Archive for June, 2007
In a magazine from the Dallas Market Center called InStore, I read an article in the May/June issue that includes some interesting ideas about store displays. How can you use your store displays to increase sales?
The author, Alison Medina, suggests that you start your merchandising efforts at the front door! This is where customers get “a sense of what the environment is all about, what kind of ambience they’ve entered, and what kind of products are sold”. The photo above from a Pottery Barn display is a perfect example. You know from this that the products sold in the store are furniture and home accessories are comtemporary, and upscale. Although you may not get many sales from this area, the displays at your store entrance need to show shoppers the range of products they’ll find in your store and be designed to make shoppers want to see more.
The author goes on to say that once inside your store, customers will look for the price of the first item they can see, “typically to their immediate right”. This gives the customers their first impression of the prices of your products, so you don’t want to overwhelm the customers at this point with the most expensive items that you sell.
One way to learn how to use your displays effectively is to visit one of the major merchandise marts or market centers. Merchandise marts are simply buildings that house wholesale businesses from the same industry (eg. giftwares). This allows retail customers to shop for products in a single location. Market Centers are simply a cluster of these buildings. Some of the largest are located in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
When you walk into each showroom, think about your own reactions: what pulls you into the showroom, what do you pick up first, it is easy to move through the showroom, what catches your eye and why. Then, make your displays enticing AND effective!
Photo courtesy Trisha @ Flickr.com
June 29th, 2007
When you hand out your business cards, you want them to be kept! Here are some tips to help you design a businss card that will be an attention getter. (From an article by Carly Price in Instore Magazine, May/June, 2007).
- Create a business card that incorporates your logo. While you will incur some costs to have a logo designed for your business, this is something that you can use on all your marketing materials. Your personalized logo will help set you apart from other gift basket businesses.
- Think carefully about the colors that you use on your business card. There is a “psychology” to color! Some colors attact the eye more than others. Certain colors evoke positive emotions and reactions. Read this for more information about how color affects us.
- Don’t clutter your card! Make sure that important information such as your business name, address and phone number is clearly visible and easy to read.
June 25th, 2007
Are you planning to attend the Fancy Food Show this summer in New York City? I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: It’s critical that we stay up to date on what’s happening in our industry. You’ll get to see and taste the newest products and find out about the hottest trends. If you can afford the travel costs and can make arrangements to be away from your business, make it a point to attend at one trade show each year!
As usual, a variety of educational seminars will be offered during the show. Of special interest to me is the class entitled “Ten Steps to Increase Web Sales and Profits”. Topics covered will include email marketing (how to get sales and develop customer loyalty), search engine marketing (how to get your business name listed near the top of the page when a customer does a computer search for gift basket businesses), plus some basics of inventory management and financial planning to improve profits.
If you’re thinking about attending, check out the Registration Information. You can register on-line or by phone. Also, see my blog posting: How to Make the Most of Your Time at Trade Shows.
If you can’t attend, make sure you keep checking the NASFT web site: Specialty Food.com. Before the show starts, you will find many articles and features highlighting new products that will be displayed at the show. After the show, there will be more information about new trends, popular items, summaries of seminars and more.
June 19th, 2007
See my post about the potential problems that might arise from your key accounts. Right after I wrote that, I read an article in Rave Reviews Magazine (Volume 4, Issue 3) about prospecting for new clients that might eventually, become your new “key accounts”.
Author Rick Orlan says “prospecting is going out into the world in search of potential customers, clients, or buyers of your products and services”. He suggests that by prospecting on a regular basis, you can avoid the agony of losing one of your key accounts by continually cultivating new relationships with new clients.
Orlan offers specific recommendations for prospecting and I have added a few ideas of my own:
- Attend your local Chamber of Commerce meetings and get involved.
- Find out about other business groups that meet regularly in your community and try to attend those meetings too.
- Create a good marketing tool that describes what you do and why your products and services are unique. Keep this short, and to the point. Spend a little money to make this look “professional”. Offer an incentive for these people to contact you: a discount on their first order, a free gift, free cookies, etc.
- Introduce yourself at the meetings to as many people as possible. Exchange business cards with everyone.
- Send a follow-up letter and your marketing piece to each person that you met. Then follow-up again with a phone call. Ask each person if they can refer anyone else who might need your services.
In addition to following these steps, you can put yourself ahead of the pack by considering one more angle on prospecting. Not only are you looking for new clients, so are the people that you’re meeting! Take the time to inquire about their businesses. Find out what they do. Make a personal connection. And make a point of using their services if you have that opportunity.
Look for my upcoming post about the importance of “connecting” to your customers. Finding new customers is certainly important and Orlan’s suggestions for prospecting and networking are great. I’ll tell you how to go one step further to insure that you keep those customers!
June 16th, 2007
Are you looking for new ways to showcase your gift basket business? Read this article about the city manager of Cedar Springs, Michigan. She has established a “rewards” program for residents in her community who do volunteer work in the community or spruce up their property. And one of the rewards is a gift basket!
There are many ways that you can get involved in your community and get the word out about your business at the same time. Get involved with neighborhood projects. Your involvement in community activities will pay off as people get to know you and know what you do.
How have you helped your business grow while helping others in your community?
June 14th, 2007
Those of us who own businesses understand the importance of developing some key accounts. These are important customers who give us loads of business. Likewise, we give these customers loads of service and good quality!
In the May issue of Specialty Food Magazine, Chris Crocker writes about the possible dangers associated with key accounts. He points out that these customers may become a burden to our businesses instead of an asset. These are the customers to whom we give extra discounts, and extra services in order to keep them happy. Sometimes we have to step back and assess whether we’re “shaving our margins just to keep the business”.
Certainly, we all want to keep these accounts as long as we’re still making a profit. But Crocker suggests that we make sure we are taking good care of our other customers and not skimping on service to those clients. We may lose a key account every now and then. But we need to make sure that we have created opportunities with our other customers that may lead to their becoming our next key account.
June 10th, 2007
I read an interesting article in Pam Danzinger’s recent June newsletter. (Pam is an internationally recognized expert on topics pertaining to retailing. You can see her web site at Unity Marketing Online.)
Danzinger says, “Today success in retail is less not about what you sell, and more about how you sell it.” She goes on to identify three factors that have changed how retail operations now function.
First, there are more places to shop. This includes both brick and mortar stores as well as shopping in cyberspace (the internet). The bottom line: more competition.
Second, more people buy what they don’t need. In other words, buyers are motivated to buy things that appeal to them that they weren’t necessarily shopping for.
Third, shopping has become something to do for fun. It is a new form of recreation. Therefore, shoppers want to be engaged, to have fun when they shop.
So how can you make shopping at your store more fun? I think the first place to look is at your displays.
Take some time to learn how to creatively display your gift baskets. Browse through other stores in your neighborhood or go to your local mall and think about what makes other stores’ displays appealing. Which displays attract you? Which displays are not appealing? Why?
Go your your local bookstore or search the internet. You’ll find lots of ideas about creating interesting store displays. Also, I mentioned before that you might also check out trade magazines in related industries. Flowers & Magazine and Florist Review Magazine have articles in most issues that include photos of great displays in floral shops. Most of these are displays of giftware (and even gift baskets) so these should be very relevant to gift basket business owners.
If you live in or near a city that has a Gift Mart, take the time to visit. The large companies that have showrooms in the Marts hire professional designers to set up their displays. Check out how they display their products: what colors they use, what types of products they group together, what type of signage they use.
Let us know if you have other ways that you make shopping experiences in your store more fun!
June 8th, 2007
See Shirley Frazier’s blog for information about what to look for when you’re ready to sign up for a credit card merchant account. As Shirley says, “accepting credit cards is a must if you want to make a living with gift baskets or any other business.”
As you might already know, the bank, or other business through which you open your merchant account, will charge you certain fees: set-up fees, as well as transaction fees, and monthly fees for using their services. It is in your best interest to check these fees on a regular basis and do some comparison shopping. Although a fee might sound very low (for example, you may be charged a 1% fee per transaction that you process), these charges can build quickly and you can save quite a bit by shopping around and looking for the best fees. Make an effort to do this at least once a year. Cutting these costs can do much to help your bottom line.
June 6th, 2007
Have you ever thought about all the occasions for which a gift basket might be the perfect gift? Copy this list, then use your creativity to design unique baskets that will fit each occasion. Some of these can be your “signature” designs that you carry all year round. Then, go ahead and promote your gorgeous gourmet baskets!
According to Wikipedia, gifts may be:
- An expression of love or friendship
- An expression of gratitude
- An expression of piety, in the form of charity
- An expression of solidarity, in the form of mutual aid
- To share wealth
- To offset misfortune
- To offer travel souvenirs
- A welcome to a new neighbor
- To celebrate a season
- Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall
- To celebrate a holiday
- Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa
- Valentines Day
- Easter
- Mother’s Day
- Father’s Day
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving
- To celebrate an occasion
- A wedding
- A funeral
- A birth
- A birthday
- A graduation
The list is endless! Go to Holidays on the Net for a list of 2007 holidays and dates. Also check out each issue of Gourmet Retailer Magazine. Included in each issue is a Promotional Calendar that lists “national days/months” such as National Candy Month, National Cheese Day, etc. These might spark your creative juices and help you come up with more unique promotional ideas.
June 3rd, 2007
