How can I research market demand by talking to people in physical stores?

Walk into galleries, art boutiques, or any store selling art and ask the sales staff directly: ‘What’s selling right now? What can you not keep on the wall? What’s trending?’ Most salespeople are thrilled to share this information when someone shows genuine interest. Do this in multiple stores and take notes. Look for patterns in what they tell you. This simple technique gives you real-world intelligence about what buyers are actually purchasing, which you can then use to inform what you create.

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Asked by an artist learning research methods · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2021-01-22