A
trader once said to me that the Night Market pinches customers from the Day
Market and I can now tell him that I doubt that is true - the Night Market is a
different beast altogether.
Wednesday
night was my first foray into the glitzy world of QVM’s successful Night Market
concept (apart from one season of the Summer Night Market 20 years ago) and I
participated from a container in String Bean Alley. Taking on a container in
String Bean Alley is a bit of a gamble, at least until the aisle is fully
populated, but the Night Market certainly helps with the economics.
The
clientele on Wednesday night was quite different from the Day Market. The
majority of my customers were young Asians, I’m guessing Chinese, and I am also
guessing students, or possibly with a tour group.
This
was clearly a tourist crowd. I was asked to join in photos on at least four
occasions (they probably found the old sailor a quirky point of interest) and
there was plenty of bubble wrapping for travel.
Business
was good. I would describe it as equivalent to a good Saturday and of course
the crowd is huge. There is definitely a party atmosphere going on, and an
element of fun. This is not shopping, it is going out for a good time.
Customers walking into your stall with a glass of beer or wine in their hand
was testament to that.
One
interesting little observation for me was that the young Asian customers were
happy to buy my “Made in China” products while their parents would probably
balk at the idea. Some generational change could be happening here.
Could
this sort of atmosphere be translated to the Day Market? Maybe - but there are
lots of things going on here. The Night Market is different, it’s special, it’s
after hours, it’s at night, there is lots of food (in fact food dominates) and
the music is pervading. You could bring some of those elements to a Day Market
but it is a bit like trying to turn a station wagon into a sports car. You could
get the colour and many of the components similar, but in the end they are
different vehicles with different purposes, different features and different
attractions.
The potential for doing business is clearly evident and it
is quite possible that future traders will have viable market businesses based
on a dose of both day and night trading.
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