Marketing Crafts
and Tourist Products
If you sell crafts, a study on tourists' shopping
habits,
by the North Central Regional Extension Service, may give you ideas for
meeting consumer desires and increasing sales.
A research team from Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska
compiled
information from 1,400 individuals on marketing crafts and tourists'
shopping
habits. Shopping is an important activity for tourists. After meals and
lodging, they spend most of their tourist dollars on clothing, crafts,
and local food products. Almost 70 percent buy gifts for future events
and for mementos.
Tourists want crafts to
use
and display in their homes. They enjoy seasonal items. Their favorite
craft
medium is wood, followed by items made from other natural materials and
fabric. They appreciate appealing colors, design, high quality
workmanship,
a fair price, and innovation. They look for items that can be used (not
just displayed) in their homes, things to add to collections, and
jewelry.
Their craft purchases often have symbolic value; they may become valued
reminders of the places they visited, especially if the crafts reflect
local sites or events. Tourists appreciate neatly arranged displays
that
show how to use the crafts. They appreciate written information on
care,
safety, and materials used. The tourists surveyed indicated there were
not enough crafts made from leather and glass, hand-crafted toys,
jewelry,
and clothing. They said there were too many crafts made of fabric,
paint,
and paper and crafts for display (not to use).
Tourists find places to buy crafts by reading state
travel
office-generated information; newspaper and magazine articles;
guidebooks;
talking to friends, hotel personnel and local residents; and from local
newspaper ads.
Tourists spend from $5 to $30 per item, depending on
for
whom they are buying.
They value sales personnel who are pleasant and
knowledgeable,
but will let them browse.
The most successful craft producers
promoted themselves and their products by providing business cards and
hang tags, signing their work, using logos, and providing written data.
They worked an average of 55 hours a week, concentrated on one
particular
medium, had few items in a product line, identified themselves as
artist
or designer rather than artisan, craftsman, folk artist, or hand
crafter.
Over 65 percent were male. Males charged two to four times the amount
that
women charged.
The average craft producer was 47 years old, from a
rural
community, educated through or beyond high school, had been in business
nine years, contributed 25 percent of the household's income. Primary
media
used were wood, fabric, and clay. They sold most products at art and
craft
fairs and from their own homes.
The researchers suggested that to increase income, crafts
producers
should:
- Review promotional practices.
- Review prices.
- Provide tourist items for
which
demand exceeds availability.
- Continue to create original
designs.
- Review professional work
habits.
- Stay alert to tourist
interests.
- Consider "value added
services"--gift
wrap, shipping, monogramming, accepting credit cards.
- Provide written information
on
care, safety, and use.
- Display crafts to show
possible
uses.
- Localize products by
incorporating
a name or design motif.
- Be friendly, but let people
browse.
- Explain craft techniques
and ways
to use the crafts.
- Explain which items make
good gifts.
For more information:
Marketing Crafts and Other Products to Tourists:
A
Guide for Craft Producers, Craft Retailers, Communities, Tourist
Attractions,
and Hospitality Services. 1992. North Central
Regional Extension Pub. #445. University of Nebraska, IANR
Communications
and Computing Services, Lincoln, NE 68583-0918; (402) 472-3023.
