Primrose
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- Joined
- Apr 23, 2017
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I am back from an 8 day show and my goodness I am a wreck. It was our state's Royal Agricultural Show and not only did I exhibit my dairy goats and coordinate the goat section as I have been doing for the past 6 years, this year I also came on as a 'commercial exhibit' with a stall for selling soap.
It is probably my first 'real' event having previously just brought along whatever I had to a few half day or one day shows here and there. I was actually there a day earlier and I still have probably three car loads of stuff to take home during the week. Exhaustion doesnt come close to describing it LOL and i'm back at my 'real' job today.
I had about 20-30 varieties on the table depending on the day and I think that went well ... had some fragrance free. No vegan options as they are all goat milk soaps. I did have a few vegetarian options under the table but not displayed, in case someone asked. No one did. I'm unsure whether to continue making them (they do cost more for me to make) or to just not bother about that particular small sector of the market.
I had a facial bar (for dry skin) that sold surprisingly well, and I really need to get its partner the oily skin one up and available. I missed sales due to not having shampoo bars and not having liquid soap. Those were on my list anyway just didnt get them ready in time for the show, so will be next year.
Soap racks sold better than I expected, I had them up for $4 or free with 6 bars, I only bought 50 of them and sold almost all of them. Lots of people bought them without the 6 bar deal.
Apart from the traditional lavender and lemongrass favourites, the big sellers surprised me. The cocoa butter cashmere that I only ever made one lof of because I just got the bottle when it was on special, sold out. I was surprised that not more of the plain ones sold. Some I thought were pretty ordinary or that I wasnt in love with, were very popular. Some that I love, barely moved. So that is helpful feedback. I also have heaps of ideas for additional products for next year.
My stall setup certainly needs work and I just used random things I found at home mostly. I need to invest in a banner and some proper shelves/levels plus a few extra racks or display baskets etc to fill up the stall a little more. I need to be far more organised in general next year with more/diverse products, a more cohesive display and have all the stock labelled (I was labelling the stuff to restock the tables at 2am at night). I need to employ someone for a half day shift or so because the 9am-6pm open requirement was a killer when I then still have 3-4hrs of goat feeding, husbandry etc to do.
I had a baby goat in the stall for most of the time and he worked great to draw people in. It was interesting, I reckon probably 80% of total sales were from people that looked and were going to walk past, except I said good morning, please come in and sniff. As opposed to people who walked straight in. And I would say 90% of those people that I called into the stand ended up buying stuff. So I wouldnt have made anywhere near as much if I just sat there waiting for people to come in and buy.
It was also interesting that most people were genuinely surprised that I make all the soap myself, with milk from my goats. I thought this was obvious from the business name little goat soapery but clearly not.
It was interesting to notice that # of foot traffic doesnt necessarily = # of sales. The first day was slowish to start but then steady. The next day we had twice as many people in the shed but half as many sales. On reflection the demographic was different, day 2 it was all families with young children, those people arent looking to buy $7 bars of handmade soap.
Anyway enough rambling, here are some pictures
It is probably my first 'real' event having previously just brought along whatever I had to a few half day or one day shows here and there. I was actually there a day earlier and I still have probably three car loads of stuff to take home during the week. Exhaustion doesnt come close to describing it LOL and i'm back at my 'real' job today.
I had about 20-30 varieties on the table depending on the day and I think that went well ... had some fragrance free. No vegan options as they are all goat milk soaps. I did have a few vegetarian options under the table but not displayed, in case someone asked. No one did. I'm unsure whether to continue making them (they do cost more for me to make) or to just not bother about that particular small sector of the market.
I had a facial bar (for dry skin) that sold surprisingly well, and I really need to get its partner the oily skin one up and available. I missed sales due to not having shampoo bars and not having liquid soap. Those were on my list anyway just didnt get them ready in time for the show, so will be next year.
Soap racks sold better than I expected, I had them up for $4 or free with 6 bars, I only bought 50 of them and sold almost all of them. Lots of people bought them without the 6 bar deal.
Apart from the traditional lavender and lemongrass favourites, the big sellers surprised me. The cocoa butter cashmere that I only ever made one lof of because I just got the bottle when it was on special, sold out. I was surprised that not more of the plain ones sold. Some I thought were pretty ordinary or that I wasnt in love with, were very popular. Some that I love, barely moved. So that is helpful feedback. I also have heaps of ideas for additional products for next year.
My stall setup certainly needs work and I just used random things I found at home mostly. I need to invest in a banner and some proper shelves/levels plus a few extra racks or display baskets etc to fill up the stall a little more. I need to be far more organised in general next year with more/diverse products, a more cohesive display and have all the stock labelled (I was labelling the stuff to restock the tables at 2am at night). I need to employ someone for a half day shift or so because the 9am-6pm open requirement was a killer when I then still have 3-4hrs of goat feeding, husbandry etc to do.
I had a baby goat in the stall for most of the time and he worked great to draw people in. It was interesting, I reckon probably 80% of total sales were from people that looked and were going to walk past, except I said good morning, please come in and sniff. As opposed to people who walked straight in. And I would say 90% of those people that I called into the stand ended up buying stuff. So I wouldnt have made anywhere near as much if I just sat there waiting for people to come in and buy.
It was also interesting that most people were genuinely surprised that I make all the soap myself, with milk from my goats. I thought this was obvious from the business name little goat soapery but clearly not.
It was interesting to notice that # of foot traffic doesnt necessarily = # of sales. The first day was slowish to start but then steady. The next day we had twice as many people in the shed but half as many sales. On reflection the demographic was different, day 2 it was all families with young children, those people arent looking to buy $7 bars of handmade soap.
Anyway enough rambling, here are some pictures
, I can make my own.
