Dealer Rooms, Conventions, and Depression Spending

Monday, September 12, 2011

Over Labor Day weekend I attended a massive event in Atlanta, GA called Dragon*Con. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dragon*Con and haven’t been following my geeky Tweets and Facebook updates from the event, let’s just say that it’s 40,000 science fiction and fantasy popular media fans, gamers, costumers, and science and robotics buffs who get together to blow off steam socialize, learn things, and meet their favorite celebrities.

In addition: 5 hotels, 4 days of programming on 37 different tracks (subjects), 87 exhibitors, 97 dealers, 189 guests (including big-name actors, artists, writers, and musicians).

I wanted to take a moment and share my observations on the activity in the three dealer rooms, including the environment, the dealers, and the shoppers.

Let’s start with the environment.
The three dealer rooms were located on the two lowest levels of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel.
Marquis Ballroom: 21,983 sq/ft
Imperial Ballroom: 15,640 sq/ft
International: 10,753 sq/ft

The 97 dealers and 87 exhibitors were arrayed in what would be considered a standard trade show arrangement with the expected amount of walking space between the rows (about four to five people wide).

There was waddle-room only. Shoppers were packed in so tight it was uncomfortable to stop and look at the displays because the press of the crowd kept you moving, albeit slowly. It was loud, crowded, and uncomfortable.

Segue to the dealers
In this environment, those dealers who set up their stalls with the tables lining the walkway tended to attract fewer browsers. The more items they had on display there and the smaller those items, the less time and effort were devoted to looking.

Conversely, those stalls arranged so people could step out of the crowd and into a more calm space, tended to keep shoppers browsing longer.

The variety of wares for sale was as expected and, I thought, appropriate to the audience and included:

• Specialty clothing (steam punk, anime, and leather primarily)
• T-shirts
• Comic book and graphic novel retailers
• Small Presses and individual authors
• Fantasy and science fiction art
• Jewelry
• Specialty accessories (steam punk, genre wardrobe, fantasy weapons)
• Live blades
• Action figures and other mass-market genre toys for all ages
• Unique toys and wearable art
• Games

Judging by the business of the stalls and the expressions of the people running them, jewelry was the hardest sale at the con, with the possible exception of steam punk jewelry, which is more of a costume accessory if you think about it, and tended to be displayed differently. I’m going to suggest that the reason was a combination of things including the set-up of the stalls, which had their tables right along the packed walkway, to the presentation of the wares, which were a lot of really small things displayed close together. There was nothing really eye-catching about the jewelry displays and in a sea of overwhelm, they were easy to ignore.

The stalls that appeared to be doing the best where those that sold truly unique things – like the to-drool-over light sabers with the florescent “blades” and authentic handles, or the wearable art pet dragons, or the artwork, or the corsets which, while available online, are better purchased and fitted in person. The price points were not necessarily low on the items that were selling.

I want to call out some other observations I made. These were in regards to the authors selling their books in the dealers room. The first author’s booth I visited was really clever in its display. The author and the cover artist had gone in together so these huge, beautiful prints drew you in and the stall was arranged so that you didn’t have to stand in the walkway in order to shop.

I knew I couldn’t fly home with the art so I took a business card, but the art was so engaging, I picked up the book and read the back cover copy…sort of. It is really hard for someone trained in situational awareness to read in that level of activity. The cover copy was generic and didn’t grab me, but I was intrigued enough by the art that I would have taken a card for the book, but I couldn’t find one. So great job on the display and the idea of combining art with literature to sell both, but it was a bad move on the part of the author not to have post cards – or even business cards – available for the book. Even better would have been to do what my next call-out did.

My next call-out’s stall wasn’t as eye-catching and engaging as the previous. It consisted of him and his 7-10 paperback titles. They were displayed well, but without poster-sized fantasy art to pull you in, his set-up was easy to miss in that crowd. What he did have was a real treat to see. In front of each book, which you could buy now, was a stack of 4X6 post cards specific to that book. In front of that was a 4X4 QR code linking you to a site where you could download free sample chapters! I tried out the QR code. The code worked, but the layers of concrete and re-bar above us put me on 1 bar of 3G and I couldn’t get to the Internet. I took one of his cards instead. I have to say, “great job.” He recognized that selling a novel in that environment would be difficult and was prepared to sell in more than one way. He needs to talk to his cover artist for next year and he’ll be set.

The shoppers.
None of us liked being packed in there, but the atmosphere remained friendly overall and it could have been hostile. My observations of the shoppers were that after about a row and a half, they started walking with tunnel-vision, stopping only for things that they were specifically shopping for, or for things that were just too eye-catching to ignore.

For a truly unique item, either for themselves or as a gift, the price points weren’t as high a consideration. A shopper would purchase one big-ticket item and be done. But I did hear more than one shopper considering items – particularly hand-made jewelry or clothing – in terms of what they could make themselves. While the price points on those items were probably fair considering materials and craftsmanship, the perception of value wasn’t there and the customer gave the item a pass.

Takeaways

• People do judge books by their covers—in fact, the cover art in poster size can attract attention to a book in an environment otherwise incompatible with book shopping.
• White space is important in a stall set-up. When the environment is overwhelming, strategically displaying items in a way that provides the eye a chance to rest on them is a must.
• Providing a pocket of quiet space for shoppers in a packed convention center to consider your wares is a good way to encourage sales.
• Provide a way for shoppers to purchase later. And not just the minimal business card. There are a number of reasons why a customer might not be able to purchase at the convention that have nothing to do with the product or the price point. QR codes, free samples, demos, and enticements to remember you and buy later are a good way to establish a positive relationship.
• In a depression economy, price is only a strong consideration for a mass-produced or easily found item. For something unique or well-made, consumers will pay more. Value is the primary consideration, and value doesn’t equal cheap.