Converting window shoppers into paying customers is an art flea market vendors have been successful with for years. It’s much easier to convert a passer-by when you get to talk to the customer in person and either tell them what makes your products better than the rest or tell them the story behind your business.
Whatever the reason may be, you have the upper hand once a potential customer walks into your booth or pauses in front of it to look at a product. This is your chance to walk over to them, smile, and get that sale. As the coming warm months will bring a flux of new and old customers, the The Merchandiser has some tips for how to convert the passers-by into buying customers:
Engage in Conversation
If a customer stops in front of your booth to look at one of your products, it means they’re interested. They’ve made the decision to stop what they were doing, so if you walk over and say hi and introduce yourself, you’re inviting the customer to not only engage in small talk, but to come closer and take a look at some other things you sell.
Simply introducing yourself as the owner can also open up the conversation for the customer to ask any questions they might have about the product. Other introductions include offering the customer to try on the product, offering some other colors or sizes you have for the same item, or telling them you have a wider variety of said product in a different section of your booth.
Free Samples Can Help Secure a Sale
Think about all those times you passed by a shop on the street offering free samples of food or perfume the shop offered. How many times did that little free cup containing whatever was inside make you stop and look at what was being offered? Probably quite a few times. Vendors who sell makeup, perfume, lotions, or other products that can be divided up into free samples have the amazing opportunity to offer passing customers free samples.
Most of the time customers will stop, try the sample, and look around your booth for said sample as well as similar products in different scents or colors. They already know they like the product, so they feel more comfortable buying the full size. You’ll make back your money quickly with free samples because they’re basically a one-way ticket to a purchase.
Let Them Go, But Help Them Remember You
Even if the customer doesn’t buy anything, you’ve already introduced them to your merchandise and they know they like it. The most important thing is not to hound them to make a purchase or shove other items at them that you think they might like. Give them a business card with your website on it or contact information so they can purchase products at a later date.