Microsoft Word - Product information (updated).docMarkets
Background
Here at Farmers' Markets of Nova Scotia, we believe that one of the
best ways to build communication- rich, trust-based relationships
with your customers is to ensure that you are providing them with
"need-to- know" information about your products. This allows people
to comfortably make purchasing
decisions without searching for information. At a bare minimum,
this means providing:
• clear prices • the location of your business • the origin of any
product on your table that you did not grow or make
yourself. Why is this important? Simply put, good customer service
is based on making people feel comfortable and removing any
potential source of doubt in their interactions with you.
Perception is all there is, and making sure people have a good
experience with you is about much more than your product itself.
Remember, there are practically no products sold at Nova Scotia
farmers' markets that cannot be purchased elsewhere, more easily,
and possibly at a lower price. People shop at farmers' markets
primarily for the selection and range of local product, and also
for the relationships and community connections that exist at
farmers' markets. This is why the experience you provide to people
-- via your signage and a sense of welcoming friendliness at your
booth -- is as important, or even more important, than your
products themselves. Pricing Signage Providing clear product
pricing on signs or stickers is a practice almost unanimously
supported by vendors. The general consensus is that people are
hesitant to ask about price and are less likely to shop at a booth
with unlisted pricing. One gentleman said that, "If a vendor
doesn't advertise their price, I assume it means there is an
'insiders price' for regular customers, and a higher price for
someone like me that they don't know. No thank you." When you can
remove doubt from a customer's mind, you build trust. A lack of
price information introduces doubt. They wonder, "Can I afford
it?", "Is there a better price if I buy a certain amount?", "Is it
more or less expensive
than someone else?", "Why aren't they showing their prices? Does
that mean it's expensive?” and "What's the catch?" The most-cited
reason some vendors have for withholding their product pricing
information is because they think it is a great opportunity to
engage with their customers. Our position is that you lose more
customers than you gain with that strategy. People are very
hesitant to be 'sold to' at farmers' markets. Engaging customers
should be an opportunity to talk about what makes your product
unique, to tell your farm or business or personal story, or get
people excited about something new you are offering, a draw you are
having, or signing up for your newsletter. You'll have more people
to talk to if you post your signage and then build the
conversations and engagement around these bigger marketing and
relationship-building topics. Do yourself, and your customers, a
big favour -- show your prices from the outset. Location Signage We
think it's helpful and beneficial for vendors to indicate their
home community at their farmers' markets. "Local" as a concept is
neat, but "local" as a collection of actual communities is better.
Make your province and community come alive in the minds and hearts
of your customers by advertising the community you come from. You
never know who will walk by and engage with you simply because they
also have a connection to your specific community. And we
collectively help each other foster a sense of rootedness and rural
pride in our customers when we help people see that we all come
from somewhere specific, not from "the city" or "out of town"
generically.
Product Signage for Resold Goods Most farmers' markets allow some
amount of reselling, by which we mean, bringing product from other
producers. Usually, a certain percentage of product sold is allowed
to be from another source other than your own. Sometimes this is
allowed in order to round out the product offerings at a given
market. Sometimes it is allowed in order to have more product at
lean and shoulder seasons. And sometimes, it is a mechanism to
allow groups of producers to work together on sales and marketing.
Whatever the reasons, we believe this reselling of local product by
one producer for another is good for the farmers' market sector,
and our customers, when it is done properly and in accordance with
each market's rules. One of the drawbacks to this type of reselling
is the 'cheating around the edges' that can and does happen.
Sometimes people knowingly misrepresent their products, and
sometimes they do so without meaning to, simply because they have
not marked their resold items properly. In either case, farmers'
markets are unique selling environments, based highly on trust and
authenticity. When someone is selling something they did not
produce, but claiming that they did (knowingly or unknowingly),
this eats away at the core foundation of trust upon which our
movement is built. This potentially hurts everyone and could bring
the entire sector under scrutiny. Rather than run the risk of
inadvertently misrepresenting some of the items you sell at the
farmers' market, a best practice for vendors who do have some
resold items is to make sure they are clearly marked as such.
Selling mushrooms from Valley Mushrooms at your farmers' market
booth? Consider a sign that says, "Fresh Local Mushrooms from
Waterville, NS." Offering brownies from a local bakery? A good sign
might say, "Made-From-Scratch Brownies from Clara's Bakery in
Pugwash, NS." Done well, with integrity and transparency of
signage, customers enjoy the extra products their vendors bring to
their local markets, and it can be a win- win for everyone
concerned. Keep your resold items clearly marked, and it becomes a
worthwhile service to your market as a whole to have them
available. (Talk with your market manager and consult the market
rules document to make sure reselling is allowed at your market,
and whether there are any restrictions on what you can bring.)
End-Of-Day Discount Pricing Sometimes referred to as "Distress
Pricing", giving regular end-of-day discount pricing of products to
your customers is a bad habit to get into.
Some perishable product vendors -- those with vegetables and bakery
items, for example -- rely on discount pricing to move product
along at the end of market. But like any 'sales' strategy, it
doesn't serve you well over time. Here's why. Firstly, people begin
to 'expect' your discount pricing. They hold off on making
purchases at your regular price because they know it will be on
sale later. This can make it harder and harder to sell your
regular-priced items. Secondly, it sends a signal to customers that
your product is worth less than it is. It becomes easy to think,
"If you can afford to sell it to me at $2 at the end of the day,
the $3 price earlier in the day is obviously inflated." People are
more likely to haggle with vendors who do discount pricing, or
question their pricing. You may actually be losing money on your $2
item at the end of the market, but figure that $2 is better than
nothing. But if it creates doubt in your customers' minds about the
value of your product, you do yourself more harm in the long run.
Thirdly, you undermine other vendors who try to get fair value for
their product during the entire market. It is easy to become very
unpopular with other vendors when you have a price- slashing
strategy at a farmers' market. Working with other vendors, in
cooperative and collegial ways, is the best way to build a vibrant
market culture that supports you socially as well as financially.
Being the discount seller won't win you any loyalty amongst other
vendors. Finally, it can simply make more financial sense for you
to keep your prices up. If you sell 15 items at a discounted price
of $2 each, you will have made $30. You could also sell 10 items at
your original $3 price, still making the same $30. But in scenario
two, you have the same amount of money in your pocket, and you also
have 5 units left. You can take that home for your freezer, you can
do a trade with another vendor, or you can simply give those units
for free to five loyal customers, thereby 'buying' yourself some
goodwill, at zero cost. Donations are by far a better way to deal
with leftovers than reduced-price selling. Donations avoid all the
problems associated with delayed purchasing, customer perception
that your product has lower value, and vendor relationships. And at
the same time, it moves product along, but with the benefit of
getting you all kinds of goodwill. Teaming up with your local bank
and tracking your donations at the end of each week in dollar worth
or pounds of food is a great way to quantify your goodwill and can
help create a teamwork environment within your market! For example,
“After its 2015 season, the ______ Farmers’ Market donated 1000 lbs
of fresh and local food to its community food bank.” Also, it can
lead to annual initiatives and areas
for wonderful media coverage, while helping to support your
community and ensuring everyone gets access to fresh, local
products. Over time, the best pricing strategy is to keep your
prices consistent throughout the entire market, and then trade and
donate your excess to create more loyalty and goodwill for your
business. The Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture has a
‘Guidelines for Public Markets’ document that vendors are required
to follow. The link to that document is available here:
http://novascotia.ca/agri/documents/food-safety/publicmarketguide.pdf
Farmers' Markets of Nova Scotia Cooperative Ltd. Mailing Address:
PO Box 33008, Halifax, NS, B3L 4T6 Canada
Phone: 902-425-9776 Email:
[email protected]
Facebook: Farmers' Markets of Nova Scotia Twitter:
@MarketFreshNS
Instagram: @marketfreshns
