The Giftware Association’s (The GA) exclusive online product gallery, Inspire, is now live on The GA website, while the association has also launched its occasions-led virtual showrooms.
A wide range of supplier members have seized the opportunity to upload over 250 products to be featured in Inspire and in the first two Virtual Showrooms supplier members have uploaded over 70 images, giving retailers easy access to the latest available products.
Inspire is a year-round gallery, spanning a whole variety of products, while the first Virtual Showrooms – launched on November 1 – cover Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day ranges. These will be live for at least two months, during which time The GA will deliver an email campaign supported by PR and marketing activity via Giftwrap, the trade press and social media.
Only GA members are entitled to feature products in the Inspire gallery and Virtual Showrooms, with retailer members given the first opportunity to peruse the showrooms before they are opened to all retailers.
The GA’s next Virtual Showroom will have an Easter theme.
Monthly unique visitors to The GA website have increased to 3,100 – a rise of 300 since August. In a survey, some 45% of members said they regarded The GA website as the hub of the gift and home industry, while a further 48% said they thought that it might be.
The majority – 83.87% – quoted the availability of the industry news as a key reason for visiting the site, followed by the online member search (48%) as a way of finding their ideal product or supplier or retailer with whom to do business. This was closely followed by the members’ area, which allows them to update their online profile, upload designs for protection and access privileged industry data.
The GA will soon launch its own members’-only forum – an online community to allow members to share industry insights and ideas with like-minded companies.
