Our Very First Market

Growth Mitra started in the year 2022 and we started with an online store wondering if e-commerce will gain more customers for our store.

During our journey of 6 months, we realized that having an online presence is not sufficient. We need to get closer to people, our potential customers. We did try out Facebook marketing, and Instagram marketing though wasn’t getting enough exposure. One day Swapnil (my husband) came across a post on Facebook advertising an indoor market and this market was looking for some last-minute stalls.

We were not sure how this market DNA works but got excited to see something else, something new (at least for us !) is there for us to explore to gain more awareness about our products and our brand.

This market was called the “Desi Pop Up Market”. This is where we decided to contact the market organizer and get more details on how to set up, what is needed to showcase our products, and what is the duration of the event. We were glad to know that the market was taking place on Saturday – a perfect day for both of us. At the start, we felt the stall fee was quite high. It was $60.00 NZD. They were providing a 1.8m table and 2 chairs. We just wanted to try out markets in New Zealand and it was last minute entry so we decided to go ahead despite of higher fees.

When the day came, we both were so excited to experience something new. We were not sure how we would like to take payments as never gone to markets before. We decided to try cash first and there was EFTPOS available at one of the stall holders which the organizer arranged. So we were covered in that aspect.

We reached the place, found ourselves parking, and unload our materials and tools. We never thought but it was not easy. Our stall position was between two clothes-selling stalls and our earrings were just getting hidden with their racks coming out of their designated area. Well, we managed to politely ask the organizer whether we can change the place however there was no spot left, unfortunately. Eventually, we compromised and didn’t want our first market to go in vain. We were standing there at our stall with our smiling faces and welcoming everyone.

Gladly, we managed to have our 1st sale. Oh boy, I tell you it was an amazing feeling to see that people do like our products and purchase them. Despite many odds, we did pretty well on this day.

This is when we decided to go and explore more markets as well. Now we do have a few markets each month which I shall post each of them and share with you our experience.

Feel free to share your experience you may have during vising any markets/expos or as a stallholder, you may come across various types of customers and situations. We would love to hear how was your first market!