FEATURE / GIFTS FOR CARD SHOPS
Focus on gifts
Card retailers looking to attract more consumers should
take a long, hard look at their gift offer and invest in
foundation brands. GT reports
names and will have to offer the right
in-store environment. In turn the major
brands can afford to pick and choose
whom they want to work with and will
have high expectations in terms of the
level of investment they expect retailers to
put in and will probably limit the level of
representation they want in a given area.
A classic example of how valuable
a complementary gift franchise can be
to a retailer is Thorntons Chocolates.
A franchisee is expected to turn over a
minimum of £100,000 a year but the initial
level of investment required by the retailer
is signifi cant - somewhere around £40,000
when you factor in the franchise fee and
fi xtures and fi ttings required to get the
Thorntons franchise up and running. But
over the length of the fi ve-year contract
Yankee Candle and Fiorelli Handbags have boosted sales at Heart to Heart in Didcot the retailer should be able to recoup that
investment quite quickly and move into
profi t.
or many traditional greetings
F
“The aim of every retailer is to
Good location and suffi cient-sized
card retailers, sales of gifts
have previously been viewed generate footfall and make their
premises are also key requirements as
brands like Thorntons want maximum
as an ‘extra’ – something to
be dabbled in and used as an
outlet a must-visit store, which
exposure to consumers in busy high street
locations and enough space for the product
additional revenue source outside of the
means stocking brands and ranges
to be displayed correctly.
main business of selling cards.
that will draw consumers in”
The hurdles to attaining a partnership
That view has changed dramatically with major brand owners like Thorntons
in recent years with more and more may seem diffi cult to overcome but the
independent retailers realising that a viable, rewards can be signifi cant if you plan it
well thought out giftware element in-store build. Essentially, the aim of every retailer properly. The good news is that with a
can be a real winner when it comes to is to generate footfall and make their outlet strong foundation brand there’s usually a
generating a profi t. a must-visit store, which means stocking great deal of support and marketing activity
And with the sales ratio between cards brands and ranges that will draw consumers to tap into
and gifts heading towards 50:50 in leading in. Done properly, the giftware element
card stores, there’s never been a more of the business can even boost sales of
important time to make sure the right greetings cards via impromptu sales.
.co.uk
giftware ranges have been chosen and they To do that, retailers need to explore gift
are working as well as they can. products and services that will complement
The tried and tested route for retailers the existing greetings element of the store so
planning or revamping their giftware offer that consumers are being presented with a
is to seek out big, landmark brands and one-stop-shop.
make them a cornerstone of their store. It all sounds very obvious and very easy
eetingstoday
Well-known foundation brands with a loyal doesn’t it? Unfortunately it isn’t always
.
gr
following will be a lot easier to develop as simple as that. Independent stores in
than a mishmash of smaller, unknown town or city centres will be competing
www
properties that may take much longer to hard with retail rivals for the bigger gift
32 www.greetingstoday.co.uk
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