Booth Floor Plans

[cdthayer]

My wife and I are still new at remote event selling from a booth. We actually got started back in October 2003 selling her custom doo-rags outdoors at a small motorcycle rally using an Ozark Trail Dining Canopy, and hanging the doo-rags from clothesline cord tied high in the framework. We hit a few more rallies in 2004, but then decided that we were missing out on too much of the fun by being vendors instead of participants, since sales never seemed to do much more than cover expenses, if that. We hauled all of our vendor booth equipment, plus our camping equipment on two motorcycles, so expenses were actually pretty low. That was back when being a vendor was just a hobby, and a danged good excuse for a motorcycle trip. Being vendors did get us to looking at various booth designs and choices at about every event that we've attended since then, trying to figure out what the best floor plan would be for a small sales booth.

We got back into booth selling two years ago in the Fall of 2008, and have been vendors at events (quilt shows, county fairs, craft shows) regularly since then, but now we're usually inside (the canopy is probably rotten now anyway) and we're now trying to make money at it. We set up with completely different products at different shows. The crowds are completely different and the assigned booth sizes are usually different, so our floor plans are completely different as well. At quilt shows, we need an empty 6-ft table for the sole purpose of cutting fabric, and leave the doo-rag spinner at home. But, we don't take our fabric to craft shows, so all table space can be used for products, plus we have a couple of spinners and small free-standing racks. Obviously, as small-time vendors, we want to use the smallest space possible to make the best booth possible. We sketch out a booth floor plan on graph paper to help see how much space our display equipment will take up, and then decide what to take.

We began using an Excel spreadsheet with all of our accumulated display equipment and products listed on it, that we trim to fit each event prior to loading time. Some of our equipment is in storage, and some of it comes off of the sales floor at the shop, so we generally stage and/or load our stuff just before the event. The check-off list is essential in making sure we haven't forgotten anything.

While at shows, we got to watching people at everyone's booths, including our own, trying to figure out what makes a certain booth floor plan work for the vendor, and how different vendors like to set up. Regardless of how well sales appeared to be going at a booth, we were more interested in whether or not customers were interested in looking at the items in the booth, or move on to the next one, and why. Some vendors are like we were in the beginning, setting up whatever they can and using whatever they have. As we've gone along, and encountered many vendor booth designs, we began wondering how much difference the floor plan plays for the shopper, especially in small booth spaces like a 10 x 10. (A 10 x 10 won't work for us when we're cutting fabric, but works fine for craft shows.) We think it differs with the type of customers, and by the type of products in the booth, but it seems like most crowds share some traits when it comes to the layout of the booth.

1. Customers generally don't like to go into a space where they may have to brush against another customer to get in or out. They like to have a definite "escape route".

2. Over half of the customers want to avoid being confronted by the vendor. A nod and/or a simple greeting and general attentiveness are required, but if the customer wants to visit, they'll bring up the conversation.

3. Few customers will dig through a basket or stack of merchandise, unless they can remain standing in the "neutral zone" (walkway in front of the booths).

4. Nearly all customers like a small empty space on a table to lay their other bags or dig through their purse while checking out. It's essential if you accept checks or have merchandise that could be damaged by laying something on it.

5. Customers tend to at least "swing by" a booth that has some kind of activity going on. We use a small hand crank sewing machine (it's for sale, and also serves as a prop or attention-getter), and other vendors demo their product to attract attention. Demos and props take up sales space.

6. Few customers stop to view a product demo on a TV (unless they're really bored), and most customers will walk past a booth if they can hear and see that a vendor is watching a TV, especially if the TV is hidden from view. Again, a demo TV takes up sales space.

Do you agree or disagree with our observations? How do you like to set up when the booth space is small? Walk-in or counter front? Are you seated? In a low chair or up higher on a stool? Do you like to be out front, or try to stay out of the way behind something until you're needed? Do you use a prop or demo at your booth? Vertical displays or tabletop displays (if you have a choice)?

CD in Oklahoma

thayerarags.com

[wildrose]

Well done write up!

I vary my display show-to-show, depending on the space allotted me. Usually I bring 4 folding tables, and do an inverted U shape, so it is open at the front/center. I almost always bring something to work on.

That's my short and sweet answer ;-)

[Daggrim]

Hey CD,

Great post, good questions and observations. I also pay a lot of attention to customer movements in my tent space. Some items, which may never even get a glance, will sell briskly if they are moved. I watch their eyes, and try to perceive how they scan my space, then how they walk thru it. Some of my big selling items drop off to zero sales if they are not placed correctly.

I like your idea of the neutral space out front, and of providing an escape route. I always keep two open doorways in the front of my tent, and I like to spread some of my brighter things outside, with a couple of mirrors. They love those mirrors! They may not even consciously know they're there, but they use them automatically. Critical to sales.

I use the walk-in layout. i've though much about how to do a countertop layout, but I just have too much stuff. People like the nonconfrontational walk-in style, I think.

I stand outside, or off to the side, keeping out of the way, and try not to make too much eye contact altho I greet everyone who walks in. They prefer to shop and chat more privately. I rarely sit down, at least until about 3 in the afternoon. Whew.

I set a really nice, extra tough helmet outside the tent, and people love to come over and try it on. They take pictures of their kids, n' stuff. I just let 'em do it, but it does kinda aggravate me if they spend 5 minutes snapping pics, then just walk away. The horned helmets are the best attention getters I have.

I always take time to talk to people who are interested. I mostly listen and ask questions. Everbody avoids a monologuer. yak yak me me yak mine yak I I I yak yak.

Demos...I've tried numerous times, but somebody tapping away at rivets just doesn't attract attention. Dull. They want fire, or shiny armor, or thundering hooves, or, my personal fovorite...dancing girls! I do use the dancing girls to attract attention sometimes. I offer them solid gold armbands if they'll come over and put on a show in front of my tent. They DO get armbands, "Gee, I THOUGHT they were gold!".

Doug

[cdthayer]

I vary my display show-to-show, depending on the space.... Usually....an inverted U shape....open at the front/center. I almost always bring something to work on.

Nearly every venue has different booth space assignment sizes, making it necessary to "re-plan" the floor plan each time, especially if using a small space. Plus, we've found sometimes that the 10X10 space is actually a 9X11 or some other size, making display equipment placement upon arrival a variable nearly every time. We try to sketch out our floor plan ahead of time, and build in some room to fudge. I attached a couple of samples that we've used. It helps us visualize how much of the allotted space that our tables, spinners, and POS (Point Of Sale) table is going to take up. It was hard to visualize in our heads, and the first couple of our booths really cramped us and/or the customers. Our POS table is higher than a normal table. We try to keep half of it (2' x 2') completely clear for the customer's use. It helps keep both us and the customer from having to bend over while taking care of the payment transaction. Plus, the customer can easily recognize it as the check-out place, and have a place to put their purse or other shopping bags.

Another point about bending over: We don't think that folks like to do that at a booth. We get by with it in the store, but not so much in a booth atmosphere. They'll reach high, but they seldom venture below table height. We have been advised by other vendors to go up with our displays, and we began thinking of free-standing racks in place of the tables, but we've about decided that we want to do both. We're going to go up from our table tops. By doing so, we can continue to use the space under our tables for equipment and additional products. We put one of everything out and keep the duplicates in the tubs under the tables. It cuts down on the display space needed to sell more than one of some items. We have floor-length table cloths, and it's an excellent place to hide tubs, boxes, and handcarts so we don't have to put all of that stuff out in the vehicle. Additional products are right there when we need them.

While we think that working on something related to our products can spark more interest in our booth, it can also accomplish a couple of more things for us. First, it gives us something to do during the slow times with sparse traffic, and we can actually be producing something to put in the next booth that we have. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, it gives us a reason to limit eye contact with the crowd as pointed out by Doug. Constantly looking at them can make us appear desperate to make a sale, while looking away can make us look uninterested, so the project provides an acceptable reason to look away when desired. We just make sure not to be working on something that we could become too engrossed in to look up regularly. Something simple that we can leave and then remember where we were when we come back.

.....Some items....will sell briskly if they are moved. Some of my big selling items drop off to zero sales if they are not placed correctly..... I like your idea of the neutral space out front....I use the walk-in layout....I've thought about a countertop layout.....I stand outside, or off to the side, keeping out of the way, and try not to make too much eye contact....

.....extra tough helmet outside the tent, and people love to come over and try it on.....

Doug

Thanks Doug, I knew we weren't the only ones studying the crowd at the booths! I think it can be as entertaining as productive. People watching should be an Olympic Sport.

The big stores use the "move it to move it" along with the "same stuff - different places" methods of trying to get the product in front of the customer as many times as possible. It's effective. The next time you're in one of the marts, count how many AA battery displays you see and where you see them, then do another count a week or so later.

I learned about the neutral space out front from a couple of vendors at a large flea market in Texas. That neutral space can be good selling space! The flea market was one of those places that have the white lines painted on the parking lot to indicate the booth boundaries. At first, everyone had their booths set up within their lines. But as the day went on, these two vendors came out with additional products that didn't quite fit in their booths, so they kind of stuck out into the walkway. Just a little at first, but then I got to noticing that they were getting further and further out. The products were boxes of boots and bundles of socks, and as the vendors would sell or demo the product, they would place more boxes and bundles further out in the walkway. As time went on and the display got further out into the walkway, people strolling along from one booth to the next would bump into them and knock them over. You guessed it, after assuring the shoppers that everything was fine (no harm done), the vendors set them back up even further out in the walkway. LOL! You'd be surprised how many people will buy socks from a vendor after kicking their boot display over. By the end of the day, the crowd had to serpentine around through the boots.

We use a combination of walk-in and counter-top for our layouts, and since we've begun using a prop (sewing machine), it has created a natural place for us in the booth. We can be in the booth without appearing to be in the way, and it gives us a good reason to be seated too.

I agree with your "eye contact" remark. Good point to bring out. Couldn't your helmet be considered as a prop in this case?

My wife said that if I got dancing girls, I'd have to get dancing guys too. I don't think our booth is going to be big enough, but a heck of an idea......

CD in Oklahoma

thayerrags.com

Edited February 18, 2010 by cdthayer

[UKRay]

The whole business of 'what makes people buy' is fascinating. My small contribution is more about the colours that get people buying as opposed to how the layout works. I had a booth at a Christmas Fair that I set up in a hurry. I got the layout wrong on the first day (I tried to demo at the front of the booth) and my takings suffered badly. I also had the goods displayed on a dark coloured cloth and this made it hard for buyers to see what I had on offer.

The second day I moved to an 'open front and goods down three sides booth layout, used a white sheet as a tablecloth and tucked myself away at the back with some lacing work to do. Takings were eight times better.

I can't claim credit for the improvement as a friend who spends most of her time people watching came up with the winning formulae (thanks Jayne!). All I can say is that it worked for me on the day - and I'm planning on sticking with this winning combination in the future.

I took some of Daggrim's suggestions from a previous post (thanks Dag) and raised the height of my displays as well. This was very effective and I have now invested in a range of spinners to lift my goods off the table and display them at eye level.

Corner booths are still a concern though. Any more thoughts?

Ray

[Suze]

Ray are you talking about a corner booth that butts up against a wall -- or a corner booth at the end of an asile?

While the dollhouse shows we did were tabletop display only -- no booths -- we loved the corner at the end of an asile.

we could put our spinner racks on the end and people would be around the corner of the table. So we were selling on at least two sides (sometimes three)

the corner up aginst a wall was hard because of the spinner racks -- they really held a lot of our "bread and butter" merchandise. We still tended to keep them on an end though - just not against the wall.

As you said the dark tablecloth was a killer -- we went finally with a bittersweet orange - it stood out against all the other white tablecloths but wasn't DARK like a navy.

Another thing that works well if you want dark tablecloths is to put large napkins of light colors on top of the table. Spotlighting items in effect. Just don't let them hang down off the front of the table (they get caught in purses and tugged right off the table)

[particle]

This is just a general comment, and is in line with what UKRay was saying. When I go to the grocery store and see some person handing out sample products (cheese, crackers, dips, etc.), I usually avoid them. I'm always afraid they're going to try to make me buy their product, or at a minimum, I'm going to have a piece of trash in my hand that I don't know what to do with as I've already moved on with my shopping (with a tooth pick or plastic cup in my hand...). Along that same line, if I'm walking down a row of booths and see some guy demonstrating the latest wizbang product, I figure they're going to want a volunteer to demo their product, or they're at least going to start asking questions. I feel obligated to listen. I hate to be rude and just walk away and show that I'm not interested, so I'd rather just avoid that display to begin with.

Now, put that vendor/demonstrator at the back of the booth, allow me to slowly take interest in the product on my own terms, at my own pace, and I'll likely become more involved than I would have otherwise. It's on my terms, not the vendor's.

Another thing that bothers me is when I feel like I'm being shadowed - like the vendor feels like I'm moments away from steeling something.

Give the customer some breathing room - that's my (minor) input to this thread... :poofan:

Edited February 18, 2010 by particle

[UKRay]

My concern with corner booths is that I lose 1/3 of my table space as I only have two walls to display on. I know I can put a small table right on the corner but I still lose a heck of a lot of display space. How do people deal with this?

Also - I was interested to read that racking to raise the height of the display seems to work. I saw a good idea at a show last year where the guy (a member of this forum) had used a kind of wickerwork garden style trellis on the back wall of his booth to display his products. It looked really great and worked well as he was able to put hooks on the trellis to hang belt pouches, bags and other smaller stuff.

I'd like to find something similar myself as it was a very impressive display. He had also used the trellis to hang up his lighting set-up.

Ray

[CitizenKate]

While at shows, we got to watching people at everyone's booths, including our own, trying to figure out what makes a certain booth floor plan work for the vendor, and how different vendors like to set up. Regardless of how well sales appeared to be going at a booth, we were more interested in whether or not customers were interested in looking at the items in the booth, or move on to the next one, and why.

CD, you are light years ahead of a lot of of writers out there who advise beginners to design their booth primarily for aesthetics. I am a little more interested in observing what sells, too, because I feel that stopping and looking is just part of the process. For me, the bottom line is, what is getting bought, and why?

1. Customers generally don't like to go into a space where they may have to brush against another customer to get in or out. They like to have a definite "escape route".

We have noticed the same thing, and decided to re-design our display so it places everything to the front of the booth and around the sides. The booths we saw that were arranged that way were getting the most browsing traffic by far.

2. Over half of the customers want to avoid being confronted by the vendor. A nod and/or a simple greeting and general attentiveness are required, but if the customer wants to visit, they'll bring up the conversation.

Oh yes. I can't believe the number of vendors I've seen who stand out in front of their booths, greeting people as they pass by, but inwardly almost begging people to come in... you can always see a wave of traffic steering around them.

3. Few customers will dig through a basket or stack of merchandise, unless they can remain standing in the "neutral zone" (walkway in front of the booths).

I did see one leatherworker at a show who had his bins of twiggy stuff set towards the back of the booth. For some reason, the swarm was all over them. It was hard to get in and out, but people couldn't resist it. I dove in myself just to see what was in the honey pot. Came out with one of his key fobs, which I still carry today. When I figure out what happened to me, I'll be sure to let you know. Ha! (He really did have a lot of great stuff, though.)

5. Customers tend to at least "swing by" a booth that has some kind of activity going on. We use a small hand crank sewing machine (it's for sale, and also serves as a prop or attention-getter), and other vendors demo their product to attract attention. Demos and props take up sales space.

We set up a demo table at the show we (Deb59, azrider, and I) did in September, and we will definitely do it again. It certainly did attract people to our booth, and while we were talking to people about what we were demonstrating, others figured our booth was a happening place and stepped in to browse.

Kate

[cdthayer]

I saw a good idea at a show last year where the guy (a member of this forum) had used a kind of wickerwork garden style trellis on the back wall of his booth to display his products.

Ray

I like the trellis idea. It's got some style to it.

I saw a vendor using a piece of that white plastic/vinyl lattice that you can get at the home supply stores. It had a clean neat appearance, but needed some kind of foundation to support it. Propped up against the wall, it looked a little shaky.

An old wooden extension ladder, taken apart and the two halves hinged together by one side, makes a good rustic-looking free-standing rack when stood up with the two halves at 90 degrees to each other. Some of those old ladders may have too much taper to them to stand very straight, and may appear to be about to fall over. I saw a home-made one made out of unpainted 1x4 lumber (no taper), and they had made the cross-bars about twice as wide as a regular ladder. It made it appear more stable, and by loading it sparingly it didn't have the feel of a divider wall because you could see through it easily. Setup, take-down, and transport should be about as efficient as possible, and a good way to get a tall vertical display in a small foot-print. A couple of shorter ones on a table-top may work too, but on a table around the perimeter you'd lose the back side display surface.

CD in Oklahoma

thayerrags.com

[wildrose]

I bought metal closet "shelving" from Lowes. I can hang it or clip it together at a right angle. I'm mostly a "one person show" for set up/take down, so my display stuff has to be light and fit in my Saturn VUE. These are pics from two different events: a VERY small church fair, and Steppin'Out a HUGE outdoor festival. At Steppin'Out I was fortunate to have my buddy Ann McGrath with me to help and sell her stuff too. This was the first year I went to both these events.

I tweak my display all the time, every show I go to. I've used shoeboxes under cloth to elevate display sections too.

[Daggrim]

I like the wooden extension ladder idea. I once saw a pair of nice homemade frames in that shape, stood up near each other with a set of 1x12's placed thru them as shelves. Looked great, and very portable.

I have often displayed my helmets on hanging shelves...1x12's suspended on ropes which were hooked to my tent frame above. A perfect way for people to see them, and yet keep them out of reach of kids. The only trouble was, as you may expect, when a heavy wind blew. Everything would start a'rockin'. Surprisingly, it was very rare for the helmets to topple, but it did happen. I loved the way the display was positioned, and how little space it took up. I could place tables, or store my tubs under the shelves.

Ideally, I'd like to duplicate the position of those shelves with a more stable setup on the ground, like the ladder frame idea.

Anybody else ever try suspended shelves?

Daggrim

[broncobuster]

Ive been setting up at shows for like 20 years or so. every show is different my inventory i take can be different to. people like the hands on stuff. majority of my shows are biker rallys. im the sewing lady lol. my machines both are antiques one with electric one is peddle. that usually draws them in. I find cause i have the patches people come in to read them all plus i sell novelty stuff that draws them in to like the swearing parot etc. which woudnt be to acceptable at an event wheres theres kids. i also find it best to hang things eye level. the under the table stuff unless they are the bargain hunters. they will not look. the sign that says "sale" or "discount" gets there eye. and of course ive got a smart mouth so I tell jokes n pick on the customers.

I have an empty table to lay coats n vest on to put patches on. n they can set there stuff on. I put my unique or unusual stuff up front to catch there eye. i work in the back corner with rows of tables or stands so they can look around it all n zig zag through. n yes ya need an entrance n an exit. i dont bug the customers at all unless they ask. they like to see the stuff and handle it. I prefer outdoor shows so i can have my van behind my booth to keep the unnecesary stuff and extra stuff.

the biggest thing I think is to have something the other vendors dont. im always looking for new items for my shows. I find most people dont like to let go of there money if an item get close to the 50.00 or above. I have a lot of the 10.00 or less items. thats what pays for your spot. of course with my patches thats about all i have lol. unique and cheap sells. most people I find have the walmart mentality "I can get it cheaper at walmart" but each show is different. what sells at one wont sell at another. variety is another plus. its better to have all kinds of different things than a lot of the same thing. when you have a small selection they think they are only getting one of just a few.

another thing is your location. best place to be is by the bathrooms or the beer tent lol If you can manage to pick your spot pick where the high traffic area is. Im usually by myself at the smaller shows and ive got a good repor with my customers. they bring me food and drink all i have to do is go to the bathroom so im not away from my booth to long lol. but I have a story about that to lol. well i think i covered it on my perspective, Bronc/Bonnie

[cdthayer]

I'm the sewing lady....my machines both are antiques one with electric one is peddle.....that usually draws them in....

I have an empty table to lay coats n vest on to put patches on. n they can set there stuff on...... I work in the back corner with rows of tables or stands so they can look around it all

....have my van behind my booth to keep the unnecesary stuff and extra stuff.

Bronc/Bonnie

Hi Bonnie,

Your booths are similar to our quilt show booths (the 8x16 floor plan sample earlier in this thread), in that they are a combination of retail and production. I consider our cutting table, POS table, and the room beside them where we stand as our "production" part, since they don't have retail items on them, and are used by us to do the show. I list the space used by chairs and stools as "storage" space (LOL), since it's where we store ourselves and they have no other use of the floor space. Using the space under tables for storage is a freebie, since the floor space for the tables is considered either retail or production space. If we didn't have tables to stash things under, we'd have to haul stuff outside to the pickup, and then go haul it back in when we needed it like you do with your van.

Now that I've been attacking the year-end 2009 reports for our business and have our total cost, I crunched some numbers to see what our shop floor plan is costing us percentage-wise per square foot when split out into 4 categories (Retail, Production, Storage, and "Free Space" for isles). I made a little calculator in an Excel file (great formula tool) to crunch my numbers. We're trying to adjust our floor plan a little to make better use of our space. Our Free Space is the highest percentage at our shop at 32.1%, just slightly higher than our storage space at 31.6%. That's 63.7% of our total floor.

I ran my booth space floor plans through it to see how the percentages shake out for them.

On the 10x10 booth space that costs $20 for 100 square feet, the results for that sample floor plan are: Cost per foot is 20 cents, and the use is Retail 37% ($7.40), Production 12% ($2.40), Storage 4% ($0.80), and Free Space 47% ($9.40).

On the 8x16 booth that costs $40 for 128 square feet, the results are: Cost per foot 31 cents, Retail 35.9% ($14.38), Production 30.5% ($12.19), Storage 3.9% ($1.56), and Free Space 29.7% ($11.88).

So the Free Space is the highest percentage at one of our show booths and second highest at the other. Although Free Space is a necessary evil as a space-waster, it may be something to look at to help us make our booths more profitable. We have to provide adequate space for shoppers, but maybe the floor plans can be adjusted a little.

CD in Oklahoma

thayerrags.com

[TimDreamer]

Hmmm, it seems to me like ya'll are working this out like a science project or something.

Got some questions for everyone and I know the answers won't be the same. How much do you have invested in your tables, racks, display cases, spinners, storage bins, tents, etc. Did you buy new or used? Did you purchase a truck or van just to haul things around to different places with?

I can see from the posts here that things evolved over time as each person learned what worked for them to attract customers.

Have you ever gone to a show/flea market/event and not sold enough to cover expenses? How did that make you feel about returning to that same place in the following years? Was it worth it to just get your name out there and let people know that you are in the business?

Where is your break even point at an event and what percentage of the sales of merchandise do you think it took to make that?

Do you do mainly event sales or do you also have what they call a brick and mortar store (shop) to sell from between events? Do you also have a website where you post representative pictures to generate sales?

I can think of a lot more questions to ask, but I don't want to make a pest of myself..... LoL.

Tim

[wildrose]

Got some questions for everyone and I know the answers won't be the same. How much do you have invested in your tables, racks, display cases, spinners, storage bins, tents, etc. Did you buy new or used? Did you purchase a truck or van just to haul things around to different places with?

A: I've bought most everything new, but I find things in a variety of places. For example, I bought a really nice wooden bowl to put small things in CHEAP when a local Mikasa store was closing. I have an EZUp tent (the original) for outdoor shows, and bought that with its wheeled carry bag new at Sam's Club years back. Had to replace the top, and bought that from the co. website. I really need to get a new tent soon...The tent was likely the thing I've spent the most on, it must've been about 200.00? But I've used it for several years now. I have small rectangular folding tables (4) and some square card tables, don't think I spent over 20.00 each on them.

Have you ever gone to a show/flea market/event and not sold enough to cover expenses? How did that make you feel about returning to that same place in the following years? Was it worth it to just get your name out there and let people know that you are in the business?

A: Over the years I've been to events where I didn't sell anything. (INDOORS! AT A MALL!!!) And events where I didn't sell much (small church fairs usually). It's a tough call for me on if I go back or not. Usually I consider 2 things: was it well organized? Who is it benefitting? I will sometimes come back if I think it's a worthy cause, but not if it was poorly managed.

Where is your break even point at an event and what percentage of the sales of merchandise do you think it took to make that?

A: If I make back more than it cost me to get in, I'm satisfied, but not necessarily happy. What irritates me is if it took a boatload of small items selling to make even. I'd rather sell a few big items.

Do you do mainly event sales or do you also have what they call a brick and mortar store (shop) to sell from between events? Do you also have a website where you post representative pictures to generate sales?

A: I sell almost entirely at craft fairs/events. I take custom orders, but those are usually people who've met me at an event. I do have a site as well.