Hot take: the Eastern Market pop-up taught me to stop trusting foot traffic

I set up a stall at Eastern Market last September with $2,000 worth of inventory and a good spot near the main walkway. Crowds were big, people were friendly, but my sales for the whole day came to $180. The next week I moved to a smaller corner spot near a coffee cart and made $900 by noon. Turns out the busy path was full of tourists grabbing photos, not shoppers with cash. Location mattered less than the type of people passing by. I stopped chasing the busiest corners and started asking vendors where the repeat customers actually come from. Has anyone else shifted their whole stall strategy after one bad show? I would love to hear what worked for you.

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jessica13026d ago

Wait, did you notice the same thing with the coffee cart crowd being way more likely to actually buy? I had almost the exact same thing happen at a craft fair last fall, except I was stuck near the entrance where everyone was just rushing past to get to the food trucks. I barely made my table fee, but the next weekend I took a spot near the bathrooms, of all places, and people were just standing around waiting, so they actually looked at my stuff and bought a ton. It's like the busiest spots are for looking, not shopping, and the slower spots are where people actually have time to think about spending money. I totally stopped trusting foot traffic numbers after that too, now I just watch where people linger instead of counting heads. The repeat customer tip from other vendors is gold, those folks know way more than any map or crowd counter.