Preparing for Your First In-Person Selling Experience: A Checklist

While Shopify is a great platform for ecommerce entrepreneurs and marketers to attract, engage, and convert shoppers, sometimes mixing things up and selling in person can help with business. (Like when shipping costs are sky-high due to the number of holiday gifts zipping around the world, amirite?) 

If you’re preparing for your first holiday booth, trade show, or pop-up, congratulations! In today’s omnichannel retail landscape, having an online and offline presence that blends together can be tremendously powerful. However, we’re going to be honest: It’s not easy. 

Luckily, there’s no need to panic. We’ve compiled this handy checklist so you can ace your first in-person selling experience — inventory shortages and malfunctioning credit card readers, begone! Oh, and if you haven’t already, make sure to check out this quick guide on ROPO (research online, purchase offline), which is a huge tenet of bridging the offline and online customer journey.

Preparation

✅ Confirm: 

• The size of your booth

• Whether you need to rent your own tables, tents, chairs, etc. 

• The space rental cost

• Any local tax and permit requirements 

✅ Identify which products to sell, and consider quantity and diversity

✅ Plan your booth and furniture placement based on available space

✅ Decide on your overall aesthetic (make sure it’s on-brand!) 

✅ Brainstorm ways to encourage shoppers to engage further with your brand (for example, “sign up for emails to receive 15% off this order”)

✅ Charge devices and check that your payment processors are working properly

What to Bring

✅ Signage with branding

✅ Your products

✅ Pricing signs

✅ Decorations and props (for example, a mirror so shoppers can try your products on)

✅ Packaging

✅ Business cards

✅ Furniture:

• Tables

• Chairs

• Tents

• Tent weights

• Tent covers (in case of bad weather)

• Displays

✅ Outlets and cables (if you have access to electricity)

✅ Credit card reader, payment QR codes, or spare change

✅ Any free swag or promotional materials

✅ Basic office supplies (pens, scissors, duct tape, etc.)

Post-Event

✅ File any necessary paperwork, such as tax remittances

✅ Consolidate any customer feedback you gathered at the event

✅ Review your sales — were there particular products that sold exceptionally well? 

✅ Remarket to in-person shoppers whose data you collected

Last updated on January 7th, 2022.