Visual Merchandising Strategies for Your Craft Booth

This booth features a unique product that shoppers may not have encountered before.

The craft artist sells kits, similar to 3D puzzles, that contain precut shapes that the customer can fold and assemble to create the adorable animal heads displayed at the top of the booth.

The finished product is not for sale, just the kits.

If this artist only displayed the kits without showing the finished product, shoppers would have absolutely no idea what was being sold.

The boards that divide this shelf system vertically help this potter to display products more effectively.

It's wise to create a bit of space between different products. The space makes it easier for shoppers to see at a glance all of the different products available. In this pottery booth, that space is created by the vertical wooden boards that form the frame of the shelves.

You don't need a physical divider to create space between your products. Simply leave an inch or two of open space between different product lines.

You can see an illustrated example showing how to leave gaps between product lines here.

Here's a shelf display that's very shoppable because it's not over crowded.

There's enough product displayed to fill the shelves, but they aren't too full. There is enough space between products that customers can easily pick up an item to take a closer look.

Displaying tableware on a sideboard, like the one shown on the right of this photo helps customers to imagine those products in their own home. Of course, large and heavy display furniture isn't always practical for smaller shows. If you're selling at smaller, single day shows, try to brainstorm a more portable way to display your products as they would be used. 

If shoppers can approach your booth from more than one direction, it's important to ensure your displays look good from all sides that a shopper might come from. 

The clothing display shown here can be approached from the left or the right, and the designer has kept that in mind in the way she positioned her mannequins. One is facing customers that will approach from the left, and the other is angled for customers approaching from the right.

One way to use color effectively is to limit yourself to a palette of no more than three colors.

Of course, that strategy may not be for you if you create products in a riot of colours. But if your products all fit within a simple color scheme, like the chalkboard calendars pictured here, be sure to carry that color scheme throughout your display.

The green against neutral blacks and browns create a beautiful, cohesive look in this booth.

The sign visible at the top left of this booth photo shows off this artist's style.

Her watercolor cards and art prints are smaller in scale, so the larger sign helps to show her style from a distance.

I almost included this booth photo in the section on using color effectively. The palette of blues, right down to the rug on the floor, against neutral white and brown creates a pretty, cohesive look. 

Here's a jewelry designer who is using large scale product photos to great effect. 

The challenge inherent in displaying jewelry at craft shows is how to grab attention and entice shoppers into your booth when your product is tiny and only really appreciated up close.

Large-scale product photos solve that problem. In fact, it's my opinion that anyone who sells small items, like jewelry, should seriously consider adding some large posters that feature excellent, professional product shots of your most impactful pieces.