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Hey artists, here's a quick n dirty thread about how to lay out your table at conventions. I used to be in charge of floor planning and merchandising when I worked in retail and it's all based on the same idea - guiding the customer's eye.
In general your table will have Small Items (like stickers, £1/2 zines), Medium Items (single issue comics, bigger zines, prints), and your One Big Item (the main thing you're wanting to sell, usually a book if you have one). You want your customer to look at ALL of it!
Make your table interesting (and take longer) to look at by varying the heights of your merchandise:
1. flat on the table/stacked in piles
2. propped up on a book stand
3. propped up on top of a box/stack of books
4. pinned to grids/boards
1. flat on the table/stacked in piles
2. propped up on a book stand
3. propped up on top of a box/stack of books
4. pinned to grids/boards
You want your customer to go on a ~*~*~jOuRnEy~*~*~ across your table - see how setting up your table like this would guide the eye towards the next item?
Use this to your advantage and set up your merchandise so that everything points to your One Big Item. Here's a real world example of my tablemate and I. We even made use of the space between our Big Items so the eye would travel from one person's Big Item to the other's!
It's important to react to your NEIGHBOUR'S table as well. If you want to try to minimise the dreaded Skimming Glance™, arrange your table so that as a customer looking at your neighbour's table is guided without a break onto your merch. Don't break the ~*~*~jOuRnEy~*~*~
Once you've set up, leave the table and walk towards it from both directions to see what it looks like for an approaching customer. Do you have merch raised high enough so people can see it from a distance? Using prints and stickers to lure in distant customers is a great tactic.
Another fast and furious tip - put your business cards/flyers at both ends of your table so people can grab them when they've finished looking/buying and leave either direction!
I hope this was useful! If you have questions feel free to ask. If you wanna shoot me a ko-fi you can at ko-fi.com/evegwood , and also I have a sick webcomic you can read at inhibitcomic.com ⚡️🔥💥
What's YOUR layout advice? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
If the con you're at allows it (some cons ban outward-facing merch), pin prints or open zine spreads to the outside of your grids to give passersby a ✨preview✨ of your merch!
I especially do this with comics/zines that people don't pick up as much so passersby will get a peek at what's inside and hopefully WILL pick it up.
Clearly delineate where your merch ends and your tablemate's starts. Try mirroring the shape of each other's displays (like me and my tablemate did in my example a few tweets ago!) to keep the table looking cohesive while having distinct sides.
You don't need to literally draw a line between your stuff and your tablemate's stuff, but having a little break like a flyer/business card section between sections can help to keep your stuff separate in the mind of the customer.
Luckily the point isn't to be /told/ where the Big Item is, but for the eye to go there naturally ;) If you're looking at the whole table, it's working.
These kind of setups are lifesavers if you have lots of prints! It sounds obvious, but placing them neatly on the grids instead of haphazardly can make it feel less cluttered. Someone else in this thread recommended numbering them for ease too!
I'm afraid I've never sold using a round table - if anyone else has tips feel free to jump in!
