both directions, so be sure that your display is eye-catching from shoppers walking back towards the entrance.

Now imagine the venue is full of people; will shoppers see anything on your table if they’re behind other shoppers?

Raising elements of your display can help shoppers see your products from far away and over the crowds.

If you build your craft show display using zones, it will be easy to move things around based on each event’s layout. Here’s how to set up zones and create the proper layout for your table or booth: Craft Show Table Layout Tips

You should also implement one or more eye-catching merchandising techniques. Check out Want to Stand Out at a Craft Show? Try these Display Tricks for 10 visual merchandising tricks you can apply to your display.

Now imagine you’re shopping at your table or booth. 

Is it easy to pick items up and place them back or will other items fall over? Consider placing excess stock behind your table so your selection doesn’t feel overwhelming and is easy to shop. 

Too many types of products or product options can actually harm your sales, so don’t be afraid to pare things down.

Here’s why you shouldn’t offer too many options: Why Too Many Products will Harm your Craft Business’s Sales and here’s how to tell if you’re making too many types of products: How to Tell if your Craft Business Has Too Many Products

Lastly, walk where shoppers will and ensure your space looks tidy. Hide bins and personal belongings under that table and ensure your tablecloth hovers just above the ground at the front of your table. 

If shoppers can see your space from the back, make sure it looks somewhat tidy from this angle too.

 

2) Look at your Craft Show Display as a Salesperson

Your display should be set up so it helps shoppers see how your products can be paired together. If a vendor is selling jewelry and has a pair of earrings that look great with one of their necklaces, those two items should be displayed next to each other; not on opposite sides of the table.

Next, walk the event to see what other vendors are selling.

How do your products differ from your direct competitors? Be sure to point those benefits out to your shoppers. You may also want to alter your display to highlight pieces that are different from your competitors.

For example, if you’re selling jewelry and other jewelry vendors have a lot of delicate gold necklaces similar to yours, you may decide to highlight silver pieces in your zone 1.

Lastly, look for vendors selling products that complement yours.

For example, if a vendor is selling tops and your jewelry would look great with them, be sure to point out your complimenting pieces to shoppers carrying a shopping bag from the top vendor.

Don’t forget to hand out marketing materials to shoppers. The majority of shoppers won’t buy from you that day. But if they know where to find you after the event, they may buy from you in the future.

 

3) Look at your Craft Show Display as the Event Organizer

A craft show needs to be a good experience for everyone, so it’s important to look for anything that might be an annoyance to the organizer or other vendors.

Are you within your allotted space? If the organizers allowed every vendor to expand their display by a foot or two, they’d run into a problem with aisle space.

Be sure your display is contained within your booth/table/allotted space and there aren’t tripping hazards spilling out into the aisle.

Are you showcasing products you didn’t mention on your craft show application? Craft show organizers will choose applicants based on the category of product they sell; they don’t want too many vendors selling the same items. If you stated on your application that you sell stuffed crochet animals but have decided last minute to put all your knitted scarves on display instead, organizers may not be pleased.

Your display should also be well-branded. Organizers have likely promoted which vendors are going to be at the event and maybe even given sneak peeks of the products they’ll be bringing. Do you have signage that helps shoppers find you by name?

If there’s a product organizers have shared on their social media or website, consider putting that front and center in your craft show display. Shoppers may be specifically looking for it.

 

For more rules you should be following if you want to be invited back to the event, check out: Craft Show Etiquette; What Organizers Expect

Let me know if you’re going to make any changes to your display or if you have any questions!