Starting a Gift Wrapping Service

If you’re thinking of starting a gift wrapping service in your shop it can be extremely daunting with many factors to take on board such as costs, materials, staff, pricing and confidence.

 

A gift wrapping service is a great way to entice people in to your shop and often encourages impulse purchases. You will also stand out from your competitors.

 

Here are my top 10 Gift Wrapping Tips

 

1. When buying your materials make sure that you buy them wholesale.  You need to keep your costs down so it’s not an expensive service. I would suggest a starter point under £3 per gift as the public don’t want to spend more than what they could do it for themselves.

2. Start with packaging basics such as paper, tissue, cellophane, tape and ribbon/raffia in a neutral colour such as purple or turquoise.  This is suitable for any age, genre and occasion and can be used all year round to avoid waste.

 

3. Avoid busy or patterned papers as you are limited what trimmings you can add and they date quicker.

 

4. Rigid gift boxes are expensive so if you wish to offer these as part of your gift wrapping service, you will need to incorporate these costs.  You can also add this option as an extra charge or sell them separately and offer the gift wrapping for free (you can easily wrap the item in some tissue and pop it in the box)

5. Gift Bags are cheaper in price and you can easily offer a complimentary gift wrapping service this way. Adding some ribbon and decorations to bag will look eye catching.  I particularly love these damask designs from CarrierBagShop.

 

6. If you wish to offer a complimentary service, make sure that you incorporate your costs in to your products.  It is also a good idea to cap the limit such as ‘Minimum spend £10’ or ‘Maximum 2 products during busy periods’ to avoid customer queues.

7. Market the service well with a small display in the shop window, a sign at the till, on your website and social media.  Most of all use your customers as your word of mouth.

8. Ensure you have lots of practice wrapping awkward shapes before you start the service.  There are many gift wrapping ideas on the net and you can download Gift Wrapping Videos and learn my techniques through ‘The Art of gift Wrapping DVD’ or a One Day Course.

9. Ask your staff who are happy and confident to do this service.  You can also offer certain days or times when the relevant staff members are on duty.  You can also offer this service as an event for a pre Christmas opening or a new launch.

 

10.  Smile and be honest with your customers.  I often say “I’ve not wrapped one of these before so it may be a couple of attempts until I get it right”.  If you’re feeling nervous infront of customers, you could politely suggest that they continue shopping and pop back in 5 minutes, or gift wrap on a counter or table that is slightly out of sight

 

Love it or hate it, gift wrapping is a popular service and priced well it can be a brilliant marketing opportunity.  Do be warned that it is extremely popular the week before Christmas and you will need to make sure that you have enough resources during this peak time.

The ‘Art of Gift Wrapping DVD’ is packed with tips and ideas and is available for £15

 

 

 

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