Gift Baskets on Consignment, Summer Sales, and More
Is it more profitable to offer gift baskets to retail shops on consignment, or is it best to sell gift baskets at a wholesale cost? Read the answer posted this morning at Ask The Gift Basket Expert.
Do you have a question about your business? You’re welcome to submit it here.
Is the summer sale season slow for you? This article provides ideas on how to make summer more profitable.
Speaking of summer, Flora Brown’s Wordless Wednesday photo at Gift Basket Business World shows a unique gardening design in a watering can that you can duplicate.
Get out from under the baskets this weekend and do something fun.
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How to Answer Questions Before They’re Asked
Do you provide your Web site’s visitors with a frequently-asked questions area?
This information is just as important as the gift baskets you create. The answers provide prospective clients with a comfort zone, letting them know in advance that their order will be handled with care and that you’ll respond to them in a timely manner.
I created a frequently-asked questions area for this site as I found myself responding to similar questions about starting a gift basket business, how to select products, and other important basics.
What do site visitors and customers ask? Put yourself in their shoes. If you were buying a gift basket for the first time, what would be your concerns? That’s what you consider when creating your own FAQ page.
These questions help get you started.
Also include questions that haven’t been asked but will give visitors ordering ideas that they haven’t considered.
Add a portion of your FAQs to a brochure for mailing to prospects and with deliveries.
The more information you provide, the easier the order process becomes for the person who found your site.
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Sweet Shop’s Recession Approach Helps You Sell
A chocolate shop’s revenue down 12 percent from last year’s sales due to the economy?
I was a bit surprised to read about this in Crain’s New York Business. It proves that no product, no matter how delicious, is recession proof.
What did the owner do to curtail the drop?
“…the entrepreneur took action recently, dispatching his staff to nearby corners to hand out coupons offering free hot chocolate or a piece of candy. The results: sweet. Store sales rose 20 percent after each coupon blitz.”
The shop’s owner realizes that short-term solutions don’t last, so he’s considering other ways to boost business.
This situation is similar to what you may be facing. If you own a store, a similar street corner coupon distribution may introduce new people to your gifts and baskets and create a healthy revenue boost (learn if your town requires a permit for street promotions). But what if you don’t own a shop and are concerned about sales?
You may not be a well-financed chocolatier with a store in New York City, but their sales solutions can quickly be molded into profitable ideas that put your gift baskets into customers’ hands.
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Name Dropping Raises Gift Basket Sales
What well-known person, on a local, national, or international level, has purchased or received a gift basket made by you?
It’s time to stop keeping that information to yourself and start broadcasting the name in your sales literature online and in print.
Letting potential and current customers know which entertainer or politician wrapped their hands around your basket will elevate your status, and that will boost your revenue.
This article about a gift basket business owner who received an award includes one name dropping example.
“…Richardson mentioned her online service helped to ensure a gift basket was delivered on short notice to Bono this past month.”
The information about this particular owner is fascinating, especially in the article’s third paragraph, but even with that grand feat, an artist’s name is mentioned to boost her recognition.
I remember in the late 1990s when a designer made a gift basket for Oprah Winfrey’s visit to New York. Oprah was walking with others for a charitable cause, and the designer ran up to her to present the basket.
You might ask yourself, “Why did the designer think that Oprah would accept the basket and hold it to the finish line?” That part doesn’t matter. This designer knew that handing a gift basket to Oprah would boost her business.
Where do you name drop gift basket receivers?
1. In a press release to local and state newspapers.
2. On your Web site, and be sure to take the gift basket’s photograph before it’s delivered (if unable to get a photo of you, the recipient, and the basket).
3. On postcards and other sales literature.
When prospects read of your good fortune, they’ll instantly think, “If her gift baskets are good enough for (insert well-known name here), they’re good enough for me.”
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Gift Basket Gets Stolen
Did you know that the gifts we make are targets for crime? Here’s a story from West Virginia I read on the weekend about a women who, while supposedly delivering event photographs, was lifting a gift basket valued at $200.
“…when they returned to the conference room a little later, one “Family Entertainment Fun Pack” basket was missing. The basket contained $150 to $200 in merchandise including gift cards and gift certificates, candles, a blanket, cookies, candy, popcorn and four pounds of fudge.”
As you’ll read in the story, the basket was found in the suspect’s car “covered with coats and blankets.”
This article brings to light the need for security when delivering gift baskets. Look for back rooms, curtained areas, and other locations within a large facility where baskets can be temporarily stored so they won’t disappear.
If using courier services for deliveries, it’s wise to talk with the representative about security measures in place when your baskets are in transit. What if one of your gifts is taken from the truck? Who’s liable, and how do you file a claim?
Be sure your courier contract covers that, and find out how you own business insurance provides coverage. Business insurance is addressed here.
I’m glad to read that the basket was recovered. Has this situation happened to you?
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