We often have artists coming to us who are either developing their first merchandise range for tour or already have a range and want to tweak it for a new tour.
Quite often they come to us with a selection of designs and want them all printed on different colours, available in as many sizes as possible – to give the fan choice.
We are all for choice and size inclusivity here at FOH, it is often a factor that gets ignored in favour of reducing the risk of being left with mountains of unsold stock. However, the touring artist needs to remember they are not opening a retail store, they are touring. With that comes the complications of limited space on the truck to transport the goods, small sales space in venues and a very short period of time to actually sell the goods to the customer.
Throwing more choice at fans to increase sales usually makes it worse…
With a large range including different colour options for apparel with the same design, fans will go to the merch area and stand there taking it all in while trying to decide from the options they have been presented. Many choices to make whilst being surrounded by more and more fans. They get overwhelmed with decisions and leave to think about it with the intention of returning later. The fan enjoys their night, forget about a purchase and end up walking away not buying anything at all.
Less is more. Taking away tough decisions and presenting some concise options will help to make sure those that want to buy a shirt make the decisions to go ahead with the purchase.
We will always advise artists to have a range suitable to their projected sales, venues they are playing, as well as many other factors. The tailored approach using our years of experience help to maximise revenue for artists.
If you would like to discuss a merchandise range with us, get in touch!