Lockdown, the words in 2019 we were none the wiser to and ones that are now all anyone can talk about.
A peculiar year 2020 was for everyone; the wearing of masks, the shutting of leisure, shops and hospitality. stock piling toilet paper, getting dressed up to go to the supermarket, the baking of banana bread and the endless walking. These are just some of the highlights of 2020.
Amongst all this, the craft market changed and struggled quite dramatically. We found the indoor markets could not go ahead, virtual markets became popular and the competition intensified.
Like many, indoor markets were mine main source of income, I have always found online sales to be difficult. My motto is people buy into people and that is why not only do I enjoy fairs for talking to people but also to build rapport with customers to make them connect with the products. This I find is hard to do online. I recently found by using my social media platform to show my personality and an inside into my everyday life it helps to connect with my customers.
I found with the increased furlough and redundancies, people in lockdown took to hobbies which is fabulous. However more and more people set up online craft businesses making the competition even harder. Virtual markets became increasingly popular- one post could attract up to 500 comments of suggestions for gifts.
Now in 2021, we are in our third lockdown still without fairs, so its time to get more creative with the way we market our products. Last year I came up with new products and launch them on my socials. This year I have decided to put everything into online selling and marketing. I have launched a brand new website, created new bundles and gift packs that can be sent out for lockdown gifts and I have linked my socials to my online store in order to make online purchasing even easier for the customers.
These seem like obvious and small steps that many have already done already but ones in which my company really needed to do to adapt to the times. The lesson which lockdown has shown me and given the opportunity for me to do.
If you are a customer and/or a fellow craft owner I would love to hear your thoughts on how your consumer habits changed and how your companies have adapted in this lockdown.
Well that's all from me for now, I'm off to bake, it is lockdown after all,
Stay safe, Indi x
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