Market stalls have been around since the BC era, and were the main form of shopping within town or city centres. Interestingly, they exist in near-enough the same capacity as they did in the past – creating opportunity for people to experience authentic local goods fronted by locally owned businesses.
But what are some ideas to ensure your market stall attracts customers and ensures a return on investment? Real Business has put together this article to provide insights into the art of being a market trader, showing how market stall ideas are born from customer demand, identifying business opportunities, and taking advantage of the steadily increasing interest that markets bring.
Table of Contents
What Are Some Strong Market Stall Ideas?
The following is a breakdown of market stall ideas proven to work, as well as an outline for exactly how popular each of them are.
For those wanting to to create a long-term market stall income, ensure that with each purchase you include business cards or promotional material with your contact details (usually via instagram) to give to potential customers and event organisers to build your following from your first customers.
Farmers Market Stall
A farmer’s market stall mainly offers fruit and veg produce that has been grown on a farm, ranging from simple oranges to more sophisticated goods, such as winds, jams, baked goods etc. They are a good idea for a market stall as a result of gradual loss in trust for supermarkets amongst health-conscious customers have, citing overly processed food as a main reason for the switch.
The UK has seen steady growth in farmers markets over the past decade, increasing by 30% to 50% over that time and sitting at around 700 to 900 active farmers markets across the UK. Their barrier of entry is low, with many market stall owners entering on a budget of a few hundred pounds and making between 15% to 40% profit based on industry averages.
This market stall type is seasonal, typically operating from late spring to early autumn when produce is at its peak. In order to set up a farmer’s market stall, you either have to grow your own produce, buy cheap and resell high, or partner with local growers whilst cutting them in on the profits.
Food Markets Stall
Food stalls are amongst the most common of market stall ideas, with hot food stalls in particular being amongst the most profitable ventures. Being able to use labour intensive appliances, such as a grill etc to create your food, you can whip up a tasty snack for passersby. Fast food is huge across all of the west, and a market stall that offers fast food is perceived as being more genuine and healthy than the average burger shop.
UK Street Food Markets have experienced significant growth in recent years, with an estimated value of £1.2 billion in 2023. Hot food stalls can be highly profitable, with potential profits ranging from 20% to 50% daily. Burgers, fries, and wraps have been reported to be the biggest profit makers by far, with those offering unique flavours and boasting quality ingredients seeing the most success.
Many UK food stalls operate seasonally, between 20 and 30 weeks a year, and they see between 100 and 150 visitors daily on average.
Pet Supplies Market Stall
Pet stores are considered too expensive by many, and taking advantage of this gap in the market, market stall stands devoted to pets can bring in an income by offering lower prices for near enough the same quality goods. Ensure they are wholesale pet supplies, as this will guarantee a healthy profit. If you opt for pet food, you may want to add a small food market stall to display products. Keep it simple and snappy.
Pet supply market stalls are loved due to their authentically crafted goods made for pets. Whether you opt to create your own supplies instead of reselling wholesale goods is up to you, but beware that you will require your own packaging and the like – which requires skill to look appealing.
Pet supply stands are projected to grow from £8.5 billion in 2023 to £10 billion by 2025. Food tailored to specific diets and specific breeds is always in demand, so make sure you research what pets are common in your local area. Furthermore, stylised toys and accessories tend to be a common purchase at these stalls.
Christmas Craft Fair
Many market stall ideas tend to be themed around Christmas for a reason. Christmas craft stalls are one of the more profitable markets out there, with creativity being the only thing that limits you. Consider selling Christmas decorations like fairy lights, Christmas stockings and the like. This is another type of food market stall that is popular, as German sausages, turkey sandwiches etc. tend to fly off the stalls, so to speak.
The number of Christmas Markets in the UK has grown by at least 15% in the last five years, according to the Local Government Association. They contributed around £1.2 billion to the UK Economy in 2022 and supported over 25,000 jobs across various sectors. On average, visitors spend around £50 per visit, with food and drink counting for nearly half of all spending.
Craft Stall
Craft stalls are visited often at craft fairs, flea markets, car boot sales etc. They are much more general that Christmas craft stalls, but at the same time they can target niche demographics.
For those considering setting up their first craft stall, understand that the value comes from the limited and authentic quality of the products on sale. A common example are handmade jewellery and ceramics.
Setting up your craft stalls at craft fairs is amongst the best practices in showcasing products and building brand presence. Many successful craft marketers use craft stall display stands that are flexible, portable and multipurpose. Many craft market stall traders do not attract people by enticing passersby, but rather by building a following on social media. Top display tips include ensuring your graphics design and even your market stall is both high quality and in line with your products and brand, as customers want to feel as though they are being made by a consistent team.
In the UK, the Crafts Council saw that Craft Stall Display Stands brought in £3 billion in 2019, with the most popular items being ceramics, jewellery, textiles and homeware. Craft sales online have been steadily increasing yearly, with the largest being 12% in 2020.
Second-Hand Clothes Stall
Nice clothes tend to be expensive, and also a candidate for resale – albeit at a much lower price. Furthermore, there are a lot of clothes unsold that are from a vintage or chic style. Second-hand clothing stalls are best supplied through charity shops, as these tend to be the places where you can make the highest profit and experience the best convenience.
Grab attention through signage that signals both high quality, and where the clothes are sourced from. It’s important to ensure that your eye-catching banners hint at the quality of the clothes in question, as many people find difficulty in buying clothes from completely unknown origins.
The second-hand clothing market was valued at £2.7 billion in 2023 and is expected to rise 127% by 2027. In 2021, Thredup found that 35% of UK consumers bought second-hand clothing, jumping up to 45% in 2022.
Second-Hand Mobile Phone Stand
It’s expected that most of-age UK residents have a smartphone, due to their irreplaceability in modern life. But for every highly-priced new model is an older model that has dropped in price, and a market stall is a fantastic place to sell them. You will need to understand the grading system for mobile phone qualities, as well as the different phone accessories that people may want, with protective phone cases being one of them.
Product features aside, one of the most profitable kinds of market stall for second-hand phones is refurbishment. Refurbished phones are as close to a new phone as many second-hand phones get. Ensure your materials and craftsmanship both look as new as possible, as seasoned phone enthusiasts will know where to look and how to discern quality.
One-quarter of all mobile phones sold in the UK in 2023 are second-hand or refurbished, according to GfK, and demand for the latter has increased by 36% since 2021.
Second-Hand Book Stall Stand
Do you know what a lot of book lovers miss? Books. Actual books, not the Kindle screen. A market stall is about the only place that you’ll find a book that’s made of paper outside of antique shops and libraries these days, reviving the lost art of examining covers, and blurbs, and jumping to a random page to see if the pace and prose are up to snuff. Good quality books go beyond just how the book looks and feels, but also how it smells, as strange as that sounds. Finding cheap copies is ridiculously easy, especially if they’re old. The real skill is identifying which books are worth reading, as standards shift and change with the times. Having appropriate and portable display items can create a professional appearance and make your products more appealing to customers.
Yahoo Finance found that the second-hand book market is projected to reach £45 billion by 2031, with improving literacy rates and the novelty of having paperbacks prompting demand.
Jewellery Stall Stand
Jewellery is always a big hit, and a successful jewellery stall can be very profitable. Generally speaking, you will be hard-pressed to sell expensive jewellery on a market stall because people won’t be confident about its value or authenticity. Value is the key here.
There will also be potential security issues with selling precious metals and stones from a stall, and so it is better to sell costume jewellery or handmade pieces. To get started, all you need to do is find a supplier of costume jewellery supplier and ask them if they will sell to you in bulk – or get some beads from your local art shop. You can also buy fake gems which are pretty cheap online and have the potential to make huge profits when used creatively.
School Supplies Stand
Going back to school can be anxiety-inducing for children, so having a school supply stand at a market can not only bring some fun to resupplying for school but make it convenient too. Stationary needs, such as notebooks, calculators, pens, notebooks etc. can be sold at a reduced price, or all together in bundles. The best way to make a profit, we’ve heard, is to ensure that you stock up for your market stall early from a wholesaler when these supplies are in less demand. This allows you to undercut other school supply stores when August/September rolls around.
Parents spend around £232 per child on average during back-to-school season (August and September), according to research done by The Money Charity.
The Best Practices Of A Market Stall Trader
The following are some tips that have worked for successful market stall traders across the UK.
Prioritise Quality And Presentation
Having a market stall is akin to being responsible for a brand. For small business owners, adopting effective marketing strategies learned through courses or lectures is a must, as without business know-how, it is easy to have a confused brand identity and therefore have little substance.
Excluding food and drink stalls, markets are sometimes associated with poor quality, cheap goods. James Roberts, the founder of Chester’s “The Cheese Wedge”, emphasises that it’s of tantamount importance that not only is your product high quality, but it’s also presented as such. Market stall display ideas are crucial to attract customers by enhancing the visual appeal and layout of your stall.
“The turning point for me,” he said in a recent interview, “was realising that people craved not just delicious cheese, but also the story behind it. Started by sourcing unique cheeses from small producers and sharing their stories with customers. The combination of exceptional quality and engaging storytelling resonated with people, and ‘The Cheese Wedge’ was born.”
You, yourself, have to be involved with the quality of your product. Your stall, and your persona, must live and breathe the quality and enthusiasm of your display products. Ensuring your entire market stall displays your brand authentically, from having the perfect backdrop down to the font, will help with recognition and identity. The Cheese Wedge was once a single market stall but is now an entire business with a headquarters.
Engage And Interact With Customers
As we’ve pointed out a couple of times in this article, your market stall is in the middle of a highly social place. If you own a market stall, whether you like it or not, you are a key player in the social makeup of the occasion. Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation – a business which provides support and guidance for many business owners across the UK, through workshops, mentoring programs etc. – claims that “Entrepreneurship is about more than just having a good idea. It’s about understanding your customers, building relationships, and creating a business that thrives because it serves a real need in the community.” A simple smile can significantly ease shopper tension and make them feel more comfortable, thereby increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
Some lessons from the workshop:
- Approachability – Smile, greet people, and give off a sense that you’re happy to be there. Attract customers with your flashy market stall display, and keep them there.
- Initiate Conversations – Ask open-ended questions about the preferences, interests, and needs of the customer.
- Share Passion – Speak of your products with enthusiasm, but also expertise.
- Personalise The Experience – Remember names, preferences and previous purchases. When social links are formed, they are hard to let go of for most people.
- Offer Exceptional Service – Offer samples, provide fun trivia or additional information – go the extra mile.
Price Competitively And Strategically
Pricing competitively is more than simply undercutting or matching other stall prices. The nuances of pricing in a dynamic environment like a local market rely on more. When you look at costs, ensure you round up all of your overhead expenses, such as rent, utility, marketing etc. Next is the one key strategy that no business can thrive without, competitor analysis. What are their prices, and what is working for them display-wise?
Sarah Kim, a long-time market trader and industry expert, writes in her book “The Market Stall Guide” that: “Pricing isn’t just about slapping a number on your product and hoping for the best. It’s a delicate dance, a balancing act between covering your costs, ensuring a fair profit, and attracting customers who appreciate the value you offer. Your price isn’t just a number—it’s a statement about your brand, your product’s quality, and the experience you provide. Too low, and you risk undervaluing your hard work and leaving money on the table. Too high, and you might price yourself out of the market, alienating potential customers.”
Conclusion
Megastores, supermarkets, and online stores are all huge deals in today’s shopping world. With many not even leaving their house to get groceries anymore, market stalls are beginning to have a renaissance. A successful market stall can easily kickstart a whole new career, provided you get the formula for attracting and retaining customers right. Practice, practice, practice – that’s the best advice.
