Christmas Markets – My Top Tips for selling as a Small Business

Wow how is it August already? Can you believe Christmas (and therefore Christmas Markets!) are right around the corner?!

Yep I went there, I don’t even care it’s only August it is time to get prepared for THE BIGGEST season for any small business.

If like me you are already planning for all those Christmas markets which will hopfully finally be going ahead this year with no restrictions. You will likely be looking at ways to stand out from the crowd.

Having spent many years trawling round various fayres and events I have picked up a few ways to help you create the best income opportunity at each event.

Eye Catching Displays

It can be tempting to have as many of your products laid out as possible, but customers can be overwhelmed by the choice and end up not buying anything because they can’t make a decision.

So firstly It is best to pick a few products that you want to focus on selling and base your display around these.

Secondly give your display some height, having products as close to people’s eyeline as possible will help you draw people in.

There are a couple of ways you can achieve this by either placing something under your table cloth if you want to use one, such as a box or plastic stand. Or create a display using decorative items such as these Ikea Wooden Crates which give a beautiful rustic look to your display.

You can even paint or decorate them to fit in with your theme and reuse them time and time again.

If you want to make a real impact then you can use a professional designer such as iSi global for some pop up shop display ideas.

With their eye catching custom designed displays you can choose from small temporary stands to full sized permanant visual display units. Perfect for getting your brand noticed.

Easy Payments

Making your customers experience as smooth as possible is super important. Having quick and easy payment methods is one way you can do this. Christmas Markets get VERY busy. You don’t want to miss out on footfall while you are stuck dealing with a payment.

Paypal has always been my preferred payment provider as I already use them for my website payments also.

Along with standard card readers Zettle (which is now owned by Paypal.) Have full point of sale set ups available helping to create a real professional finish for your stand.

You can also integrate them with systems such as Shopify and Xero making it even easier to keep track of all your business transactions.

Other popular payment providers include Square and SumUp. You can also get card payment machines via some business bank accounts.

We always found the machines to be bulky and unreliable when inside venues. They often come with higher fees and longer payout times.

Sharing your Information

Of course no business person should ever leave the house without business cards or leaflets. Being able to hand something over for people to find you easily is a must!

I use Instantprint for all my business cards and highly recommend them for all your printing requirements. They offer printing on a range of products from business cards to banners. They are really great quality for a really great price.

If you are a new customer you can follow my link and grab yourself £10 off your first order to help get you started.

These Social Signs from Holly and Ollie are another way to get yourself noticed. You can even add QR codes for customers to scan which take them directly to your social media pages.

Recruit some help

Don’t try and do everything yourself! Some of the bigger shows especially don’t allow you to leave your stall unattended.

Having someone on hand to help, even if they aren’t usually ‘in’ your business can be really helpful, even if more for moral support than anything else – events can be exhausting.

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I hope you have found some useful tips here. If you have any other tips you’d like to share please do drop them in the comments below

Good luck with the peak season sales at all those lovely Christmas Markets!

ChrissyJ xxx