Arona Khan, our special guest gift wrapping expert, confirmed why she is hailed as the best in her field with her business forum at the Speciality Fine Food Fair
You might think we’re crazy, telling you to be prudent when considering your stock options but we want our customers to thrive despite the credit crunch. So, when choosing what gift packaging/hamper products to offer, try to keep your range to a well coordinated minimum so that you don’t end up with an unnecessary abundance of lines or all your cash tied up in stock.
Prepare a pre-packed shelf of ready-to-buy gifts to give customers ideas and offer them the chance to make a quick decision. This creates a sense of getting a pick of the best of what you, the experts, have selected from your stock. Clients get advice without having to ask, a thoughtful gift without the effort! ‘Self-selection’ is a wonderful and intimate concept for those who can afford the time but having a simple, prepared gift box takes indecision out of the equation along with the embarrassment for customers holding up a queue. Branching out into a time saving, pre-packed hamper initiative will maximise your profits and introduce a new range of clients.
To help you make the most of your packaging and add perceived value to any hamper or gift, Winebox has got a few tricks up our sleeve. We’ve got a palette of virtually unlimited colour options for you to blend, mix and match to your exact requirements. A combination of matte and iridescent shred will add an expensive looking, glamorous touch, whilst bows, ribbons and embellishments will give your hampers and gifts a sumptuous impression of luxury.
Save your company money and contribute to environmental well being by recycling your waste. Don’t use excess packaging or fillers as it incurs needless expense to you and means your customer is left with extra rubbish, which they won’t thank you for!Use what waste you receive as a base for hamper beds and decorate with an appropriate amount of shred or fill on top and you can guarantee your customers will be impressed with a concept that’s nifty, thrifty & green.
Offer your pre-packed hamper gifts to local businesses - most Winebox packaging can be personalised with company branding even on very small runs of 50 units. What’s more this usually takes only 10 working days! This initiative gives an impression of professionalism and class without costing the earth.You could also offer your pre-packed gifts to local businesses for ideas such as ‘employee of the month’, gratitude towards special customers or apologies / good-will gestures. Marketing flyers offering corporate deals and easy, ready-made hampers will bring in all important repeat business, as will offering local businesses the opportunity of tasting evenings, themed nights or corporate events. Most importantly, these added extras will generate and maximise your profits.
If you offer or want to offer your clients personal, handpicked hampers then create and encourage a pre-ordering service whereby customers can collect out of peak trade time. You can then dedicate more time to perfecting the gift (complete with Winebox’s decorative fills!) without the hustle and bustle of lunch, pre or post-office hours and save you and your customers a surprising amount of time.
At Winebox we would advise our clients to prepare gift hampers and trays with specific price points in mind, for example £15, £25, £50 and display them as such. Again, you’re giving your customers high-level service by letting them see for themselves what their budget can afford without having to make any tricky decisions. Take this concept one step further and consider themed packs such as chocolate or wine ‘enthusiast’ and celebrations or occasions for example, weddings, birthdays or anniversaries. Of course there are possibilities in the simple everyday sentiments too for instance, apologies and, for the romantics, “I love you!” s. Think about the kind of gifts you would want to receive and you’re on the right path.
Our next top tip is to ensure you have wicker baskets piled up and ready for action by the entrance to your shop. This way customers can browse and pick the products they want at a leisurely pace and either use it as a shopping basket leaving it at the till or, be tempted into paying for it so that they can reuse it or give to someone as a gift basket filled with lots of lovely items
Calculators at the ready: work out how much decorative fill you will put in to each hamper and try be as accurate as possible in calculating how much each individual unit will cost you. Next, add the cost of the products you want to put in the hamper. Finally add your margin. Hopefully your sums should equal a reasonable price and a realistic but healthy profit! Display your prices clearly, drawing as much attention as you can to how ‘little’ your customers pay for what they get. Mix up the offerings in your packs so that it is more difficult for your customers to work out the cost of the items individually – you want to sell your hampers as a gift, the complete package, indicating that convenience and thoughtfulness are part of this great deal.
We highly recommend putting those finishing touches to your hampers and gifts, making them even more delightful and tempting with decorative fillers and shreds. However, don’t adorn your product with too little or too much - proportion to the size of the gift. Ensure what you’re offering feels like a generous gift and remember, it is better to slightly over deliver than under deliver!
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