THE POINT OF VIEW FROM A VENDOR

Upon reading the contents of bloggers from this #MarketFriday community, most of them share their experiences when buying something in the grocery, department stores, or public market. The bloggers write about the products or items they purchased for the week or the foods they re-stock. But there are only limited blogs where the content shows the point of view of the vendor or someone who sells products. And it is what I am writing about today, as I grew up with our family business of selling fruits and vegetables.

As I have mentioned above, my parents started a business selling vegetables and fruits at the public market years ago. I can still remember that I grew up with prior experiences in sales and product management since my Mama brought me with her. We have a stall at the market, which is under the “Ambulant Vendors.” And one of the things we sell is fruits.

As we all know, when New Year is coming, people buy fruits as part of the tradition when welcoming a new year. And as vendors, this is an opportunity for us. Last December 31, 2022, my Mama told me to assist her in selling fruits that day because hundreds of people might buy at the same time. I said yes, and went there early in the morning.

I helped arrange and organize the fruits with my Mama, Papa, and nephew. Other vendors were also busy doing the same thing. Around 9:00 in the morning, people were starting to pass by, and we had to focus on selling and attracting buyers. As a child who grew up in this kind of business, I know how to communicate with the customers and make them buy from us. You must be approachable, respectful, and know how marketing works.

We were selling different kinds of fruits, from grapes, oranges, watermelons, pineapples, and many more. Hours passed, and some fruits were almost sold out, so we had to move quickly and strategize. My nephew helped my Papa add more watermelons and enjoyed it. We needed to have our hands helpful since people were starting to come through, so we had to both deal with the customers and organized our stall for more fruits sold.

It took us hours before we could finally sit down and rest. The most crucial hours were around 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning. The rest of the day went by smoothly compared to what we had experienced in the morning.

Being a vendor takes work. You will need strategies for attracting buyers and paying the correct prices for every product to avoid loss. Also, having an approachable vibe helps make your customers comfortable negotiating with you. I already knew these things as we have been doing this business for a long time. It was challenging since we had to deal with pleasing customers, but it was satisfying at the end of the day, especially when counting the profits we had for that day.

I cannot express how thankful I am to those who have taken the time to read what I have written today. Your support means everything to me. Please acknowledge the sincere thanks I feel for each and every one of you. I hope to see you on my next blog and look forward to it!

Hive Blog #46
Date Published: February 16, 2023

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