To gain the attention of a potential customer, you must identify their needs and/or their wants. A need is something the customer must have to survive. A want, in comparison, is something the customers desire to have. Most humans – we are all the same – often build up a ‘want’ into a ‘need’, but when money is short, customers will spend less to satisfy their wants. For the most part, what sellers at market stalls sell are products that address what customers’ ‘wants’ – they do not need the product, but may want the product.

A ‘want’ driven society

Fortunately, we humans have become very desirous creatures who want many nice things ranging from food to items to wear to goods for homes. This is what makes marketplaces so attractive. A customer, with all of her or his wants tucked away in their mind, can come to a single, pleasant environment and match the products on sale with the ‘wants’ in her or his head. Usually, the price is affordable, and they can get a bite to eat as well. It is great day out for the family, especially the kids, and so marketplaces are great places to go to feed those ‘wants’ we have.

As a market stall owner, it is your aim to do the feeding. You have to find or make products that address the ‘wants’ of others. But how do you know what these ‘wants’ are?

Identifying ‘wants’

The reality is that this task is not an easy one to fulfil. The first problem is that individuals do not know what their wants are.