Now that the band’s back together again, it’s time to brush up on your merch table skills.
Has it been a while since your last show? Anyone can get a little rusty after so long under lockdown restrictions. And while your priority will always be the music, your merch plays an important role in the financial success of your band. For most touring artists, merch represents 10–35% of your total revenue.
Curating a beautiful merch table can help you reach the high end of this scale. Whether you’re a headliner or an opening act, here’s what you can do to attract people to your merch table.
Have Great Designs
Selling a lousy t-shirt design makes your job infinitely harder, so invest some time creating a killer logo and customized touring merch. You may even want to hire a graphic designer to help you come up with something people will want to wear.
For bands that don’t have experience screen printing bulk orders, you can send off your best t-shirt designs to a silkscreen print shop. They’ll make sure your band’s customized shirts come out flawlessly, so you don’t waste materials or time practicing your technique.
Better still, a silkscreen print shop is a more scalable option than screen printing t-shirts on your own. They already have the space and equipment to handle huge bulk orders all at once. If you experience a meteoric rise to fame and need to print more t-shirts, they’ll be able to silkscreen tees in massive quantities.
Mix-Up Clothes with Other Kinds of Merch
The band t-shirt is the quintessential merch of any rock or pop group. However, it’s not the only way fans can show off their love of your music. You can transfer your best t-shirt designs or logo onto almost anything nowadays.
From hats to backpacks, these items are easy and affordable to produce. Better yet, they can help you convince fans to open their wallets, especially if band t-shirts don’t fit their usual fashion sense.
Follow Visual Merchandising Rules
It doesn’t matter how beautiful your best t-shirt designs might be. If your merch table is in shambles, even your biggest fan might take a pass on your custom clothing.
Your next gig may not be at a department store, but you can use visual merchandising rules to help you set up a more aesthetically pleasing table. Make sure you create an organized, brightly lit spot that showcases all your t-shirts, long sleeves, and hoodies.
While it might be tempting to fill every last square inch of your table with goods, carve out some space for signage that details the prices for all your merch.
Get a POS System
Cash’s time as king might be in its twilight. Now that you can tap phones and credit cards to pay for stuff, few people actually carry around cash. If that’s all you’ll accept, you’ll deter a lot of fans from picking up a custom t-shirt.
Remember this as you’re exploring your payment options. Although cash might be the easiest to deal with, you’ll get more sales if you accept debit, credit, and mobile wallets.
The Takeaway
Sending your best t-shirt design to a silkscreen printing shop, maximizing your merch, keeping your table tidy, and accepting all forms of payment — these four tips will help you be a merch table rock star.
