how would a greeting/ birthday card shop improve its sales?

Answer 1

You have such a competitive area and such small product values that slow times are really hard. Here are some suggestions:

1) Diversify by adding complimentary gift products - such as "bears in a bag" etc.
2) Promote special card buying days.
3) Add extra services such as balloon delivery, gift baskets etc.
4) Group your products to increase your sales total - e.g. box your cards into dozens.
5) Add extra items at a smaller up cost - this is called "the bump" and is remembered by the phrase "do you want fries with that?"

One of my articles might help: Increasing you Sales with The Bump
http://www.articleshut.com/index.php?page=article&article_id=26912

Answer 2

create an online reminder service for special days
here is one i found just looking for ideas...

http://www.misterreminder.com/

I dont know if they are good bad or indifferent. People who buy at your store can sign up on your reminder service YOUR reminder service, you may have to have it built and hosted.

Then, create an email campaign, which means getting email addys from all your customers. Once a month send out a marketing peice, subtle t hough, ..gentle. you can use something like constant contact.

Also, make a member for life ....once you pay oh lets say, 50 dollars you are a card member for life and always get 10% off of your cards. (this raises some boot)

Next, do an online web site selling the cards. Sell packages of 10 for a reduced price or to people who need to have 10 or 20 cards on hand, businesses people send these all the time, why not order them all, get 3 birthdays, 6 thank yous and 5 no comments in them card collection for 15.95.....
or whatever

You get the idea, INTERACTION is the key

Answer 3

Promoting unique items. Such as Say St. Patricks day. Maybe has St. Patty Day cards. But say with the purchase of 3 Cards you get a free Pin on Shamrock. Promote your unique sale through word of mouth Posters. Adds in your local paper and free papers. Maybe have a coupon. You could have a coupon buy two greeting cards and get 50% off the third card. Promoting is so important. Livelihood in my opinion on making or breaking a business.

Answer 4

I can think of three things you might do:

1) Sell coffee. Have a small coffee bar with doughnuts and a few tables. Barnes & Noble Booksellers did this and it has proven a goldmine for them.

2) Add a whole line of incidental items such as stuffed animals, pens, calendars, magnets, inspirational plaques, panic buttons, etc.

3) Choose a theme for your shop. It could be a country garden or the inside of a train. Restaurants, stores and supermarkets do this all the time. People love to go there because it is an experience.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
amadeus

Answer 5

You could scope out other, similar shops in your area that have the level of sales activity that you desire, or even other successful retail establishments, and in doing so, ask yourself, "What are they doing that's working so well? What do I, a patron of this business, like about it?" For example, when I go to Starbucks, I enjoy so much more about the experience than just a good cup of coffee. I enjoy the smell of fabulous coffee when I walk in, the music, the warm colors all around me, the cool merchandise they carry, the warm greeting I receive from the employees, and so on There is so much more going on in my buying experience that I enjoy, which keeps me going back there, despite the fact that I could buy a cup of coffee in 10 other establishments for less money. That's why Starbucks, and many other businesses like it, don't compete on price. They're consciously providing a great experience, which sets them so far above their "competitors" that one could argue Starbucks is in a league of its own, and doesn't have to compete with any other business.

I'm not suggesting that you just copy someone else. What I am suggesting is that when you can take a look at what your "competitors" are doing with a sense of admiration rather than competition, and with the understanding that you're free to apply those aspects of their business model that resonate with and make sense to you, you'll begin to see, very easily, the things you should do to improve your business. Also, consider asking your customers what they like or don't like about your business, perhaps with a survey. After all, they're your bread & butter, and when you're in tune with what they want, you'll find that the answer to your question will easily unfold.

Keep in mind that, should your customers make a negative comment, which will invariably happen, they aren't criticizing you, but simply telling you how they perceive your business from they're vantage point, which is all that matters! In other words, when you approach their feedback from the standpoint of "this is a helpful exercise to move my business in the direction that I want it to go, and that's the end result that I desire," rather than a defensive attitude that so many fall victim to, you'll begin to appreciate the negative comments just as much as the positive comments.

Best wishes for your future prosperity.

Answer 6

- Advertise, local papers, internet, word of mouth

- change the atmosphere in the shop, so many small shops lose out on cash because of the atmosphere inside...a friendly happy face works wonders compared to a miserable bored face Have some music on in the background (the local radio for example). Don't have the people at the till stood gossipying, looking down at any member of the public.

- Its not necessarily about the stock you sell, where i live their are 3 greeting card stores within 30 seconds of each other, the most popular of the three is the one that loks most inviting not because of the amount of stock it sells. Make sure everything is accessable, the store is clean & tidy, each section is clearly labeld & priced

- Make an effort with presentation....do you use carrier bags or paper bags? Paper bags are much funkier & modern. Obviously not cheaper in some circumstances, but a paper bag with your logo stuck on stands out a lot more than a blue & white stripe carrier bag. Even opting for a unusal colour bag like bright pink for example. A survey that was done by a product design student aimed at 12 - 20 year old females, showed that they shop at particular stores because of the carrier bag, sounds daft but where you have been shopping can be distinguished within seconds by the carrier bag you are carrying.

- You need to cater for all age ranges & tastes, if your selling cards, sell things like wrapping paper, gift bags, sellotape, gift tags, ribbon. People are concentrating a lot more on the actual presentation of how they wrap up a pressie. Instead of selling the normal curling ribbon, why not sell satin/ sequin ribbon (check out the gift wrapping section in m&s for ideas)

- Visit your competetors....places like Clinton Cards, the have made their money by branching out into selling small gifts/calenders/wrapping/wedding accessories.
Also look at their displays for certain holidays (currently mothers day), copy this kind of thing in your shop, emphasis on that day, have a whole section for it!

have a look at the links below for more advice -

http://www.biztrek.com/articles/Sales%20Efficiency.htm

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/improve-sales.htm

http://www.startupnation.com/pages/grow/Step10.asp

http://www.mybusiness.co.uk/YTzIVUJotKRAKg.html

Answer 7

Get the staff to identify when a customer may wish to purchase something else, for instance if someone is buying a birthday card, the staff should ask "have you seen our range of fab birthday wrapping paper?".

Try to maximise on the high profit items too such as sellotape, always get the staff to ask everyone who buys wrapping paper of they need more sellotape. Or ask them if they wish to buy a pen with colourful ink for writing their cards.

If someone buys a birthday card for someone aged 8 that has an '8' badge on it, show the customer your range of '8' balloons etc.

It's all about maximising every single sale. The customer will think the staff are helpful for reminding them of things like gift tags etc, are your profits will go up.

Answer 8

As someone else said, diversify your stock. Carry more than just cards. ALSO, not necessarily buy one get one free, but something like a card club, where you get one free greeting card (price range 99 cents to 5 dollar limit) after you have made, say, seven purchases, and have your frequent customer card punched 7 times. That gives people an incentive to come back to you. Repeat business is all important.

Answer 9

Last thursday i went to tesco for a few bits. I saw a card for mothers day, i picked it up saw how much it cost and put it back again. It was £3.99. To me its a ripoff, birthday cards, fathers day cards and valentine cards all a ripoff. Why do they have to be so expensive? If you reduce the price then you will probably get a lot more sales.

Answer 10

lower prices....cards can cost anywhere between .50 to $5.50 or more. Hard to pay the high end for one of those cards when I can make one on my computer...meaning that I might go get cards once or twice a year. Maybe you could go with the Halmark collectables....not sure whatelse you could do but try not to invest too much more money....on card inventory and maybe focus on unique collectables.
GOOD LUCK!