Understanding Customer Behavior at Farmers’ Markets: Tips to Increase Sales

With the number of farmers’ markets in the Massachusetts steadily increasing and the tripling of SNAP sales coming into markets through the state-wide Healthy Incentive Program, drawing in customers to your stand is imperative.

What can farmers do to attract more shoppers to their stands? How can farmers actively market their products in and out of the farmers’ markets? What can farmers do to better understand customer behavior at the market, and how can they use this information to increase customer satisfaction?

Chris Wayne of GrowNYC’s FARMroots program will present a tool for measuring customer behavior at farmers’ markets. By leveraging customer research performed by grocery stores and largescale food retailers, and building on 40 years of institutional knowledge internally through the operation of NYC’s Greenmarkets, FARMroots developed strategies to increase sales and customer satisfaction. Learn tips for advanced merchandising, how to appeal to a customer’s behavioral habits, segmenting your market, how to leverage sales data records to make informed marketing decisions, and ways you and your staff can improve your customer’s overall shopping experience.

For more information contact Stevie Schafenacker – stevie@buylocalfood.org, 413-665-7100 ext. 27

About FARMRoots:

FARMroots provides both aspiring and established Greenmarket farmers with business technical assistance and training designed to ensure the long-term viability of participating farms and farmland. Technical assistance is provided through both in-house services and through the engagement of cost-shared consultants.

About GrowNYC:

GrowNYC’s mission is to improve New York City’s quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations. Over the past 45 years they’ve become a service organization, operating 50+ farmers’ markets and regional food hub, providing city-wide recycling and composting resources, supporting a network of hundreds of community gardens, and creating a robust farmer and community education program. Their Greenmarket Farmers’ Market network sees over 250,000 customers each week with 224 regional farmers and food producers.

Funding for this workshop was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant 16FMPPMA0002, Local Hero members, and individual contributors.