Why The Travelling Souk?

  • We offer our stallholders two distinct, growing retail avenues: online and events.
  • We aim to be accessible in person by email or phone and are totally flexible.
  • We have been responsive to the current economic growth forecast; our 2012 table fees are lower, our website joining fees* maintained and our commission rates very competitive compared to other online marketplaces.

*Our online fee is a one off lifetime membership fee.

Our Strategy

  • Events: We only continue with event locations where we know and trust the partners, the charity or host, with whom we are working.
  • SEO: We have invested in link building & blogging and other new tactics with the aim of being on page 1 for your own products as well as generic searches.
  • PR: We have gained exposure for our stallholders' products in an impressive array of national magazines and newspapers. Magazines include How To Spend It, You Magazine, Homes & Gardens, Fabulous, and Good.
  • Software: We will continue to invest heavily in software development to give both our shoppers and our 'stallholders' a great online experience.
  • Newsletters: We advertise our 'stallholders' latest products to our growing list of customers with attractively designed newsletters. Every newsletter leads directly to sales.
  • Competitions: From time to time we run competitions to promote your products to our ever growing audience.
  • Insurance: We have secured a group insurance
    scheme so you can benefit from a reliable
    under-writer at a lower cost.

The deal with us...

What you can expect

  • Our superb and easy to navigate admin system with fully comprehensive video tutorials.
  • Display and sales of an unlimited number of products.
  • Listing on event pages where relevant.
  • Our enthusiasm for competition; our agreement does not prevent, restrict or distort competition.
  • Low commission rates in comparison to other sites.

We would be grateful to receive your details before forwarding you our up to date schedule and costs so please take a few moments to complete our free registration form.

The 2011 marketplace and predictions for 2012

The Travelling Souk has built a reputation over the past nine years that is second to none; at both our fairs and from our award winning website we sell gifts that we know our customers will want to buy for all occasions. Our events are popular with the traditional shopper and most support a charity.

2011 saw our online sales grow by 92% compared to 2012. Our conversion rate was up 36% and our unique visitors were up 22%. We are doing something right! However, with the challenging outlook for 2012 we realise the need to double our efforts by continuing to publicise our website in all shopping seasons and build its reputation as the quality destination for online shoppers who are looking for design led products. We shall enjoy working with enterprising small businesses who share our enthusiasm for excellence. We aim to increase our sales by a higher margin than we achieved in the last 12 months.

Similarly, we have scrutinised the fairs we have undertaken in the last couple of years and in 2012 will only be working with locations we think will continue to attract the quantity of customers you expect. These locations are selected either because they are private houses of interest where the host is
well regarded in the locality and/or because the organisers know what it takes and are prepared to raise their game
this year with better committees and more thorough marketing.

"It's always exciting with the souk; you end up surprising yourself with the stand you create. The camaraderie is fantastic. Sometimes you get to stay in lovely houses with charming hosts – making work feel like a holiday!"

- Claire Morgan, Plum Trading, 2012

"We have benefitted enormously over the past 5 years from the excellent PR provided by the TS - we have seen it develop and grow into a very stylish and accessible site, from both stallholder and customer point of view."

- Andrea Grinstead, Trade Routes, 2012

Register Here