Reviews and follows at market stalls and pop-ups

A good day at a market can put a few hundred people in front of your table. Most of them look, chat, and walk away, and unless they bought something with your name on it, you will never see them again. The stall is the best shopfront you have and the worst at remembering anyone.

What you are actually trying to collect

At a market the follow usually matters more than the review. The person who liked your stall but did not buy today is the one you most want to hear from again, and the only way to reach them next month is if they follow you somewhere.

Reviews still matter, for two reasons. A stallholder with a Google Business Profile shows up when someone searches for what you sell after the market has packed up. And for food and drink stalls especially, recent reviews tell people at the next market that the queue is worth joining.

Where the stands go on a table

• Front corner, at eye level. Market tables are low. A stand at the front corner catches people as they approach, before they have decided whether to stop.
• Next to the card reader. The payment moment works exactly as it does in a shop.
• Not behind the product. If a browser has to reach over your stock to tap, they will not.

Two stands is plenty: a follow stand at the front for everyone, and a review stand at the payment point for buyers.

What to say to browsers

Nothing salesy. The best line gives them a reason:

We are at a different market every weekend. Tap that and you will see where we are next.

That turns the follow from a favour into something useful to them. It works especially well for anyone who rotates between markets, because regulars genuinely want to know where to find you.

Why a physical prompt beats a printed handle

Most stallholders already have their handle on a sign. It barely converts, because typing a handle correctly on a phone, in the sun, with a bag in one hand, is fiddly. A tap or a scan opens the right account directly, with no spelling and no guessing between similarly named accounts. Our NFC + QR stands carry both NFC and a printed QR, which matters outdoors, where glare can defeat a camera and a thick phone case can defeat a tap. There is more in NFC or QR: which one your customers actually use.

Practical notes for outdoor stalls

• Wind. Stands on a light table in a gust go over. A small piece of removable mounting tape under the base solves it.
• Rain and sun. Keep the stand under the gazebo line. Printed surfaces last longer out of direct midday sun.
• Pack it last and unpack it first. The first twenty minutes after the market opens are when regulars arrive.

Set up a Business Profile if you do not have one

Stallholders without a shopfront often assume Google Business Profile is not for them. Service area businesses can have one without displaying an address, which suits most mobile traders. Once it exists, the review stand has somewhere to send people. If you are starting from nothing, see how to get your first ten Google reviews.