Gift Basket Business Blog

Increase Gift Basket Sales by Asking Questions

June 14th, 2009 at 10:05am Lorie Obernauer

Have you ever created a great gift basket design that isn’t selling as well as you expected? This is a good time to sit down with your staff and start asking questions!

Get your staff together (with some coffee and snacks) and take a serious look at the design. Come to the meeting with some facts and figures.

• Look at the overall design. Consider the colors and shape of the basket. Does it look elegant? fun? sophisticated? feminine? masculine? Is packed full with product or include just a few gourmet items? Did you use enhancements? Is there a theme? Does the send “send the message” that you had intended? (For example, if you designed a basket full of spa products, you probably want to send a message of “luxury”, “pampering”. Does the container, product, and enhancements that you used convey that message?)
• Look at the individual products. Are these your most popular items? What is the combination of cookies vs. snacks vs. chocolates, etc? What are the price points of each item? Are the individual boxes/packages large or small; simple in design or upscale? (For example, if you created a basket for a corporate setting, does it include products that can be shared by staff instead of all “single serve” items?)
• Look at the customers who have purchased this design: male? female? corporate? For what type of occasion was the basket purchased? Is the basket being purchased by the customers you thought would buy it?

Once you’ve answered some of these questions, you can brainstorm ideas for changes to the design that might better match the goal you had in mind when you originally created the basket.

How can you use these questions to create baskets that are sure to sell? What other questions should you be asking?

Entry Filed under: Business Tips, Customer Service, Employee Training, Gift Basket Supplies, Gourmet Gift Foods