With Craft Shows Cancelled, Halifax Makers Move Online
HALIFAX—A pair of local entrepreneurs are on a quest to help Nova Scotia makers devastated by COVID-19 bring their businesses online.
Peter and Sarah Eastwood, the owners of Eastwood Pottery, recently launched The Nova Scotia Makers Market, an online marketplace that gives Nova Scotia makers an online platform to showcase their work.
The site gives local artisans the ability to create their own store to sell their products in a virtual marketplace, removing many of the barriers that have until now kept some Nova Scotia makers away from e-ommerce.
“Many crafters have seen their livelihood virtually disappear with COVID-19 and the shutdown of traditional craft markets,” Peter Eastwood explains.
“If you’ve ever been to a craft market there’s just a vibe there: there’s something about being able to walk around and see all the people’s different things and buy them,” he says. “As hard as that is to recreate I think we’ve come as close as we could with [this site].”
Craft Shows Vital For Makers’ Survival
Craft shows and markets are the most important part of many Nova Scotia makers’ businesses.
The best-attended shows can draw more than ten thousand people over a couple of days, and even smaller markets attract thousands.
As Shauna MacLeod of Halifax’s Black Crow Pottery explains, all those people crammed together with so many different sights and sounds and smells creates an ideal selling environment.
“It creates a lot of energy, and quite frankly a lot of purchasing. People get excited, they feed on that energy,” she says.
Like many makers, MacLeod feels that atmosphere is a vital part of selling her work. Before COVID-19 hit, she was skeptical of how effective online sales will be without the “energy” of a show or market driving customers.
“I mean, you can buy pottery anywhere–you can buy it at Walmart–but people want to invest in a maker. When I’m talking person-to-person I can tell them the stories behind my products, about the local clay I dig up and the glazes I create and the stories behind the patterns,” she says.
John Downie is a Halifax maker who runs Simply Elegant Jewelry.
He says he does most of his selling at craft shows and markets for exactly that reason.
“It’s just the way I like to do things. The reason why craft shows are such a big part of my businesses is that I like the interaction,” he says.
Many Makers Not Equipped For Online Sales
The arrival of COVID-19 devastated both Downie and MacLeod’s business plans in 2020.
Both realized they were going to have to find new ways to sell their products, but, like many Nova Scotia makers, neither were set up for e-commerce.
Downie is a self-professed “newbie” when it comes to selling his products on the web.
Prior to COVID-19, he had a website but used it only to showcase his work, not to sell. If someone wanted to buy something they had to call or email to set up the sale.
MacLeod also hadn’t given online selling much thought before the pandemic.
“I had the capability, but I guess I never had the desire or felt that there was a huge need for it,” she explains.
For MacLeod, the financial investment involved in setting up an e-commerce site didn’t seem worth it when she wasn’t even sure people would be willing to buy her products online.
Wary, But Optimistic About Online Futures
Eastwood says he recognized many Nova Scotia makers were in similar positions, which is why he and Sarah made the Nova Scotia Makers Market as easy as possible for sellers to use.
He designed the site so sellers could get fully set up in 24 hours. He’s also helping sellers new to internet selling by answering questions about shipping, sales and promotions, and other stumbling blocks.
He’s even created how-to videos to make the process as smooth as possible. Sellers who have joined the marketplace say its ease of use has allowed them to set up online stores they never would have otherwise.
Downie counts himself among them.
He says he now recognizes the potential of an online customer base (there are way more customers on the internet than even at his biggest shows, he admits) but still isn’t entirely convinced.
“It’s interesting because it’s different for me, but I don’t foresee the kind of interaction I like coming from this,” he says.
MacLeod has also set up a digital storefront through the site. She’s cautiously optimistic about prospects online selling brings, even if it comes with a learning curve.
“We’re going to have to try and engage the customer online to engage with us personally because that’s a huge part of what helps us sell our work,” she says.
“It’s not going to be as good as having a gallery opening or being a part of a craft show, but I think that we can make it. It’s going to take some work and it’s going to take some learning on my part on how to reach people in a different way, but I think it’s going to be OK.”