Marketing Tip: Open another ‘shop’ away from your shop

Next time there is a market near your shop, book a market pitch and promote some of what you sell in your shop at a stall at the market. Be sure to brand the stall to promote your shop.

If your experience is like others I have spoken to you’ll have some regular customers buying items from the stall and saying you should sell these in your shop. Rather than being frustrated by such a comment, take it as advice that you need to find a way to cut through with product displays and placement.

Another option is to book a local hall and create your own market situation. In the run up to Christmas you could create a pop-up shop and run this for say, a week – offering great Christmas gifts at bargain prices. Just taking some of what you currently sell and adding to this with extra stock you would most likely find that you can maintain an excellent margin.

While there is a bit of work organising a second temporary location, done well the reward should be worth it.

Shopping centre based businesses have plenty of opportunities for outposts. While they can be excellent, my marketing tip this week is to break free from being out the front or close to your shop. The goal is to find genuinely new shoppers.

Footnote: one newsagent doing this a few years back found another stall holder selling products stolen from his newsagency. So, you never know what you’ll find when you get outside your shop and look around.