Expert retail advice from Vivid Wrap founder Steve Williams, who shares 5 Key Ways to Maximize your Gift Packaging Sales this Christmas Season.
Did you know that over 30% of annual gift packaging sales at retail are in the first three weeks of December? So firstly, and most importantly:
1. Make sure you have the right stock on hand.
A typical Card and Gift Store in the UK turning over £300k per annum, would expect to sell £7.5k at trade prices of gift packaging during November and December. Make sure you have enough stock to maximize your sales; your gift packaging sales should be between 11 and 15% of your total sales each month.
Traditionally Wrap and Gift Packaging are purchased just before Christmas. The seven days before Xmas being the “Boom” Wrap selling period, approx. 13% of your annual wrap sales will be in the 7days before Christmas. However, with the ever increasing move to internet shopping, some people are buying earlier, so ‘Super Sunday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’, (the first Sunday and Monday in December) mean people know their wrapping requirements earlier in the month. Make sure you are talking to your customers about your fabulous offer, so they know to buy from you!
2. Make sure you have the right range in stock.
Christmas is a time when “Wrapponistas” really like to impress their friends and family and will probably have a colour theme for their tree & festive decorations! They will want some ‘high end’ luxury single sheets, with coordinating tissue, bags, ribbons and tags for their “Special People”, then some cheaper paper for the kids. If they are time pressed, a broader range of rolls and gift bags can make it easier to wrap everything under the tree with minimal effort. Gift Box sales really peak at Christmas – a colourful stack on show behind the till point will generate valuable additional sales. Offer sellotape / glue dots at the till – it’s a great add on!
Key designs elements are the traditional Christmas icons, best selling colours Red, Green, Purple, Gold, Silver & Black. Don’t forget to consider the size of the repeat on the designs you buy, you will need a mix of small and large repeats for small and larger gifts.
3. Make sure your display looks great
Check out the local competition. Ask yourself… Is your store the most likely destination for your Customer to purchase their Christmas gift-wrap? Try to differentiate yourself from your key competitors. Your customers are making this choice every time they shop. If the supermarkets are competing on price, what will be your Unique Selling Point, design, breadth of range, quality or service?
Try merchandising different products together from the same colour palette.. Tissue, Tags & Ribbons alongside your wrap will greatly encourage additional sales – the power of suggestion is a great silent sales technique!
4:Give your store a sales target
Set your store a target for daily and weekly gift packaging sales. Start at 15% of your total sales per day, perhaps incentivise add on sales. Who can add paper, a gift bag and a ribbon to a sale? It is quite easy to double the average sale value of a small gift or card if you add the full range of gift packaging. Ask every Customer – “ would you like any ribbon or gift tags with your wrap today?” One ribbon & one pack of Gift tags can add £5.00 to a sale!!
5: Offer a Wrap Service
We have customers that are Card and Gift shops regularly achieving individual sales in excess of £100 just on Gift Packaging by offering a ‘free’ wrap service. You may think you don’t have time when it’s busy, but consider this…
The thing that can differentiate many Independent retailers and Department Stores from Multiples and Supermarkets, is the service they provide. The goodwill created by offering a truly professional gift-wrapping service is huge. I guarantee that the pride created by a giving a beautifully wrapped gift will connect that customer with your store. They will tell their friends and you will become well known for offering a great service. Your customer base will grow!
You could show the price of gift lines wrapped and non-wrapped. You could show examples for wrapping standard shapes; that include Wrap, Tissue and Ribbon. Then offer a flat fee for the materials used.
For this to really add value to your store I would recommend training your team how to wrap professionally. Your store needs just two or three techniques to be mastered to make most gifts gift look wow! With a little training it’s easy to make a modest gift look like a million dollars! Your customers will appreciate that your store has added that value!
Steve Williams, has over 20 years experience in the Greetings category as a manufacturer and retailer. He is the co-founder of Vivid Wrap Ltd, based in Somerset in the UK.
