Making a Market Stall more attrative

gingerfarmer

HI

I have a market stall in my local area where I sell cakes. Everything was going fine until about a year ago when people began to just walk past without even looking at my stall.

I have reduced my prices on my products as far as I can but it only brings in a few more people. Has anyone any ideas how to make my stall more attractive.

Thank you.:)

ElleEm

Do you do tasters? I find it very hard not to buy cakes if I try them and love them.

rubadub

Yep tasters, or smaller options, like a quarter bun as a larger taster which they pay for, or a little box full of tasters to buy, so they can wander off eat them and come back.

Some do not like tasters as they feel obliged to buy so might want to pay for a small one. Some might be put off by an overly enthusiastic seller too, all chatty the moment they take a sample -again feeling they have to buy something.

You could have ingredients lists and nutritional info worked out.

pwurple

Bunch of flowers or cakes on nice plates. Pretty napkins. Coffee? A couple of chairs and a small table maybe if that's allowed.

Sign with CAKE in huge lettering that can be seen from miles away.

Mrs Fox

What would usually draw me to a cake stall:

• honest homemade rustic display; this is personal preference really. I save the pretty ones for afternoon tea.
• small amount of tasters available next to product, but preferably sliced fresh upon request. I avoid sampling from a mountain pile of tasters. Unappealing.
• A subtle yet effective persuasion by the seller works for me. It's nice to see their passion on the produce and ingredients. Big no no to those stalls you see with the sellers hiding behind their counter and avoiding eye contact, or worse, look like they'd rather watch paint dry.
• Good visible and catchy signage at eye level or above. Sandwich boards can be a hit and miss -- they get ignored and knocked down when you have a crowd around, as much as they get noticed on paths.

Faith

I like a bit of colour and excitement. Too many cake stalls just have Madeira loaves wrapped in cling film and you're expected to find that appealing.

• I'd have lots of different products, to appeal to lots of different tastes.
  
• I'd use bright pastel icing colours and make nice sugarpaste decorations.
  
• I'd offer cake boxes if people wanted them (at an extra cost, of course).
  
• I'd use several different cake stands to highlight different products, and I'd have cute signs clearly indicating what each product is, how much it costs, and offers available (e.g. 6 cupcakes for the price of 5, or 6 with a free cupcake box).
  
• I might string some cute bunting around my stand too.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

MissFlitworth

I'm drawn to themed cake stalls or ones with an identity of their own, not so much anything that looks like a table at a cake sale. Pretty accessories & well presented cakes. I'm also a hooer for American style cakes & goodies- cake pops, interesting tray bakes, whoopie pies, different types of brownies etc so would gravitate more to that than a stall with loads of rock buns. 100% agree with Faith's suggestion of beautiful sugarpaste decorations & pastel icing.

I would also have a very, very unrosetintedglasses look at the markets I was in. Are they oversubscribed by cake stalls, is everyone on a race to the bottom with prices trying to compete with each other, where are people going when they walk past my stall. A drop in income has pushed a lot of people into trying their hands at craft industries, most of the markets I go to it feels like the competition between bakers must be a bit insane.

ted1

post a photo of the stand.

phormium

Just a few comments on some of the suggestions already.

Customers won't pay extra for boxes, they expect to get it included in the price.

Ovens or coffee etc, anything hot massively affects your public liability insurance, not practical for small operators like this.

There are too many baked goods at every market, two reasons mainly, recession and it is one of the few food things you can do from home within regulations.

Too much choice actually works the opposite way and people just can't make up their minds. Whoopie pies have never taken off imo, cake pops can't be sold for sufficient for the hassle of making them. Best sellers are chocolate or vanilla things, people are creatures of habit!

Someone over enthusiastic on a stall puts me off, I like the make no eye contact people, I like to be left to look in peace and make up my mind, I'll ask questions if I need to. I don't think this is that unusual, I find people stop to look if there is a customer already at the stall keeping the stall holder occupied, they are more likely to walk on by if there is no one there and a chance of being engaged in conversation which makes them feel obliged to buy.

Very hard these days to differentiate your stall, customers are very price conscious and hard to make it pay sufficient with the perishable nature of the produce. I am involved in a market and business has been going down steadily for the past few years for all stall holders. Unless you have a turnover of different customers, for example in a tourist area, then it is very difficult to maintain interest.

An eye catching display is important, not cluttered if possible, I like a colour theme as much as practical, tablecloth, plates or cake stands, let the products stand out and not the background. Clear pricing is good too.

gingerfarmer

Hi All

Thank you for the advice. I have already tried whoopie pies but people didn't know what they were and I do make cake pops that appeal to children and these usually sell really well as I only make a few. I currently live in Wicklow this is where I go Craft fairs and markets so their is a steady flow of tourists but yet it hasn't changed.

I do include cupcake boxes with 4 and 6 cupcakes, which usually is 6 for the price of 5 ( cupcakes are €1 each). I have also noticed an increased number of cake stalls too, I have seen many fall into the over priced trap and don't turn a profit. I am currently trying to change the look of the stall which is difficult due to the fact that I share a stall with my mother who also bakes but is stuck in her ways and likes to fill her end of the stall until it looks untidy and cramped compared to my side. I am currently trying to tie the stall theme in with a sign I created for it.
I really like the idea of a sample box full of different treats and more ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you

phormium

That is very cheap for cupcakes, are you talking about average sized ones with buttercream swirls and decorations or more fairy cakes?

Too much clutter on the stall is not good, can you convince your mother to do a more co-ordinated stand between you even on a trial basis to see if it does work better.

gingerfarmer

They are the proper cupcakes with buttercream swirls. During different events we sometimes do novelty cupcakes i.e cookie monster, oreo pandas and owls things like that, these usually sell quicker.

I am trying but she is a traditional over chatty stall holder but I am steadily trying to introduce less is more.

phormium

Obviously I don't know your recipes or ingredients etc but if you are using butter, eggs etc you can't be making much at less than a euro each for 6 cupcakes. I don't know your market area but I have never seen them that cheap at any market I have been to. Mind you I feel 2 euro is too much for a fancy bun but they are that at many markets and more, at my local one they are 1.50 which I think is a fair price for the cost and work involved.

Dizzyblonde

The things most likely to put me off a baking stall at a market are too high prices - and most of all on overly-chatty stallholder, because I feel they're pressuring me to buy.
I get suspicious if I see too much on the stall because it makes me wonder when it could all have been baked, and was it frozen. I find stalls full of iced cupcakes off-putting too for some reason.

rubadub

gingerfarmer wrote: »

During different events we sometimes do novelty cupcakes i.e cookie monster, oreo pandas and owls things like that, these usually sell quicker.

You could have plain cakes which can be customised by customer request, possibly even let them make it themselves, like doing icing or adding cream. This would attract people, esp. kids who want something special. Similar to getting a ice cream with custom toppings added. You can probably buy things straight off, or make a device to make them in bulk. So the gimmick topping thing could be added to any of the cakes you have, like little "peppa pig" faces made of icing. Or have kids names written in icing, or "one direction" things for older kids

While €1 is certainly cheap for cakes nowadways you are also competeing with supermarkets who have gone dirt cheap (10 donuts are about 1.50 in tesco). If somebody is going to buy cakes to bring home they want something different, that its obvious its not from a supermarket. People will buy custom things just for a laugh too, to give as a present, like a man united cake for a liverpool fan (my mates missus did get him one).

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I get suspicious if I see too much on the stall because it makes me wonder when it could all have been baked, and was it frozen.

You could have best before dates on cakes, and "baked on" dates. It is also possibly an idea to have older cakes reduced which would give people confidence that the others really are fresh, and that you do track dates etc.

Less selection can be a good thing too, as you get known for them. Like if there were lots of baking stalls and you solely sold brownies you would be seen as "the brownie lady" and presumed to have the best & freshest by most. I like that fresh brownie idea, cooking on the spot would be more suited to less selection too. I did see guys cooking fresh donuts in markets, but just plain old sugar, if they did custom toppings they could have cleaned up more, I was surprised to see so many paying for bog standard style donuts, I reckon they highly value the freshness.

phormium

The smell of frying doughnuts is the draw! Bet they don't ask what is in them or care, it could be the usual 'donut concentrate' bought in a bulk sack.

Likewise pancakes sell well at a market, the smell is what does it. In fact I think pancakes are a great money maker, dead simple ingredients, minimal work involved and most places are charging 3/4 euro each, even with Nutella that is a good profit margin.

gingerfarmer

Unfortunately here in wicklow it is mainly indoor markets with the traditional stalls along the walls and more stall in the centre of the room. Due to my position in these markets (in the middle) I won't be able to because it would involve bringing electric leads across the floor. This may be seen as a health risk by the people who run the market

supersheeps

Could you have a vanilla or cinnamon scented candle or something like that hidden at your stall? Get people thinking subconsciously about baked goodies! I worked in a butchers years ago & we used to have rashers gently cooking behind the counter in the mornings-breakfast meats would sell out really quickly!

Sunny Dayz

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I get suspicious if I see too much on the stall because it makes me wonder when it could all have been baked, and was it frozen. I find stalls full of iced cupcakes off-putting too for some reason.

+1 for this. Try not to have all your produce out on display at once. Only have a few pieces of everything out at a time. It will make the stall look like it is selling out quickly and people may "panic buy" a few buns as they might not be there when they come back around again.

One idea: maybe set up a little display on a tray with a dainty cake stand with some treats, a china cup and saucer, milk jug, sugar bowl and tea pot. It may make someone think of tea and how one of your cupcakes would go well with it..