Cheryl Entry #14
23rd December 2018
Before the event, we went down to the booth area to take a look at the space where we will be setting up.
We were located near a side exit of the MRT at Farrer Park and directly opposite Mcdonalds. We went around 8pm and noticed that the people around that area were mostly Indian families, students and occasionally a few middle aged couples. The Fountain Square is an outdoor space within the mall and those passing by the carnival area on the upper level will be able to see the booths from above. As we stood around the place for awhile, we realised that there was a constant stream of people entering the square even past dinner period which seemed like a good sign. Despite that, it was still a huge contrast to the crowd inside the mall.
Day 1 (Friday)
Sales were quite promising as almost a third of our terrariums got sold out. We cut our prices to $12 per terrarium from our initial of $15 per terrarium as a form of Christmas promotion. We priced our potted plants higher at $18 so that it doesn't take away sales from our terrariums. We didn't sell much pots on the first day. Ram brought down the remaining unpainted pots and Cleo painted on the spot which attracted quite a crowd since they were drawn to her live painting. There were three other plant booths in this event- one of them sold succulents at 3 for $8, the other sold air plants, while the other sold closed terrariums (they were located right next to us). However, on the first day we managed to gain the biggest crowd and sales among these other plant booths judging from the crowd from both booths.
Day 2 (Saturday)
The sales in the second day was much slower and worse than expected despite a heavier traffic. Our peak period was actually in the morning and early afternoon and sales started to drop towards the end of the day. This was surprising as the peak periods for the first day were the lunch and dinner periods. Even though there were many people walking past on the second day, most of them seemed uninterested in coming forward to take a look at the items on display and this is common across all booths in our row. This time we managed to sell around the same quantities of potted plants and terrariums, although this could be partly because we placed more potted plants on the table.
Day 3 (Sunday)
Best sales out of all three days! From the previous day, we decided to set up earlier since it seemed like morning is a peak period. There were a few people who enquired about our products and decided to come back later (which never happened), but most customers who decided to buy it were quite quick in their decisions. Some buyers were more indecisive which also helped us as it helped to build up a crowd in front of the booth. We also elevated our tray of terrariums at the side using a shoe rack, which made it easier for customers to look at the different options we had. Towards the end of the day, I heard that one couple bought 23 terrariums in one go! This is certainly the biggest sale we have made and it felt great that someone liked our products so much that they bought so many as gifts. We also managed to get everyone to stop by to take a group picture!
Overall, the sales for this event was the highest that we have made out of all our events but this figure is likely to be inflated because of the Christmas season. Moving forward, we will be branching out to different events (corporates and town areas) to find our fit. So far, it seems like most of our customers are the middle-age population, but we will have to see.