Archive for October, 2008
As the busy holiday season approaches, there is nothing more important than being organized. With careful preparation, you can insure that your business runs smoothly and your baskets are delivered in a timely fashion even when your phones are ringing off the hook!
Consider some of these ideas when getting ready for the holidays:
- If you’ve created holiday designs that include specific products, make sure you have the inventory needed to make those baskets. While you may prefer to buy your items from a particular supplier, at this time of year, make a point to identify alternative sources for your products….just in case!
- Post your employees’ holiday schedules early. Everyone has lots of plans and responsibilities during the holiday season and it’s only fair to give your employees plenty of notice about your expectations for their work schedules. You might also want to line up a few friends for “emergency situations”: someone that you can call if one of your regular workers has to suddenly take some time off during your busiest season.
- In addition to checking your gourmet food inventory, make sure you have enough packing and shipping supplies. Even if you stock up a little more than usual, these items are not perishable and you’ll use them quickly for the next holiday which is around the corner: Valentine’s Day. If you missed one of my recent posts, read Packing Your Gift Baskets Perfectly for some more ideas about shipping.
- Determine your delivery and shipping schedule and make sure that all your employees are aware of the last date you’ll accept orders. Taking a few last minute orders that come in very late may be less important than making sure that you deliver your existing orders when promised.
As you get organized, keep some notes and make yourself a checklist that includes all of the things you’re checking and preparing. You can use this list for other holidays and not have to duplicate your efforts.
And speaking of duplicating efforts, you may want to take a look at Shirley Frazier’s Gift Basket Forms. Shirley has done all the work for you! She’s created an order form, a customer information form, a delivery form, plus 9 more forms that will help you organize your business.
October 29th, 2008
You may be the best designer in the world, but if your designs don’t reach your customers in perfect condition, no one will know how skilled you are. And no one will call back to place another order!
During the busy holiday season, it’s especially important to take time to pack your baskets carefully. Be sure to check all of your packaging supplies before the busy season starts. You may even consider calling your shipper of choice (eg. FedEX or UPS) and ask one of their representatives to give you some advice. (Our UPS representative came to our business, Apex Gift Foods, and gave our employees in the shipping department some great tips about packaging.)
Be sure to read Flora Brown’s article, “How to Pack a Peck of Pickled Peppers” for more tips on how to pack your gift baskets so that they arrive to the recipient in perfect condition.
October 28th, 2008
Just saw something in Fancy Food News Bytes that I want to share.
“A study published in Brandweek.com confirms the power of free samples. The study, conducted by Arbitron, found that 35 percent of customers who tried a sample bought the product during the same shopping trip. Fifty-eight percent say they would buy the product again.”
If you have a storefront business where customers come in to shop, feature a basket each week and put out samples of all the products that are used in the basket. Don’t forget to let your customers know (through a flyer or email or phone calls) which day of the week you’ll be “sampling”.
According to this study, you should get some orders for that basket! Make sure you keep track of the items that customers like the most, then use those items again in other gourmet designs.
Please note: As soon as I finished this post, I thought to myself: “So how can an on-line business take advantage of this information?” Any thoughts would be appreciated!
October 22nd, 2008
Target Marketing, an industry magazine and online newsletter, offers “strategies and solutions for profitable marketing”. A recent newsletter suggested that with the state of our economy, email marketing may become a very important part of our holiday marketing plans.
In the October 10th newsletter, author Joe Keenan reviewed a recent webinar that was presented by Target Marketing: “8 Tips to Improve Your Holiday Email Campaign”. Read the full article to find out about the first 4 tips; more will be revealed in a follow-up article next week.
Following are two points that I think are important to consider when planning your holiday email marketing:
- Be Prepared. Think about what you want to accomplish with your email campaign. For example, are you trying to attract new customers, encourage old customers to buy again, introduce new products? Depending on your answers, your email campaign should be tailored to meet your goals. You can’t do everything in one email promotion.
- Timing is Everything. Think about your customers: when will they be “ready” to receive your email message. Given that people may be hesitant about holiday shopping this year, try to time your messages with their buying habits in mind. For example, many people do on-line shopping the Monday after Thanksgiving (Cyber Monday). Research on internet shopping also reveals that the 2nd Monday of December is a big on-line shopping day.
Think about what you want to accomplish with your holiday email campaign. Then, think about how you will know if you achieved your goals. For example, if your goal is to attract new customers, be sure to devise a way that you can keep track of new customer orders and inquire whether they are responding to your email. This can be 1 or 2 simple questions when a new customer contacts you, but an important part of future email marketing campaigns.
October 20th, 2008
In the latest issue of Rave Reviews Magazine, Gayle Gallagher wrote an article about finding opportunities to finance your plans for growing your business. Although the state of the economy may tell you that it’s not the time to consider growing your business, I suggest that you read the full article. You will learn the basics for identifying sources of loans and/or investors for your company. You’ll be ready to roll when the economy takes a turn for the better and creditors are willing to loan money once again.
Basically, the author compares different types of financing: the “loaner route” vs. the “investor route”. She also discusses “angel investors” (individuals who invest their own money in a business) and suggests good places to start to find such investors.Rave Reviews Magazine does not offer an online version of their magazine, but I suggest that you subscribe to receive the magazine in print form. Every issue includes articles with business tips, design ideas and lots of photos that show gourmet baskets made by successful basket designers. It’s a good investment for any size of gift basket business.
October 17th, 2008
I recently made a post on my blog about using data about consumer buying habits to develop marketing strategies for your gift basket business. (Target Your Gift Basket Business to Today’s Specialty Food Consumer). Since the research showed that many consumers are buying specialty foods that they can consume at home, I suggested making baskets that include products for a “full meal”.
Much to my surprise, I read an article in the most recent issue of Rave Reviews Magazine (Volume 5, Issue 5) called “Now Serving…Meals in a Basket”. First, the article lists ideas of things you should consider when making a “Meal in a Basket”:
- Convenience Factors: “Your job as a gift basket professionals is to make life easier for your customers…and give convenience in the gifts you prepare for the recipients.” The author states that “Meal in a Basket” can do all of this by providing the food, beverage, table and ambiance”.
- Portability Factors: “There’s a tremendous freedom in getting something you know you can use anywhere.” Providing the edible and non-edible items for a complete meals makes this type of basket ready to use in any setting.
- Excitement Factors: A “Meal in a Basket” is a fun gift to receive. It is sure to delight any one with a busy schedule!
The Rave Reviews article also includes ideas for specific “Meal in a Basket” themes. Gourmet products plus containers to match the theme, and design ideas are all included in this great article.
If you are not a subscriber to Rave Reviews Magazine, I highly recommend that you subscribe now. As the only published trade magazine in the industry, I find it to be chock full of valuable ideas every month. Go to Rave Reviews for subscription information or call 888-RAVE101 and tell them that you heard about their magazine in this blog.
By the way, in the article, it is suggested that table settings be included in a “Meals in a Basket” design. Go to Apex Gift Foods to see table accessories for the holiday season that would be perfect for a holiday meal!
October 14th, 2008
Some time ago, I posted an article on this blog called “Branding Your Business: What Does That Mean?” Well, I just read an article in Rave Reviews Magazine current issue that adds another suggestion for branding your business that I believe, is important to consider.
Author Joyce Reid, says that “branding isn’t just your cute logo or tagline….It’s everything your customer sees or hears about your your business”. Joyce goes on to say that “branding doesn’t begin with your logo creation…it begins with a story….your story”. Once you have your “story”, all of your marketing and advertising ideas can flow from this.
Go to Joyce’s web site, Creative Gifts to Go, and read Joyce’s brand story. Then, get a copy of Rave Reviews Magazine (Issue 5, Volume 5) and read Joyce’s article: “Branding Your Business With Words”.
As Joyce points out, if you search for “gift baskets” on Google, over 28 million pages are indexed. But don’t get discouraged! Remember that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. You can go far to keep your current customers loyal to your business by creating a “brand story” that will help to create an “emotional” connection between you and them.
October 13th, 2008
Specialty Food Magazine, October, 2008, includes an article about specialty food buying habits of consumers. I think that by paying attention to this information, we can more clearly focus on the type of buyers will also buy gourmet baskets (which are typically packed with specialty foods!) and focus our marketing efforts accordingly.
Following are some of the findings from a report published by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT):
- People between 18 and 34 are the most likely to purchase specialty foods.
- Cold beverages, coffee, olive oils(and other specialty oils), cheese and chocolate are purchased by more than 1/2 of specialty food consumers.
- Almost 6 of 10 consumers purchase foods for everyday meals at home.
- Cultural activities (museums, art galleries, theater) are important to specialty food consumers.
- A majority (64%) of specialty food consumers regularly exercise.
So what does this mean to the gift basket business owner? How can this information be used in your marketing plans? Let’s go point by point.
- Age of Buyers. Advertise in the local college newspaper. Put flyers in the Student Union. Go to coffee shops on the college campus and leave your information.
- Types of Products Purchased. Coffees, cold beverages, and chocolates are offered by most of your suppliers. Stock up and use these products in your baskets.
- Everyday Meals: Add a breakfast basket to your line including pancake mix, syrup, jams, and coffee. Consider a basket with pasta, sauce, olives, and breadsticks for a full dinner.
- Cultural activities: Local theaters have programs which include advertising for local businesses. Museums often have gift shops and I often see consignment items in these shops. Why not find out if that gift shop would like to sell some gourmet baskets to their patrons. Art galleries have art “openings” featuring one or more particular artists at a special show. They often serve snacks at these openings. You might be able to work out something with the gallery owner to “cater” their next opening and showcase your best gourmet treats. Your business cards (or even a sample basket) would let gallery customers know where to get these food items.
- Exercise: Go to local fitness centers and find out if you can post your business cards or leave flyers with your information and a promotion.
You can take advantage of buying trends by shaping your marketing plans to match the habits of the buying public. Keeping abreast of these trends is critical to keep your business growing.
October 6th, 2008
