Slide 1. Slide 2. Slide 3. Increasing Your Sales at the Farmers Market. Basically There Are Two Ways to Increase Sales. Attractive Displays

Transcription

1 Slide 1 Increasing Your Sales at the Farmers Market What You Can Do This presentation will explain what you can do to try to increase your sales at the farmers market. The more sales we have, the more money we can earn. Slide 2 Basically There Are Two Ways to Increase Sales Have more customers come to your stand Have those customers come back to your stand week after week There are basically two ways to increase sales. First, we must try to attract more people to our stand. Second, we want those people to come back again week after week. Slide 3 Attractive Displays Catching the customers attention The first thing we are going to look at is how to catch the customers attention. We will do this by creating a display they will want to visit.

2 Slide 4 What s Wrong with this Picture? What s wrong with this picture? Does this look like a stand where you would stop to buy vegetables? The table looks like it is falling down, vegetables are just stacked on the table, and overall it just looks sloppy. This is not the kind of stand where people are likely to shop. Slide 5 How to Create an Attractive Display The entire display should look organized The display should be colorful People are visual make it easy for them to find the products So how do we create an attractive display? First, your whole stand should look organized. Second, you want your stand to be colorful. Everything should be displayed so people can easily see and reach your produce. Slide 6 Examples All three of these photos show attractive displays of produce. The carrots are organized in nice bunches. The photo at the top shows vegetables nicely arranged. And the photo on the lower right shows vegetables nicely grouped in baskets.

3 Slide 7 Use of Tablecloths and Coverings Table coverings can hide clutter under the table Solid colors create a more uniform look while a small pattern hides dirt better. Table coverings of bright fabric with fruits and vegetables are eye catchers but may overly distract the customer s eye from the produce The tablecloth will help to hide boxes stored under your table. Solid-colored tablecloths are usually better. Cloths with patterns or those that are too bright may not look nice with the vegetables. Slide 8 Display Techniques - Color Full blocks of contrasting color has a stronger impact than patchy color blocks Use large blocks of color to create the image of bounty Various colors will help attract attention to your display. It looks nice to have different colored vegetables next to each other. Don t stack green beans, mustard greens, and cucumbers side by side. Place yellow beans or red peppers between each to make your display more attractive. Slide 9 In these photos you can see how the various colored vegetables and flowers are separated and help to make the display more attractive.

4 Slide 10 Display Techniques - Tiers Tiered display shelves help make products more visible Stack produce to create an appearance of plenty Stair-stepped displays create an array of depth, color, and texture Arranging your vegetables in various tiers or different levels makes your display look more attractive. When the customer faces your table, if the vegetables at the rear of he table are displayed on top of a box or crate, they are easier for the customers to see. Slide 11 Display Techniques - Containers Baskets are beautiful but they need to be kept full Bring all sizes of baskets and containers to redistribute your product as you sell down this helps keep your display looking full. Various sized containers such as baskets and crates are a nice way to display your vegetables. The containers should be kept filled so it appears you have plenty of produce for the customer to make a choice. Slide 12 Good signs help to attract customers to your display. Display Techniques-Signs Good signs will also help to attract customers to your display!

5 Slide 13 Poor Signage These are examples of poorly made signs. The print is small and they are difficult to read. Slide 14 Good Signs for Your Display Should be: Clean Easy to read Attractive Shows the price Educates the consumer about your products Educates the consumer about you Make sure you have signs on your vegetables. The signs should be attractive, easy to read, have a price, and tell the customer about the vegetables. Slide 15 Proper Signage Here are some examples of attractive signs. Some are displayed in front of the vegetables and some are displayed on sticks above the baskets. Either way, the signs tell the customer what the product is and the cost.

6 Slide 16 TIPS Make price signs ahead of time in a way that allows you the flexibility to change prices as market conditions change. Laminate your product signs so they can be re-used. Use dry erase markers so prices can be updated easily Make price signs ahead of time in a way that allows you the flexibility to change prices as market conditions change. Laminate your product signs so they can be reused. Use dry erase markers so prices can be updated easily. Slide 17 Additional Tips Avoid stark black on white; white cardstock shows dirt and is glaring in bright sunlight. Put the price in the bottom right corner of an information sign; you have a better chance your customer will actually read the sign. Avoid stark black on white; white cardstock shows dirt and is glaring in bright sunlight. Put the price in the bottom right corner of an information sign; you have a better chance your customer will actually read the sign. Slide 18 Signs Can Also be Used to Market Your Products They can provide information about the product Recipes = sales (especially with unique products) Provide information about your products, especially vegetables such as mustard greens that some customers may not know how to prepare.

7 Slide 19 Information for the Customer Pea Shoots Quick Cook Tips: Raw: Pea shoots are often eaten raw and add a very pleasant taste when mixed with other greens in salads. A pea shoot salad can also be prepared by first washing the shoots, patting dry, and then topping with lime or lemon juice. They can also be added to soups. Stir Fry: Pea shoots are an excellent addition to stir fry. Just add the shoots about one minute before finished cooking. Cards such as this can give the customer additional information about how to prepare a vegetable. Slide 20 What is Most Important to Consumers? Survey in New Jersey asked what was most important in deciding from which vendor they would purchased product Quality of Produce #1 (63%) Freshness #2 (59%) Convenience #3 (20%) Price #4 (16%) 80% of consumers were also concerned about where/how the products were produced. The most important thing to customers is the quality of your produce. The second-most important thing is freshness. So if you want customers to buy and come back week after week, make sure your vegetables look fresh, not withered. Slide 21 Now That the Customer Stopped At Your Stand- What s Next? OK, we ve done a good job of creating an attractive display and we have caught the customer s attention and he or she has stopped at your stand. What must we do next?

8 Slide 22 Dress the part Be a showman/woman Use kids to your advantage (cute!) Figure out who in the business/family is naturally outgoing put them in charge of bringing customers to the stand Be Friendly When you are at your stand you should be wearing clean clothes, not the muddy, dirty ones you wear in the garden. Be friendly; if someone is grumpy don t put them in your stand talking to customers. If your children are helping, make sure they know to be friendly, also. Slide 23 Customer Service Serve your customers quickly and give them your undivided attention Use down time to restock the display, bag more produce, clean up around the table, and move excess cash When customers come to your stand, greet them. Say hello or good morning. Do not have a conversation with other people in your stand while you are helping a customer since the customer may feel that you are being rude. Restock your stand when you do not have a customer. Slide 24 Customer Service 14% of customers stop buying from a business because of dissatisfaction with a product 68% of customers stop purchasing from a business because of the way that they were treated Being nice to your customers is very important. 14% of people will not return if you sell a bad product. 68% of people will stop purchasing if they feel that they were treated badly.

9 Slide 25 Gaining customer satisfaction and loyalty Try to remember people s names Tell them see you next time Be friendly & helpful We not only want to help customers this week, but we want them to become loyal customers who come back week after week. Other things you can do is try to remember people s names, be friendly, and when they leave say see you next time. Slide 26 How Will the Customer Remember You? How will you get the customers to remember your stand so they come back next week? In larger farmers markets, it s sometimes difficult to find a particular stand the following week. One way is to put up a banner with the name of your farm or business. This way the customers will be able to remember you and return week after week. Slide 27 Other Ways for the Customer to Remember You Everyone in your stand could wear the same color T-shirt on market day Another way to help the customer remember you is to have everyone in your stand wear the same color T- shirt on market day.

10 Slide 28 Other Ways to Help the Customer Remember You The t-shirts could have the name of your family or farm on them You could display a photo of your farm in your stand The T-shirts could have the name of your family or farm on them. You could display a photo of your farm in your stand. Slide 29 Ideas for Setting Prices Reasons to charge more than grocery stores: Many grocery stores use produce as loss leaders Your product is fresher and better quality than what is found in grocery stores You can offer specialty items not found in some grocery stores One of the things that you must consider is how much you are going to charge for your vegetables. You should charge more than the grocery store because your vegetables are fresher and better quality. Also, many grocery stores use vegetables as a sale item to get people to come into the store and buy other things. Slide 30 Pricing Thoughts How do you set a fair price? Figure out your costs of production Supply costs Labor costs Harvest costs Land costs Machinery costs Etc. When setting prices, also consider what it cost you to grow the vegetables. You have the cost of seeds and fertilizer, the cost of renting land, the cost of your stand at the farmers market, the cost of your gas to travel back and forth, and the cost of your labor. You want to make sure you are making a profit.

11 Slide 31 Setting Prices Set your price and stick to it! Negotiating is for used cars, not vegetables. Once you have set your prices, stick to them. Some customers will come and try to negotiate a lower price. They may say, I can get that cheaper at the grocery store. If they do, politely explain that that is the price you must charge to cover your costs and you cannot lower it. Slide 32 Good luck and have a good growing season. Good Luck! Bill Wright Brown County UW-Extension 1150 Bellevue Green Bay, WI 54302