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Debra Paulk’s April Boston Seminar Highlights Seven “Do’s” for Super Selling Gift Baskets
Gift baskets were once considered the best way to recoup what might have been losses from leftover odds and ends of unmatchable merchandise. Today, gift baskets have become inventory burdens of themselves, often requiring hefty investments of matchable components. But all that can change, with gift baskets once again becoming profit centers for moving the unmatchables. Enjoy these seven “do’s” for glamorizing baskets as you condense inventory into manageable proportions. 1.
Simplify Inventory By First Choosing a Brand
Your brand should be as unique as YOU. Once you choose a brand, purchasing inventory becomes much more manageable. Instead of being tempted and swayed by hundreds or thousands of images, you will narrow your selection to just those products that fit into your image. Here are but just a few examples of the types of original “brands” you might choose to develop for your business. • Corporate: sleek, stylish, conservative, reserved gifts and merchandise. • “Diva Darling!”: pop culture can be a style that invites all things fun into the mix. •
Surburban Country: hot colors, bright flowers, and country market
containers fill the bill for this upbeat brand. 2.
Choose “Sets” Of Standard Inventory; Mix in Theme Gifts
Save thousands of dollars each year by developing a multitude of gift basket themes that use standard “sets” of inventory. Save even more by ordering in larger quantities from a smaller circle of suppliers. In these two designs, fudge, cake mix, and cookies serve as a “set” that can be used in multiple baskets. Books, gardening accessories, household items and other common merchandise can be added to establish themes. • Containers:
Keep the brand stable but versatile by ordering a variety of styles from one supplier. You’ll achieve the minimum orders more easily, and turn the inventory faster. Here, a Welcome Home basket uses a red market basket; the Thanks a Bunch is packed in a wheelbarrow from the same container company.
• Versatile Product Assortments:
Whenever possible, achieve supplier minimums by ordering assortments. As shown here, the large boxes of Country Fudge (in the back) are ordered in colors, or flavors. One basket uses the red box of fudge; the wheelbarrow basket uses a white box. The theme-setting cookies are ordered in assortments, too. The red box sets the theme of Home Sweet Home while the Thanks A Million Box of cookies establishes the “Thanks” theme of the wheelbarrow. The cake mixes, too, are ordered in assortments. One basket uses a red apple cake mix, while the other uses a banana flavor cake mix packaged in brown. • Theme-Setting Inventory:
Perk up “sets” of merchandise with gifts that serve as a “hook” and further define a separate theme. Handkerchiefs, cookie cutters, whisks, small flower pots, gardening gloves and gifts are all types of merchandise to keep on hand in smaller quantities than “set” merchandise. Books are super theme-setters, too, and can turn a “set” of merchandise into a specific theme. Color follow-through helps establish more unique themes, as well. 3. Select Seasonal Colors - Steady Sizes
Perk up sales with seasonal color selections. Some gift basket business owners choose inventory by the season. Sizes of components remain steady, but colors change. Again, this simplifies the buying process, eliminating products that do not fit into the size specifications for your “brand” baskets. All baskets, season to season, are designed for the same size components. Design, labor and packing time are streamlined by this process. • Square Boxes and Bags:
Food gifts or bath products in larger, bulkier square boxes can be sold individually as gifts, or packed into baskets. Usually, these boxes fill one side or even half of a basket. Instead of ordering multiple units of smaller components, one larger box fills space quickly, pulls the eye, and has multiple sale uses. Each season the baskets are quickly changed by substituting a more seasonal gift of equal size to fill the space in the basket. Easy shopping! And it’s easier to project order volume in simplified numbers. Bags of confections can be color customized by tying on bows of seasonal/theme preference. Or, by ordering food components in assorted flavors, you can mix and match the colors as needed, always keeping the size steady. 4. Keep Inventory Steady, Mixing in Seasonal “Hooks”
What could be easier than one line of merchandise that rarely changes through the course of a year? Businesses on a limited gift basket budget, or start-up companies, may find it advantageous to stock only three or four primary products (no assortments), using theme-setting gifts to create amazing varieties. • White Wicker Containers: Style variety is endless with versatile containers. Buy sets of different sizes for best value. • Tri-ventory
Three standard products can be enough to fill more than half of the average priced basket. In the two designs shown here, a tall gold box of chocolates, a gold/green bag of caramel popcorn, and two packs of green coffee serve as the inventory base for both baskets, and could serve as the base for many more. For the holidays, two small packets of cookies were added, along with a hollyberry coffee mug. In the spring, that space becomes filled with a bouquet of flowers and a floral tin of hard candies. 5.
Keep Inventory Steady; Change Wrap For The Seasons
It is possible to keep inventory completely unchanged from season to season, changing the cellophane wrap and outer enhancements. The two baskets shown in the previous photos have limited inventory changes, but take on dramatic transformations through cellophane and outer trim. • Choose Patterned Cellophane For Each Season
Any inventory could be packed into this spring basket and the presentation would still be awesome! Heavy colors in the pattern cello camouflages everything inside the basket. For instructions on the Four Cornered Cello Wrap, go to the end of this article. • Use “Cover-Up” Enhancements:
Tea towels, kitchen towels, potmats, garden gloves and other larger theme enhancements create excellent camouflage for baskets that have nearly identical components. Stylishly folded, useful small towels are among the best seasonal wrap enhancements. 6. Enhancements Transform “Neutral” Components
Inventory can be simplified by keeping all components in the same color family, using enhancements to dramatically transform the standard baskets into specific themes. A small line of neutral products with a wide range of enhancements and wraps can allow a designer to produce dozens of theme-specific baskets for special occasions and changing seasons. • Neutral Nested Containers:
Choose solid colors in boxes and baskets, using nested sets for different price categories. White, in particular, allows a designer tremendous versatility. • Neutral Height, Bulk, and Filler:
Shop components with height, bulk, and filler in mind. Then choose neutral categories such as silver, gray, white, gold, black and beige. These neutrals will give you the versatility to change one or two products for color variety, or use enhancements to completely transform the theme. Also, stick to “brand” styles, such as country, corporate, formal, informal, and et cetera. • Dress Up Neutrals With Style!
The set of neutral components move easily into Christmas. A touch of blue poinsettias and icy florals establish an elegant tone combined with black-toned irridescent cellophane.
The identical set of components used in the holiday basket move to birthdays by adding a party hat and horns, polka dot tissue, and polka dot cellophane wrap. What drama! And all of it can be achieved with enhancements! 7. Creative Camouflage Moves Unmatchables
Who says you have to worry about inventory? Throw out all the rules and order whatever you want! Let your customers be picky and select items from the shelf customized to their loved ones tastes. Just be sure to order plenty of matching cello bags, wrap, and other coordinated wrap-ups and whatever you have in stock will look great in a basket!
Look at this wild assortment of nuts, candies and snack mixes. Together, the ensemble breaks all the rules of color, packaging style, menu, and texture. And the products have nothing to add to the Diva theme. But packaged in coordinated totes and cello bags, fluffed about with tissue, and overpowered by wild outer wrap, it’s a fun snack basket fit for a queen, and certainly suitable for the diva! The following were used to camouflage the unmatchable ensemble: • Zebra box • Zebra gift wrap to cover the box backer • Animal print small tote • Zebra cello bag • Fur-trimmed organdy bag • Animal print and colorful tissue tufts
Presentation,
Presentation, Presentation! “It’s what’s inside that counts” is a motto for people and gift baskets. Good character makes friends; good quality gifts inside the basket makes customers. Still, as every person of good character knows, first impressions count — and these are often made on the exterior presentation. The same is true of gift baskets. What’s inside counts, but it doesn’t have to match if the exterior is impressive!
The Snowman is an outstanding example of clever outer packaging that enables movement of unmatchables and odds and ends at top-of-the-mark pricing. The inexpensive, versatile brass caddy can be quickly packed. One side is filled with three small rolls of cookies (any color would work if a potmat was used to camouflage them). The opposite side holds two potmats, filled with packing paper. On top of the potmats, two packs of coffee fill the remainder of that side. The rest of the container is filled by a drawstring bag, packed with what could be any product at all. To make the Snowman, first place the caddy in a shrinkwrap bag. Shrink the lower portion of the bag to create a no-open-space container, that is now easy to pack. Fill one side with the rolls of cookies, and the opposite with two potmats pressed against the sides of the shrinkwrapped caddy. Fill the potmat side with packing paper. Set the coffees on top of the packing paper. Use the felt drawstring bag to pack an unmatchable of your choice. Place this on top of the cookie rolls.
Attach a Picky Stick to the back of a snowman head (or choose a reindeer, moose, Santa, bear, angel, or character of your choice). Slide the Picky Stick down inside the neck of the shrinkwrap bag. Gather the shrink bag on top of the caddy and tie it. Then apply heat to the remaining top of the caddy, to completely finish shrinkwrapping the design. To decorate the design, drape a fringed kitchen towel around the neck and secure it with a safety pin or corsage pin. As a final touch, drape the marabou feather around the neck, over the towel, and tie it with a twist-tie or piece of curling ribbon. The total wholesale cost is under $15; suggested retail is $35 to $45. Bonus Instructional: Four-Corner Wrap
1. Center the basket on a square of cellophane.
2. Bring up the four corners of the cellophane, tying them together at the top of the basket.
3. Cut a second square of cello, equal in size to the original square used to wrap the basket. Divide this square into two equal sized triangular pieces.
4. Starting at one end of the triangle, gather it across to the opposite point.
Repeat this with the remaining cello triangle. Tie these two gathered pieces to the neck of the wrapped basket. Add a bow.
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