Discuss the process of getting your t-shirt line into brick and mortar stores and selling offline. Topics include industry tradeshows, events, line sheets, sales reps and other retailing tips and advice.
Hi ya'll, I do not know if there is a real answer to my question. However, my partner and I sell screenprinted and embroidered apparel with our equestrian designs at horse shows. Next month we will be attending our first "horse fair" (trade show) and really do not know what to expect as far as sales go. Is there a general rule of thumb or stat to calculate what percentage of attendees would purchase your wares? The organizers state that at last years show there were 10K attendees. I know that there are many factors involved, price of goods, selection, etc. I'm just trying to get a guesstimate of how much product to purchase without running out or needing a semi to haul it all back. I figure that this is pretty much a shot in the dark, but, what the heck!
I've found that it's pretty difficult to predict inventory needs unless you have been to that show before with the same product. It really depends on so many things. The type of show, the appeal of the product to people who attend, the price, the location of your booth, the enthusiasm of your salesperson.. etc. Even the weather can play a big part.
Thanks Jasonda, I pretty much knew the answer to my question before I even posted. I will check out the links you sent. Thanks for your time in replying.
A way around having to purchase or have printed large amounts of inventory is print on demand. There are literally hundreds of equestrian designs produced by some of the best transfer makers in the business ready to go. Stock transfers from companys like pro-world and impulse wear made from plastisol inks and able to be heatpressed on shirts on demand. The results are pro and super easy with a look, durability and texture of screen printed gear. In your booth you could have a display of printed shirts and folks could just pick the designs they want and what color or type shirt to print it on. enerally takes about a minute to produce a shirt with pre-press and actual 10 second heatpress. Something to look into maybe.
One thing you should not overlook is future sales from people that visit your booth. Have business cards available. You never know when someone will give you a call because they liked your work at the show and they want 300 shirts for their own event next week.
Thanks David, Our intention was to print on demand for the most part, I am JUST entering into the heat press realm. We also have screen printed inventory left over from last horse show season that we want to move. My concern was how many blanks to bring along. Thank you for your reply.
Thanks Fred, we have cards, brochures, and a flyer made up. Do you recommend a company to purchase display grid panels from? I've been looking at a place called KC Store Fixtures. I'm in the Chicago area and they have a warehouse nearby, thus saving me on shipping (I think). Any other places? Thanks to you and all of the others who have been replying.
To me when someone says equestrian I see a lot of young girls.. so you may not want to go with the 2x for the beer drinking crowd like at concerts.. I defiantly would look at tees for the young ladies and the moms. I would also contact a stock transfer company like Art Brands and look at what they have for the horsey set.. Art Brands LLC. - Homepage
You got some good advice above. One of things that I like to do is find styles / colors that are different than what most people can find in the stores. This gives them more of a reason to buy from you right then. You might not be the only apparel decorator there (and I would try and find that out in advance), so you want to separate yourself. I don't know much about the horse market. Worked Daytona Bike Week last year and it seemed like everyone selling shirts was selling the same stuff. I prefer to be different rather than the cheapest. Think about who is going to be at the event and what the best styles and colors are. I would bring some standard white / black shirts as well. Make sure that you have plenty of shirts on display. If you go with the plastisol transfer concept, make sure that you have some type of system in place that is easy for the customer to understand they pick the design and the shirt type / size / color. When looking at what size shirts you should order, look at your past orders and see what sizes are ordered the most. Even if you don't sell them, you will be able to use them on other jobs in the future. Hope this helps.
Selling at Special Events 
