How to Unlock Your Faire Market Potential: Our $25k Week Playbook

Faire Market Playbook Recap

It only comes twice a year—and for many emerging CPG brands, it’s the biggest sales event of the year.

No, I’m not talking about Black Friday or Cyber Monday…I’m talking about Faire Market.

This wholesale buying bonanza is Faire’s equivalent of Amazon’s Prime Days. Last week was Faire’s second Market of 2024. Today, I want to give you a bit of insight into how we helped clients prep, what worked – and what didn’t – to get more traffic + sales during the Faire Market.

Side note: If you’re a brand on Faire, I want to know how the Market went for you! Good, bad, ugly? I’m seeing mixed opinions on the Faire Seller Facebook groups—hit reply and let me know your thoughts.

But first, let’s rewind → 

Before the market, I shared a playbook on LinkedIn for how we were planning to run Faire Market for my Faire Manage clients here at Product & Prosper. 

How It Went: Real-World Results with EATABLE

So, how’d this playbook actually do? 

Let’s break it down, with one of our Faire Manage clients, EATABLE. 

👀 Spoiler alert: We hit $25k in sales for the week (an over 2x increase from last year’s July Faire Market sales). 

Here's how we did it:

1) Tiered Promotions: The Secret Sauce

Because tiers worked for EATABLE during last year's July Market, we decided to implement it again this time. Here's what we did:

• 5% off orders $50+

• 10% off orders $350+

• 20% off orders $700+

Pro Tip:Tiers tend to work no matter what for Faire Market – with some dependency on your pricing, shipping costs, and case size. Overall, offering higher discounts on larger order values during Faire Market leads to increased purchase amounts.

This is especially effective since Faire matches your promotion up to 5% on all orders, making the total discount too good for buyers to pass up, with more products sold for you.

2) Pre-Market Prep: Optimizing the Profile for Discovery

In the first week of July, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work:

• Updated all SKUs and the EATABLE profile

• Maximized keyword optimization (we have our own secret sauce for how we do this…)

• Customized the product listings so the keywords are in the right place

• Arranged the profile's listings to feature our self-selected  "Faire Market Fav" products first

• Ensured imagery was consistent across the leading product images, adding lifestyle images and select infographics to the image carousels

3) Strategic Collections: Guiding Buyers to the Good Stuff

We created a "Faire Market Faves" collection, which included:

• Holiday SKUs for pre-order (to capitalize on early holiday planning)

• Products we wanted to move inventory of (to optimize stock levels)

• Best sellers (to showcase proven winners)

Why? This strategic collection served multiple purposes:

1. It guided buyers towards our priority products

2. It helped balance inventory by promoting overstocked items

3. It highlighted our most popular items to build buyer confidence

4) Email Campaigns: Building Anticipation

We kicked things off with a "Sneak Peek" email to all buyers in our contact list, featuring our Faire Market Faves and special discounts.

Then, during Market Week, we ran a Countdown Email Campaign:

• "Ready Your Cart (24 Hours Until SAVINGS!)" (July 22)

• "Faire Market: First Day Countdown" (July 23)

• "Faire Market: Second Day Countdown" (July 24)

• "Faire Market: Last FINAL CHANCE Countdown" (July 25)

5) Personal Touch: The Game-Changer

Here's where the magic really happened. Every day during Market Week, we sent personalized, Faire Market-specific abandoned cart messages. This hands-on approach was key to hitting that $25k mark for the week.

Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned

1. Active Involvement is Crucial: You can't just set it and forget it and hope Faire takes care of the rest—Faire is a relationship-building channel.

2. Do the Things That Don't Scale: Personalizing abandoned cart messages was one of the top things we did to boost sales.

3. Tiered Promotions Work: They encourage higher AOVs and set you apart from brands that just do one tier.

4. Foundation is Everything: Having an optimized profile so that you show up in the marketplace and know you'll get conversions is the foundational base you need to grow on Faire.

Maintaining Momentum Post-Market

The work doesn't stop when Faire Market ends. Here's how we keep the momentum going:

1. Keep Communicating: Send first order messages and reorder thank you messages.

2. Ship on Time(!): This is crucial for building trust with new buyers.

3. Follow Up: Reach out to new buyers and nurture those relationships.

The Bottom Line

Faire Market can be a total game-changer for your wholesale business. But let's be real: it's not a set-it-and-forget-it situation. You need strategy, prep work, and some serious hustle during the event to make it worth your while.

By following this playbook and tweaking it to fit your brand's unique vibe, you're not just setting yourself up for a killer Faire Market—you're laying the groundwork for long-term Faire success. And trust me, that's where the real magic happens. 🧚

Need help making Faire work for you?

That’s why we built our Faire Manage service, our monthly expert Faire management focused on increasing sales.

If you're looking to level up your Faire or retail strategy, I'm always happy to chat and share insights. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about succeeding on Faire or want to discuss wholesale growth strategies!