I've learned a lot over the past two years, but the most salient issue for me today (other than the economy and the poor weather in our area this summer) is the fact that consumers appear to have a psychological barrier between the concepts of "gifts" and "gift baskets". "Traditional" gift baskets can carry a bit of a stigma, and I've tried to "reeducate" the local consumer market with my special brand of gift baskets, mixing some of the best giftware on the market today with a build-a-basket concept and the opportunity to create perfectly tailored, one of a kind baskets, carefully designed by yours truly.
To build a broad inventory base and supplement my revenues throughout the year, I decided to market both specialty gifts and gift baskets in the same store. Well, marketing does not appear to help join these two concepts in the consumer psyche. Most PR about the store has also perpetuated this dual concept/branding. The PR seems great, especially since it has mostly been free in the form of great articles and product spotlights in local press. However, these days I keep hearing the same thing day in and day out from people who venture into the store: "So isn't this a gift basket store?", or, similarly, "I never came in before because I figured it was just gift baskets", or, "I love this store!! I thought it was just gift baskets." Yes, an unknown (and probably large) number of people have simply not ventured into the store because they haven't had the occasion or desire to buy a gift basket. And the fact is that we carry some of the premier gift lines on the market, with over 1200 gift items/SKU's.
I can't switch to 100% gift baskets because that would temporarily shut down my daily "general gift" revenues (not to mention not jive with my strong desire to have the dual biz) and I don't see any reason to get rid of the gift basket component. So I've decided to play down the gift baskets. I just hope I can recover the missed customers soon enough to keep things afloat. I'm starting a new push to market my gift baskets to corporate customers, who are traditionally a strong gift basket market, and dreaming of the day when I have the perfect balance between corporate revenues and in-store business so I can fully enjoy my two passions, running the store and designing the baskets!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Welcome to my diary!
Hello.
Since I was little I've enjoyed writing.
Also, I meet people every day who say "I've always wanted to start a business like this," or, "So how is business?"
So I figured I'd start blogging about my gift business. Basically I'm planning to talk about what it's like each day (for me) to work in and run a gift store. Some posts will be very serious and others, hopefully, will be somewhat humorous. I hope my blog is meaningful, educational, and entertaining, even if not all at the same time. And I suppose the little extra spotlight on my store can't hurt from a marketing perspective. I will certainly share some of my favorite products and gift ideas with you.
Cheers,
Emily
Since I was little I've enjoyed writing.
Also, I meet people every day who say "I've always wanted to start a business like this," or, "So how is business?"
So I figured I'd start blogging about my gift business. Basically I'm planning to talk about what it's like each day (for me) to work in and run a gift store. Some posts will be very serious and others, hopefully, will be somewhat humorous. I hope my blog is meaningful, educational, and entertaining, even if not all at the same time. And I suppose the little extra spotlight on my store can't hurt from a marketing perspective. I will certainly share some of my favorite products and gift ideas with you.
Cheers,
Emily
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