Wholesale Matters

Point of No Return

With the show freight out of the office, we've yet again arrived at...

The Wal-Mart Mentality

William Lasley, the craft business expert on About.com, has this interesting article with tips for fighting back against the "Wal-Mart Mentality." This is mainly encountered at retail craft fairs when a shopper says something like "I can get this cheaper at Wal-mart." 

Of course, the answer anyone in this situation wants to give is, "No, you actually can't." But that doesn't help improve the understanding and appreciation for handmade craft, nor does it help close a sale. (It's debatable whether someone who asks this question is a potential customer, but it's nice to think that if they're looking at your work they are a potential customer.) 

Anyway, William offers up five constructive ideas for countering a statement like this.  They are:

1. Quality
2. Customization
3. Service
4. Uniqueness
5. Price

Check out the article for a more detailed explanation.  And while you're there, William has posted many other helpful articles.  Enjoy!

Less than two weeks to go!

Another six months has flown by, and now it's almost time for that semi-annual trip to Philly for the Buyers Market!  In light of the upcoming show, we thought it'd be a good idea to revisit one of our very first posts on this blog:

Top 10 Tips to Improve Sales at a Wholesale Show

Enjoy!

More on artists selling online

Following up on Tuesday's post, our good friend and frequent Buyers Market speaker Rick Segel just blogged about this. Rick's take is that no retailer should ever deal with any vendor who also sells online. 

In the wholesale craft community, this seems a little extreme as long as both parties agree to terms that suit them (see Tuesday's post). 

Selling Online Debate Revisited

One of the biggest debates over the past few years has been surrounding whether artists who do wholesale should retail their work online.  The debate has reignited over at AmericanCraftForum.com (click here to register and participate in the forum). 

Interestingly, there seems to be a new spin on the old debate.  In past incarnations, the debate has been about artists potentially undercutting their wholesale accounts when they sell retail online. 

Now, however, more and more retailers are either augmenting their brick and mortar operations by selling online, or just moving online entirely.  Moreover, many retailers are simply refusing to do business with any artist who sells online. 

The typical resolutions that have come out of this discuss are:

• Artists can sell different work online than what's being sold in the galleries
• Artists can price the work higher than what a retailer might charge (i.e. pricing beyond keystone)
• Artists can link to their retailers (there's another benefit to this regarding search engine marketing, but that's a different post)
• Artists can refer web inquiries to retailers in the person's area AND provide a wholesale credit if the person buys something

These are just a few options.  It is concerning that some retailers don't want to even consider working with an artist who is selling online--even if the work is different than what the retailer is promoting. 

What's just as concerning, though, is the rise of online craft retailers.  Of course, no one is in a position to dictate how someone runs their business.  However, artists need to understand that when they enter into a business relationship with an online craft retailer, they are also placing their other wholesale accounts at risk. 

Why?  Because online retailers can charge lower prices.  They have little to no overhead, and they generally don't have to maintain an inventory (usually artists will drop ship their work as orders come in). 

Instead of putting the burden on the artists to deal with this (after all, it's not their place to dictate how their wholesale accounts run their businesses), why don't retailers step up to the plate to tackle this issue?  Maybe this is something C.R.A.F.T. should take on?

Museum of Contemporary Craft Relocated

The Museum of Contemporary Craft has relocated itself in a central part of downtown Portland, OR.  Here's a fun video of the move.

A novel advertising idea

Thanks to Alyson Stanfield for sharing this very novel advertising idea.

Obviously, this would work best for 2-D artists rather than craft artists.  But it's a great starting point to think about unusual locations to expose people to your work!

Better Booth Display = Better Sales

The latest Market Insider is up.  In response to Brenda Griffith's response to the What are you doing to prepare for BMAC post, we thought it might be a good idea to discuss booth displays and how they can help your sales. 

Brenda, for example, has expanded her booth from 10 x 10 ft. to 10 x 20 ft. for the first time.  That's a big difference, and I can't wait to see how it affects her sales.

Bruce Baker on Alison Lee's Craftcast

Bruce Baker is a Buyers Market staple.  He's done the show, he's shopped the show, and for many, many years, he's been presenting business workshops for artists at the show. 

Bruce was recently interviewed on Alison Lee's Craftcast. 

Bruce will be giving his "Dynamic Craft Selling" seminar to exhibitors the day before the show opens.  Other interested artists can catch him through the Visiting Artist program.  More info at www.ArtsBusinessInstitute.org (which is producing the upcoming VA program).

Just in time for the holidays

With the 4th of July passed, William Lasley at the About.com Arts/Crafts Business page reminds us that it's time to start thinking about the winter holidays.  Some artists find it challenging to think about the holidays  during the height of summer, but this is when retailers are looking to increase their stocks for the holidays.

That's one of the reasons why the Buyers Market has the large Holiday Display at the summer show.  Exhibitors just have to fill in the Holiday Display form that came with their Exhibitor Kit and return it to their exhibits manager by July 16.  Hey, that's only 11 days away.  Better get cracking!

More words of wisdom from Seth Godin

This post from Seth Godin comes at a very opportune time.  In about a month, we'll be kicking off the Buyers Market of American Craft with Merchandising Success II, a retailer's bus tour.  We'll be going to four different galleries--SOTA Spirit of the Artist, Heart of the Home, and the Gallery at the Abington Art Center. 

The purpose of the tour is to give retailers an idea of how their colleagues are merchandising.  What strategies are they using to maximize their sales?  Seth has an interesting take:

Here's what most retailers do:
They organize by brand/designer or label
Within that, they organize by type of item
and within that, by style
and finally, by size

...

Does anyone say, "okay, even though my son wears size large boxers, these striped ones are really nice, I'll buy the small instead." Of course not.

So why not put all the large boxers right next to each other, regardless of designer and style?

When you go to Home Depot to get what you need to build something out of wood, why don't you find the glue and the wood saws and the screwdrivers and the screws all together in a section called, "working with wood"?

It's pretty simple: if you want to sell belts and socks and even shoes, you need to sell a suit first. Make it easy to add on, and people will do it, quite happily.

In terms of the craft retailer, vignettes always seem to be a popular and effective method of selling craft.  Showing the customer how a piece might look in the home.  However, does this work for smaller retailers?  How would that work for a 600 sq. ft. space, where there's likely not a lot of room to display a vignette? The question then becomes whether a retailer organizes by medium and price point (very common) to something a little more original. 

So, how are you merchandising your gallery in unique ways that are also effective? 

If you want to get inspiration, check out the bus tour!