Sunday, March 03, 2013

Why go to bazaars?

Many are still wondering why some opts to go to limited-period bazaars when they can go to greenhills, divi and mall tiangges for stylish, unique and affordable finds all year round?

So, when I braved the crowd in Supersale bazaar in world trade center yesterday (March 2) aside from obtaining good finds, I also came with two agendas: 1. Do a market research on accessories and 2. Find out why people go to bazaars. We arrived in the venue at 1pm and left at around 5pm, so in our 4-hours stay in that heaven and tempt place I'd like to think I was able to accomplish my agendas. So here it goes...

1. People go to see young stylish entrepreneurs in action. These young entreps bring in their wares, talk about them and give you tips on how to use them. It's like having a stylist and model all in one.

2. Items are mostly unique because the booth owners are also the designers and manufacturers. Here's one secret they do to keep it unique for you. They usually bring or do the items in one piece per size or on limited sizes only.

3. In the age of the internet, businesses go online to market and sell. The bazaar sellers know all about these technique. Before you see them on hardcopy, you have already followed them on IG, facebook and twitter so more or less there is already hype and you have already decided what you want to get from them. And since online shopping is not for everybody and there is joy in choosing while trying out things, bazaars are the venue for you to look at their items upfront.

4. Compared to mall prices they are more affordable. If in a mall a thousand bucks would only afford you with one dress, in a bazaar it's a different ball game. You could buy dresses from 400-800 pesos, tees and sweater from 100-400 and shoes at around 300. The tag almost always comes with a perk - uniqueness!

5. It's good venue to establish network. Most of the sellers have their calling cards that you can get. If you have good PR and business foresight you can establish connections with them, ask to meet them after the event for future business deals.

6. You can go to a bazaar and not necessarily buy (or at least spend your salaries or allowances up to the last penny), you can go there to see what are the trends, what will look good on you, what fashion items will tick to the consumers. Like I said earlier one of my agendas in going is to see what accessories will sell, how much they would sell and what designs are being introduced now.

And lastly, it's the experience and fun in hunting that makes it the most exciting. As with most retail therapies, we all like to think we scored a bargain when we shop. Maybe they may not be absolutely true but when you compare them just a little with your usual mall puchases, it might just make it more reasonable. 😊