Helping the Garden Industry Thrive
Here’s an interesting web site you might find useful: www.quantcast.com. After you enter a web site URL, Quantcast returns both demographic data and traffic estimates for the site in question. I haven’t investigated exactly how it works, but the results seem to be remarkably accurate.
The demographic profile it provides includes: (Click on headline for more…)
I’m writing this from my stepdaughter Carol’s house, which is filled with potted bulbs. Carol bought them, unpotted, at a church fundraiser. While she’s thrilled to have them, she’s exasperated at the bulb company’s total lack of follow-through. You see, her order consisted of bulbs, nothing more. No identification. No potting instructions. No way to […]
It’s easy to pay lip service to the concept of listening to the customer and learning from mistakes. Truly great companies follow through. (Click on headline for more…)
We just did an online survey for one client and sent it to their newsletter subscriber base. I was blown away by the response, which surpassed our highest expectations by a factor of two. The information we gathered was invaluable. For instance: (Click on the headline for more…)
Ken Burke of MarketLive had an interesting article in the July 2008 issue of Catalog Success magazine about encouraging gift purchases. He recommends three approaches to significantly boost your gift business:
1) Gift Cards. Gift cards are growing in popularity. Last year, sales of gift cards grew by 25%. If you don’t already offer gift cards, consider doing so this holiday season.
2) Gift Guides. According to a MarketLive survey, companies who included a gift guide on their site averaged 68% more conversions and 70% more revenue per visit than those without a gift guide. See our recent renewsletter for some tips on developing effective gift guides.
3) Gift Sets. Preselected and prewrapped combinations of products are another way to boost sales. Gloves, hand tools, seeds, books and more can be packaged inside pots, trugs or watering cans for an attractive presentation.
With a little creativity and some preplanning, you may be pleasantly surprised at the gift sales you can generate.
What have you found most effective for soliciting gift business?
